MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

We hope you enjoy this week before Christmas and get ready for some fun family time!  I know it is still hard for me to believe that Christmas is so close, but we are ready!!  Presents are bought and wrapped, we're getting ready to cook, and family will be on their way shortly! 

Ho Ho Ho!

We went and saw Santa on Saturday!  I felt that we had to have a yearly Santa picture, but Caroline wasn't quite as excited.  We went early Saturday morning to the Galleria and didn't have any wait.  The timing was perfect, however once she spotted Santa, she froze.  We have been talking about Santa quite a bit and she loves to see pictures and even knows that he says "Ho ho!!"  But with all of that lead up, nothing could quite prepare her for the actual guy!  We sat her in his lap and had quite a few crying pictures!  I wish we would have bought some of those, but instead we got her to calm down if both Josh and I were in the picture.  Oh and the Dora fruit snacks in her hand definitely helped...  :)  The picture is scanned so it really isn't the best quality, but we did it!



What a difference a year makes!



SO PROUD!!!

Josh finished the White Rock Marathon Relay for the 4th year in a row on Sunday!  This year was especially difficult because not only was it 30 degrees outside, but he was also REALLY sick!  He had a 102 degree fever Friday night and did not sleep. However he did a great job!  I tried to talk him out of running the whole weekend, but he insisted and did not want to let his team down.  We are SO proud of him!  Caroline was bundled up but refused to wear her mittens and would not put her hands under her blankets.  So, needless to say she was pretty cold when we got back to the car.

We were all quite tired from the cold weather, waking up really early, and just the excitement of the day that we all went home and just relaxed the rest of the day!!  It was a great weekend despite the sicknesses and we had some great family quality time. 

And he will be called...

COOPER!!

We are excited to announce that we will name our little boy Cooper Fries Botts. Josh and I really liked the name Cooper before and think it fits perfectly for this little one!  Fries, although it is spelled like "fries" is actually pronounced "freese".  This is Josh's middle name and the last name of his maternal grandfather.  Josh was very close to him and always looked up to him.  For that we really want to continue the tradition and honor him. 

I am now 26 weeks pregnant and doing really well!  The nausea and sickness is all gone and now I'm just watching my stomach grow quickly before my eyes!  Cooper is a little kicker and prefers to be awake during the night.

The Friday after Thanksgiving Josh and I decided to start working on his room.  We are going to transform Josh's old office into Cooper's room.  The walls were already painted blue and we've decided to use a lot of the decor that was already in there.  This was basically the "catch all" room for Josh's stuff so we are going to continue using his old antique toys and games.  That way those things still have a place.  Unfortunately, there's quite a bit more that had to go.  I guess this is the point in life where you decide what you really need and what has to go to make room for the kids!  Our house is growing smaller quite quickly!  We still have our guestroom though and put the desk out in our loft.  So don't feel too sorry for him!  :) 



The Room Before...

  There might be one piece of furniture that we can't get rid of.  Caroline discovered the office chair and Daddy showed her a fun new game.  The two of them have done this over and over for long periods of time.  It is SO cute to see her laughing.  She's quite the dare-devil! 

 We were lucky enough to receive a toddler bed from Josh's brother's family.  We put bedding on it and set it in her room next to her crib.  So far she has loved playing in it and reading books, but I am just not sure if she's quite ready to transition.  We might just have to buy another crib for a little while...  we will see!

Giving Thanks!

This Thanksgiving we were most thankful for Grandmother Suzanne's health!  She was in the hospital up until 2 days before, so we changed our plans and decided to stay close.  We certainly did miss everyone in Newton!  However, Josh and I hosted and cooked our first Thanksgiving dinner all by ourselves.  Although we were a little skeptical about how it would go (okay, I was skeptical... Josh was excited!), it could not have been more fun!  Josh and I worked together and everything turned out great! 

With only a few days notice, we made do with what table decor we had.  I had a great idea for an art project with Caroline and thought she would LOVE making turkies out of her handprints.  Boy was I wrong!  The second I put the paint on her hand, she looked at me like I was crazy doing something terrible to her!  So, I basically got one actual handprint from her.  However, I ended up copying each one and using them for place cards.

The Boys even battled the cold for a little football!