Gingerbread house

Last night we made our gingerbread house. It was a fun family activity.

We have been busy with other holiday crafts. We made our annual Christmas mice for Spencer's holiday work party last Friday.

Aubrey painting an ornament.

I have been trying out a new craft lately, etching glass. This is what we are passing out to our family this year:

On a side note. Carter started sitting up all by himself right after Thanksgiving. He is also starting to scoot himself around. Not crawling yet but he has figured away to get around kind of. He tried puffs for the very first time on Friday.

Our New Camra

For Christmas this year Spencer and I bought each other a new camera. We have some excellent models to work with. This new camera has so many fun new features.

This is one of my favorite features:

You pick one color that you want and then the rest of the picture is black and white.

We can also make things miniature. This is our Christmas village that is already small but this feature made it even smaller:

Not sure when we would really use this feature bot looks cool and silly:

A picture of my awesome family:

Sonora

Last weekend we went to Sonora. My parents house is just about done but they still have a few big projects. Spencer has been an excellent helper to my dad. They had to get all the base boards in before the carpets are installed this week. My dad, Spencer, and brother worked very hard while my mom, Aubrey, Carter and I played. We went up to Long Barn on Saturday. There was a little snow on the ground so our little California Girl actually saw snow and touched it. The first thing she said was "It's white and cold!"

The reason we went up to Long Barn was to go to a very cute Ice Skating Rink. This was Aubrey's first time on skates and I have to say she did very well. We went around three times and she didn't fall down once. She almost did but I caught her. The walker was great. It was a very fun day.

Nana, Aubrey and Carter watched me for a little bit.

The guys!

We love their house. Isn't it BEAUTIFUL!

Making Cookies

My friend and I have a baby sitting exchange every week. Emily, Aubrey and I made Christmas cookies together last week. They had a blast.

Best Friends enjoying their yummy cookies.

Christmas Happenings

It's sure feeling a lot like Christmas over here. We put up our tree the Monday after Thanksgiving. Aubrey was very excited and loved helping me set up all the decorations through out the house. She also enjoyed hanging the ornaments. Carter was amazed with all the lights and if he can roll himself over to under the tree he likes to grab on the branches.

The first picture is where Aubrey thinks the angel should go.

This year Aubrey got her very own pink tree for her room. It was a joy to see how excited she was and watch her put up every single ornament all by herself.

Last Saturday was a Christmas filled day. We first went to a fundraiser that my mom's group was hosting. The kids got to set on Santa's lap, make a craft and enjoy hot chocolate and cookies.

Then we walked to our Main Street for the annual Christmas parade.

Saturday night was my companies Christmas party at my bosses house. We had excellent food and fun visiting with everyone. Aubrey played with the cats all night. I was pretty busy so the only picture I got was Aubrey playing with the cats.

Even in our busy schedule we still had time to do some yard work and put up our outside lights.

I think our house is all ready for the holidays now we just need to get all our shopping done.

My Health

Since Carter is 7 months today it is also 7 months since my huge ordeal so I thought it would be appropriate to let you all now what has been going on and how I'm doing. I feel great! The doctors are all very amazed and happy that I have been able to recover so quickly. I have been staying up on my medications and all my office visits I have also lost all my baby weight plus 10lbs. Since I recovered very fast and I'm running around after a 2 year old and a baby my doctor said that I didn't have to go to rehab. I have been so blessed with this great outcome. My cardiologist referred me to go to Standford for a follow up and to see if I was on the right path. They were very pleased with the care that I have been given. I have had two echo's since May. The one I had in October showed that my right side of the heart was back to normal size and the left side was just a slightly enlarged which I guess is pretty common for most everyone that just had a baby recently so he was not to worried. I also had an echo at Stanford but have not heard the results yet. The doctor at Stanford said that I'm very lucky. He has seen lots of other women that have not had this good of an outcome. Many women that have this happen have to either carry a device that keeps their heart pumping or a heart transplant. He also informed us of what exactly went wrong. When I thought I had the cold that started in February that never ended was actually the beginning of heart failure. All the swelling I experienced was heart failure. My body was basically shutting down. He said it is a lot easier to diagnose after the fact and hard to during since all of the symptoms are the same as pregnancy. The fact that I had this happen to me while I was pregnant not after is quite scary. Words can not express how very grateful that I am that I was able to survive. I'm upset that this happened and I'm mad that my OBGYN and family doctor had no idea what was going on. I guess it would have been hard for them to know but it would have made me feel better to know what exactly what was happening. I have been told that it would be very scary and risky to have another baby. This has been very hard for me to take in and to talk about. I feel a bit confused because I know that I should be so grateful for the two beautiful children that I have and the fact that I'm okay but it is a very hard thing to hear. I have always pictured having three or four and I feel I have been cut short. It's hard to have plans for your life and then have them change on you. I have to stay grateful for all I do have. I love my family more then anything. Thank you everyone for all your love and support.

I love you all!

Carter is 7 months

Happy 7 months Carter! We actually got this picture done a couple of weeks ago and I haven't had a chance to post our professional pictures so here is a sneak peck. Carter is growing and growing everyday. Both yesterday and today Carter has been sitting up all on his own for long periods of time. He is still drooling like crazy but no teeth. I think we finally have him on a more established schedule. Wake at 7am breakfast/play, nap at 9am-11am play and eat, nap at 1pm-3:30pm, play, eat, play, eat and 7pm night time. He wakes up sometimes in the middle of night but we just give his Binky and he is fine. Carter still loves being in a swaddle and Daddy does the very best ones. We love you to pieces Carter!