Well, we made it through another hectic holiday season. We enjoyed our time off and got to spend time with a lot of family. A couple weeks before Christmas, Chris' brother Lee and his family came up to Denton for a visit. While it was a short trip, it was good to see everyone. The twins and Avelinn keep getting bigger and bigger!
My parents came down just before Christmas and stayed until New Years Eve morning. They brought lots of gifts including a glider and several other baby items. My sister sent down some cute Illini booties! They are soooo small (and cute!) If our child takes after my big feet, he/she will be out-growing them in no time!
Christmas day was spent at Chris' mom's house. She had a small gathering over for dinner. We had a great meal and I think we all ate too much (as usual).
After Christmas, Chris' brother Ben came into town with his wife Brande and their 3 yr old son Jacob. We got to enjoy their time here.
The weather cooperated with us and we were able to take a trip to the lake between Christmas and New Years (I LOVE Texas weather). We went out with my parents, Ben, Brande, Jacob, Chris' cousin Chad and his wife Stacy. I think Jacob had the most fun. He got to drive the boat for awhile and then play in the cabin. He was climbing all over the bed and loved turning on and off all the little lights around the cabin.
We didn't do anything for New Years Eve. Just enjoyed a quite evening at home. I made it to about 12:30am and then I gave up and went to bed! The next day, we went to a bar in Dallas to watch Illinois in the Rose Bowl. The Dallas Illini club usually has a crowd of 20 or so people there watching the game. Unfortunately, a lot of the regulars were at the game and a lot of recent grads had gone "home" for the holidays. There were only a few tables of Illini fans. After a depressing first half, we left to spend a little more time with Ben and Brande since they were headed back to NOLA the next day.
We headed back to work on the 2nd and made it out to see ICE that night. ICE is an exhibit at the Gaylord Texan Hotel that features amazing ice sculptures. The rooms are kept at 9 degrees and there is over 2 million pounds of ice used. There wasn't as much to see as I was expecting, but at 9 degrees, we were ready to be done when we had seen it all. I'm not used to temperatures that low anymore! I've become a Texas cold-weather wimp.
Here are some pictures from the last couple weeks:
No big baby news this post. I'm feeling a lot of movement now. Chris can feel it at times as well and we can see movement. Last night, Chris felt a good one and I saw his hand move pretty good!
Since I haven't posted a picture in awhile, I figured it was time. I was really showing last night so I snapped a picture. Not the most flattering, but you get the idea. While my belly looks pretty big in this picture, I'm still not showing that much in my normal everyday clothes. A lot of people say I still don't look pregnant. Oh well, one of these days, there will be no denying it!
23 weeks, 4 days