Merry Christmas (a little late)

My favorite new present!
Ok so I'm behind in my posts. But a week late with a newborn is pretty good (right?)!

We had a wonderful Christmas! I was a bit under the weather but watching the kids excitement made me feel a whole lot better!

Both Aaron and Samantha loved opening their gifts from Santa (Aaron was a bit disappointed that Santa wasn't there to greet him when he got up.) Aaron's favorite toys were a few new action hero's and this Superman and Spider man costumes. Samantha loved her Magna Doodle best of all. John slept through all the present opening and breakfast. In fact he slept most the day away. He did wake up a bit to watch some of the Tinkerbell movie with his big brother and sister.

My 2 Supermen

Samantha and her Magna Doodle

After naps we headed to my parents house! We had a wonderful dinner and had fun watching Aaron and his cousin Brandon run around in their new Spider man costumes and Samantha and Kayla bounce around in their Tinkerbell outfits. It was special being with my sister and brother on this day celebrating Christ's birth. I am so blessed!

Cousins!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Getting used to 3

Well I am now a mother of 3! The past 9 months of pregnancy passed so quickly I can hardly believe it. I am amazed at the miracle of a child who was inside me a few weeks ago kicking me is now being held in my arms. God is so good!

The kids adore John. Aaron will only call him by his full name John Jeremiah and Sammie calls him Miah. The enjoy showing him their toys and love to take turns holding him. I love to watch them interact with him. They will tell him to watch them dance or do silly things.

John sleeps pretty much all the time except when he wakes up to eat. There are a few points during the day when he is awake and we as a family make the most of it!

John Jeremiah Vance

Two weeks ago on December 6 I went out with some friends for a ladies night out Christmas dinner and program at church. We enjoyed a yummy pasta dinner and WAY TOO MANY desserts! My neighbor Becky told me she thought I was going to go into labor that night or the next day (note this is over a week from my due date and I was planning on being induced that Thursday.) Not 10 minutes after that comment and my contractions started! I was convinced it was all the sweets I had just eaten. I got home around 9pm and drank water and laid on the couch. Jeremy just looked at me and asked if we should go or what. I wanted to make sure it wasn't false labor so I waited until midnight when my contractions were about 5 minutes apart and decided to call my dad to come over because it was time. We got to the hospital around 1am on Tuesday December 7. I was 4cm dilated. They gave me the epidural and by 5:07am I heard the cries of our new yet to be named baby boy. A full head of hair weighing 6 lbs 14.5 oz and 21" long! He was perfect! Handsome! I immediately fell in love with our new bundle of joy!!

Jeremy went home to get the kids up and bring them up to see me and their new baby brother.

They were excited and greeted him with kisses and tickles. My hospital stay was nice and I had lots of visitors. The food was amazing!!

I got home on December 9, mid morning. The kids were excited to pick up mommy and baby! I was glad to be home too!

Fun in the Snow

Yesterday was a great day! We stayed home all day and played outside and watched football. The kids are very excited about the snow and their new boots we got on Saturday. We played out front and took a walk down the street. Aaron enjoyed rolling around in the snow and Sammie thought it was great to eat the snow off her mittens.

It was such a relaxing Sunday. There was a soft snow falling throughout the day and I loved being on the couch looking out the window. It reminded me of a snowglobe.

I can't believe at this time next week we'll have a new member to our family. I plan on being induced on Thursday morning. I'm excited yet nervous about the change.

Time to Decorate the Tree

The kids have been very excited ever since we went to Lowes and picked out our tree on Saturday. Last night Jeremy put the lights on and then we all decorated the tree. Aaron really enjoyed putting a bunch of (shatterproof) balls on the tree. I think he hung about 8 on the same branch! Samantha enjoyed putting her angel on and off the tree. What is so special about her angel is that it was mine as a little girl and I loved to "fly" her around the house. Watching Sammie do the same thing last night made me so happy! It is a moment I will cherish!

After the tree was up and we all ooed and awed Aaron wanted to lay under the tree. I had to did up this picture of when he was about 6 months old under the tree! Boy what a few years does to the look but not the spirit!
I so love this time of year! It is December 1st today and snowing!