Turkey Day, a trip to the Mitten, and oh yeah...a baby!

So, it's December. And it's 12 days before Christmas. And life is crazy, as usual but we're managing around here (sort of). Among the usual day to day stuff with Matt working, me working nights/weekends and Olivia transitioning from sweet baby into (ahem) a toddler, in the last month and a half we managed to squeeze in some family time and announce to family and friends that we are happily expecting Baby #2 sometime next June :)

We spent Thanksgiving this year in Kansas with good friends. We thought about going home, but envisioning the long drive in our tiny car, or paying the exorbitant plane ticket prices quickly squashed those thoughts. Instead, we found a great deal on flights to go home AFTER Thanksgiving and that's just what we did. Our Thanksgiving here was relaxing and low key - just the way it should be! I've been pretty sick with this pregnancy (and when I said "pretty sick" I mean running to the bathroom to throw up after just about everything my body ingests) so being able to slow down a bit over the four day weekend and just rest was reeeeeallly nice. Our friends, the Behrens, have two girls ages 3 and 1 so there was no shortage of girly shrieks on our holiday. Their family also has some food allergies to contend with so cooking was easy since we both had the same types of challenges with making over the traditional dishes. It was pure noise and chaos right up until dinnertime and then we got all three of them situated and then, ahhh - silence! Here's a couple pics of the girls enjoying their allergen-free Thanksgiving feast.

Yes that's Olivia eating her potatoes off of a beater...

After Thanksgiving weekend, we packed up and headed to Michigan for a week to visit with family and friends. We spent the first part of our trip in Cedar Springs with my brother and sister-in-law and their kids and then finished up our trip in Lambertville with the Lennex clan. This trip was particularly fun because we got to share the news with family that we are expecting another baby. I made a shirt for Olivia before we left town and we used that as our "reveal" with all of the family members. Grandma Lennex managed to get a couple good photos of her wearing the shirt that I was able to scan into our computer.

I took lots of pictures on our trip, but honestly it's so difficult to photograph her these days since she never sits still that most of my pics came out blurry :( I'm bummed since I don't have any of her with Minnie or her Aunties on either side or Papa Ray and Grandma Carol. Here's what I did manage to get, and my apologies to those left out!!

She absolutely adores her cousins, Josie and Porter, and wouldn't let them out of her sight. Note the matching outfits on Josie and Olivia :)

Grandma and Grandpa Donoho made a trip just to see us!

See what I mean? She is a constant moving target but I caught her just in time for this pic!

Um, hello Cyndi Lauper?

This was so sweet; she loved to sit on Porter's lap while he practiced piano. I'm sure this made his practicing much easier...

Loves Great Grandma Lennex

Another obsession: the cats! She never let Bailey or Mrs. Norris out of her sight

Grandpa & Great Grandma

Aunt Vicki and I

Upon returning from our trip we've decorated the house for Christmas (my favorite!) and have learned that Olivia is quite obsessed with Christmas trees. She mainly loves our tree, but we did spend about 20 minutes today in Target touching ALL of the trees they have on display in their holiday section. The other day I asked her what I have in my belly and she confidently said "Baby!" Then I asked her if she thought she was going to get a brother or a sister. She thought about it for a second and then said "Sist--- CHRIST-MAS TREE!!! Mommy have CHRIST-MAS TREE!" So there you have it.

Our newly "re-done" fireplace and my homemade wreath!

Our small, but functional tree

That about sums up our last several weeks. We are staying in town this year for Christmas and though it will be sad to miss out on being near family for the holiday, I'm looking forward to a few more days of R&R.