Christmas Time!

i didn't do so great updating the blog during the holidays. so this is a little Christmas rewind of everything we did over the last week or so. as is custom with our holidays, it was absolutely crazy and we're scheduled to be at a million and one places for 3 days straight. and as exhausted as we are, by the end, we really do love it. and are soo beyond blessed that we have so much great family. and most live so close! and as is usual we always take a ton of pictures at my family events and zero at the nelsons. well, i take that back, some people at the nelson's take a zillion pictures. but i do not. that will have to change soon. here is our Christmas card picture this year. pretty simple. just me, kyle, and jillian! this was taken by hannah in a 5 minute photoshoot in 20 degree weather. so i was glad it turned out even this well!


a few days before Christmas, dellie had her first practice dance recital. it was soo cute, and she was so into it! she did all the moves and sang along. none of us were sure how she would do, and afterwards, heidi said, "i can't believe you actually did it!". dellie replied, "mom, i told you i was excited!!"



us after her big debut!


just us.


on Christmas Eve, we had Christmas with the extended nelson family. then stood in the nativity. in that 30 minutes it snowed soo hard! but didn't really stick
because it had been 70 degrees the day before! gotta love texas!



this too cute piece of furniture was added to our house recently. i love it. even though we won't use it for quite awhile. it's ready and waiting!

Christmas morning!
i always look back on these pictures and think, why would i want a picture after i have just rolled out of bed! but..it's tradition and you have to. and no you can't change or fix your hair. just go with it!



we got a video camera!! this is kyle looking so excited, because we had no idea!! the tag said to kyle and kaci. from kyle and kaci. we thought it was a necessity to capture the life of our upcoming addition to the family =)

i made this thing for kyle. painted an outline of one of his many guitars and then mod-podged guitar blue prints on it. as many of you know, kyle's hobby is building guitars. this is just for his up and coming business =)

after we had Christmas morning with our little family we went and had breakfast at kyle's parents. imagine lots of cute pictures of the family enjoying Christmas morning!

then we were at my parents house for Christmas lunch. andrew snapped this for us. he loves taking pictures. he takes it pretty serious (as everything in life) and it takes him forever!


we had lunch first, then andrew asked what would be next. we told him we should vote whether we take a nap or open presents. so he started this little voting ballot. it was one check mark for naps (mine) and a ton for presents (all andrew's). apparently, you could check as many times as you want. (sounds fishy). well, ashleigh then checked a ton for naps, but accidentally made one backwards check. so andrew preceded to tell her that made all of her checks not count. presents were then victorious. (he's not a lawyer's son at all).


(an iron-clad ballot, obviously)

izzie got into opening presents! it was too cute. she could care less what was inside, though. and you better not let your present get close to her or she was going to open it too!


dellie tearing into one. after each present she would go and hug whoever it was from. or whoever was standing closest!


as is tradition in the jones house, after all the gifts are opened, the kids all get in the wrapping paper and take a picture. well we didn't do it this year!!! it was turned into a grandkid thing! kinda bittersweet. haha. we tried and tried, but didn't just get a great shot of all smiling faces, but these were two of my favorites.





after my parent's house, we had dinner with the shavers, then i had to go to work for the night. pretty lame and exhausting.

i laid down in the afternoon for a nap, but didn't sleep too good because andrew was putting on a concert with his new guitar and microphone!

such a great Christmas!

kinda sad it's all over. Kyle had to go back to work today, and that marks the end of the holidays for sure!

it's crazy how it takes forever for Christmas to get here as a kid, but as an adult, it comes and goes so fast.

next year, we are taking our time to enjoy every minute of it! (we say that every year!)

i hope all of you had just as wonderful a Christmas as we did!!

home

this week marks us being in our house for exactly one year!

i love our house. love it.

there is soo nothing special about our house. it is your typical, cookie cutter, starter home. but we have made it ours and i kinda never want to move.

that was not supposed to happen.

