Baby Updates!

First off, I just want to say “Congratulations!” to Jaron and Bethany! We found out today that they are having a little girl. Bethany is due in May, which makes our babies being born only about a month apart. I’m so excited! I grew up with girl cousins around my age, and I’m excited Kate will have the same experience!

As for me, I am now 24 weeks! That puts me in my six month of pregnancy! It won’t be long now, which is both really exciting and a little scary. According to my book the baby is now 1½ pounds and about 8 inches long.

Our collection of baby stuff is growing. We now have a crib (with the cute bedding I bought), a stroller, a car seat, some clothes (not a lot, just some that I saw and said “I have to have that!”) some blankets, and one of those baby bouncer things. It’s definitely becoming more real every day.

The biggest development is that the baby has started kicking….a lot! As I’m writing this, I can actually see my belly moving because she is kicking (or punching, not really sure) so hard. Dustin has finally been able to feel the kicks as well, which increases his anticipation. He is so excited to be a daddy. He’ll say (at least once a day) “I wish Kate were here already!” He really will be a great Dad, and it eases my apprehensions about motherhood a little.

Here’s the most recent picture of me and my belly. It’s not the best picture, I actually think you can see my belly better in the Foree family picture in my last post.Because I work at night, and Dustin plays basketball in the evenings, we are unable to attend a birthing class. That our excuse anyway, I'd rather do the research ourselves. I found a Lamaze class on DVD that I’m going to purchase, but does anybody know any good books that can help us prepare for this?

Christmas!

This is all of us waiting to come downstairs Christmas morning. If you’re wondering who the guy on the right is, it’s Scott, Sherice’s boyfriend. No, they are not engaged, but we are hoping!

When we got downstairs we finally saw what awaited us: new strollers for the pregnant couples, pink bikes for Sherice and Lacie, and some toys for Maddock. Unfortunately, Maddock was only interested in the bikes.


After opening all our wonderful presents (thanks again everybody!!), we headed to Snowflake to finish Christmas with my family.


I had gotten my gifts for my mother and my sister way back in August, so I was so excited to finally give them their presents! I got them tickets to see The Lion King. I saw it before when it came to Phoenix about four years ago, and I’ve been wanting to see it again ever since! They are awesome seats (front row of the middle balcony), and I’m just so excited to have such a special girls night!



After all the exchanges were done, we had a very special present for my younger siblings. Jelly Bellies. Not your ordinary Jelly Bellies, though. It’s a special box of them entitled Bean Boozeled, I think, I can’t remember the name of them right now. But here’s a picture of the back of the box.

So the joke is, there are two identical jelly beans. One is the normal flavor, the other…not so much. I had taken the beans out of these boxes and put them into normal Jelly Belly bags so the kids had no idea what was coming. I couldn’t have asked it to work out more perfectly. The first one or two jelly beans they got were good flavors, then they started getting the bad ones, and that’s when the hilarity started.






We had such a wonderful Christmas this year! It was so nice to have a week off of work and just spend time with our families! We love you all!

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve Jaron got a call to play Santa at a neighbor’s house. We thought it would be entertaining to have him stay in the costume and come and see Maddock. We tried to prepare the little guy by saying, “Santa is coming!” to which he would reply, “ho, ho ho!”. But as soon as Santa came through the front door, Maddock ran the other way! It seems that he is afraid of Santa. (Actually, to be fair, I think it’s all white-bearded men. He was deathly afraid of the old gentleman that makes balloon animals at Texas Roadhouse.) He would only sit on Santa’s lap if Sherice sat with him.

As is tradition in the Watson household, we had our Christmas Eve Mexican feast. Green chili burros, bean burros, guacamole, tamales, enchiladas, beans and salsas. Delicious.

After dinner we all gathered around in the living room to hear my father-in-law read some Christmas stories. Then we played Bunco. This is one of our favorite traditions because everyone is so competitive; it becomes a really intense game. Dustin ended up winning, and we took home a football and a Subway gift card as prizes. Then we all went to bed. Well, tried to anyway. I’m one of those people who still can’t sleep on Christmas Eve. Add on the pregnancy woes of an aching back and having to go to the bathroom every two hours…yeah…I didn’t sleep at all. I also think my baby knew it was Christmas because she started kicking and squirming inside me from about 5 in the morning. Which needless to say, kept me up as well. So I was very thankful when Christmas morning came and we all got to go downstairs!

