Christmas Eve Fun!

Christmas Eve is always such a fun and memorable night with Craig's family - they do all their presents and celebrating on this night! We headed over there about 12:30 so that we could put Chase down for a nap at their house and have a chance to hang out with his parents. We headed to church at 4:00pm and then came back to his parents for a delicious dinner of crab legs (again - yum!) and all kinds of delicious sides and desserts. After dinner Grandma and Jill helped all the kids put on a Christmas play for us of the story of Jesus's birth. Chase played the part of Joseph and did an excellent job in his acting debut :) It was absolutely adorable! Next, Grandpa read The Night Before Christmas while all the grandkids listened attentively. Finally after that was time for presents, drinking, playing with toys and having fun! It was a great night - here are some pictures from our Christmas Eve....

Chase, Ashlyn & Carson ready for dinner


Austin, Kyler & Drew ready for crab!





Family Shots




Chase with Uncle Ty


Time for the Christmas play!







Listening to Papa read The Night Before Christmas...




Present Time!




Chase is ready to go to bed and wait for Santa to come :0)

Family of 3 Christmas Eve Eve Dinner

On Christmas Eve Eve Craig and I decided to do our own little family dinner to celebrate Christmas before all the chaos of presents and family started (we love all that but still wanted to take a moment before it got going!)

We made a delicious dinner of crab legs, potatoes, salad and wine (even a little for me). It was a nice relaxing night and a great start to a fun Christmas weekend!

37 1/2 Weeks

This upcoming weekend I will hit 38 weeks and am due in just 8 days from today!!! I had another Dr appt on Monday and have my last one next Wednesday. On Monday the baby looked great still, still measuring well, I've gained 16 lbs and still just barely 1 cm dilated. Looks like everything will stay as planned for a Dec 30th baby :)

I'm definitely ready to have our baby - getting very uncomfortable, especially trying to sleep at night. I feel pretty good during the day but am sore by the end of the day and ready to not have 16 lbs strapped onto my belly! At the same time I am getting nervous. The whole scheduled C-section thing is definitely starting to take over my nerves. I know it will be nice because it will be quick with no labor - but going into the hospital in no pain and then going into surgery fully aware is freaking me out a little! BUT... I know it will be fine and the end result will get me through it :0)

We still aren't 100% decided on names - I don't think we will be until we know the sex and have to pick one! I asked Craig how long it is acceptable to have the baby here with no name - ha ha JK! The first text that goes out will probably just say Baby Girl/Boy Hoelting has arrived - I have a feeling it will take us some time. Hopefully we will just see them and know!

Christmas Train Ride!

Sunday we were looking for something to do just to get outside with Chase for a little bit. We decided to head up to the outdoor mall by us because Chase LOVES riding the train they have there. It is there all year round but right now it is extra special because they have it all decorated for Christmas.

Chase was super excited to ride the train! We had to take a quick photo op first in front of the giant tree they had in the middle of the mall. They also have an ice skating rink and Santa was there taking pictures. Chase & I waited in line to say Hi to Santa but Chase was a little more shy this time. He gave Santa a high 5 but that was about it :0)



Time for the train...

2nd Annual Polar Express Night

This past Saturday night Brad & Melissa hosted our 2nd Annual Polar Express night! We did this last year and it was a ton of fun so we continued the tradition this year. Melissa outdid herself with all the special touches for the kids and put on such a special night for everyone.

We started by having all the kids show up in their PJ's and we kicked off the night with a craft of making train ornaments...


Next we ate a great dinner of soup, chili, muffins, and fruit salad. Then it was time for all the cousins to decorate a gingerbread train! Look at these crazy kids :)





While the kids were finishing the gingerbread train - Papa disappeared and I wasn't quite sure what he was doing. I could tell something was going on but didn't know what to expect. Then all of a sudden I hear a train whistle and he runs out dressed up as the Conductor from Polar Express! The kids were so excited as he told them to go get their ticket for the train from Grandma and then come to him to get their ticket punched and gain entrance to the train. Grandma had a ticket with each kid's name on it and then once Papa punched their ticket they could go over the stool and onto the "train" - aka couch :)






Once we were all on the "train" Papa read the Polar Express book to all of us. Once the story was done he gave every grandkid a special silver dollar to put under their pillow from now until Christmas to help all their Christmas dreams come true!







Next it was cookie and hot chocolate time! Plus all the kids wanted a photoshoot wearing Papa's Conductor hat and mustache :)










Even the older boys wanted a turn! (Craig looks like a burglar :) )



Finally it was movie time!

Chase & Papa watching Polar Express...


We had a great night and the kids really enjoyed all the special touches and made some great memories! Can't wait till next year!

Snow Boots!!!

So I know we have had NO snow yet in Denver but I thought we should be prepared for when it comes (hopefully sometime soon!) Chase I were doing some last minute shopping at Kohl's this past weekend so I decided to see what snow boots they had. I found a pair I liked and asked Chase if he wanted to try them on. He was sooo excited to try them on and once they were on he was dancing around the store and looking in the mirror - ha ha! He even tolerated me when I made him try on 2 different sizes. I taught him how to put his feet in and stomp them to get them completely on. He loves them and now puts them on all by himself :) All weekend he wanted to wear his "snow boots" - even though he looked totally ridiculous with the warm weather we are having - oh well - guess this is the start to him dressing himself...