I'm all caught up ... Ready to have a baby now

Whoa! Am I really all caught up on blogging? Baby Gilson #5 is due tomorrow which is now only a few hours away. We've been hoping this baby would come early but I think he or she has been waiting patiently for me to finish getting everything done and ready. I finally finished packing the hospital bag a few days ago. All the baby stuff is finally pulled out, washed and got finished being set up TODAY (although I'm missing a few parts for the baby swing. I know I've seen it around here somewhere.) Yesterday Glen found the baby blanket box so now we have a blue blanket and a pink blanket in the hospital bag. So what will we name him/her? Well, we almost have it narrowed down ... but other than that, I can't think of anything else I need to get done before this baby comes so just in case the waiting has been for me to be ready, I think we're finally ready now. The next post will be pictures of our newest addition when he or she decides to finally come. These siblings are ready and ask almost daily if the baby is coming today. We even have a few still begging for baby to be twins.

Merry Christmas!

Just some random pictures to show we had a fun Christmas.

After our dress up and acting out the Christmas story, Izzy wouldn't get rid of her Mary costume.

The kids gathering the presents from mommy and daddy's room to put under the tree.

Christmas morning we take turns opening presents and of course Andrew couldn't stop reading one of his new books.

We started following a poem a year or so ago that goes:

Something to read,

Something to wear,

Something to play with,

And something to share.

Each kid gets a present for each part of the poem. The something to share part resulted in a load of new games which has created some monsters around here. It's been especially bad this week since I've banned the tv and computer games (due to too much complaining that there's nothing to do whenever I'd say no to watching a movie. It's amazing how much they're finding to do without these electronics although I'm looking forward to bringing it back just enough to say let me take a nap.=) Anyways, Christmas day was spent with family playing games almost all day long. The kids watched a lot of movies when the games were over their head (this was before the electronics ban.)

It was a wonderful Christmas day filled with great family fun and yummy food. Glad everyone survived being squished in our tiny house. Anyone up for another game day???

Birthday sledding

We love the snow!!!

The snow had all melted at our house so we ALMOST decided against bringing the snow gear for our weekend at the grandparents house. But having it all neatly packed in our snow bin box in the closet, it was just another box to quickly shove in the car so we brought it along. We got to their house excited to see that the whole area was still very much covered with beautiful white snow. Except Sat. morning I was disappointed to look inside our snow box to find that Glen had accidentally grabbed the box that was supposed to go out to the garage (filled with too small snow clothes and all the extras that we've held on to for years.) But when Izzy asked to go outside to play in the snow, I rummaged through and found some stuff too big but perfect enough to keep her dry and happy. Later that day, Glen got ambitious and decided to see what else we could get out of our random box. Apparently all of our odds and ends were enough to suit almost everyone up just fine. Calvin was sleeping and Alex just wanted to watch Alice in Wonderland. I finally talked her into trying on some of the too small clothes just enough to go outside and see what the big kids were doing. That's when she saw how much fun the sledding could be and she joined in. We had such a wonderful time sledding and what a perfect way to spend a birthday. Happy Birthday Alex!

Even Ginger enjoyed following the kids down the hill.

Proof that even big and pregnant, I can't pass up a chance to go sledding. I didn't get to go as often as I wanted, but walking back up that hill was enough to keep me from the fun for this trip.

Our 4 year old

Yes, still a little behind catching up before this new baby comes but I'm almost there (and hopefully so is baby.=)

Ever since Andrew's birthday, Alex has been asking when will it be her turn to decorate her birthday cake. Well, mid-December, it was finally time. She picked out a castle cake and loves the color purple so here is her masterpiece.

She loved her beautiful cake and I loved having her help. Happy Birthday princess.

We spent the day up at Grandma and Grandpa Gilson's house playing her new games (Ladybug and Pop Belly--so fun). Then we broke out the snow gear and went sledding. To be seen in next post.

The many hats of a snowman

When my parents were in town, we woke up Sunday morning to a good dusting of snow. First snow and afternoon church=we'd better live it up while we can. Izzy was the first one out there determined to build a snowman and everyone else had fun just playing. (Isn't this a fun backyard. That's why we chose to rent this house.)

She was the only one working on the masterpiece for a while but finally got some help from grandpa and mommy.

We had a tough time coming up with eyes. Our first set were some red berries and we thought that was the reason for the scary, grumpy face, but I think the final consensus was it was mostly the eyebrows although the red berries did add a devilish look to him.

Now for the hats. Dress up boxes are wonderful aren't they. You can turn frosty into a Christmas snowman,

or a military snowman,

or a firesnowman,

or construction snowman

or an Afghan snowman (that's where this hat came from anyways.)

With snowmen, the possibilites are endless.

Snowboarding

Glen took our niece and nephew snowboarding for their Christmas present and Andrew got to tag along for some extra school.=) They got a 2 hour lesson and the rest of the day to explore the bunny hill. They all had fun and Andrew came home asking if he could go again the next day. "Sorry kiddo, tomorrow is Sunday."

"What about Monday?"

"Daddy has to work."

"Well, can Mommy take me?"

I think he had fun.

Despite sore rear ends, they're still smiling.

Andrew's piano recital

Have you ever played music on a $25,000 piano? This baby was gorgeous. Andrew started taking piano lessons in Nov. and his teacher, Sis. Allen said he'd be playing in the Christmas recital. He played Hot Cross Buns, Mary Had a Little Lamb, something else, and Old Macdonald (that was his favorite). He's progressing quite well and has been enjoying playing Christmas music (mostly Jingle Bells and We Wish You a Merry Christmas). It's fun to hear music being practiced almost daily and a joy to see him enjoying himself. Of course there have been enough "Do I really have to practice today" but as long as he has something new to practice, he's mostly good to go. The best part about Sis. Allen is she comes to our home for lessons. I don't have to cart the other kids out and wait for his lesson to be over. It's wonderful and she's great.