New Year, New Changes!

I can honestly say I can't believe an entire year has passed! I'm so thankful for the year we've had, and can't wait to see what 2011 will bring.

My Christmas break went by way to quickly (as usual). This year we were really fortunate to have Jon home for our entire break from school! This was the first year since I've started teaching that Jon was able to take off the week between Christmas and New Year's. It was really nice to both be home. Our Christmas was really blessed with lots of gifts and family time. After all the holiday and birthday madness, Jon and I have decided to turn our office into a toy room. It truly is a sign that times are changing in our house. Now our office is full of stuffed animals, a kitchen set, puzzles, books and more! I'm just happy it's all confined to one area (sort of) instead of the entire living room!

I'm pretty sure I want to invent little toys that are magnetic, so all parents have to do when they put their toddler to bed is get out one of those huge magnets and suck the toys back to the toy room! I'm telling you I would be a millionaire! I could cut 25 minutes out of my life from picking up all the dishes, baby dolls, hair ties and teacups. It is quite fun to see her play. She's really into the imaginative play. She does her baby's hair and feeds her Minnie Mouse doll in her high chair (which she refuses to sit in because she's big).

This will be a big week for us as we finally get to have our big ultrasound! We probably won't make a decision on whether to find out boy or girl until we are sitting in the room. I just keep going back and forth on finding out! I know Jon will want to find out, but I'm pretty sure I can convince him to wait if I wanted to. I guess we'll know one way or the other after Tuesday!

I know this next year will bring us as much joy as 2010, I pray you and your family will feel just as blessed!

Christmas!

I love Christmas. Seriously, isn't it the best holiday?! Ok, leaving out my birthday - I know you celebrate it every year - but Christmas is such a fun time of year. This year we have been busy little bees getting our house ready for the holidays. We've been baking, cleaning, wrapping, decorating, working, working, working and taking Harper to all the events we can.

We didn't take her to see Santa this year. Mainly because her reaction to Truman the Tiger scares me, I can only imagine how she would react to Santa Claus. She recognizes his image everywhere and loves to tell us. "It's Santa!" but I don't know that she really understands the whole concept. I can't wait for Christmas morning. The other day she made it into the room where I was hiding all the unwrapped gifts. She found one and looked up at me and said "WOW, Mommy Lookit!" I just can't wait to see her light up this year with her birthday and Christmas gifts rolled into one.

I can't believe my little girl will be two this year! It seems crazy that this time two years ago we were anxiously waiting her arrival. This year the sweet table is going to kill my waistline. It's really bad. I just can't seem to get enough food. Being pregnant is not an excuse, but it does help the guilt level when I go back for seconds. ha!

Not sure if I'll blog again before the Big Man arrives, so let me extend our warmest Christmas wishes from our family to yours! Merry Christmas!

Are you there Blog? It's me, Kali

I've done it again. I'm beginning to wonder if the blogging world is for me anymore. It's hard to keep up! I feel now that the first trimester "fog" has cleared I'm feeling much more like myself.

Our little family is doing just great! We are really busy with the holidays fast approaching. I'm so excited to see Harper at Christmas this year. I think she'll really love all the excitement that Christmas brings. It's hard to believe she's going to be 2 in a few weeks! Time really does fly.

The baby is doing just great too. We are so blessed. I've noticed him/her moving quite a bit in the last few weeks. What I think is really cool is that I feel the baby the most when Harper is on my lap. It seems like the baby can sense she's near. That might just be my hormones taking over, but I can feel that way for now without feeling silly. haha!

We put up our Christmas tree over the weekend and Harper was so excited. We took some video of her helping decorate. Each time she rounds the corner and sees the tree she says "Oh goodness, pretty!"

It definitely is time for me to stop and be thankful for all I've been given in life. I was going to try and list the top 10, but I don't know if I could narrow my list down that much. I hope that you and your family are feeling as blessed as I am these days. I promise to become more diligent about blogging too!

Endorphins

In Legally Blonde, Reese Witherspoon has this line about endorphins. Basically saying the client she is "defending" couldn't have killed her husband because she was a workout guru. You girls know what line I'm referring to right? "Exercise gives you endorphins, endorphins make you happy, happy people don't kill their husbands!" I was thinking about endorphins this morning as I was trying hard not to throw up.

I don't think I've ever felt endorphins from working out. Maybe it has something to do with the fact God left out the athletic gene in my make up. I've tried to be better at exercising but I always fail. To be honest I think all the Jillian Micheals in the world are kinda full of it because I've never gotten this rise of hormones that make me feel good about myself after sweating my butt off for an hour (Ok, I can't lie - 25 minutes). It got me thinking, there are other things in life that must release endorphins. I've come up with my top ten list.

