Merry Christmas to us!

Today, Jared and I got to meet our new baby face-to-face! In the 2 years since we've had Jakob, our doctor added another sonogram earlier in the pregnancy...fine by me! So, we are measuring at 11 weeks, 5 days. The technician, Ludy, kept using the word "perfect" during the exam. Can't beat that! We had a great time, and it really helped me get even more excited about numero dos!

I guess its about time...

A few of you already know this news, but for those that don't.....

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.....we're having another baby! I am due in July, (I know...its going to be hot!) and we couldn't be more excited! We had really hoped to keep this a bit under wraps until I was completely through my first trimester, but since I'm starting to show, (it really DOES happen much sooner the second time around!) and since our Christmas cards announced it, I figured it was time to blog about it! So, here is our Christmas card picture that exclaimed we would be celebrating Christmas in July this year!

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...

...whose is the ugliest of them all? There were lots of options at our 1st Annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party last Friday! Our ABF traveled the long interstate to good 'ole Abernathy to celebrate at Jared and Kristin's house. We all brought our favorite Christmas tradition foods...well, some of us brought our favorite Christmas tradition foods! Ashley and I created new traditions according to what United and WalMart had to offer! Ashley came up with submarine sandwiches, and the Hardy's brought that traditional spinach-artichoke dip in a bread bowl. Yep. Ring in the holiday cheer! We had everything from homemade meatballs (Erin), a real, baked in your own oven, ham (Kassie), taco soup (Courtney), and fresh fruit cobblers (Kristin, I won't rat you out!). It really was quite yummy! We took Olan Mills style pictures in front of the 'fire place' and the tree. Notice: I took the pictures with my not-so-professional camera, so please take some pity! Ashley and her secret agent husband escaped my sad lens, but there's always next year! Anyway...enjoy!

Jacob, Kassie, and baby Jacob/Kassie - just posing by the 'fire.' Yes, that is a blinking tie and Christmas tree earrings...on Jacob!

Burt and Courtney - Courtney looks a little like Jennifer Aniston's current GQ cover photo with Burt's tie draped across her!

Jared and Carla - God only knows what I was doing with my face. Good grief.

Chas and Erin - pulling off the pensive Olan Mills moment. If only I knew how to do a double exposure with another picture of them in a faded oval in the bottom corner!

Jared and Kristin - our wonderful hosts for the evening and resident newly weds among us all...lovingly staring off at the ceiling! Jared pulled off the Feliz Navidad portion of our sweater party!
Courtney learned out to play, or rock out, on Guitar Hero!
A bit more intense!

We all agreed that Chas bore a striking resemblance to a homeless man, especially before he took off the hat! So, this is scary homeless man with Sassy. What a pair!

I'm baaaaack!

Whew. That was awful. While Jakob is still on the sickly side, I am feeling like a new woman right now! Woo Hoo! I should be doing the mountains of laundry that have stacked up over my illness, or addressing Christmas cards, or wrapping presents (nothing is done...nothing.), or figuring out what to buy people for their Christmas gifts. Hmmm. I may be back, but I'm behind! I have a TON to say since I've been out of the loop, so I may post many times today! Check back if you really have nothing else to do! Yesterday, I had a doctor's appointment in the morning and Jakob had one in the afternoon. Jared and I have been praying about and thinking about leaving Jakob's pediatrician for several months now. Nothing really bad happened, she is a great doctor, but there just was really no connection between us...something I didn't realize I needed badly. So, when he got so sick, we knew that we needed to take the leap. In a true God-sized fashion, He began to work His plan out! At our church, there is a precious woman, Elizabeth, who just finished her medical "stuff" (I don't know the correct terminology!) and opened her practice. So, I knew that Elizabeth was wonderful with everyone at church, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Jakob was cranky with a capital C and not in the mood to be anywhere but in bed. I was quite worried about how this would go. Would Liz even let us come back?! To my glorious surprise, she treated Jakob as he has never been treated before. I didn't know what to do! She talked to him and only him for probably the first five minutes, at least. They talked about Frenship football, Veggie Tales, Christmas, and who knows what else. By the time she finished, he was even answering her questions and exaggerating on them just a bit! To some of you, that may sound totally normal with your doctor, but it just hadn't been our experience. When Liz brought out the instruments, she was SO wonderful to help Jakob feel more comfortable with them before she just lunged at him with a stethoscope. At the end, she gave him Veggie Tales stickers stuck to either side of a tongue depressor made into a fan of sorts. He slept with it last night and is playing with it right now. He talked about Dr. "Wiz" all afternoon. I really cried, Liz, when we got to the car because I just felt so relieved, so cared for. Thank you, Dr. Goldwater! You are the GREATEST!!!

