Joshua in 3D!!

We had scheduled a 3D/4D ultrasound as mom's Christmas gift (and because we really wanted to do it) and today was the big day! As Ben says, "this stuff never gets old". Seeing Joshua in 3D was unbelievable. We watched him open his mouth, stick out his tounge and chew on his umbilical cord. Yes, you read that correctly...he was chewing on his cord. He kept his left arm up over his head and his face right up against the placenta so it was hard to get a good picture of him, but it looks like he has his daddy's chin and jawline and possibly my nose. Regardless of who he resembles, he is perfect.

Joshua with his left arm over his head. Can you see all his perfect little fingers?!

Joshua's face. Look at those perfect lips!

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas, dear friends & family!! Ben and I hope that you are warm, happy, and surrounded by those you love. We are enjoying our first (and last!) Christmas by ourselves. While it's strange to have it be so quiet, it's nice.

Joshua celebrated his first Christmas with a dance number that would put the Rockettes to shame. He kept me up from 2am until 6am with high kicks, low kicks and all sorts of tumbling moves. He's never been that active for that long. While he may have his father's love of pizza, he most definitely already has his mother's love of Christmas! We will be quite the pair in years to come. I picture us racing each other down the stairs to see what Santa has brought. Poor Ben will be ripped out of a cozy slumber by Joshua's shouts and my jumping on the bed. He'll love it. :)

We hope that your Christmas and this last week of the year is a beautiful one! We send all of our love, kisses and hugs to our families who we are missing terribly.

"Someday soon we all will be together, if the fates allow.

Hang a shining star upon the highest bough,

and have yourself a merry little Christmas now!"

Oh. My. Goodness.

OK. Does it freak anyone else out that the ticker at the top of the page says that there are only 100 DAYS until Joshua is due to arrive?!?! Because it makes me panic just a little bit. One hundred days is not a long time. I feel like there are so many things to do and so little time. This is more stressful than planning our wedding!!!

On the bright side of things...somewhere around 100 days from now, I'll be holding my son in my arms. That makes it all better. :)

Timothy!

We did a whirlwind trip to visit friends and family this weekend. It was the weekend of the Nodine Men Annual Christmas "Shopping" Trip. I actually think they did really shop this year too! Impressive, huh? :) The ladies stayed at Kim's house and talked and fawned over the newest addition to our family - Timothy! He is a very happy baby, but does NOT like having his diaper changed! Brian are Carly are wonderfully proud parents (with good reason!) and were so nice to let me completely monopolize my nephew. Of course, I shared Timothy with Ben and both seemed to enjoy the experience.
Timothy is just beginning to smile as well and it was wonderful to see him give his Uncle Ben an example of his newly aquired skill.
We had such a great time this weekend seeing everyone. Thanks to Todd & Andrea, Tori & Jay, Matt & Rebecca (Matthew & Natalie too!) and the Birtwistles for taking the time to visit with us! We miss you all and can't wait to see you again once Joshua is here!!