10. Free Childcare : There is nothing better than having some time to yourself - for free!

9. Sleeping in - I love waking up when the sun is up. Just makes my day.

8. Someone else cleaning my house or doing my laundry - enough said.

7. Jon putting gas in my car - I hate doing this, I love when he takes my car and does it for me.

6. Eating Ice Cream - Mint Chocolate Chip is sounding especially tasty right now.

5. Eating in general (when I'm not pregnant) - I miss food.

4. The last day of school - See Ya Later - Oh wait - nope I won't! haha

3. Buying accessories - shoes, purses and jewelry all fit in this category. It must be a girl thing.

2. Christmas Music - belting "Oh Holy Night" with Mariah Carey brings joy to my heart.

1. Getting my hair done - I love when they take 15 minutes to scrub my scalp, she must know I tip better to good scalp scrubbers.

After reviewing my list I think I've got something on Jillian - screw running, pass the mint chocolate chip!

"Jon!"

I find it absolutely adorable that my daughter calls her dad by his first name. She just kinda started this weekend, but it's so funny! When she wants his attention instead of saying "daddy" she now yells "Jon! Jon! Jon" until he acknowledges her.

When I picked her up this afternoon from the babysitter, she turned her little head up to me and said "Where's Jon?" I told him he should just be happy she's thinking about him. He tells me she only yells his name because I yell at him too much.

Either way - I laugh every time she does it.

Big Changes!

I'll be honest. I've been waiting (oh so patiently) for Jon to "sync" his phone with our computer so I could get photos from it, but I don't think it's ever going to happen. So without the ADORABLE (thanks Jon) pictures we've taken I'm so ecstatic to announce the Binkley family is growing from 3 to 4!!

We were so happy to find out our new addition (and thankfully there is just one!) will be arriving around May 1st. I'm convinced I'm having another girl because I'm having the same pregnancy I had with Harper. Right at week 6 I started getting sick and I haven't felt good since (we are now at week 10). My dad is a baby guessing guru. He's only guessed the wrong sex twice in the last 30 years or so. He says it's a boy, but I think his judgement is clouded. After all one of the "wrong" guesses was my sister-in-law.

Jon and I are on the fence about finding out if it's a boy or girl. Ok when I say Jon and I, I really mean me. He wants to know, I kinda want to wait. I know the organized freak in me won't allow such a thing. The fact he wants to know and I don't means swaying my decisions will be really easy. But I have another couple of months to convince myself otherwise.

Other than the sickness I'm experiencing typical first trimester symptoms. I take myself from my car to my couch and hardly get up once I'm home. For all you out there that did not experience "a strong sense of smell" consider yourself blessed. I can smell anything and everything. My laundry detergent makes me want to gag, and I love the smell of fresh cotton. Jon has been great about changing all the dirty diapers, doing his best to keep up with the laundry and finding his own food (because Lord knows I gave up cooking weeks ago). I will say thank God for my mother, as much as a your husband tries, no one cleans your house and does your laundry like your mama. I should remember this when Harper is lying on her butt, knocked up and feeling worthless. :)

So Big (and I do mean big in the sense my pants are now tight) changes are in store for our small family and we couldn't be more thankful and excited. Updates will surely follow along with those adorable pictures once Jon sync his phone.

Life is a Highway

Ok, I win the prize for worst blogger of the month! If I didn't change the date each morning in my classroom I would swear it's still August. I can't believe this month and a half has gone by so quickly.

I'll quickly recap since I haven't updated this is SO long. August was a whirlwind. I spent much of the first part of the month enjoying what summer I had left and getting my classroom all ready for the school year. I celebrated my 27th birthday on the 29th of August. Jon and I had a great weekend. We spent the day together hanging out. I got a Pandora Bracelet from him and Harper (which I've been wanting for a while), and he took me to Coconuts which is a great restaurant on the water.

With the beginning of September came crazy work schedules and nonstop laundry! Oh how I long for the days of just coming home from school with my bed made and my laundry in my basket folded and clean. This month was also a big birthday in Jon's family. With his family we threw his mom a surprise 50th birthday party! I think she was pretty surprised to see her friends and family gathered for her special day. We were all thankful when she walked through the door, I think we all breathed a sigh of relief!

Harper is growing like a weed. She has really shot up in height (which shocks you all I know!). With Binkley on one side and Dasal on the other, the girl doesn't have much hope, but for her - she hit a growth spurt. ha!

We are now in full fall swing. I can't wait to watch my nephew Nathan play some tackle football this year, and take Harper to all the pumpkin festivals I can find. I heard (through a facebook post) that Starbucks has released their "pumpkin spice" latte, which happens to be my ALL TIME favorite. If I could only get my butt out of bed in time to make it to Starbucks before work.

So with life flying by at full swing, I will gladly accept the "worst blogger of the month" award, and try my best to keep it more updated. In the mean time, buy some pumpkins and mums in honor of me!