Christmas Eve Eve

Our Christmas week started off on Monday. We picked Andy up from the airport at around noon, and left around 1:30 to head home to Snowflake and Pinetop. We were really fortunate and missed the big snowstorm that was to come later that night (see previous post). We stayed in Snowflake that night, and Andy and I went through almost all our home videos (aka movies Andy and I made) and tried to organize them. We laughed a lot, and we found some stuff that we had totally forgotten about! We left around 11:00 the next morning to visit Dustin's family in Pinetop.

That night after dinner we decided to play Cranium. That was really fun. Especially when all 9 of us played. This is a picture of my mother-in-law performing a stunt. In order to get our points, she had to crawl 10 steps without dropping the two dice that were on her head.
Then all of this madness began...

It started out with Sherice bragging that her boyfriend could do five pushups with her on his back.

So all the other men had to try it too...


They weren't sucessful.

Then my father-in-law claimed that he could put both feet behind his head. Unfortunately I didn't capture a good picture of that, but he did try rather diligently. So, of course, everyone else had to try too.

Not quite...

Sherice got the closest, but wasn't satisfied until she could do it while sitting up. This video depicts how that went.


It was a fun night, as it always is when we're together. I'm sure I'll have plently more to blog about later!

White Christmas

We don’t see snow very often living in the valley (ok…never), so we enjoy snow when we see it. On Monday night, Pinetop got 15 inches of snow! We are also supposed to receive another 15 inches tomorrow! Although we are hoping to avoid driving in snow storms, it sure is a pretty view.

Watson Family Christmas Party!

Last night Sherice decided to throw a Christmas party. I’m so grateful to have family close to us. It’s so much fun whenever we get together, I hope nobody ever moves! We had mozzarella sticks, wings, and pizza, had a white elephant gift exchange, and played Christmas Pictionary.

This is Dustin and Maddocks favorite game. Maddock will climb up on the ottoman and then jump off into Dustin’s arms. He’d keep going all night if you let him too. That kid never gets tired!

Maddock missed the landing on this one. Are you all right Dustin?

Dustin was changing Maddock’s diaper, when Maddock got up and ran away from him! He then peed on the floor! We all know we shouldn’t laugh at Maddock when he does things like this, but it was so hilarious! So sorry Bethany, your kid now thinks it’s funny to pee on the carpet!

The White Elephant game was really fun, even if it was over rather quickly. There are only six of us so it was over in about 5 minutes, but oh well, we all got awesome gifts! This is what I won:

Sherice and Scott got a grille and funny teeth.

Dustin won this miniature bowling game. They tried to play it like it was life size. They weren't too successful. Even with their "sweet jump" constructed out of a swiffer mop.



No this isn't dog food. It's People Chow. That's right... People Chow. It comes in a can attached to a doggy dish. It's basically like Chex Muddie Buddies, and it was really good!

We ended the night by playing Christmas themed Pictionary. That was really fun, even though some of the items were impossible to draw! How exactly to you draw Bob Crachit, CC Moore or Thomas Nast (we're not even sure who those last two are!)? And we'll never forget Jaron's depiction of Gabriel ("yeah, that's what you think it is!). Anyway, I love all you guys so much. I can't wait for Christmas next week.

I gotta get my shopping done!

How Did I Forget About This One?

It was a few weeks before Christmas, and Andy and I were helping our younger siblings write their letters to Santa. The kids were dutifully making their lists when I had an idea. An awful idea. I had a wonderful awful idea! I immediately took one of the crayons and a piece of construction paper and started to write this:

Dear Santa,

Jared wants an onion.

Jennifer wants chocolate cheese.

Alex wants a bag of dirt.

Thank you,

The Foree Family

Among screams of protest (“Noooo! Stop it, you stupid it! I DON’T WANT chocolate cheese for Christmas!!!), Andy and I put the letter to Santa in an envelope and ‘mailed’ it.

The weeks went by with questions (“Erin, did you really mail that letter to Santa?) and they’re responding taunts (“Of course! I thought that’s what you really wanted!”).

