A Sentimental Journey...

Just looked through pictures of Christmases past.  

(It helps pass the time for a pretty much immobile prego lady!)  

 2012

 2013

2014

Christmas Day 2014

 Christmas Morning Excitement

 He LOVED his train set!

 "Hey!  Santa ate the cookies!"

 Santa brought me toilet seats - just what I asked for!

 Grandma and Grandpa Sorensen gave Gavin some Toy Story and Cars toys.

 Matt's gift from me - a weight lifting bench.  We got it off KSL.com and I didn't dare go get it by myself b/c it was kinda in a dodgey part of SLC ...so it wasn't a surprise... 

But these pillows were! Santa must have hid them downstairs.  (He is so sneaky!)

Every night before Matt would go to sleep he'd fluff his pillow and say, "I gotta get me a new pillow."  Fluff no more, Matty-Boy!

A White Christmas!

Look!  We made an Olaf!

12 of Matt's family members came to our house for Christmas dinner.  Matt's parents offered to bring the dinner to us since the doctor didn't want us going anywhere this Christmas.  I didn't take any pictures b/c I forgot - probably out of shear exhaustion, but it was a nice meal:  crab legs, shrimp, steak, etc.  A day later, my house still smells like seafood!  

Grandma and Grandpa Anderson gave Gavin some wooden blocks.  We had a wonderful Christmas!  

I'm so thankful for this time of year.  It's about being with family, showing love, and remembering more fully our Saviour, Jesus Christ.  He has given me so much and the only way I can repay Him is to try to become more like Him.  I hope I can do that.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas...

...and all through the house, not a creature was stirring... because we'd all gone to the movies!  We saw Big Hero 6.  The storyline was a little more adult-based than I thought it would be, but it kept Gavin's attention for all but 2 minutes and Matt and I were totally entertained -- so in our opinion, it was a winner!  There is a sad part near the end, and Gavin started crying during it - a tear running down his cheek and all.  Love him!  (Our little, rambunctious toddler is also very tender-hearted.)

 Then we came home and opened our "tree gifts."  Since we've been married, Matt has made it a tradition to secretly hide a small gift in the boughs our our tree for each other to open on Christmas eve.  I gave Matt some of his favorite candy, he gave me a Subway card, and we gave Gavin some new pj's.

 Ya can't go wrong with Thomas the Train!

At Thanksgiving time, the Sorensen women planned to have our Sorensen Family Christmas Party on the 13th of December to accommodate my pregnancy.  The next week, I went to my doctor and told him of my plans and he forbade me from traveling outside the immediate range of a neonatal intensive care unit.  He used the words, "life flight" and "too risky for the baby," and I got a little nervous.  So we've had to stick close to home this last month - just in case the baby is born early with complications that we are currently unaware of.  I love our family get togethers and was kinda bummed that we couldn't be there, but luckily Karen had the idea to Face Time.  Gavin opened his gift from his cousin and then spent the rest of the evening playing with it on the kitchen floor while Matt and I continued to Face Time.

 4-wheelers and a trailer to haul them got Gavin pretty excited, but luckily he still went straight to bed.  Then Santa came!  The evidence:

A note, empty milk glass and 1/2 eaten cookies;

 Gifts for Baby Alayna;

 Gifts for The G-Man;
(To all my thrifty friends out there: everything you see here is 2nd hand. Santa stuck to his budget by shopping at the local D.I. and checking KSL ads.)

And a room full of Christmas magic!

Nesting

Lately I've been trying to 1) keep the house clean (but failing miserably at it), 2) get certain projects done (only if Matt helps), and 3) psychologically prepare myself to be cooped up for the winter with a baby and a 2 year old (Winter?  Is it almost winter?!).  It's been a very slow process.  Where's that burst of energy I need that women associate with 'nesting'?  I don't think I experienced it before Gavin was born either...

Nesting or not, this baby will soon be here.  Doctor told me today that I'm further along than he thought I'd be:

My uterus has shifted to the mid-position already,
I'm dilated to 1cm,
30% effaced,
and baby is head down n ready to go!

I'm guessing I have about 3 weeks to go with this pregnancy thing.  Can't wait to meet our little lady!!

This 'n' That

The weather has been extremely warm for this time of year.  We haven't had any snow yet, and during the first couple weeks in December, the highs were in the 60s!  Global warming??

But this little guy didn't seem to mind!

Each day when Matt comes home from work, we can hear the garage door open and Gavin exclaims, "Hurry! We've gotta hide!"  He came up with this secret hiding spot on his own.

Gavin has been getting into some mischief lately.  He doesn't mind as well as he used to, and he's also been making lots of messes.  I wonder if it's b/c I've run out of energy to stop the mischief/messes before they happen... or maybe Gavin can sense a major change (baby sister) is about to occur in his life... or maybe he's just becoming a soon-to-be 3 year old?  I'm not sure.

 We forgot to get a picture of all 3 of us in front of the tree when we put it up so I insisted we take one.  Gavin was having a hard time staying put for the self-timer, so we told him he needed to stay cuddled up in the blanket with us.  (It worked!)

 The Duet

We had our friends, The Lambs, over for dinner one evening and their little girl and Gavin are best friends.  Had to sneak a picture of them playing together.

 Gavin's favorite Christmas songs are Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer and Baby It's Cold Outside.  We were going into church last Sunday and saw a minivan with a red nose attached to the front and antlers coming out of the side windows.  Gavin saw it first and stopping dead in his tracks said, "Wait a minute... it's Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer!"  Then he started to laugh uncontrollably.

The Lambs gave Gavin a little Nativity book/set.  He was pleased as punch to play with it.

Important Dates

So, my prego mommy hunch is telling me that Alayna is going to make her grand entry toward the end of December or the very first part of January.  My weary body is begging her to come in December, and my fiscally responsible side is saying, "Hold out 'til January for insurance purposes!"  Of course we will be happy to meet her whenever she decides to come, but here are some pretty important dates she could be born on:

December 13th - her birthday would be 12/13/14.  Pretty cool, but that is only a week away, and I'm pretty sure she won't be born on this date.

December 23rd - Joseph Smith's birthday.

December 25th - Gavin was born on Christ's birthday (April 6th) and Alayna could be born on the day all Christians celebrate it.  :)  Not sure how I feel about having a Christmas baby though...

December 28th - My dad's birthday.  Gavin was also born on my mom's birthday, so this date would be kinda funny!

January 1st - If she times it just right, she might end up as the 2015 New Year's baby.  :)

January 8th - Elvis Presley's birthday.

January 10th - My birthday.  I wouldn't mind sharing.  ;)

Coincidence? I think not.

This coming year, we have plans to max out on our insurance deductible due to Alayna's surgeries.  We knew it would take a fairly descent chunk out of our savings.
Then this past week, Matt found out he got the job he had applied for in a different department at his work.  He was thrilled.  And the miracle of it all is:  his raise will equal exactly the same amount as our insurance deductible.  Coincidence?  I think not.
I love seeing the Lord's hand in our lives.  He knows our needs and continues to bless us when we put Him first in everything we do.