Amazing wife

Just a quick post to say how much I love my wife, Candace. She's truly amazing. Every week, I have at least 2-3 people tell me how great my wife is...and truly she is.

She must have spent 6 hours making Ashley a super special birthday cake.  This is on top of planning the whole party, taking care of a sick Ashley, being 7.5 months pregnant, and doing all the other things that make Candace amazing.

So here's to my amazing wife of 9+ years!

From Ashley's Birthday

Dallas vacation pics

Just posted a bunch of pics from our post-Christmas vacation to Dallas Six Flags over texas - we had a great time and got to see our dear friends, the Grahams!  We saw amazing ice sculptures, a life-size gingerbread house, and went on tons of fun rides:

http://picasaweb.google.com/kevandcan/DallasTrip#

Ashley's Birthday

Well, I think it officially feels like we had Ashley's birthday now that her party is over. For the past month she's been asking when she could "go to my birthday" as if it were a place. :) I think perhaps she was thinking that the party is her birthday... We kept telling her it was after Christmas, so since then we've been really on countdown mode. She was a little sad after all her friends left yesterday. It all goes so quickly!

http://picasaweb.google.com/kevandcan/AshleySBirthday#

Whew! A princess party (or any party, for that matter) is a lot of work! All the girls wore their "royal attire" and we had a princess parade with music, played stick the crown on the princess, read "Cinderella," went on a treasure hunt and got dress up jewelry out of the treasure chest, decorated tiaras, got pictures with the castle tent and/or friends, and ate lunch and cake! Friends took home their jewelry plus a little bag containing a homemade coloring book, crayons, crown shaped sugar cookie, stickers, and candy bracelets.

From Ashley's Birthday

I think the girls had fun and it was great to see my kids help prepare things and enjoy it. Jeremy was a great helper between making a treasure map, helping the girls with their jewelry, and mixing pink lemonade. Jonathan hid out upstairs except when he joined us for lunch and cake. Guess he was afraid of all that girly stuff, when in truth it was far less chaotic than his party!

Time to take a little break from all the fun we've been having! :)

My sweet Ashley

My first daughter, and currently youngest child, turns 3 today.  I love Ashley so very much.  I've found out it's true what they say about Daddies and their daughters.  There's just something special between her and me.  She loves to give me kisses, dance with me, and runs out to the car when I leave or come home - jumping up and down she's so excited to see me.

So here's a short post wishing my Beautiful Ashley a wonderful 3 years - from her Dad and biggest fan.

Christmas Photos

We've posted a bunch of photos of ou Christmas fun on Picasa:

http://picasaweb.google.com/kevandcan/2008Christmas#

We had a WONDERFUL Christmas here at our house. We decided to let the kids open their big present from Mom and Dad on Christmas Eve morning and I think that was a really good choice. They were able to play (and focus on) that toy all day long. They then opened their presents from each other on Christmas eve and enjoyed playing with those then. We did Santa's presents on Christmas morning and then Grandparent presents Christmas day. It was a nice way to spread out the gift opening/receiving so we could focus on it and not just look for the next package to open.

30 weeks!

Woo-Hoo! I am 30 weeks pregnant as of earlier this week. That just sounds good! Like it's really getting close to countdown phase.... I love it. I'm still mostly comfortable with the belly (besides trying to shave my legs or put on nylons) but it's soon going to be at the hard - to - manage phase, so I'm trying to enjoy it now :)

I've only gained 10 pounds - which is normal for me but I thought I would gain more this time since I was actually gaining at the beginning instead of losing. The strange thing is that the last couple months I haven't gained any. And it always makes me feel a little worried - well not seriously worried but I can't think of the right word - that the baby's growing and getting enough. I am eating.... I'm just hoping my body's not being sucked of too much of the nutrients that I need! Baby / uterus is measuring fine, so I won't stress - the rest of the kids have been average size babies and it's easier to lose afterwards probably. And in the past it always picks up at the end, so I'm sure it will... if I can eat enough frequently enough without getting too much heartburn :)

The baby is really active right now - not too squished yet but definitely big enough that all the kids have felt kicking and moving. That's really fun. And Kevin still loves talking to the baby right up next to my belly. He's such a cute daddy. We are still trying to decide on names -they are a surprise but we have a boy first name picked out and a few options for girls...

By the time the holidays and Kevin's birthday are over, and , there will only be 5-7 weeks left and I can really start the countdown, getting things set up and washed, etc.!

... is Coming to Town...

Nope, not Santa Claus just yet. I'm talking about the barfs. All of our friends have had it and somehow blessedly we've escaped it....until tonight (hence the 3 am post while the washing machine is doing its thing).

Poor Jonathan was looking forward to one of the most fun school days of the year - the last day before Christmas break. I was planning to help with the party, they have a sing-along in the gym, no spelling test, plus he had a playdate after school he had been looking forward to too. At least watching Wall-E will still be on the agenda for our Family Fun Night, or earlier....