For stinking real.

Well, its here AGAIN! Jakob and I are both sick as dogs. We went to a wonderfully fun Christmas party Friday night (picture coming soon!) and woke up Saturday morning in the weeds. Saturday morning turned into Saturday afternoon, Saturday night, Sunday morning (the worst of all), Sunday afternoon, and Sunday night. I think we are both feeling a little better this morning, but the nasty 'symptoms' are still hanging around. For stinking real...I am TIRED of being sick!!! Merry Christmas, none the less!

Hardy Holidays!

Well, we finally decided that it was Christmas time at the Hardy Hacienda this week. We have all been battling sickness of various forms, so getting inspired and motivated to get it all out and up was a challenge! But...we did it! At least as much as is going to be done this year! We are a bit on the tired and exhausted side these days. Jakob is going to make Christmas more fun than ever this year. He LOVES Christmas lights and is delighted at every sign of Christmas. He argued with me tonight at bedtime that Jesus was only a baby, not a man. He may have a hard time at Easter! Anyway...thought you would enjoy the pictures of the week. Hope you are enjoying the season!

Jakob hanging the first ornament on the tree. Its a picture of him at his first Christmas.
It took a lot of thought, and eventually, momma hung it for him...under his supervision, of course!
Then, he ate his first candy cane. It was a big hit...especially after he realized that you could suck on it to a point and create a sword! Fabulous.
That is a candy-coated cheese face!
The finished product...yee haw!
That's right, you're gonna get it at every angle!
Fireplace mantle. Okay, I'll stop labeling...you know what this is!

The candy trees

Well...here's to doubting that I will have my home clean and tidy enough over the holiday season to have anyone but immediate family over! So, consider this your inside scoop of the Hardy Holidays...just imagine that its all clean and organized. That's what I do everyday...just close your eyes and dream! Alrighty...

That's My Boy!

In case you don't know, Jared and I are HUGE sports fans. Sports fans of all kinds and at all levels. We are a devoted Frenship family, however, and do not miss a game. Our boys, God love 'em, were underdogs from the start this year and went into the fourth round of the playoffs today with a record of 13-0. Couldn't be more proud and excited! Jakob has become quite the fan himself. Last week it was too cold for him to go to the game, and he threw an ENORMOUS, 30-minute-long fit for Nana and Poppy while Mommy and Bubba went to the game. He's got our genes, what can I say?! Well, after an AMAZING game today, our Tigers fell by 2 points with 2 seconds left on the clock. Jakob has learned to look for the straight zeros to know that a game is over. When the clock hit 00:00, Jakob started screaming, "NO!!! MY TIGERS!!!" He screamed and cried that for probably a solid minute. I felt so badly for him. He really was upset, as were the 8,000 or so of the other Frenship faithful in attendance today. After Jared was done with his post-game interviews for the radio station, we three headed to our car, with heads hung low, wondering what we would do next weekend without Frenship football. When we got into the car, Jakob said, "There Frenship basketball today?" In fact, my love, there is!!! So, after dinner and a short drive back to Wolfforth, we went to cheer our next Frenship team to a one-point victory in a nail-biter in their tournament! This post has much less to do with Frenship athletics and more to do with the fact that my son is a great sports fan! I couldn't be prouder!