December Fun

December has been a little better than November was for us.  Sara started taking some over-the-counter medicines to help with the "morning" sickness, which did help a little.  She still spent quite a bit of time on the couch, but definitely started seeing some improvements by the end of the month. 

We started out December by getting to see Sara's long-time best friend, Jaime, and her son, Grant!  They flew home for a quick weekend visit - what a change for them, to go from mild weather in Arizona to quite chilly temperatures here in Michigan!  We were so glad to have the chance to spend some time with them!  Grant has changed so much since we saw him in October - why do these kids have to grow up so fast?  ;-P  He's still such a cute little man - and so happy!  Jaime snapped some pictures of the three of us in front of her mom's tree for our Christmas cards, but mostly we just spent a lot of time talking and visiting, which is always the best! 

On December 14th, Sara had her first ultrasound.  There was some question as to the baby's due date, so the doctor's wanted to do an ultrasound to ensure a higher degree of accuracy.  The baby was measuring over 11 weeks at that time and was quite active.  Carson enjoyed looking at the ultrasound pictures that evening.  It finally sunk into him, too.  After looking at the ultrasound picture for a few minutes, he looked up with a look of wonder on his face and said "I really AM going to be a big brother!?  Oh this is so wonderful!  The baby is beautiful!"  We think he's going to be such a sweet big brother.  :)

December was also filled with lots of Christmas preparation and activities.  We found Carson's annual tree ornament - a replica of the Fisher Price Little People house that Sara actually had as a child, which Carson absolutely loves to play with at his Nana's and Papa's house.  Unfortunately, this ornament does not have a working garage door, but it opens up just like the house and has a working doorbell!

We made some Christmas goodies, though not as many as we usually do.  Unfortunately, we didn't get any Christmas baking done, but we did manage to make a couple yummy treats - some chocolate covered pretzel rods and white chocolate peppermint popcorn bark.  Sara also made a couple Christmas gifts this year for her friends... a padded camera strap cover for Jaime (and one for myself, too!) and a monogram painting for Sara and Adam.  Hopefully they like(d) them!  :)

Carson had a classroom party on his last day of school, December 20th.  The parents were invited in for the party and the children sang us some Christmas songs they've been learning (different from the songs they learned for their program), they gave the parents some homemade Christmas tree ornaments they have worked so hard on, and we all got to decorate sugar cookies for a snack.  It was a fun time!

The evening of December 20th, we attended the Faith Lutheran Preschool Christmas Program.  Carson had quite the entourage in the audience, cheering him on - Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Dan, Aunt Julie, Anna, Joel, Nana, Papa, Aunt Jeri, Uncle Mike, Mama, and Daddy.  He felt quite special.  :)  He didn't really sing many words of the songs (though he does know them well because he sings them all the time at home), but he did do most of the motions.  The rest of the time, he was busy giving shout-outs to his entourage in the audience,  jumping up and down the stairs, talking to his friends in class, and yes, the teacher did have to come over and speak to him about four times during the 25-minute program.  :)  He did very well, though he was a little star struck, we think.  :) 

Carson shared something funny that I need to include here, as well... when we left his class party on the 20th and got into the car, Carson was quite somber for a few minutes.  I asked him what was wrong.  He says "Gabi told me today that she can't like me anymore!"  Gabi is one of the girls in his class, whom Carson has had a crush on since day one.  A few weeks ago, they both decided they liked each other.  Well, I guess that on Monday, during the rehearsal for the Christmas program, they were talking and whatnot... and the teacher had to hush them a few times.  Well, Gabi told Carson she can't like him anymore because he got her in trouble!  LOL!  His first crush and his first heartbreak.  Carson has decided that Gabi was just having a bad day and things will be back to the way they were when they get back to school after break.  :)