Scenes from a 32nd Birthday

Today is Mike's birthday. Since I have to work tonight Molly and I decided to throw him a little surprise party last night. It wasn't much, but hopefully enough to let him know how thankful we are for him. (I know some of these pictures aren't great, I got a new camera for Christmas and haven't had a chance to really figure out how to work it very well).

Presents!

Using Molly's easel for decorations.


I made this for Mike when we first got married and he really loves it. It is from a Campbell's Soup cookbook and I always make it for his birthday or other times I am trying to be a nice wife.

The finished product, simmering away and making the house smell good for when Daddy gets home.

(Not so) patiently waiting for Daddy to get home from work with the balloon she picked out.

Getting a little help with presents.

New video game, hopefully he'll have time to play it with a new baby coming.

Modeling a new t-shirt from Peacetree Brewery.

The infamous spinning musical birthday plate with a (store bought) peach pie.

So cute!

Blowing out the candles.

Okay Daddy, your party's over can we play with my toys now?

By 8:30 Molly was asleep in bed, Mike was working on his laptop for work and I was reading a book. Not quite a raging party, but we had fun celebrating Daddy. Each year we are married I get more and more thankful that he is my partner in this adventure. Even though I'm not able to show him in the exciting ways I used to be able to (meeting the Eagles, surprise trips to Cardinal's games), I hope he knows how much he means to this family. Happy birthday Mikey, leftovers are in the fridge for your dinner tonight. :-)

Wait...aren't horizontal stripes supposed to be slimming?

Wow...And I have 5 more weeks.

Pitiful...

My whole family was here this past weekend to celebrate Christmas and ring in the New Year. It was so nice of all of them to make the trip to Iowa so that I wouldn't have to travel. We ate, drank (well I didn't do that one), hung out in pajamas, and laughed until it hurt. It was a perfect family weekend. The sad part is that I only took 4 pictures the entire time, and none of them are that great. New Year's resolution is to take more pictures!

Save The Date

After much thought and discussion with our doctors we have decided to do a scheduled c-section for this little guy. At my last appointment we set the date for Wednesday February 8th. I can't believe that is only 5 weeks away!! I am so excited to meet him, but am also anxious about all of the changes that this will bring for Molly and hope we can make it a smooth transition for her.
The pregnancy is going pretty well aside for some gallbladder issues, but throughout that stuff baby boy has continued to grow strong and healthy. This is the point in my pregnancy with Molly that I started to get really anxious and while it is better this time around, I definitely worry more now. Thankfully I am getting weekly non-stress tests that provide good reassurance.
My total weight gain with this pregnancy has only been 4 pounds which i would never believe had I not been weighed weekly at the doctor because I feel HUGE. I'm sure it has to do with the dietary restrictions from the gallbladder stuff but my joke has been that I hope I'll look like Kate Moss after I give birth!
Molly is getting pretty excited for her brother to get here. She talks a lot about all of the things she will teach him and all of the toys she will show him. She likes to lift up my shirt and listen to him swimming. She also likes coming up with new names for him, usually something silly based on what Mike and I are talking about at the moment. I'm not sure she fully understands how much things will change when we actually bring him home, but I am hopeful that she will feel secure in our love for her and her place in the family. My favorite recent funny thing she said was last night when I was cooking dinner. I was wearing a new apron that my Mom gave me for Christmas and she had been going on and on about how beautiful it was and how much she liked it and all of a sudden she got this very concerned look on her face and said "But wait, I can't see my baby brother!"
Okay, enough babbling. Hopefully I'll be back later today with some pictures from our Wells family Christmas.

Christmas 2011

We went to Mike's parents house for Christmas this weekend. It was a fun family time and Molly loved all of the time spent chasing her big girl cousins. We all got lots of great presents from generous family members and from Santa. Molly was especially excited about her new guitar, it's all she's been asking for this year.

Cute Luke and Aunt Jessica

Lauren and Molly playing the iPad and trying their best to share.


Trying her best to do exactly what big cousins Stephanie and Emmie are doing.



Oh Lukie, you are so cute!

All of the girl cousins on the Rowe side of the family. I could hardly get Molly to eat her dinner she just kept looking around and smiling.

Opening her gift from new baby cousin Bryan. A super loud microphone. Thank Aunt Kris!

Grandpa and Grandma Great, checking out their loot.

One of my goals for the weekend was to get a good picture of Molly with Grandma and Grandpa. This was the best I got, hopefully when the mister gets here there will be more opportunities.

Christmas morning. All of the bigger kids on the steps waiting to come down. Poor Luke was being woken up at this point due to the impatience of the others. Miss Molly was the first one up at 5:50!

Heading in to see what Santa left. Don't mind the giant belly to your right, thanks Mike!

Pure excitement upon seeing her new guitar. So fun to watch.

Checking out her stocking. She would pull out one thing and then want to play with it and have no interest in the rest so her stocking lasted over an hour.

We only did Santa presents and then stockings and then we all headed to church where Mike and his Mom sang a beautiful rendition of O Holy Night. Then it was home for the rest of the presents.

Showing off her new Rapunzel dress and doll. I'm not sure where this face comes from, I don't even think it looks like her.

Ariel dress, notice a theme here?

Belle high heels.

Last present of the morning was her Little People Amusement Park from Mommy and Daddy. She was so excited and has played with this non-stop since opening it.

Christmas night reading with Luke and Uncle Justin. Look at those tired faces!

Overall a very blessed and happy holiday for our family. And we get to do it all again this weekend with my family as they are headed to Iowa!

Packers Game

A few weeks ago Mike and I traveled up to Wisconsin to attend the Packers game with Uncle Denny and Aunt Laurie. As usual we had a great time and the weather was actually the warmest it has ever been when we've been up there in December. The Packers had an impressive win over the Raiders and we had such a fun time. Special thanks to Grandma and Grandpa who kept Molly entertained and spoiled while we were away.

Nobody tailgates like Laurie. She really sets up a good spread!

Uncle Denny and Mike getting ready for the game to start.

It got a little colder as the sun went down, this was at the end of the game.

Final score: Packers 46 Raiders 16. Go Pack Go!

Sick day

Molly has a cough that makes her sound like an 85 year old who has smoked a pack a day for life. It really sounds bad with any kind of physical exertion, from laughing to dancing to running. So I'm trying to find activities that involve sitting still, which is difficult with this little wild one. So here is what we came up with. A camp out by the Christmas tree with the iPad. It's working well for now, any guesses on how long it will last?