we were going to buy this house, live in it for a couple of years, till we got settled/grew out of it. then we would buy/build something more permanent.

we actually talk about buying/building all the time! "when we move into our next house..." like it's in the works right now. but when the thought of actually leaving this one comes to real life, i'm going to be like real sad.

i don't know if i'm having all these thoughts because we're about to bring our first baby into this house, and it will forever be the baby's first house. but yeah, i'm feeling them. but i'm also feeling like we are growing out of this house with just our first baby!!

maybe kyle will let us move this house onto a bigger plot of land, and then add on to it. like double/triple it in size. that won't be hard. he's asleep now, but i'll ask him tomorrow.

here's our house last year...

we actually bought it in november, but stayed in college station for kyle to finish school.

we came home one weekend, and happened to find it online. looked at it on a monday morning and made an offer on it that friday.

that is soo against what all the real estate shows on HGTV tell you to do, but it worked for us!

kyle graduated one night, we moved the next morning, and Christmas was the next week. goodness, that was such a hectic time. we were sooo tired!

here's our house tonight

my neighbors must think i'm crazy taking pictures of our house at 1 am. oh well.

not a whole lot has changed; a little landscaping (although you can't tell here), new fence, lots of paint, and a few new fixtures. the grass is currently all dead because texas decided to have a lot of 20 degree weather. awesome.

our door. plain and simple. i like it.

probably could have swept of the porch for this middle of the night photo shoot, but it was freezing!!

so what did we do it celebrate living in our house for a year?

went to pizza hut. ate. normally love it. but i got sick.

like lets get home or i may throw up at pizza hut and my life will forever be over as i know it.

came home. sickness passed. what to do now?

paint the baby's room!


we're painting the room a medium dark taupe/khaki. it's called "cafe latte". it goes on super light and dries a whole lot darker, so the picture doesn't really look like it does in real life.
(we were actually done for the night, except cutting in the ceiling, but i made kyle do some pretend strokes for a picture. i am that awesome).

do i feel bad for painting a baby girl's room khaki?

well, a little. but i did not want a pink room. the nursery colors are pink, brown, and green. so there will be lots of girly accents. i just didn't want pink walls. so we'll see how it turns out!

gosh, a lot changes in a year!

us =)

jillian grace!

this is her. and we like her. a whole lot.

mom

i am growing. slowly but surely! (and lola)

and dad

so he doesn't feel left out =)

we are starting our 26th week in the pregnancy! i can't believe the time has gone so fast!

• everything is still going extremely well.
• i still feel great 99% of the time!
• i can eat just about whatever i want.
• i don't really love mexican food. which is very very strange, because i lived on tamollys and taco bueno before i was pregnant.
• i still eat mexican food several days a week because of the family i was born into. it doesn't make me sick or anything, i just don't crave it.
• i mostly just crave bread, which is no change at all from before i was pregnant.
• jillian is sooo active! way more than i ever thought she would be. kicks all day every day.
• she usually immediately stops kicking if someone puts there hand on my belly to feel. including kyle.
• i actually get hot now. before pregnancy, i was cold all the time. but now, i actually don't wear a jacket some times! amazing.
• i wake up in the middle of the night sweating. probably my only pregnancy annoyance.
• i still love to sleep and do it way more often than i should.
• i'm going to feel really bad if this baby ends up being a boy and we've called him jillian for several months. like real bad. and i'll have to come back and edit all these posts for when he reads them later in life.
• except i've seen 2 separate sonos at 2 different times, both saying girl. so that's reassuring.
• and i love being pregnant!
  

san diego

the week before thanksgiving, kyle and i took a little vacation to san diego! i know this is way behind, but in sticking with my blog motto: "better late than never", i thought now would be the perfect time to post.

we wanted to take a trip just the 2 of us before the arrival of our jillian. we thought we'd wait till after all the holiday hoop-la, but then decided that would be a little too late in the pregnany. so instead, we did it before all the holiday hoop la and had a blast!

