Christmas Morning

I can't believe Christmas is already over! We had a wonderful time celebrating this special day and watching JD beam with excitement as he came downstairs and discovered the gifts he had received. He has been very busy trying out all of his new toys and games in the days following Christmas, which has been very nice as I am still carrying out some very last minute tasks around the house to prepare for Davis' arrival. JD did get his "red fish" that he has asked for since the middle of the summer when he saw some Beta fish in the store one day. A funny story: I asked him a couple of days ago, "What is your fish doing?" JD replied, "He's just swimming on top of his Christmas tree." At the time, the fish was hovering just above one of the little green trees in his tank, and I thought that was so cute that JD decided that it was a Christmas tree for the fish. :^)

As of today (Monday), I am on track to be induced this Thursday, January 3rd, which is my official due date. Although I would have loved to have gone into labor on my own, we are just so thrilled that the day is almost here to meet our newest little man!

I have to take a moment to acknowledge my sweet husband in this post, as he has been so thoughtful and helpful and selfless as we have been getting closer to the big day. In addition to working all day, usually leaving the house by 5:30 am, he comes home and helps out with housework, allows me to take naps, plays with JD and takes him places so that I can have some time alone to get things accomplished, and he has endured my hormonal ups and downs like a trooper! Not that he isn't a wonderful husband all of the time, but it's times like these that really make a lasting mark on a woman's heart! Thank you John David!

Well, we hope that everyone had a truly blessed Christmas and that you are all looking forward to starting a new year.

Baby pics to follow after Thursday! Please pray for a safe and smooth delivery and a healthy baby!

Christmas Eve

On Christmas eve, we headed to church for the Christmas eve service, which we thoroughly enjoyed. JD was thrilled to get to come to the sanctuary or "big church" with us as he calls it. The time for children was very fun to watch as they all gathered in the front of the church to hear the Christmas story and to receive an ornament depicting the manger scene with Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus.

We returned home and baked a birthday cake for Jesus. JD carefully placed all of the candles on the cake and proudly sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus before blowing out the candles. He then wanted to give Jesus a piece of the cake to eat. Children are so precious!

If you're wondering why one end of the cake is missing...well, Mama and Daddy reserved some to eat while we set out the gifts after JD went to bed. That's only fair, right?

Full Term and Stitch Free!

So, as of today, I am 37 weeks and 1 day! I had my stitches removed 2 days ago, and so far, nothing to report in the labor department. I am just so relieved to have my stitches out so that I can go into labor at any time and not have to worry about a thing.

My due date is January 3rd, so if I haven't gone into labor on my own between now and then, my doctor plans to induce labor on that date. I fully anticipate that that's what will end up happening -- induction, that is -- because I never went into labor with JD jr and was induced once I went past my due date. I know that every pregnancy is different, but we'll just have to wait and see. Regardless of how things happen, we only have 2 weeks and 6 days remaining, which is VERY exciting!

The nursery is ready, our bags are packed, and I'm currently preparing freezer meals for easy preparation after we return home from the hospital. Tick, tock, tick, tock...

The next pictures that I post will probably be of little Davis, so be on the lookout! In the meantime, I wish all of you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Holiday Fun with Friends

My dear friend, Christy, who is immensely more creative than I am, invited JD jr and me to come over and try our hand at decorating a gingerbread train with her and Hank jr. The two boys remained interested for about 10 or 15 minutes and then wanted to leave the table to play with toys. Ultimately, they ended up in the back yard jumping in a giant leaf pile with Hank Sr supervising. Boys will be boys! Christy and I stayed committed until we finished our projects and had quite a bit of fun doing so. Christy even went a step further and made a gingerbread house to go along with her train (see photo below).

The boys also recently got together to make Christmas cookies, and by the looks of the pictures, I'm surprised that there was any dough left to go into the oven after they finished with their sampling! :^)

I am so thankful for the great friendships that God has blessed us with!

JD Enjoying His Gifts

JD got to open some of his gifts a little early this year, and do I even have to tell you how excited he was to receive his very own motorized golf cart from his Nana and Paw-Paw? We have taken many rides around the neighborhood in the past couple of weeks, and I must say that he is a very good and safe driver...thankfully!! He stops at stop signs and says, "Look, it's an S-T-O-P stop sign with a red octagon!" and then asks, "Are any cars coming, Mama?" before proceeding to turn the corner. One funny thing that he does while driving is if he sees something that interests him in someone's yard, he will just hop right out of the car, with his foot just barely leaving the gas pedal and say things like, "Oh look, it's a giant leaf!" or "Mama, I need to give you a great big hug." Then he returns to his car and keeps on going as if he never left it. I'll definitely have to break him of that habit when he's driving a real car some day! :^) In the meantime, however, it's pretty cute.

He also received a set of Ga Tech toddler dishes that he has thoroughly enjoyed dining with, and a complete instrument set to include a drum, which is by far his favorite thing to play. He loves to strap the drum around his neck and say, "I'm going to have a parade!" He then marches all around the downstairs beating his drum with a very serious look on his face. As evidenced by one of the photos below, clothing takes a back seat to wearing his drum!

Speaking of playing instruments, I definitely think that formal piano lessons are going to be in his very near future as he has learned to play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" completely by ear on his keyboard. No joke! I was walking by his bedroom one day and heard the song being played perfectly in tune and in time. I stopped and thought to myself, "I KNOW that he's not playing that. He must be playing with a toy that plays that song." I peeked into his room, and there he was standing at his keyboard and very much playing the song all by himself. I was completely floored to say the least! Maybe after his 3rd birthday, we will look into lessons for him.

Finding the Tree

The hunt was on for our Christmas tree, and I think that JD had just as much fun playing with the dog that belonged to the tree lot owner as he did running through the many rows of trees.

We finally found one that we liked and I am pleased to say that with a lot of help from our family, it is completely decorated and twinkling with lights. JD loves to look at the tree and comment on the many different types of ornaments. He asks me at least a couple of times a day, "Mama, do you like our Christmas tree? Is it SOOOO beautiful?"

I must admit, coming down the stairs in the early morning and seeing the tiny little white lights on the tree really does bring a smile to my face.

Winston-Salem Christmas Parade

Celebrating the Christmas season began a little early at the Hall household this year, as we have no idea what may be going on around actual Christmas day with the upcoming arrival of little Davis!

We attended the Winston-Salem Christmas parade with our family who came to spend the very first weekend of December with us. It was a lot of fun, and quite chilly! The drumlines and wide variety of floats were very entertaining and JD seemed to enjoy towering over the crowds while sitting atop his daddy's shoulders. Our friends, the Ballards, were also there with some of their family from out of town, and it seemed as though hosting a toddler on your shoulders was the role of the dads that evening. At least the two boys didn't try to have a chicken fight! That would have tested the endurance of their dad's neck and shoulder muscles even more than they were already.

This was our first year to attend the parade, but I have a feeling that we will return again next year!