{family time}

We had a great Christmas at the Hoerth household this year. I love this time of the year, primarily because it means spending lots of time with my family and Jay's family, and let's be honest, I'm kind in love with both of them! We weren't as super busy as we have been in past years with lots of Christmas celebrations to go to in just one or two days, so it was definitely nice to kind of sit back and relax and enjoy our time wherever we went. I'm sad to see the holiday season come to a close, but that is okay because it opens us up to 2014 and I am SO ready to see what this year has in store for our little family! 2013 was a great year for me and part of me is sad to see it come to a close as I remember looking forward to it with so much hope that great things would happen (and they did) and now it's over. It literally flew right past my eyes and I know that 2014 is going to go even faster with a new babe in the house to keep us busy and part of me is kind of bumming about that because as much as I sometimes want to wish time away, an even bigger part of me wants to just freeze everyone in place for a little while longer. (Particularly with that 9 year old in my house because he's growing up just WAY too fast these days!)

The little man of course was spoiled for Christmas. I think he enjoyed most of the gifts that he received this year. It is increasingly harder and harder to shop for him because I don't know what to get. The child hardly wants for anything.

We got some cute baby clothes for Christmas as well! So excited about that! And let's be honest here... are they really THAT tiny?! The tiny man is definitely going to be spoiled as well. It's been a long nine years since we've had a baby in our family. Of course there have been baby's galore on all sides (well except for my dad's as the youngest is about to turn six I think- and now there is going to be one born in March and our tiny man in April), but Ayden's been the only grandchild for a long time so I know that the grandma's and even grandpa's are excited to get their hands on a precious new one! We are SO blessed to have such great and supportive parents!

I hate to type it or even say it out loud, but I think I'm coming down with a cold. I don't do well with a cold while I am NOT pregnant and am able to dope up with my usual cocktail of Dayquil or Nyquil and now that I'm knocked up, I can't have either of those. I can have some Tylenol, but when I went in search of that last night, all I could find in our house was Advil... which I think is a no no (I lost my list of approved medications). So, no go on the Advil (at least until I talk to my doctor). Instead I saw that we had some Children's Mucinex, so I went to trusty Google to see if I could take that while pregnant and sure enough, I can. Tasted nasty (no wonder Ayden doesn't like it), but I wanted to be able to sleep last night. I don't know if it is the cold or what, but I slept like crap anyways and just feel like I'm dragging lately. I can feel a headache coming on and that on top of already not feeling super great, ugh! Complain city right here today! Haha!

Most days I am digging the pregnant belly look, but lately I've had a few 'I'm feeling fat days' and I still have 15 weeks left to go! We are down to about the three and a half mark and I know that they are going to go by super fast, just not fast enough, lol! There I go again, wishing the time away, when just earlier I was wanting it to stop! Stop doing that because you can't get it back! And I'd be lying if I sat here and said that there weren't aspects of the pregnancy that I'm enjoying because there certainly are (mostly the tiny man moving and grooving in my stomach). I'm sure this is something that all pregnant mama's feel... but I am in love with the fact that it's just me and him right now. I don't have to share him with anyone. I know the moving and grooving is the one thing that I am going to miss the most after he is born and then I actually have to share him with other people.

We are just past the point of viability now, meaning should baby be born early, medical intervention COULD be done. Anything prior to 24 weeks and typically the doctors won't try and do anything to save baby's life as the chances of survival are next to nil. Now, that doesn't mean miraculously at the 24 week mark the baby would automatically survive if born, in fact, chances of survival still are not that great at this gestation; however, medicine has come a long ways in the last how many years, so it has been seen more and more these days. Of course I'm hoping our tiny man continues to cook all the way up until his due date, but it's just one more 'milestone' that we've passed and it just means we are one step closer to holding him in our arms and not in my belly.

I think that Drake has really been enjoying some extra time out of is crate this last week and a half while Jay and Ayden have been home. He is getting SO big SO fast these days and even though he still drives me nuts more often than not, I'm STILL sticking with the opinion that we did the right thing in getting him. I've heard from countless people whom I've talked to about getting a lab that say they are so good with children, even the young ones. I'd love for Ayden to really bond with this pup (and I think he already has quite a bit) and the baby to grow up with him as well. There has definitely been a number of times where I've gotten upset with the dog peeing in the house or whatever, but not everything in life can or is or will be perfect. That's just how it goes. He will be potty trained at some point... after all, he is only three months old and really, for the most part, he is very good about going potty outside. And Diesel, our other fur friend of the house... he still hates the dog. Haha! Someday... maybe someday they will get along with each other!

CIAO! LOVE ME!