When Christmas Eve came, Andy and I set our devious plan into action. We created chocolate cheese by melting chocolate chips and pouring it over sticks of cheese. We made a beautifully colored onion with food dye. We went out into our back yard and filled a Ziploc bag with dirt. We went to bed satisfied with our work still cackling our evil laughs.

It was worth it in the morning.

“Why did you tell Santa I wanted this?!?”
“I DID NOT WANT an onion!”
“I want to play with my bag of dirt!”

We did eventually explain that it was us, and not Santa, that had done these things. But not until after Jennifer had tasted the chocolate cheese.

I love Ebay!

We just bought this set off of Ebay for just $50! It's basically everything but the lamp, hamper, and mobile. So cute! It's by JoJo Designs. I looked it up on Amazon and it's selling for $150, and on Overstock it said it originally retailed for $250. Sweet deal right? I love it!

Christmas Memories

As Christmas grows closer and closer, I can’t help but think that this is our last Christmas as a couple. Next year we’ll be a family, with our daughter. I love Christmas; it’s always been my favorite time of year. I love everything about it! I especially love the focus on the family, and the spirit that is in the air. Everyone is in a giving mood, and I just think it brings out the best in people. And while I dream of future Christmases with my family, I got to thinking about some of my favorite memories of this time of year. I have a lot, so I narrowed it down to just 10 for this post.

1. When I was 5 or 6 years old, my family lived in Florida. That year we had a little 3 foot Christmas tree. We had fun decorating that little tree, and Andy and I went to bed on Christmas Eve as excited as any little kid would be. When we woke up the next morning, and our parents had finally given us permission to enter the living room, we turned the corner to find that our little tree had grown! It was now a 6 foot tall Christmas tree fully decorated with ornaments. It wasn’t magic or Santa Claus. My dad went and got the tree the night before (trees are free on Christmas Eve), and my parents had decorated it to surprise us.

2. Every year when we were little we called to talk to Santa on Christmas Eve. I found out years later than it was, in fact, my grandpa we were talking to. I guess my mom couldn’t find Santa’s real number. But he would have been too busy to talk to us on Christmas Eve anyway right?

3. Every year all the kids would sleep in the same room. Even the years we did foster care we would do it. Andy and I would put the kids to bed by singing Christmas songs, then we would leave for a while (kids go to sleep at 7:00 in the Foree household) and then sneak back in later. We would all wake up really early the next morning, but we weren’t allowed out until everyone was dressed and camera-ready.


4. My favorite Christmas of all time would have to be the year that we spent it at Disneyland. We didn’t get gifts that year, just five magical days at the happiest place on earth. We did have stockings on Christmas morning. I guess Santa knew where we would be! That Christmas was the best, not only because it was at Disneyland, but also because it was about being with family and making memories, which last longer than any toy you could get on Christmas. It’s something I’m definitely doing with my own family someday.

5. My senior year I was in a play called “Meet Me in St Louis”. This one didn’t technically happen at Christmas time because we did our plays in spring, but I think of it as a Christmas memory anyway. There’s a scene near the end of the play that’s set on Christmas Eve. I (Esther) had just gotten home from a dance to find my little sister Tootie (played that night by Dayna Penrod [Arnell]) crying and extremely upset because we had to move to New York. I sit her down and comfort her by singing, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”. It’s a beautiful moment between sisters. The music ends, we hug, and Tootie goes off to bed as I remain on the couch. I hear a loud bang, and the audience erupts into laughter. I didn’t see it until later when I watched the video, but as Dayna was leaving the set, she walked straight into the 1920’s phone we had hanging on the corner of the set! The poor girl hit her head so hard! I’m hoping to find a clip of it sometime before Christmas, but for now you just have to imagine the hilarity.

6. On Christmas morning we always have sugar cake and hot chocolate. Sugar Cake is basically a sweet roll recipe rolled flat on a cookie sheet. It’s topped with tons of butter and sugar. Delicious.


7. This is the Christmas card we made last year. We never sent it out, because we’re lazy like that, but we had the best time making it. Every year Dustin and I have wanted to do a Christmas card. Those plans always included Sherice, because it’s just random and funnier that way. We finally did one last year, and it’s such a shame they didn’t get mailed. They’re awesome, as you can see. And yes. Christmas is spelled wrong on purpose. That Thanksgiving Uncle Brian had got the whole Welker clan tickets to The Rockettes. It wasn’t their best night. During one of their dances they were rag dolls playing with lettered blocks. At the end they held each of their blocks high in the air not to spell “Merry Christmas” but “Merry Chaistmrs”. Oops.

