And the verdict is...

Even though baby was being very uncooperative - laying facedown with head toward my back - we were able to get a pretty clear butt shot. Yep! It's a girl. Laynie is thrilled and Gavin is crushed. Jamie is...nervous. I'm just glad that baby seems healthy. Because we couldn't get a clean shot of her face, I have to go back again in a few weeks. But from what they could see, baby girl is growing and healthy.

Santa Claus Came to Our Town

Laynie asked for a "big baby doll" and got just what she wanted. Baby Annie is almost as big as Laynie is.
Here's a very sleepy looking Gav with his remote control race car. Daddy has figured out how to powerslide it across the sunroom floor. Never can guess which boy will enjoy the toys the most!

Laynie also got a treasure chest full of dress up clothes. She's been in full princess mode ever since.

Here she is opening a present. She loved the "Bubba-dog" that Grandma Edie sent.

B-I-N-G-O! Thanks Grandma Edie!! We'll use that tonight.

Uncle Travis came through with an awesome Utah hoodie for Jamie. (He got a BYU one too! Hahahaha!)

Here the boys are working together to build heroes from "Hero Factory." Thanks Grandma and Guggy!

Here's outfit two of three...I'll have to get a picture of her in the pale pink dress.

Christmas was a lot of fun, and we had a lot more gifts to open than we expected. Jamie and I decided that we weren't going to buy gifts this year because our big gift is coming on January 2 in the form of a Vizsla puppy. The kids are thrilled! But it was really nice that Santa, Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles sent fun gifts.

Thanks Everyone! We love you!

But it's just my size!

We picked up our dog crate at PetsMart yesterday (don't ask about the two times they shipped it to us broken). For now it's on the floor in the sunroom. We put a special pad in it to make it soft and comfy. Apparently someone else thought it was a perfect place to sleep.

She dragged her giant body pillow and her blankie down the stairs and tucked herself in.

And the best part...she's totally faking! She's practicing getting Bubba-Dog to "sleep in his own bed." I've said the same thing to her a thousand times this week.

So here's the question: If I bought another crate, would she sleep in it all night?

P.S. The best part of the story is that she carried down the waterless vaporizer and put it next to the bed. We've all had head colds here, and I guess it's one other thing that helps her sleep.

Naughty Babies!

Caught in the act!

So while I was in the shower, Gavin and Laynie decided to finish off the chocolates from the advent calender.

Yes, that is chocolate across her nose.

I guess they are my children. Is there anything better than chocolate in bed?

And Mom, here's the picture I promised a couple of days ago but never got around to posting.

Thanks for the cute hats! She loves them!

The Annual Santa Visit

Since it's Rexburg-like chilly outside and I had nothing constructive planned for the day, I decided it was time to visit our buddy SC.

Yeah....it's always a good idea. The line was only 40 minutes long to get into "Santa's Ice Palace sponsored by Narnia." And forgive me for sounding chauvinistic, but it was totally planned by a man. No woman would have put 55-inch TV screens at adult eye level and had synthetic snow falling from the ceiling. A cool idea (and a great way to market the next Narnia flick) but the snow sticks to our carefully selected Santa-matching outfits. Seriously! Look at Laynie's hair. Can you say horrific case of dandruff?

Luckily, my kids made it out of the "palace" in better shape than the kids who were trying to ball up the snow and throw it at each other.

Then it got to the smiling part of the portrait. You can all see how well that turned out. The elf-chick (who btw was at least 6'2" tall) took three quick pics and then said, "Well...I think this is the best one." In the other option, Gav and Laynie were both looking at the camera but their mouths were open ala reindeer in the headlights. I asked Gavin which one he liked better, and this was his selection. Awesome.

I hope your visits to Santa are memory-makers!

P.S. Gavin asked for dog toys (I'm totally not kidding) and Laynie asked for a "big baby doll." We stopped by Macy's on our way out and let them put their requests on letters and drop them in the red mailbox. Honestly, it was a pretty fun afternoon.

Lil' Biker Dude

Gav's a natural. He hopped on his birthday bike and cruised down the street.

Laynie ran after him like a happy puppy.

This is what I got when I said, "Smile Gavin!"

Apparently it runs in the family.

I wish it wasn't so flipping cold! Then Gavin could be out there enjoying his bike now, rather than making me crazy!