How can this be?

"Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it you can never get it back." -Harvey MacKay

Can you believe that this little guy...

...was born 2 years ago on Thursday? It just doesn't seem right in my mind - at once, it feels both like he should be younger and older than that! Time is quite confusing!

Let's see how the last two years has changed my Andrew Tyler:

• He's gained something around 24 lbs
• He's grown more than 14 inches. The last appointment he had was 6 months ago, so I can't tell you any really accurate stats on his height and weight
• He's learned how to hold his head up, roll over, sit up, crawl, cruise, walk, and RUN (one of his favorite things to do!)
• He's popped out something like 20 teeth, maybe more, maybe less. It's harder to check nowadays!
• He's grown enough hair for two haircuts, though it took a LONG time for anyone to even be able to see any hair on his head
• He's learned to talk. A lot. He was a talker from birth, but now he's really talking to us! We still have no idea what he's saying half the time, but we can definitely tell what his favorite things are by the words he says most: Mickey, cars, truck, football, Buckeyes, touchdown, papa (Grandpa), daddy... yep, he's all boy!
• He's still the sweetest, most outgoing kid you'll meet, but he's also learned how to throw a tantrum! Flailing on the floor is a current behavioral staple in his repertoire
• He's able to throw a ball like a fiend, so don't get in the way if he has a ball in his hand(s)!
• He loves to see his own baby pictures. In fact, he asks to see them whenever we turn on the laptop or he sees our cell phones, silly boy. He points to himself and says, "Baby!" Hopefully that means he'll be more open to the new baby when we bring it home in February...? (He still doesn't get that he's going to be a big brother!)

There's lots more, but then I'll really begin to gush about my cute little boy!

And here he is, two (almost) whole years later!

Our future basketball player!

I love this little boy!

Secret: Some of my favorite movies are Disney movies - Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Mulan... they're just so classic! How can you not like them? Which Disney movies are your favorites?

Sick! And Christmas!

Well, it's official - the nastiness of the flu (or whatever it is that's going around) has hit our house! My dad got a really mild version of it first, where his stomach was just upset. Then Andrew and I got REALLY sick. Jason has gotten by mostly unscathed, with an upset stomach as well, and now that we're all feeling better, my mom is sick! She's mostly over it too, but she's still feeling weak. It's been a not-so-great week! Yuck!

But I'm glad we're all feeling (or starting to feel) better, because...

Christmas is almost here!

And while I don't normally have any pictures to share that are my own, here are a couple:

Like Grandfather, like grandson! Andrew wanted to help my dad hang the garland around the living room!

He has his list, and he's checking it twice! (I LOVE this picture! Thanks, Mom, for taking it!)

And, as a PS-

And this picture is old, because I'm almost 32 weeks, and this was taken at 24 weeks... I don't feel like I look like I've gotten any bigger! I'll try to take a 32-week picture tomorrow, when I'm officially 32 weeks.

I love this time of year. It's my favorite time of year because of the smells, the traditions, and the general goodwill that is shared. It's almost impossible to not feel happy this time of year! As we think about the reason for this season, our Savior, it's hard not to think of His atonement. The reason we celebrate His birth is because of His sacrifice for us. None of us are perfect, and it's through Him that we can be made perfect. And it all started with a baby being born. :)

It's likely that I won't be updating this again before Christmas, so I'll say it now:

Merry Christmas!

Busy Weekend!

"A charming woman is a busy woman." -Loretta Young

Does that mean I was charming this last weekend? We were busy!

Saturday morning, we had our ward's Christmas social. Instead of working for hours in the kitchen on a Turkey and other dinner foods, this year they decided to do a breakfast, and I thought it was a good idea! People brought bacon, pastries, breakfast casseroles, pancakes, fruit salad... it was yummy!

That night, we had a stake choir practice. Jason and I couldn't find a babysitter, so between the two of us and my parents, we took turns watching Andrew. I felt bad because I couldn't take my turn. One of the songs we were practicing was the Hallelujah Chorus, and they needed me to play the piano to pluck out parts. I could only do one part at a time because that song is cuh-RAY-zy, but I did what I could!

On Sunday, we went to church. We only stayed for sacrament meeting because 1. the weather wasn't so great, and 2. we had another event to go to. It turned out that it was good for us to leave anyway, because a kid threw up in nursery, where Andrew plays for two hours during church! And I've heard of several kids getting sick since then. Yuck.

We left church early to go to my high school's Christmas alumni choir concert. Every year, the choir invites all its alumni back to participate in two songs at the end of the concert - the Hallelujah Chorus and The Lord Bless You and Keep You. Jason and I picked up my friend Cassie from her apartment, and enjoyed the concert with my sister Susette and her husband Josh. It was a good concert. I still like to think that the choir sounded better when I was going to high school, but I'm probably wrong! :)

From there, we came home to change back into our church clothes and eat some chicken salad sandwiches on croissants. Yummy!

We had to move quickly, because we went back to the stake center to sing in the stake Christmas Musical Fireside. My family (mom, dad, Susette, Josh, Jason and me) + our friends Rachel and Derrik sang the song Still, Still, Still, and then we sang the Hallelujah Chorus and a Scottish Christmas lullaby called Baloo Lammy with the stake choir.

(We didn't sound nearly as good as these guys, but we tried our hardest!)

Phew! That's a lot to fit in over the course of two days. At least it was for me! It was quite exhausting. Fortunately, we got all our singing stuff out of the way this weekend, because I think I'm losing my voice now. And Andrew's sick (even though he didn't go to nursery!). And my dad wasn't feeling well last night. Hopefully we're all feeling better soon, so that we can all have a good week leading up to Christmas next weekend! Hurray! Christmas is almost here!

Secret: I wish I had better work ethic. I find myself wanting the house cleaner than it is, to make more complicated dinners, and just to get off my lazy butt and DO something... but right about now I can't find the motivation! Blame it on being almost 31 weeks pregnant, if you want, but I'm just as bad when I'm NOT pregnant! :(

I love decorating!

"It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air." -W.T. Ellis

This is going to be short, but I just had to tell you - I love decorating the house! It doesn't really matter what it's for, I just love to do it! I think my favorite thing to decorate the house for is Christmas, partly because it's my favorite holiday, partly because we have the most decorations for Christmas! Haha.

Anyway, on Saturday, we put up most of our decorations. We still have a few nativity sets to set up, but outside of that, it's all up! We have our flag outside, bells on the inside of the front door, a plaque by the front door, garland up the banister, stockings hanging on the banister (because we don't have a fireplace), red berry garland on the half wall, garland along the walls by the ceiling in the living room, our Christmas tree, a Christmas tree that's Andrew's size, a little wreath in the living room, window decorations up in the kitchen and family room, and a swag hanging at the end of the entryway. Like I said, there's more to do, but that was the big stuff we wanted out. :)

Oh, now that the house is all festive, it makes me that much more excited for the holiday!

My parents' lovely living room!

What's your favorite holiday to decorate for? Do you have a favorite thing you put up every year?

Secret: Even though I've gone through it once already, I'm still scared of my next labor experience! My last one was great... until I had to push. Even with an epidural, it hurt and it was hard to push for 2 hours! The fact that every labor experience is different is both comforting and scary!