8. My first Christmas with Dustin. We were poor and bought our tree, ornaments and wrapping paper at Family Dollar. We then proceeded to wrap every empty box in the house to make it look like we had a ton of presents.

9. Last year we bought my family crappy presents. Seriously. We were tight on money, as we always are around Christmas, so we went to the Target dollar bins. Among our favorite gifts were a jar of plastic pickles, a wooden racecar, a planner with cute and fuzzy kittens on it, and an instructional DVD entitled “Learn to Do Magic with Lynn”. It was hilarious and is most definitely one of our favorite memories.

10. I’ll end this list on a more serious note. It was maybe our second Christmas after moving to Joseph City. I was about 9 or 10 years old. We were really poor that year. I don’t remember why, I was still young enough to think that it was awesome that the Bishop brought us food every two weeks. My parents had warned us that it would be a small Christmas that year. But we had others watching out for us. For 12 days before Christmas, we had new presents on our doorstep every evening. My brother and I diligently tried to catch the culprit, but were unsuccessful. Also that same year we came home from church one day to see an enormous box of presents sitting on top of our car. I still don’t know who it was who did these things for our family, but if you happen to be reading this…Thank you!

So there you go….10 of my favorite Christmas memories. You were diligent enough to make it to the end of this really long blog. This wasn’t intended to be a Tag post, but I want to hear everyone else’s memories too! So I tag:
Andy
Alicia
Khristen
Kim
Elaine (if you’re not in labor)
Mom
And…anyone else feeling in the Christmas spirit!

We've moved!

I haven’t updated our blog since Thanksgiving, so here’s what’s been going on.

Thanksgiving morning my dad received some sad news. His cousin, Shelley Conway, had passed away. She had lost a very brief 2 month battle with cancer. My sympathies go out to the Conway family and to all those morning her loss. On Monday night, my father came down to Gilbert to go to the viewing. He brought my sister Jennifer with him and I took her to see Twilight that evening. Which, I have to say, wasn’t that bad. I actually enjoyed it. That’s a lot to say, since I’m the only person I know who isn’t in love with the books. Jennifer and my dad stayed the night in my living room.

The next morning my mom drove down with the rest of my siblings. I took Jen, Alex and Jared to see Bolt. That movie was really good. I laughed a lot, and being pregnant I cried at the end. It’s not sad, it just tugs at your heart the way only Disney movies can. You’re going to watch it and be like “What was she crying about?” I’m even welling up just thinking about it. Dang these pregnancy hormones! After the movie I took everyone for “the best burgers they ever had” at In and Out Burger.

The rest of the week was spent trying to organize and pack up our apartment. I wasn’t as successful as I had hoped.
On Friday, we got the keys. Dustin spent all afternoon moving stuff into the new apartment. Saturday morning Sherice and her boyfriend Scott, and Dustin’s friends Nate and Jason came to help us out. We lived in a third floor apartment, and we moved across the street into another third floor apartment! I’m just grateful anyone showed up at all! We got most everything moved in (once again, Thanks so much guys!) and we went and cleaned out the old apartment on Sunday. That took all day. We didn’t realize how much we had left to do!

Monday morning Dustin called in sick to work. Honestly, I think that move killed us all. We got some more errands done, unpacked a good portion of the boxes, and finally put up our crib!

We also went and bought some stuff for the new apartment. We got some new bath stuff at wal-mart, and a new couch cover at Linens and Things. I have been waiting for one of these for four years now!


I also purchased a bedding set from there as well about a week ago. We're loving the going out of business sale!Then finally we put up our Christmas decorations! Usually they go up the day after Thanksgiving, but this year I had to wait until we were moved in. We bought this tree 4 years ago for our first Christmas at Family Dollar. We’ve kept it ever since. Every year we’ve just added more and more lights and ornaments to distract ourselves from the hideousness of the actual tree. There are 3 strings of lights and about 6 boxes of ornaments on it this year. Also I added a star to the top later.

We love our new apartment so much! We are so grateful that everything has worked out so well. Only 16 days until Christmas!