sorry there are a million pictures, but enjoy, nonetheless!


our first day in san diego, we had lunch at this seaport village. the weather is amazing all the time! this picture pretty much sums up our trip. we just hung out most of the time, eating at cute little out door places, sitting on beaches (yet not swimming, which was a first for us), and relaxing. it was one of the most low key vacations, and we loved it!



us at the san diego zoo.



jillian starting to make herself known to the world.



heading out for dinner on the town.

we spent one day in la jolla doing pretty much nothing. had lunch at a little out door cafe (i don't think we ate indoors once.. and loved it!!)


our view from lunch.


kyle was going to feel how cold the water was, and wave ended up being a little bigger than he thought. i, on the other hand, am not that brave when it comes to cold water!




the seals come up to the beach in la jolla to sun bathe. they were soo funny to watch!


ice skating outside in downtown san diego! we loooved this! kyle has never been ice skating, and i've only been a couple times. i have always wanted to ice skate outside, so i was so excited to see a rink right outside our hotel! we did endure a few blisters for the rest of our trip, but it was worth it!


our last night there, we went on a dinner cruise! we couldn't decide if we wanted to, but then were really glad we did. the boat went on a 3 hour cruise all around the harbor. this picture was out on the deck.


this was in the boat, on our dinner cruise.


our last day in california! this was at mission beach! we spent the afternoon there just hanging out and having lunch, until it was time for our flight.

so we have gone on our last vacation, as non parents! we had so much fun, and we're soo glad we had the chance to do it now!

now the countdown begins for march/april, whenever jillian decides to come!

Happy Thanksgiving!

i love thanksgiving! it might just be my favorite holiday! it's hard to pick one. it's just so great to hang out with family all day and do a whole lot of nothing!

this year i'm thankful for..
my dear husband, and our sweet little girl on the way.
vacation! we just got back from san diego, and had a great time. will post on that later.
our family. i love each and every one of them, in their own special way. some very special. haha.
sleeping in! although i'm having a hard time this morning.
our cozy bed to lay in, even when i can't sleep =)
my job and kyle's job!
our dog, who is a goofball, and most of the time i don't really like. who is snoring like an old man right now.
yummy food, which i am about to enjoy in just a few short hours. i've been craving some sweet potatoes!
the fall.
and maternity jeans. haha! they are like wearing sweats all the time!

so happy thanksgiving everyone! enjoy your days with family and friends!!

happy birthday dad!

we are so blessed to have such a great dad!!

here he is at one of the fireman competitions. (these are some of the only pictures i found of him alone!)



thanks for everything you have done and still do daily for us!
we love you so much!

happy birthday!!

(technically, his birthday is on november 9th, and i know it's the 10th now, but i'm still awake, so it counts)

we heart fall

around the nelson household, we are soo glad to see fall come around each year!

i don't know if it's because the summers in texas can be exhausting, take your breath away, so dang hot, or if it's just a nice change to get all your favorite sweaters and coats out again.

ok, so the sweaters and coats may be my favorite part.

but i do also love me some pumpkin spice candles.

and leaving the windows open 24/7, and waking up to your room being all crisp and cool in the morning.

to celebrate fall, we got together with danny and chelle one night to carve pumpkins and eat pizza. we found out that we actually had quite the pumpkin carving skills!



my pumpkin, the haunted house



kyle's cute little ghost



danny's creepster peaking thru the blinds



and chelle definitely won the cutest with her little monster!




we weren't super creative or festive, so we didn't dress up for halloween this year. instead, we hung out at heidi and brent's house and helped man the trick or treat station on their porch for the insane number of trick or treaters!!! (i was going to say insane number of kids, but that doesn't apply, because you would be surprised how many adults were out for free candy. or maybe i was just surprised).

so we've kept it pretty low key, just hanging out with family!

happy fall yall!

adorable.

