it ain't over til the fat lady sings!

yes.

i am the fat lady, officially.

{the last picture in this post will prove it}

and the thing that isn't over is christmas.

because i haven't blogged about it, 

nor started singing.

but by the end of this post, i assure you i will be singing.

christmas is just so good.

it warms your soul.

especially this year, because we were in texas!

 even though it was my first christmas away from home,

i loved spending time with my awesome in-laws!

{which includes 25 people. 10 of which are children 5 and under.}

we didn't exactly have a white christmas..almost the opposite.

but i was sure okay with it :)

wanna see what we were doing on christmas eve?

doesn't get better than sunshine and little kids in undies!

CHRISTMAS. isn't it great?

remember how magical it was when you were a child?

the little tickle in your tummy you get as you lay out the cookies and milk,

only after acting out the nativity

and having a delicious feast.

all in honor of the most important birth in the history of the world. 

oh i love it.

i love it even more when children are involved.

when the night before christmas,

they jump up and down with excitement when they open the window 

and hear santa's sleigh bells...

and possibly even a quick glimpse of his reindeer flying through the sky...;)

no but really, can this possibly be any cuter??

and also when i get to watch 10 gleaming eyes

coming down the stairs christmas morning,

soon after hearing the precious shrieks of joy that inevitably follow.

the spirit of giving is thick in the air.

thick and happy and contagious.

we opened presents for a good 3 hours. 

and i'd say everyone was happy.

i just cant wait to have children of my own on christmas, its so fun to see kids so happy!

even our little one got a little somethin' somethin'

yes, little boy booties. 

everyone just thinks it's a boy, its fine.

somebody has got to balance out all the cute little girls in tutus! :)

christmas is also fun when you have a husband to celebrate with

for the first time. 

 here are the two pictures that will forever document our first christmas together

and our last christmas where it will be just the two of us.

we both got pretty spoiled this year from our families.

i got this and this and this

as well as some home-made gifts that made me feel so loved and happy

{thanks ali, and steph!}

jeff got this and this

plus a bunch of other awesome little things

I LOVE HIM!

can you imagine how exciting it must have been to live in the time when Christ was born?

for those who believed, for the wisemen, for the shepherds, for mary and joseph-

the anticipation for his birth for those people may even rival the excitement of little children on christmas eve.

it makes sense that this emotion is so heavily embedded into this holiday

which is the celebration of one of the most exciting things that has ever happened.

i am so grateful for His birth!

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

now after all that talk of birth, it got me thinking about how i will be the one giving birth in a couple months

{okay, 5 months}

and this picture proves it!

 look at THAT baby bump!

it is the first one i've showed my mom where she didn't reply

"kerri, you are just sticking out, but nice try!"

17 weeks pregnant. almost halfway, baby!

and guess what.

im STILL sick.

it's kind of just becoming a way of life now, so it's fine.

a couple more updates:

+ overall weight gain is 3 pounds.

+ instead of having no appetite, i basically am just always hungry now. so weird how it totally flip flopped

+ my baby is now 5 1/2 inches long. like a baked potato or something

+ i still think it is a boy, as does everybody else- but i don't find out for sure for another 3 weeks

+ there is not a single pregnancy symptom that i do not experience daily- my body goes the whole 9 yards. 

such a dang over achiever...

+ i finally bought some maternity clothes. not quite any maternity jeans. 

do any of you experienced pregnant women have any suggestions as to where to get them? 

all the ones i've tried on have been ridiculously unflattering.

+ i should start FEELING my baby any day now! i am beyond excited for this!

so, i {the fat lady} am singing now.

and now that i have blogged about christmas

IT is officially over.

hope you all had a wonderful holiday!