Braxton Hicks Contractions @ 18 Weeks

I try to be the type of pregnant girl who doesn't complain. The other day in church a friend of mine asked Ben how I was doing with my pregnancy and he replied, "Fine, I guess. Maybe I should ask her."
I know that braxton hicks contractions are totally normal and nothing to worry about. I had these same contractions with Kai, but NOT this early. I started having contractions last week and feeling a bit of pressure, so I called the Dr and they asked me to come in ASAP. (Not exactly what you want to hear from your Dr. I thought they would tell me not to worry and that I was overreacting.)
Anyway, so I went in and they took some ultrasounds and measures my cervix. Everything looks good, my cervix is measuring "normal" but on the short side of normal. I guess I am dehydrated and need to take it easy. (Try that with a 1 year old running around).
Ben and I are 1 week away from our 20 week appointment! I could have easily asked the ultrasound tech to tell me what the sex of our baby is, but I resisted and will wait another week so that Benny and I can find out together.
Here are the ultrasound pics from yesterday.

I totally think it is a boy still. Look at that cute profile!!!

BLeSSeD~

Christmas just gets better and better the older Kai gets. Last year was fun b/c there was another member or our family to celebrate with, but now Kai gets excited and screams and plays with his toys. I can't wait to see him next year. Here are some pics from the big day...
Christmas morning 2008~


Stockings

Check out Kai's pile of gifts. I think we went a bit overboard!
Oh well, it was worth it! Kai didn't really know what to think about everything, but had a blast anyway.


I love this picture.


Kai and all his opened gifts.
Thanks everyone. He had a great Christmas!

Ben's Mom and Dad bought Kai this basketball hoop. Kai loves it, but I am afraid Ben is more excited about it than Kai is. Ben has been shooting hoops every chance he gets. He will give Kai the ball and Kai just throws it on the ground. I think it will grow on him though.
He has quite the shot and has already mastered the dunk...a true balla'.



My Mom and Dad bought Kai this tool box and he is in love with it. It probably is his favorite toy. Thanks Mom and Dad!


Ben and I found this fire truck at Target for $10. It makes sounds and Kai loves to ride around on it. He is starting to learn how to move himself around, but hasn't quite figured out how to get on it and face forward.
Best $10 we have ever spent. I LOVE Target!!!



One thing that Ben and I always do on Christmas is take everything down, put it away, and clean house. I know most people usually wait until at least the day after, but it is so nice to have a clean house on Christmas. The rooms feel bigger and there isn't stuff everywhere. Here is a picture of our living room at 3:00pm on Christmas Day. It's as if Christmas never happened...

chrIstmAs cArd 2oo8

One of my favorite things about Christmas is getting Christmas Cards in the mail. I guess it is a nice break from everyday bills.
This is our Christmas Card for 2008. Ben's Dad took the pictures when we were at a family reunion in July and my cousin, Krista, put together this cute card for us. I know I have talked about Krista in a previous post, but she is so talented and so giving. I love the Christmas Cards she put together for us this year!!!
Thanks for taking the time to help us out Krista.
This is the front of the card.

Back of card.

Happy Holidays everyone!!!

So Long...Farewell....

The Coles moved back to Utah yesterday. :)
We will miss hanging out with them. No matter what we did together, we were always laughing. I am so grateful I called Kristal to watch Kai when I went back to work. I didn't know her very well prior to that phone call, but they have blessed our lives and become some of our very best friends.
We went out with some friends to have a "farewell dinner" for the Cole's. The picture below is TERRIBLE! It is too far away to even see the group, but here's the gang.

Me, Lindsay, Kristal, and baby Alexa.

I love you guys and miss you already!!!

InsIdE jOkE...

Tonight at dinner Kai thought something was so funny. Ben and I couldn't figure it out, but it was HILARIOUS apparently. Hopefully I wasn't the butt of Kai's joke.
Kai loves to laugh...but tonight everytime he would start to drink out of his sippy cup, it cracked him up.
He is at such a fun stage. I love everyday I get to spend with this happy little-man!

Finally Done!!!

Ben finally finished putting up our lights around the house!!!
What do you think?


Ok...just kidding. This is a house in another neighborhood that we always drive by each year. It is CRAZY!!!
Last year they had an AM radio station completely dedicated to their lights. They talked about the electricity cost, where they store everything, and how long it takes to put these lights up. I would hate to live next door to this guy. The funny thing is, his neighbors don't even bother putting anything up b/c he always manages to take over part of their yard anyway.
I didn't get a very good picture of his yard, but it comes complete with a Ferris wheel, roller coaster, choir, Santa and reindeer, the north pole, star, nativity scene and much more...
It is so ridiculous!

