And Just In Case...

You hadn't heard...

Yes, we are pregnant again. I hadn't had any symptoms yet, so I didn't think I was, but we decided to take a test just in case so if the answer was yes we could tell people on Christmas day. It was a very very quick yes with all three tests. Quicker than I'd ever seen before. which makes me curious as to whether or not it's really real or not. I don't have an OB yet, so we're in that process right now. More info to come once I have my first appointment.
I realized that I did have a tiny symptom - I do remember having hot flashes at some point. Maybe while we were on the cruise? It may seem like nothing, but that was the first symptom I had with both Will AND Kirstine, so it does mean something to me. Also I almost threw up while eating lunch today. But I didn't.

Info about this kid:
We will most likely not find out the sex. Reasons? The 9 months of pregnancy are truly the 9 longest months of your life for those of you who have not gone through it yet. And with child 1, you are occupied with all things shopping (picking out bedding, nursery decorating, buying clothes, picking out strollers and swings, registering...) and picking out names... so the time goes pretty quickly. with child 2 not so much. at least i had a kid of a different sex, so i got to focus my attentions on shopping for clothes. yay! now comes child 3... and there's nothing. so these next 8 months are going to take FOREVER!!! (Not to mention with Will and Kirstine I was pregnant over the holidays, so all of that fun helped the time pass). This time I will have the baby at the end of August, so that's no fun either. So I figure that by keeping the sex a secret, it will make the pregnancy much more fun. I plan on just taking a bag of boy and a bag of girl clothes to the hospital with me. so we'll be prepared for both. all of this will change when we find out we're having twins. not that we are, i'm just still hoping:)

Names? We don't have middle names picked out, but first names are definite. Benjamin for a boy, and Bethan for a girl (that is not a typo - it isn't Bethany, it's Bethan. and it's also not BethAnne, like some people are already pronouncing it). That's it for now. more info after my first doctor's appt.

Buggy's Crib

So from Santa Buggy got a stroller, crib, bouncy seat, activity mat, and diaper bag set for her baby dolls. She loves to put Tinkado in the stroller, and she loves to put herself in the crib.
Here's her reading her tinkerbell book in it 2 days ago:

And my favorite... Here's where she fell asleep last night. Scott insisted that I move her to her bed, but I took pictures first. (These pictures were taken in the pitch dark, but my flash makes it look like the light was on).

Making Breakfast

Here are the kids helping Nana make biscuits:

Santa Presents

We woke up on Christmas morning and like most families, opened Santa presents first. His main gift was a bike to Will, and a stroller and crib set for Kirstine. They also both got flashlights, and Will's coolest gift was a headlight. He LOVES it! And he also got a magnifying glass, and unfortunately it was glass and not plastic, and Kirstine dropped and broke it a few hours later.

Nashville

We got back to Birmingham on Wednesday evening, and left Thursday morning to go to Nashville. We stayed with Scott's aunt and uncle for the night. They babysat that evening so we could go to the Andrew Peterson Behold the Lamb concert at the Ryman Auditorium. Awesome. Then on Friday Aunt Sharon and I went to the outlet mall in Lebanon. then we left their house and visited Scott's grandma, Mama Mae. Then we went to Gaylord Opryland. We drove up to the hotel first because we thought Ice was there (it wasn't). But these are pictures from the front of the hotel.

Isn't it beautiful? I was just shocked to see such a huge display of what the holiday really means. In front of a hotel nonetheless. And look how beautiful the trees are. I think there were lights on every single branch all the way to the tip.

So then we found our way over to the other side of the hotel where ICE was. Scott and I went to ICE at Gaylord Palms the Christmas i was pregnant with Will, but we haven't been since. The one in Nashville does a theme, and this is the last year they were doing the Grinch, so we wanted to take the kids. They had a great time, but Will started getting really cold in the end and wanted to get out. Next time we'll remember gloves.

When we got to the last room Scott and I were talking about how we liked this one much better than Orlando, who just does a hodge podge of Christmas themes. But I said I was disappointed because the end of Orlando's is a huge lifesize nativity. And it's beautiful. And then we walked out of the room (with a big sign that said "The End") into another big room with the same nativity that Orlando has. It still just shocks me that the hotel would do this. (especially since it's sponsored by Coca Cola). But I'm so glad they do.

a Stratton Christmas

We opened presents the night we got back from the cruise at Gran and Papa's house. Here are just the few cutest pictures.

Cruise Pics

Here are the few pictures I took on the cruise. We did take more on our excursion, but we bought a waterproof camera for those. so when i finish taking those pictures i'll develop them and get them put on a cd and i can then post those. We had a wonderful time despite the semi cold weather. The boat was pretty rocky the entire time, but not many of us actually got sick. (scott and i didn't at all, thank goodness). This first is Faydra, me, and Valerie (cousin)
next is The 3 Stratton Girls (Faydra on the left is Kevin's wife, and Marissa on the right is Matt's wife as of 12.11.08)

Wedding pictures

Since I was in the wedding, I didn't get any pictures of it, but maybe I'll steal some from Faydra later. But for now, here are the few I got:
The 4 current grandchildren.

Kirstine holding Blue's hand.

And me and Scott.

Travels Home

Went well. We got here in 10 hours and 15 minutes. new record with the kids. We made: 2 drive-thru food stops, 2 pee rest stops, 1 gas stop, 2 stops on the side of the road (1 to pee, 1 to put kirstine back in her straps since she kind of squirmed her arms through the top hole), and 2 really quick pull throughs some place just to grab something that fell on the floor, or to pour some more apple juice.

cute sayings this trip:
at least 100 times: will: mom, i love you.
me: i love you, too, baby.
kirstine: i wuv you
me: i love you, too, honey.

and throw in an occasional "mom, you're so beautiful"

I'm asking him his chatechism (is that how you spell that?) questions. (by the way, he usually answers all of these perfectly)

Who made you? "God."
What else did God make? "The whole earth" (real answer is 'everything'). i'll take it.
What did He make "the whole earth" from? Sin. (AAH. Wrong answer. it's supposed to be 'nothing', so I correct him.)
Why did He make all things? (supposed to be 'for His glory'). He says, "because He's sooooo powerful." (I'll take it:) )

Picking out our tree

We went to Home Depot to get our tree this year. They were unfortunately all bundled up. Except for maybe one. We held it up and it was perfect so we bought it!
Here's Kirstine smelling the trees.

Preps for Thanksgiving Day.

Did I ever mention what our Thanksgiving was supposed to be and what it ended up to be?
Plans: Scott worked til about noon, then we would decorate for Christmas all day, eating lots of appetizers and christmas goodies and watching Christmas movies all day.
Instead:Will woke up at about 4am screaming. I went upstairs to check on him and he was sitting in the middle of the hallway complaining about it being so dark he couldn't find his way back to his bed. What?!? How many times has this kid made this trek in the middle of the night? My only thought is that he was asleep when he did it, and that's why he was freaking out. Anyway, I helped him back to bed and then realized I was sick. Scott got the kids up in the morning and got their milk and breakfast, and when he had to leave for work I came and layed on the couch and we watched the parade all morning. I didn't move. When Scott got home around 1 I went back to bed and didn't wake up til 4:30. I tried to help Scott decorate as much as possible, but I felt miserable. Most of the time I sat on the floor handing him stuff. So after all that cooking I did, and money I spent, I ate cheese and crackers on Thanksgiving and that's it! I woke up perfect on Friday.