Decking the Halls

I can't believe Thanksgiving is over already! It flew by soooo fast. We had a great time at both extended families' homes. My family, as always, had about 22 people (I think that was the final count) for Thanksgiving lunch. It was awesome. My parents always host, and they had to bring in 2 extra tables and a kids' table, as well as have 3 high chairs. Insane! But, it was so great to have everyone together. It's only about once a year that all the siblings are there, so that was really nice. And one of my little sisters (ok, she's a teenager, not really little anymore) took a great picture of my mom, my sister Mindy (next youngest after me) and me getting food ready. None of us are looking at the camera and had no idea the picture was being taken, but I really like how it turned out with the 3 of us. I miss seeing them regularly. :(

We met our newest nephew Caleb on Thanksgiving as well. He was 5 weeks old. So adorable! And my Grandma rubbed my belly while I was holding Caleb. She said it was to rub "boy" on me, so maybe our new baby will be a boy. :) She's so silly.

Oh, that's right. I haven't announced on here. I'm pregnant again! Baby #4 will be here some time around June 4th. It's becoming pretty cramped in this house, so for baby's sake I hope it's a girl...since he/she will have to share a room with the 3 girls. But, I kind of do hope it's a boy. Poor kid will be living in a pink room surrounded by pink everything....so we'll see how that works out if it's a boy! haha. Unless we miraculously sell our house in the next 6 months and can afford something bigger. Not likely, though. Everything around here is selling for so low, that we wouldn't be able to compete to break even much less make a profit to put down on another house. Craziness. Oh well. That's not stopping us from having our kids now. I like that they're all close together. My siblings are all fairly close and I love it. Growing up there was always someone to play with that had similar interests or was around the same age group (my brother is only 2 1/2 yrs older, and my sister is only 2 yrs younger so imaginary play was great!). The fights were occasional, but it was still fun. My sister and I were almost always the same size, so we shared a lot of things. I'm off track. Oops...

We spent Thanksgiving evening with my in-laws. My mother-in-law is a fantastic cook as well. (It's amazing how I've been blessed with a great cook for a mom and a mom-in-law. It's awesome!) She made Puerto Rican rice to go with dinner. Yum! The girls love all the attention from all of their grandparents, and they were so wiped out by the end of the day!

Only 4 more presents and 2 gift cards to go before I'm finished shopping for Christmas. I finished up shopping for stocking fillers today. Lily was talking about Krabby Patties the other day and joking that she hasn't had one. So, I found some gummy candies called "Krabby Patties" at Target for her stocking. :) Hopefully she'll like them....they looked pretty gross to me!

I also finished up shopping for all the kids of friends. Man, we know waaay too many people! :) It's fun to shop for everyone, but after a while I'm thinking "who else could there possibly be to shop for?!" 

This weekend is our friend's annual Christmas party. It's all friends of my husband from high school and there wives and children. It's always fun. This year, there are 2 additional children...which makes 8 now total. Next year there will be 4 more. It's being taken over by the kids!! But the kids love it and have a fun time playing and eating. 

Two weekends from now is my Grandparents' annual Christmas breakfast. All 20 or so of us cram into my Grandma's house and eat breakfast. The great-grandkids all receive Santa gifts there, which is fun. My Grandma really likes hosting it, but I know it wipes her out. It's so crazy to think how many years she's been having a Christmas breakfast at her house....at least as long as I've been alive! I love Grandpa and Grandma. I wish we lived closer to them, so the girls could visit them more often. Grandma puts up a gigantic Christmas village every year, and my girls love it. 

So much to be thankful for and so much to look forward to this month. I am extremely grateful for my husband and how much he helps me out around the house. He makes my coffee (well, now OUR coffee....I finally converted him!) every morning and helps me with their baths at night. With my tummy getting bigger daily and my back weaker daily, it's a huge help at bathtime. He's been leaving me little notes every couple of days with a short message about how much he loves me, and he now leaves me towel by the shower so it's ready for me when I go to take my shower. :) So cute. He also makes the girls' beds and pushes Lily's trundle bed under for me....which is also great because of tummy/back issues. And he's been very regular with making our bed. He doesn't have to do those things, but he knows how great it feels for me to see it done before I get a chance to do it! He's so wonderful. He also goes out to grab the newspaper off the driveway in the morning so I don't have to go out in the cold. What a sweetheart! I can't say enough great things about him. Actually, I don't say enough. I am usually grouchy when he gets home because I'm busy with dinner and the girls are restless and my back is hurting. I usually just bark something at him and then shut down the rest of the evening. :( I love him so much. I really need to work on my attitude. I've been away from him all day and here I am angry as soon as he sees me in the evening? Crazy.

Well, this is long enough. The girls aren't napping today. Two days in a row now. Can't wait for their whining in about 2 hours because they're exhausted! :) I love being a mom, I really do. But days like this when we can't go out and run out the energy and I didn't get a chance to really rest makes for long afternoons for all! 

Book Review: Really Woolly Bible Stories by DaySpring

I received a complimentary copy of Really Woolly Bible Stories from BookSneeze to read and review. I have 3 young girls, and we absolutely loved this book! We are always looking for short but meaningful Bible story books to read before bed, and we found Really Woolly to be just that!
The stories are laid out in rhymes, which definitely keep my preschoolers' attention. The stories are also kept short and sweet, covering the important facts of the stories but not dragging out to the point of losing the little ones' focus. My youngest (18 months old) liked the pictures. I enjoyed reading several each night, and we quickly finished and re-read the book several times.
Really Woolly Bible Stories is a great evening/bedtime read for parents with preschoolers, and it explains the in-depth Bible stories in language that young ones can understand and follow along. Loved it!