so we haven't gone all crazy, buying every girly thing we see,
but i had to have these!



i cannot wait to put these on her chubby little feet!

and i am thinking that shoes, hats, and bows are going to be my fetish with this girl.

weekend wrap up

is it sad that i'm doing last weekend's wrap up on thursday afternoon?

it was a some what eventful weekend.

it was homecoming weekend at the christian school, so we attended all related activities. well, almost all.

on friday night we went to the bonfire.

we have a picture like this from the past 5 or 6 years. so, we of course have to continue taking them each year!

saturday was the football game. the eagles won, of course!


i know this is a little blurry, but aren't they cute!?


then on sunday, we had a friend's wedding to go to! i love going to weddings! it reminds me of ours, and how fun they are! we should have another! kyle loves going too, although he doesn't always like to admit it..like when the cowboys are playing =) but he was a good sport, as usual.


the rain actually held off this past weekend, and the sun even came out! it was so nice to be outside and hang out with family/friends!

but what is it doing now?
pooring down rain.
tornado warnings.
quarter sized hail on the way.
awesome.
and i want to be nice to our poor dog, so i let her come inside, and what happens? muddy footprints everywhere! then she shakes off, and muddy water goes everywhere.
awesome.
might i remind you, she has a dog house! but no, she lays in the mud, under the fire pit.
not a smart one, that dog.

so we're just chillin at home, enjoying doing nothing. seems like a good day for a puzzle. or a nap!

17 weeks!

here we are at 17 weeks!



i had a dr. appt this morning and everything looks great!
baby weighs 7 oz., i've gained 3 lbs. so we're right on track!

and we found out today that our little peanut is going to be a GIRL!!!

so the onslaught of pink begins! i am very glad to be able to refer to the baby as her and she, instead of it now. (or he..what we have been calling it!)

when we found out it was a girl, kyle's response was "i have no power any more! i'm the only boy!"

we're both so excited to have a girl. we were definitely surprised it's a girl, but equally excited!!

the time is already flying by! i want to cherish each day of being pregnant, but at the same time i want her to hurry up and get here!

we're getting back together

me and my blog. we've made amends, and have decided to get back together.

the blog is just so easy to give up when i get tired of it, then i feel bad for not doing it after i started. i didn't really think anyone was really missing it, until i was over at my parent's house and my dad was on the computer and he said, "kaci, you haven't written anything in your book lately!". (book=blog). so, i decided to get back to it.

what have we been up to?

-- we have made several short trips to austin in the last couple of months. kyle goes for these class/meetings for work. i just go along for fun and to hang out for a couple days. its like lots of little getaways and we try to do fun things, knowing that our schedules won't be quite so flexible, come march. we're trying to get all the chill, hang out, do whatever we want time in that we can.

-- we went on a weekend camping trip to tyler state park with the church's keystone group. it's college/career/young married group. or that's what it has become! it was so fun! very chilly! but that makes sitting around the fire all bundled up in blankets all the better.

-- kyle turned 23 on october 10th! we were actually on our camping trip. we didn't have a cake, but we did light a marshmallow on fire and sing happy birthday. kyle has been wanting new cowboy boots for quite awhile now, and he finally got them! so happy i could be with you another year, jeffrey!

-- and we have been growing a baby! we are 17 weeks now and everything is moving along quite nicely. i think God has given me the easiest pregnancy ever, and i am so grateful! we did a sono this past week and tried to find the sex out but the baby did not show us "what we wanted to see"! so we still wait in anticipation to find out!!

-- we have several sono pictures and we need to scan and post them, but we haven't gotten around to that. during one sono, the baby was sucking it's thumb the whole time, so sweet! and i would totally be fine with having a thumb sucker!

-- in november we are going on vacation to san diego!! we are soo excited! we wanted to take one more vacation, just the two of us, before the baby comes. we wanted a very low key trip, so we chose san diego, and we haven't really planned what we're doing when we get there. besides the zoo, of course!!