Traveling, Holiday Cheer, and a New Year!

Best Christmas gift, having my brothers home with me

We were so happy to be able to see our niece and nephew

My favorite people

New Year's Eve dinner with my second family

First I will start with a belated Happy New Year!  I hope that everyone welcomed 2012 with wonderful friends, family or both.  This holiday season was especially meaningful to Matt and and for a few reasons.  First, there was the wonderful presence of my little brothers.  We were all so very thankful and happy that they were safely in the States with us this Christmas.  For me, it made Christmas whole again.  Having them there also reminded me of the true meaning of the holiday.  It isn't about how many presents are under the tree but about being with the people that you love. 

The second thing that made this holiday season so special was that Aly (Matt's sister and my sis-in-law) was home in New York with us.  It was nice to have her home and it made me realize how much I miss having her around, and yes, though Matt wouldn't say it out loud, how much he misses having his sister around. ;-)  We laughed so much while she was home and we cherished every minute we got to spend with her.

The third, and most wonderful thing about this holiday season is that Matt and I have been blessed with the gift of starting a family.  Not a day passes that I am not reminded of the amazing gift we have been given and we can not wait to finally have our little girl here with us.  In the mean time we revel at watching my belly (excuse me, our daughter) grow and move.  I can already tell she is going to be fiesty one.  At moments during the holidays I stopped in awe that this was our last holiday as just the two of us.  The next time we traveled to Iowa we would be bringing our little girl with us.  The next Christmas we celebrated would be celebrated with our little girl.  It's all so exciting, and admittedly a little scary at times, but a welcome scary and one that we have been waiting for, for much too long. 

In all, I don't know if I could have asked for a better Christmas or New Year's.  It was wonderful to be with our families and share in all of the joy that brings and to also share in all of the excitement of the pending additions to the family.  I say additions because my baby brother, Aaron, and his wife, Jessi are also expecting in May.  Not only will Hunter and Hayden have one new cousin, but they will have two.  Needless to say, when we're all together from this point forward it's going to be a bit more hectic and wonderful.  We were all hoping to find out what Aaron and Jessi were having while home for Christmas but unfortunately the little one was not so cooperative.  So, we anxiously await their next ultrasound where my niece or nephew will hopefully cooperate and let us know who they are.

I must say, after the much needed break from work and trip back to Iowa, plus the wonderful celebrations with Matt's family upon our return, it was quite hard to return to reality.  We are keeping ourselves busy though so hopefully the next two months will fly by.  This past weekend Matt and I finally finished clearing out the "mud room" and painted it so it is now the soon-to-be nursery!  I have taken pictures but will post them once we have completed the painting and revamping.  I will say that it is amazing to see what a little paint can do for a room though. 

This coming weekend Matt and I will be attending our Childbirth Preparation course.  It should be interesting to see what that has in store for us, and to see how well Matt handles being stuck in a room listening to and talking about all of the stuff the course involves.  The following two weekends will be spent with myself and Colleen spaing it up once again and hopefully Matt and I can squeeze in a tour of the birthing center before the end of the month.  Matt is busy putting the final touches on our "babymoon" in early February.  I am so excited for the two of us to get away and just enjoy some us time.  I am beyond impatient to have our little girl here with us but it will be nice to have that time for us before she does get here.  That all takes us up to the middle of February and one month away from our due date!  (hint of panic that we won't get everything done in my voice. hehe)

Speaking of the due date, I am officially 31 weeks and 2 months away from the big day!  Baby Cook has certainly grown, as evidence from my buddha like mid section.  Tomorrow we have an ultrasound to see how she is measuring.  Matt and I are so excited to see our little girl again and how much she has grown.  From the pokes, rolls, and jabs I'm guessing she has grown quite a bit from the last time we saw her. 

On that note, I should say good night and get some much needed zzz's.  Again, I hope you all had an amazing holiday and welcome to 2012!  I know this year holds many many new adventures for Matt and I and we cannot wait!  Until next time!