Husband of the Year AWARD!!!

I got an e-mail from one of my friends telling me about this xbox contract a husband has signed. I guess he didn't fulfill the terms of his agreement and had to sell his precious friend. I thought it was hilarious.
I do not know the family to this blog, but am sure that every wife of an xbox player will be so jealous when they read this post.
Click here to see their blog.
I can't believe he actually sold it. First of all, Ben would never have agreed to ANY of the terms in their contract.
I am officially awarding the husband on the blog who sold his xbox, "Husband of the Year!" You are now my hero!
Congrats! Every wife will now begin comparing thier husband to you. (Even though it won't change a thing.)

hO, hO, hO...oH nO...

We went to the mall today to get Kai's picture taken with Santa. When we got to the mall, Kai watched other kids get their picture taken with Santa and ran around the set for a while.
I even took pictures with him around the set so that he wouldn't be scared.

I thought he would be fine sitting on Santa's lap...

WRONG!

Kai was fine as soon as I picked him up and saved him from the Scary Santa. Poor guy. Who knew Santa could be so scary?

GiNGeRBReaD HouSeS

Question:
What does a gingerbread house and hot glue have in common?
Answer:
The Coles Gingerbread House!
Every Christmas season Ben and I decorate a gingerbread house together. This year, we decorated one with the Coles. It was a blast! I can't remember when I laughed that hard. They were a riot.
Their house needed some TLC b/c the roof kept coming apart and then the walls started caving in. Christian was such a trooper and never gave up. He kept adding icing (mortar as he called it) and then finally referred to the hot glue gun.
It is pretty solid now to say the least.
Here are some pics from the fun night!!!
Christian was so excited to build a gingerbread house...can you tell?

This picture is totally out of focus. I told Ben to act like he was having fun and this is the face he pulled...

Look how happy Christian is!!! Totally in the holiday spirit...(love this picture, even though he is totally being sarcastic).

Meanwhile, our house is done...Ben is elevating his ankle (from a football injury earlier that morning). I am just hanging out with the Coles laughing at them bicker and work together to get their house to hold. They were absolutely hilarious!

Doesn't Kristal look devastated that the walls are caving in?

Second time their roof started caving in...

...and so the hot glue gun came to the rescue...

Michaelson Family Gingerbread House 2008

Our finished products...

See how much fun the boys had?

Thanks for such a memorable evening! You will be truly missed. We love you guys!

Daaaaadd-y

Kai is so talkative lately. He has his own language and most of it sounds like "Daddy", or "Doggie".
NOTHING sounds like "Mommy".
I have tried and tried to get him to say "Mommy," but he is just not interested.

Even though he doesn't say my name, he is still a momma's boy. He is my constant companion throughout the day. He loves to cuddle now, and gives the best kisses! Kai is my little buddy.

I am excited for the day when he does say "Mommy". For now, I will just enjoy his sweet kisses.

oH CHRiSTMaS TRee, oH CHRiSTMaS TRee...

I never had a real tree until I married Ben. My favorite tradition with Ben is our annual Christmas Tree hunt (the day after Thanksgiving). There is just something so attractive about Ben when he is hiking or in the mountains. It's like he is in his element.
This year, we went with our good friends, The Fitches. We had a blast and found a great tree, not my fav but still a great tree. It has a lot of personality.
The weather was supposed to be mid 30's so everyone came prepared and bundled up. Little did we know that it was going to turn out to be the perfect day. NO SNOW! We had blue skies the entire day, until we got home and then the storm came in and we have had snow ever since.
I didn't make time to edit many of these photos so the lighting isn't that great, but I just have too much going on to worry about it today.

Our family~

Poor Kai-man...he was to tired.


Just before Ben cut the tree down.

Our family Christmas Tree 2008!

All the kiddo's~
They were all such troopers.

The whole crew.

Me and my little "helper"

Cute Benny hanging some ornaments~

Look closely at this picture and you will see just how happy Kai is that we have a tree up with all these pretty glass ornaments that he is not allowed to touch...
(We are such mean parents)




~THANKSGIVING~
Ever wish you lived next to Rachel Ray or Martha Stewart? Well, I do! Jackie is amazing in the kitchen, and made Thanksgiving delicious. Thanks guys!
This year we had Thanksgiving with our favorite neighbors, Jackie and Nick. We are so lucky to live next to them. I don't know what we would do without them!
I didn't take many pictures...lame.
Here is a shot of the delicious turkey Ben cooked!

These are the desserts Jackie made...
Yum-o!

Me, Jackie, and Kai

Our Family~