Annual Trip to See the Fantasy Lights

Since today was Ron's first day of Winter Break, we decided that we could head out on a Wednesday night to see the Fantasy Lights instead of waiting for the weekend.  We hopped in his fancy, new Suburban and made the drive to Spanaway to participate in one of our favorite holiday traditions.  Since this was the first year that we drove through the park in a car with a sunroof, the kids all got a kick out of taking turns poking their head outside of the car to see the lights.  We enjoyed cruising around the park looking at all of our favorite light displays..  Afterwards, we headed off to Red Robin to take advantage of the "Kids Eat for Only $1.99" special they are running right now and ate a delicious burger dinner before wrapping up the evening..

Ella smiling for me while looking out through papa's sunroof.

Logan and Lia anxiously awaiting their turn for the sunroof from the second row of the car.

The old fashioned car.

Santa and his reindeer.

Snowing over Mt. Rainier.

Santa flying in his plane.

The choo choo train packed with toys.

Preschool Christmas Party with Ella!

Ella and I headed out this morning to attend her preschool's Christmas party.  This is the third time that I have attended this event at this preschool as I went with Lia (and Logan) in 2012 and Logan (and Ella) in 2016.  It was fun to spend a morning just with Ella during the rush and the roar of the holiday season.  As always, the children started out by singing a few Christmas songs to all of the parents in the chapel where we met for the party.  Ella really enjoys all things performing from singing to dancing and so it was so much fun to watch her singing at the front of the room with all of the other children.  She knew all of the words and hand motions that went with the songs and was just about the cutest thing up there!  When the children were done singing, Ella came down and joined me at the table.  We had fun decorating her gingerbread house together and snacking on delicious treats that people had brought in to share with the group.  It was a wonderful way to spend the morning with my little preschooler!

Ella smiling at her teacher before singing her first song.

Ella doing the hand motions to one of the songs they sang.

The kids pretending to rock baby Jesus in their arms while singing.

And one more shot of Ella singing about Jesus sleeping while putting her head on her hands.  So cute!

Ella decorating her gingerbread house.

Mother and daughter posing with our completed gingerbread house.

Enjoying her cookies at the end of the party.

Ella posing with the best preschool teacher ever, Miss Vera!

Ella's Winter Ballet Performance

This school year, Ella has continued to take dance lessons from the same teacher who we switched to last March after trying out a few months at the Y.  Ella goes to dance class every Tuesday morning for an hour to take ballet and tap lessons in Miss Krystal's dance studio which is located in her converted garage.  Ella is in this class with three other girls from church who also attend the same preschool as her and she absolutely loves it!  It is so adorable to watch her run up to her teacher's front door every week wearing a leotard and tutu.  She is such a little girl and I just love it!
A few weeks ago, her dance teacher sent out an email informing the parents that the girls would have the opportunity to dance at a senior center down the street from our neighborhood one evening in December.  In addition, her teacher asked if any older siblings would like to perform a musical number as part of the performance.  I quickly checked our calendar and discovered that we could go and even signed Lia up to play some Christmas songs on the piano.  So, tonight, the three girls headed out after leaving Logan at home with Ron who decided he would rather relax on the couch and watch the first half of the Seahawks game that started 45 minutes before the performance.  Lia did a great job playing three songs on the piano and Ella was as darling as can be performing several tap and ballet dance numbers with her class.  I know that I am biased, but she really has such a natural grace and coordination to her dancing in comparison to several of the other girls in the class.  She really has a knack for dancing and I can't wait to see how far she goes in pursuing this talent of hers.  It's just fun to have another little dancer in the family!

Lia playing one of her Christmas songs on the piano.

Ella smiling for the audience at the beginning of one of her ballet dances.

The girls starting their dance.

The girls completing an arabesque.  This picture perfectly demonstrates what a natural dancer Ella is in comparison to some of the other girls in her class.

A close-up of Ella doing an arabesque.

All of the dancers getting ready to curtsy at the end of their performance.

Sisters posing in front of the Christmas tree after the performance had ended.

My ballerina in front of the tree.

And Lia, too.  What cute girls we have!

Decorating Gingerbread Houses

We gathered around the kitchen table tonight to participate in one of our favorite, holiday traditions: decorating gingerbread houses!  Like in previous years, Lia and Ron worked on one house together while I helped Logan and Ella decorate a second house.  We had a grand time using left over Halloween candy to decorate our homes complete with little touches like lamp posts, reindeer, and paths to the front door.  The kids were so excited to help out and will now get to enjoy nibbling on their houses for the next month or so.  Here are some pics of our evening together...

Papa and Lia working on their house together.

The "littles" and me busy decorating our house.

Ella and Logan showing off their finished product.

And cute Lia also posing with her finished gingerbread house.

32 Weeks Pregnant!

Well, it's hard to believe that I am now 32 weeks pregnant!  I have officially crossed over the 30-week mark and can now say (as I yesterday) that I am due NEXT MONTH!  I knew that the holidays would make the last few months of my pregnancy fly by, but it still just seems crazy to me that we will have a new baby in this house in a matter of weeks!  Besides all of the aches and pains that have come with this fourth pregnancy, I am still just so happy to be pregnant and can't believe that I am less than two months away from my due date.  I absolutely love being pregnant at Christmas time.  It makes the holiday season seem so much more special and magical--especially after last December when I had my fourth miscarriage and was so devastated and heartbroken most of the month.  I am so grateful and happy to be carrying this little miracle inside of me every day.  

