Maternity photos

Since this is my very last baby & I have stopped working, I thought I'd grab a few maternity photos of myself for posterity & for little Charlotte Grace.  I happened to find this gown at the Goodwill for $6 & thought it would photograph well.  I like how these turned out, although, these have been a rough few weeks & I don't really know when baby will arrive (my due date & size of baby keeps varying) I know I'm close.  Tomorrow I have an OB appointment & am hoping to schedule an induction, if she doesn't come tonight, which at this point, nothing would surprise me!  For now, she's still tucked in my belly safe & warm & although, we don't know what to expect with Ms. Charlotte, I'm guessing she'll bring something very special to our family.  Big thanks to Michael for a new upgraded camera lens & for a new remote for my camera, both made these so much easier.  Up for tomorrow, a few maternity photos with the girls.....

This one is an outtake, but it's funny to me

Christmas 2016

Christmas 2016 was our best one yet....I know I always say that, but it's true.  Between the traditions & the fun we had as a family, there are many moments which bring my heart joy.  Despite being basically 9 months pregnant, Santa still made sure he got everything wrapped & got all the details finished.  The girls left cookies for Santa & carrots for the reindeer.  On Christmas morning, we were awoken to little voices saying "he came, he came" and many giggles & squeals followed.  Jessica's big gift were her bike & a Kindle I won at a dental meeting & Ella's big gifts were her American girl doll, Samantha & Torch the FurReal friends dragon.  They each were spoiled by family & got so many wonderful things.  Each year as I watch the girls open their gifts, I am reminded of how very blessed we are to be able to give them all their hearts desire for Christmas, within reason of course, because in our house, Santa can only bring 5 gifts each with a few surprises. After we had enjoyed the girls opening gifts, we had brunch & prepared for family to come to share the day with us.  What a wonderful day it was & how happy my heart truly is that we are able to give our girls this type of childhood.  The day after Christmas was wonderful & warm, so they got to play with their new toys outside.

I even caught Santa putting presents under the tree :)

Wedding dress

Both girls have been asking a lot about my wedding dress lately & Jessica is very into the Nutcracker this Christmas season.  For whatever reason, she really wanted to try on my wedding dress & dance in it like Clara from the Nutcracker.   Since it is icy weather today & really no where to go I thought I'd let her.  She looked so cute all dressed up.

Santa 2016

The annual visit with Santa was a magical one this year.  The girls both loved him & they made sure to tell him the presents they wanted.  Jessica's response was quite different than I imagined as she was star struck & forgot her list to the point of needing me to remind her of what she wanted.  She was jumping for joy before she even got to see Santa.  This Santa was very sweet & told the girls he looked forward to the special cookies they would make for him, he said he loved the ones they left for him last year.  Always grateful I can buy the digital files & edit myself, these were particularly not level & over exposed, but a few tweaks & I think we got some keepers.  Love these little ones & so thankful they still enjoy this tradition!