We Made It!

Merry Christmas! This was a Christmas full of firsts for us, and we got through it. It was our first Christmas without Emily, our first Christmas in Texas, the first Christmas with no family around, the first Christmas we made gingerbread houses, the first we had a child who could drive around to see the Christmas lights (Emily couldn't see them to enjoy them), and the first Christmas with a kid who slept in on Christmas day! Emily would be up at 4:00 am, because we'd be in Washington, and it would be 6:00 her time.
We enjoyed our first Christmas in Texas. We really missed Emily and our family, but I think it was good for us be somewhere where we didn't have so many memories. On Monday we made gingerbread houses with some friends. Robby had never made one before! Lily loved the candy. Candy canes are her favorite. On Christmas Eve we went bowling-another first. We haven't been bowling since we've lived in Texas (almost 5 years). Lily was very fasinated with watching the ball.

Here's our family on Christmas Eve. As a disclaimer, this shirt makes me look bigger than I really am. Or at least that's what I tell myself, so lets just go with it, please!

My mom made all the girls Snow White dresses and got them the movie for Christmas. So I had to put her in it. Lily's favorite part was the shoes.

I gave her my old cell phone, and it was a hit. It was the first thing she wanted to have this morning, too.

I stained this rocking horse, and it was the first thing she went to on Christmas morning. After we unwrapped presents we watched old videos of Emily on Christmas. It was very bitter sweet. We had our good cry while watching it. I loved watching her roll around and concentrate so hard on what she was doing. I will try to put some video on sometime in the next month or so of little Em. One of my favorite parts was seeing her love Robby's family cat. She and Lily really share a love of animals! And to see her get so excited while in her bouncer. Christmas has been looming ahead for me since January when Em passed away, and now we need to get through next month!

Lily and Emily Share Christmas Dresses

So Lily grows a bit faster than Emily did (a bit of an understatement), so this year she's had several Christmas dresses that took Emily several years to fit into. This first one my mom made for Emily's 2nd Christmas, when she was 17 months old. Aren't they both cute! Lily's 16 months. So in these pictures, they're almost exactly the same age!

This was when Emily was 3 1/2 years old. The dress is size 24 months.

Lily wore this dress yesterday. When we got home from church she climbed into Emily's wheelchair, so I had to get a picture! We've kept the wheelchair so that our kids can play in it and remember Emily. Lily loves to go on rides in it!

Lily loves to try on people's glasses. I had these reading glasses, and so I gave them to her last night.

We thought that Lily would like Santa Clause. NOPE!

At the beginning of the month I went home and saw my mom and helped her get a Christmas tree. It was really cold-in the 20's the entire time we were there. Lily and Mom are going up the lane to get the mail. Lily thought it was great fun and didn't mind the cold. She's wearing Grandma's gloves in the picture.

Lily got all bundled up when we went to Seattle. She kept the hat on the entire time-I was shocked.

It's a .....Drum roll please.....

BOY! We were totally shocked. Both of us were expecting a girl. We're very excited. So now Robby will have a little boy to help him cheer on the Cougars. Not that us girls don't do a good job! Lily loves dancing to the BYU Fight Song.

I get the level 2 ultrasounds with the specialist, and so they look very closely at the brain, heart, lungs, etc. So far everything looks great! I'll go back in again in another month to take another look at the heart and stuff-he wasn't being very cooperative in that department. But he is FOR SURE a boy. He was quite cooperative for that! Robby now has someone to carry on the family name-he's the only boy in his family. I'm 18 weeks now, and due April 29th. So far everything's gone well, and I have more energy compared to the beginning, which is nice.