As for an overall update, I can tell that this baby is getting bigger every day because his movements inside of me are much stronger and often times in multiple places at once.  I still feel him more when I lay down at night, but definitely feel him move and even see his movements through my shirt throughout the day.  I continue to have swollen feet and leg issues and feet pain every day which is something new to this pregnancy.  I am also still wearing compression stockings daily and elevating my feet for an hour every night when I go to bed.  The varicose veins on my right leg moved above my knee since my last post which meant that I was required to spend an obscene amount of money on a pair of full-length, maternity compression hose to wear for the remainder of my pregnancy.  In addition, I had a 32-week ultrasound last week to check on the baby's overall growth (due to the 2-vessel, umbilical cord) and to find out the location of my placenta.  The baby measured in at 53% for weight which was good news and my placenta has moved completely off of my cervix which is wonderful progress considering the fact that it was completely covering the cervix at 20 weeks.  The one glitch is that the placenta is only 1.3 cm away from the cervix and my doctor really wants it 2 cm away.  As a result, I now have another ultrasound scheduled for the day after Christmas at 36 weeks to see if it has moved that far in a month.  Hopefully, this growing baby will continue to move the placenta along and allow a natural delivery (instead of a c-section) to be a reality in January.  So, once again, more waiting is required which has definitely been the theme of this pregnancy and a theme of getting baby #4 to join our family.  So, stay tuned!

Girl Scouts and the Santa Parade

For the sixth year in a row, Lia's Girl Scout troop decided to participate in our town's annual Santa parade the first Saturday in December.  The girls voted to walk for the first time instead of riding on a "float" that we have always made in the past by decorating one of the grandpa's flat bed trailers. This was due to the fact that that our other troop leader, Regan, had shown them a picture of walking with clear colored umbrellas decorated with lights and snowflakes.  So, after buying the necessary items, the girls got together in November to decorate their umbrellas.  I then went ahead and made Lia another tutu out of white and light blue tulle, sewed silver snowflakes onto a white t-shirt, and tied a giant bow in her hair with Christmas ribbon that had blue and silver snow flakes on it.  She looked quite adorable if I may say so myself! 
Lia went down early with her friend, Sienna, to line up for the parade with the rest of the troop while Ron and I took Logan and Ella down to watch the first half of the parade.  Logan and Ella bravely stood at the front of the crowd (so that they could see) while Ron and I stood in the back.  They were absolutely enthralled by every tractor, float, and band that went marching by.  It is always so fun to watch their reactions to this parade!  After Lia's troop walked by, we met them at the "finish line" of the parade and then quickly headed up to one of the homes of another girl in the troop for our Girl Scout Christmas party.  We had a potluck dinner and then the girls got to play some games and participate in a Secret Santa exchange.  Lia and a few other girls in her troop also got to play some Christmas songs on the piano for everyone to hear.  Logan and Ella had a grand time running around the house, playing in the massive toy room, and even participating in the games with the older girls.  It was a fun evening had by all!

The finished product!  Lia all decked out as a "walking snowflake" before leaving our house for the parade.

A close-up of Lia and her decorated umbrella.

And one more close-up.

After Lia got picked up, Ella decided that she wanted to get in on the fun.  Par her request, she put on her snowman shirt and her white, ballet tutu which I thought was such a cute idea.  She also asked that I put her hair in a bun and put makeup on her face after watching me do the same to Lia's face.

A close-up of Ella's makeup and pretty, gem stickers that she wanted put on both of her cheeks.

A profile shot of Ella's bun.  Her hair is finally starting to be long enough to put into a tiny bun and I just think it is the cutest thing as it shows off her dainty, little face that normally is covered so much by her hair.

After parking and walking to our favorite corner to watch the parade, Lia's troop came about 30 minutes later which was perfect as it gave Logan and Ella plenty of time to enjoy the other groups marching in the first half of the parade.  Lia walked in the front of her troop behind the the sign carried by one of the moms and an older sister.

Lia flashing us a smile as she walked on by.

We met Lia's troop as they finished the parade in the library parking lot.  I managed to corral all of the girls together for a group picture before they dispersed.

Lia posing with her good friend, Sienna.

I just couldn't resist taking a few more pictures of Lia since her costume looked so much prettier all lit up in the dark!

And another full length shot.

Ella, Logan, and Lia posing with mama before leaving the parade to head to the Christmas party.

Lia's Last Soccer Game

Since Lia's soccer season started the beginning of August and ended today on December 1st, it almost lasted four entire months.  As a result, I started calling it the "never ending season."  For some reason, her league decided to extend the season two weeks later than normal which meant that Lia's basketball season and soccer season overlapped by a week.  As a result, Lia went from her second basketball practice today straight to her last soccer game.  It's just a good thing that this girl is in such good shape!  Lia wrapped up her season today by playing at her own school.  She did a great job on defense and fought a good fight.  Overall, it has been a great season for Lia.  She has continued to improve on both defense and offense and really has started to become a strong player.  She is a fast runner out on the field and is not afraid to "get in there" and kick the ball as much as possible. The biggest highlight of the season had to be Lia making her first goal of her career back in October at the junior high up the street from our house.  We were all so excited for her as it really is difficult to make a goal at this level of soccer.  We happily treated her to Cold Stone ice cream a few weeks later (which was the promise Ron made to her at the beginning of the season if she ever made a goal).  We are so proud of you, Lia!  It has been so fun to watch you play this season.

Lia running down the field.

Lia chasing after the ball with a group of girls from her team.

Fighting for the ball.

More running.

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A fun action shot of Lia.

Taking a 'time out' with the coach's daughter, Mary.

Unfortunately, I took off my camera lens that has a really strong zoom at the end of the game not knowing that one of the girls had brought spray cans of confetti to attack the coach with after the game finished.  The girls chased Coach Dave out onto the field while covering him with spray confetti. It was really quite funny to watch.  Here is the best picture I could get with my camera without the stronger lens.

Our awesome soccer player after her last game of the season.

Lia and Logan (proudly holding his basketball since he also started playing this past week) posing for me before heading home.