he kept telling me to be careful not to cut his forehead

we went from thisto this.
not quite locks of love but pretty close I'd say. He's wanted his hair this short for a while but I've resisted. I love long hair on boys but I gotta say, I love seeing all the expression in his eyes.

So this is what I would tell you if you were here.

so...can i show you what I'm most excited having for the baby? i mean, I know its silly but its just taken me a while to get excited for girl stuff but today...I am really excited. So this is the dress I bought today that she'll be blessed in. I knew I wanted smocking but can't afford the price tag for most of it but I found this today on sale and knew it was what I wanted. This is the dress my mom bought for her (me) the day after I found out it was a girl. It was the only thing I could picture in my head for a long time. I got this to come home from the hospital in. I wanted something soft and comfy that I really liked. The yellow dress was either grandma dee's or older but something I got from her years ago.

These are some of the other things i've picked up that I liked and were on good discounts or were given to me. The tights were like $1. I probably went a little overboard but I've just been to some good sales since christmas.

These are all the hand-me-downs we've gotten. I haven't had a chance to look through all of it but I am so thankful for all of it. It makes me so happy to go and flip through these things.

well, if you were here I wouldn't have to say this because you would see it but I went from this...

to this.
I would also say that my sister found out that she's having her 2nd baby girl 3 months after ours and that Brittany just texted to tell me her mission call came in and I burst into tears. now my head hurts. We'll find out where she's going tonight!

this is one of those posts where i want lots of comments

another advice post. i just trust and depend on y'all's opinions and experience so much and i've been obsessing over this question.

Is a fancy double stroller worth it?

Here is my situation. I sold my travel system once Sam grew out of it. I never loved the car seat. it was hard to operate. I figured I made it last for 2 kids, they're not supposed to be used for more than like 5 or 6 years, so i might as well get my new car seat for my 3rd kid.

Now I can't decide if I should buy a car seat + a nice double stroller or just a regular travel system for one infant. We have a double umbrella stroller. I like it because it folds very small and we don't use it a ton. I'm a gym member and so most of my exercise is done there but there are times when I'll take 2 kids out. The umbrella stroller however shouldn't be used with kids under 6 months (so they say). In that time I'll be going on 1 or 2 beach trips (thank you parents!) and my gym will only take babies over 3 months, so I think a good stroller will be important.

A single travel system runs around $250. The phil and ted's stroller double stroller runs about $350 + $30 for car seat adapter + $100 for just the infant car seat. That's a huge difference.

The reasons i've been looking at the phil and teds is 1) it folds up very small comparative with other doubles--brent says that doesn't matter if we have a van but to me space is a big deal. who is right? 2) its easier to push than the cheaper tandem strollers. i hear they are not only bigger but much harder to push. I'm not stuck on the phil and ted's though if there is a better option price/functionality.

Sam and this unnamed baby girl will be closer in age than sam and jackson. maybe i'll use it more? What kinds of stroller systems do y'all have?

Did I write more than you were willing to read?

In our house we say Roll Tide!!

Yay for the Crimson Tide!

and this was the best pic of the 24 I took. Lori, I was thinking of you.

i felt like my blog wanted some pictures of my kids

one of 500 forts we've made
playing in the 1000s of impossibly-hard-to-clean-up styrofoam balls from said fort.

i made him try on his clothes for family pictures.

falling asleep in grandma's arms with his fingers crossed.

i couldn't really tell you why i took this picture.

picture outfit. i can only get him to smile for pictures when i count 1-2-3 and his plan is to run away on 3 but i snap on 1. family can back me up on his refusal to smile for the camera.

sharing some dinner on the floor.

grandma jan read books on dvds for christmas. totally loved it.

i love my boys. i love their ages. more so now so close to birthdays i wish i could will them both to stay the same age. they'll be 5 and 2!!! it just seems so old to me.

ok, so as you may have noticed, I haven't sewn in a long time. A few projects have really cured me of any desire to sew. Now I'm having a girl. I hear my old self looking at fabrics and projects saying "if only i had a girl!" but now I can't motivate myself. Do y'all have some simple-get-your-groove-back ideas for a girl? links to pictures but especially tutorials are very much appreciated. i'd like to have a project to start after christmas. i'd also love to learn how to knit/crochet/something that i can do on the couch downstairs with brent. how did y'all learn?

I might be bragging....

I hesitantly say, I think I'm ready for Christmas. I'm sure I'll go back to the stores. I'll do more cooking. But for the most part, I'm not stressed and I still have 15? days to go (if we're up to date on our Christmas countdown). Here's my proof.
Christmas at Chilhowie park. We go every year but I really don't know why. They have free hot chocolate, marshmellow roasting, pictures with Santa, carriage rides, balloon animals etc. Well, its free if you don't mine waiting with children in a 20min.-1.5 hour line! Jackson loves it. Last night we waited in the hot chocolate line until we realized they were out. He didn't care. He just moved to the end of the balloon line without ever complaining. He was thrilled the whole time he waited and honestly, I was proud, or rather grateful, for him. I found myself thinking good things come to those who wait and he just seems to know that. (He's been saving his money for Disneyworld for at least 6 months even though I told him we'll go when he's 8.)
Christmas goodies for friends and neighbors.

Christmas cinnamon rolls for the families Brent and I home/visit teach.

I know this just looks like a plate of cookies. It is so much more. I've made the same recipe for my whole marriage. It's awesome. It's my mother-in-laws and deserves a post of its own. Starting in July every time I made them they went totally flat and crumbly. It was so hard going from memorized, easy, always amazing cookies, to flat, crumbly, stressful cookies. I seriously made a dozen recipes of bad cookies and couldn't figure out what was wrong. Last night, I don't know if it was a Christmas miracle or new shortening but they were the beautiful cookies I love. I sang for their beauty and deliciousness but too bad for you, didn't record our festivities.

Well, this is the best Santa picture this year. oh well. nobody's life is perfect. :)