I keep thinking I'll wait until I have time to upload my pics from Christmas before I write this post but it's not looking like that's gonna happen any time soon. :) Our Christmas was GREAT! We had our annual Christmas breakfast casserole with some spiced cider to start out our day. We look forward to this tradition every year and it was nice to be able to share this with E this year. Then we went into the living room and let Easton go after all the presents from Santa. He enjoyed opening his gifts but was a little overwhelmedwith all of the new things. He'd open a gift and then crawl off to play with something we've had for a while. Then he'd come back over and check out a new toy for a minute and then it was off to check out an old favorite. He did say "Wow!" a lot and "ho ho ho" which was pretty cute.

Santa brought him a Fisher Price kitchen/living room, some toy food, a baby doll (to help learn "be gentle to the baby" and get ready for our new arrival in June), and a big bag of 100 balls for our "ball pit" in the living room. Aunt Leslie and Uncle Terry and cousins sent a Handy Manny toolbox that sings "Let's Get To Work". That kinda freaked him out the first time he pushed the button and the tools started jumping up and down and singing but now he loves to crawl over to it, push the button and sit there and dance to the music. Nanny and Papa Kyle got him a MegaBlock Dump truck and a Bounce and Spin Zebra. He's still not quite sure what to make of that zebra but I'm pretty sure it will be a huge hit once he figures it out.

Easton got so much new stuff that we decided we needed to rearrange the living room to make more room. We boxed up all the Christmas decorations (WOW! Before Valentine's Day! lol) and pulled all the furniture out away from the walls so we could decide where we wanted everything. I looked over at Jason and said "Hey, wouldn't this be a great time to paint?" I thought he'd just look at me like I had lost my mind but he actually agreed. We both decided if we didn't take advantage of this chance to paint now, we probably wouldn't do it until WAY after baby number 2 comes along. So we loaded up into the car, went to Lowes and bought some paint and supplies. We painted the living room "Cake Batter" (a light cream/tan). 3 of our bedroom walls are painted this color and we love it so we decided to carry that color throughout the house. Our living room is almost done. We just have one wall left to do and then Jason will start on the hallway.

I'm really enjoying the new look and Easton is LOVING having more room to play. He actually has one whole corner of the living room as his play area. We cleaned up the swimming pool from this summer and brought it in the house. We filled it with balls and now it's his "ball pit". He LOVES it! He wears himself out climbing in, throwing the balls out, then climbing out and throwing them back in. I love having this corner of the living room as Easton's toy area because now at least everything has a place. Some people would say that the living room isn't the place for kids toys...they should be in their room or outside or stored away. But we spend most of our time in here so we like to have Easton playing where we are and he enjoys it too. So for now, our living room (or at least one corner) is taken over by toys. And I wouldn't have it any other way. :)

A WHOLE DAY!!! A whole day without throwing up. Oh man, it's been nice not to start my day off with an in-depth look at the toilet. And I'm busy working on the LAST assignment for this awful sociology class I'm in. If I can just get through today without the evening queasies I normally get about 8:30, then I will be pretty happy. And if I can get the paper done, I'll be even happier. But I thought a 5 minute break and a blog about NOT puking would be a nice treat for us all.
Update: I got that paper done and submitted at 9:44 pm. Woohoo! FINALLY! Now it's off to take a hot bath and get my sleepy self to bed! And still no throwing up. Maybe just MAYBE this is the turning point. Oh happy day! (Keep your fingers crossed for me!)

Did you ever call someone and then totally forget why you called them? I just did that with my sister-in-law. How about go looking for an item and it turn out to be already in your hand? Just did that with my cell phone earlier. Ever read an email and thought to yourself "Oh, I'll answer this when I have more time to respond" and get around to finally writing that email over a month later? Yep...just did that w/a friend who emailed me back in November. (Sorry, Kristy!) I have been a wreck lately! Granted, my mind is on overload because of a paper I'm trying to write (at the last minute before it's due...typical.) but still! They say it only gets worse as you get older and if that's the case, I'm in big trouble! I know there's such a thing as Alzheimer's but do you think I could have Half-zheimers maybe????
If you're waiting on an email from me don't think I'm ignoring you...emailing and blogging have been pitifully low on my priority list these days.
To everyone I know: No, I'm not mad at you, no I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, yes I'm feeling slightly better and not puking all the time, no I don't know when I'll get around to calling and yes I'm very, very sorry for the delay in calling/emailing/sending pictures/blogging. There...does that cover it all? :)
Hooray for the long Christmas weekend and a break from school until Jan 6th! Whew! Now that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel things don't look quite so crazy.
Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas! And do a little lounging around in your pajamas just because you can, OK? That's my favorite thing to do when I can...just relax!

Wow! What a busy week! Monday, Easton had a follow up for his flu shot and he did great! Didn't even flinch or make a peep! What a tough guy! Then we went to the library and checked out lots of books...2 for me and about 10 for Easton!
Tuesday, we took my friend Katy's mom to run some errands and have some tests at the hospital.
Wednesday, we had a free day and stayed home in our pajamas all day. It was wonderful!
Thursday, we picked up Katy's mom again for more errands and took her back to the hospital for more tests.
Today, I had a doctor's appointment. Easton went along of course. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time today. It is always amazing to see or hear a baby before you actually get to meet them in real life. Easton was great all through the appt. I think he was wondering what in the world that doctor was doing with that weird, noisy thing on mama's belly. I was only a little surprised to see that I hadn't gained any weight since my last appointment a month ago. My belly is certainly bigger than a month ago so I was guessing I'd have gained some weight in the past few weeks. I guess all the throwing up will do that to you. Speaking of throwing up, yes it is still going on. I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I'm just gonna be sick every single morning before I can get on with my day. Hopefully it doesn't last too much longer, but at least it's finally tolerable most of the day.
After the doctor today, we went to Walmart and picked up some Christmas presents from Jason's mom. (Easton's Nanny) Next, it was off to Sears to pick up Easton's Christmas pictures and get a gift for Jason's gift exchange at work. By the time we got home it was time for a late lunch of grilled cheese and tomato soup and a nap for both of us. I'm really taking advantage of Easton's naptimes these days. He's a pretty good napper most days so that means a well-rested mama. :)
I'm trying to finish up the last week of my Sociology class. I've just got to write a paper by Monday and I'm done. Speaking of class, I was able to talk to my advisor and get my major changed to something much more interesting...early childhood education. Now WHY didn't my original advisor put me in that program in the first place? That's what I told him I wanted to major in but he told me the way to go was Social Science. I guess he thought I'd find a job more readily by having such a less specialized degree. But Social Science bored me to tears and I couldn't imagine spending the next 18 months studying classes much like my current one that is so terrible. YUCK! No thank you! So I switched my major and now I have to get my transcripts reevaluated and see how my classes will apply to the Early Childhood Ed track. And they also have something called SmartTrack which allows me to get credits toward both my bachelor's and master's degrees in the same classes. That would be great! Maybe one day I'll finally have my degree after all these years.
Right now Easton is in bed and Jason and I are watching the Chronicles of Narnia and lounging around in our pajamas, looking forward to a nice, relaxing weekend ahead. I just felt the baby move for the first time today. Seems like he/she's gonna be more active in the evenings just like big brother Easton was.
P.S. Easton can now say WOW! Too cute! He can also say what sounds like Nana or Nanny but not always on demand.

How are you feeling? The million dollar question these days. It depends on when you ask me. I still start (and usually end) almost every day throwing up. But thankfully the majority of the day I'm almost back to my normal self. I'm trying very hard to start eating better. For the longest time I could only eat starchy stuff like pasta or cheesy things like mac and cheese or quesadillas. I consider it a major victory if I manage to get in any vegetables or actual meat during the day. And yes, I feel incredibly guilty about eating junky foods but when you've been vomiting all day every day for months, you just count yourself lucky to be able to keep your food down at all.
Seriously people, I did not intend for this blog to be all about throwing up. Sorry. But so many people have asked lately and I just thought I'd let you know. Yep. Still happening. But much less so than before. Hallelujah!
Now if I could just stand to actually consume some healthy foods, we'd be alright.
In other news, I'm taking Easton to Sears to have his pictures made tomorrow. We're way behind on getting his 1 year old pictures taken.
Other Easton-related news...he took a few steps on his own yesterday! He's still mostly cruising around holding onto everything but last night he actually took some steps by himself. He was pretty proud of himself and a little freaked out by it. He still has no teeth. 3 teeny, tiny white spots on the bottom where there will eventually be teeth but the actual teeth still haven't made their appearance.
And that's about it for Easton. Jason's working a lot right now getting ready for an audit at work and I'm still working on my Sociology class. I had hoped it would be more interesting than the last class I took but I am bored to tears. Thankfully I've only got two weeks left to go til I get a small break until Jan 6th. My next class is Computer Skills and during that class, I'm going to have a serious talk with my academic advisor and see about changing my major. If this Intro to Soc class is any indication of how the rest of my classes will go, I think I am not meant to be a Social Science major. ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz! BOR-ing! We shall see.
I have my next regular checkup Dec. 19th and an ultrasound on Jan. 15th. Keep your fingers crossed that the baby cooperates on the 15th and we'll get to find out the sex of our little baby question mark. :)

Ok, since it's now DECEMBER, let me go ahead and finally post my "Easton in the pumpkin patch" pictures and the pics from Halloween. :) Better late than never, right?

Easton in the pumpkin patch

A delirously tired cowboy Easton and his trusty horse. We didn't get too many good shots of him in his costume...he went to bed about 5 minutes after these were was taken. He was worn out!

P.S. Thanks to Jenni and family for his Halloween costume! He has worn it a lot and always looks SO cute in it!

Here's Easton and Daddy takin' a break together. Eating some Cheerios and watching the people go by.


I just love this picture. It might be my favorite out of the hundreds I've taken. We were in Williamsburg and had just sat down to rest on a park bench. Easton was just hanging out in Jason's lap and looked so cute!

Here's Easton about to have lunch. I just love his little feet sticking out. He does this thing with his feet where they are CONSTANTLY moving. My mom and I call it his "twirly, whirly feet". It's too cute!

Easton in the tub at Aunt Leslie's. I didn't get permission to put the other tub pictures I took on here so I won't...they're blackmail pics of E and his cousin Alexa, playin' in the tub together. I'll save those to show to his first serious girlfriend. :)

Oh, or THIS one might be my favorite. It's so hard to choose!

Hi, mom! Now ya see me...

Now ya don't!

Easton and his favorite blue bear (backup bear in case we misplace his favorite yellow bear)

Handsome little man!





Is that a tooth? Nope. Not yet! Almost though. Any day now.




Daddy and Easton in their matching shirts. Looks like Easton works for Kingsdown.

Easton and his favorite music maker...the activity table from Aunt B. He likes to play music and then dance to it by bouncing up and down. Too cute!