Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

On Thursday afternoon, the weather news said that five inches of snow were expected to fall on Saturday. Cool!

Later that night, the reports began to say five to ten inches of snow were expected. ...That's more than we usually get...but we can handle that.

By Friday evening, reports from the radio said we would get TWELVE TO TWENTY-FOUR INCHES OF SNOW! Chris and I just looked at each other in amazement. This is the East Coast, people! We don't DO snow. Do you know what happens when snow begins to fall here on a weekday? We SHUT DOWN. No school, no work, no driving--we don't do it. Very different mentality from our Western counterparts, like Utah, Colorado, Idaho, etc.

So when it began to snow around 9pm on Friday night, Chris and I had to laugh to ourselves when we stopped by Shopper's to pick up a movie at Redbox. The place was packed! Chris said he could barely walk through any aisle--everyone was rushing to get food before they were snowed in. That's why we LDS have food storage! ;)
We went to sleep with maybe an inch or so stuck to the ground. And when we woke up Saturday morning, we couldn't believe our eyes...
WHITE! EVERYWHERE! COVERING EVERYTHING! Not merely a few sprinkles dusted lightly on our grass. Much, MUCH more than that!



And it didn't stop...

We ventured outside to take some pictures.





Chris was brave enough to get the mail


and he even walked to Shopper's to return our Redbox movie (State of Play--really very good). Driving the car wasn't even worth it because there was so much snow. Don't worry friends, Shopper's is right around the corner and Chris made it home safely.

The snow finally stopped around 6-7pm Saturday night. We're really in a Winter Wonderland! It's unreal. This storm covered a good part of the East, reaching from as far south as North Carolina to as far north as New York. Church was canceled--you know it's a big deal when church is canceled! When Chris went to dig out the car on Sunday, it was honestly buried. You could only see our rear end license plate!

If you want some snow and haven't gotten any yet, feel free to stop by our place and take some home for yourself--we have a feeling this won't be melting any time soon!

So, I was off...

I thought I was eight or nine weeks along...that was my motherly guess.

Noooooo, I am twelve weeks along!

We were very surprised when the technician told us this at the ultrasound yesterday. According to Baby's measurements and all the other specifics, Baby measures 12 weeks. Baby's due date: June 28, 2010. We have little pictures of Baby which I will scan later.

Chris immediately informed me that June 28 is John Elway's birthday. John Elway is Chris's favorite quarterback of ALL time. We love the name John for a boy; it's one we've written down as a definite...so if this baby IS a boy, I think we all know what his name will be! haha

Since I'm twelve weeks along, this means I've virtually skimmed right through nausea in my first trimester, which I consider a total blessing. When I was pregnant with Liz...let's just say it was more of an all-day sickness, not just morning sickness. June 28 means that I won't spend the entire summer in my third trimester--I'm fine with that! haha We are very excited to find out all we can about Baby Killion #2.

So far, so good!

Yes, it's true!

I'm pregnant! Liz is going to be a big sister! We're going to be a family of four! Any way you say it, there's a Baby Killion #2!
I know I had said we wouldn't try again for another baby until Liz turned a year old...and Lizzie's birthday was yesterday haha. Well, when we got to thinking awhile ago, we realized that if we did in fact wait until Liz's first birthday, Baby Killion #2 would be born right as Chris would potentially be starting his first week of law school. Add to that the fact that there's a good possibility we may be moving, depending on where Chris goes to law school. Me going through a move at 38-39 weeks pregnant...I haven't done it, but I'm fairly certain that it would be quite uncomfortable. SO we decided we needed to start on Baby #2 sooner than we had originally planned and here we are!
*Next paragraph: TMGI (Too Much Girl Information) for some males* I'm not sure exactly how far along I am because I've only had one period since Liz was born, and that was in June. Before you gasp, it's because I'm still breastfeeding Liz haha. I'm scheduled for an ultrasound tomorrow to see Baby's progress. My guess is that I'm eight or nine weeks along. So we shall see!
Needless to say we are VERY excited! I'd love a boy because I think that would be fun. Hopefully it wouldn't be like Bill and me at that age, when I tried killing him all the time...Chris would like a boy too, of course, but he points out that a girl would be nice because we already have everything we need for a girl! haha We feel good about this baby because we want our kids to be a year and a half- two years apart and Baby Killion #2 fits right in there.
I mentioned that Liz's birthday was yesterday and yes, we had a good time! We invited the Clark's over for dinner and of course, cake and ice cream. I made Liz a funfetti cake with strawberry icing--it's my new favorite combination!


We placed Lizzie's cake slice in front of her and we expected her to go all out and get messy, but she was the exact opposite. She ate her cake neatly, one piece at a time!



Happy Birthday Lizzie! We love you :)

I totally forgot to write about Liz's twelve month check-up, which we went to this morning. Liz is doing wonderfully well, as always. Dr. Wendy is back (YES!!!) from her maternity leave so we were able to talk to her today.
To every question she asked about progress in Liz's development, I answered, "Yes, she does that!" That was reassuring. Liz eats her fruits, veggies, proteins; talks up a storm, etc.
Her stats are:
Weight: 19.65 lbs (25th percentile--her lowest weight percentile ever, but this is typical for breastfed babies)
Height: 29 in. long (50th percentile)
Head Circumference: ...I can't remember exactly. 19 in.? (But it was in the 95th percentile)
All in all, she's "beautiful and perfect" as Dr. Wendy says. I already knew this, of course ;)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

When Chris told me it was going to snow on Saturday, I merely scoffed. Having grown up in New Jersey, I remember all those times we children were promised snow...which never happened. Or, if precipitation did happen, it would be freezing rain or sleet (which are awful and not nearly as exciting as snow).
Imagine my honest surprise when snow began to gently coat everything in sight on Saturday morning, shortly after we woke up. It was beautiful! I was glad to see snow because it is now December and I can always handle snow in December. *Unlike Utah, where some seasons, Mt. Timp would be covered with snow on LABOR DAY! That's SEPTEMBER, people! My inner New Jersey couldn't handle the sight of such early appearances of snow.
We took advantage of being inside our warm house to do some Christmas decorating. Last year, we didn't put up anything because I was too tired and too pregnant to care about decorations. Now that Liz is here and is interested in all things that light up and sparkle, it was off to decorating!
We have a cute 4' tree, which is PERFECT because we put it on Grandpop's table and it's (mostly) out of reach for Liz, so she can't pull everything off the tree.

It has blue and white lights, and I fondly call it our sports tree because nearly all the ornaments on it are football-related (soccer and basketball are runners-up).

Why are many of our ornaments football-themed, christened with the Broncos logo? Well, every year since he was born, Chris received an ornament from his parents. Each ornament has his name on it and the year it was given to him (funny to think some of his ornaments are older than I am!). Valerie saved all of these in a box and gave it to Chris when we got married. So now we can continue the tradition on our own Christmas tree. And it's such a good idea, we are going to do it for Liz! She already has two ornaments on the tree!

We looked around for a cute angel or a pretty star to place at the top of our tree, but I tell you what--everything was came across was cheap-looking or just downright ugly. So, we placed a silver bow on the top which we love.

Here is the K for the Killion tree, which we bought our first Christmas together.


Chris's parents sent him a mini tree for the Christmases he spent on his mission, and it's still in perfect condition. We've made it our dining room table centerpiece for the month of December!

The first present under the tree belongs to Chris! Hmm, I wonder what Santa brought him? :)

My mom has given me a wooden Santa Claus and a collection of wooden sprigs with holly which are decorating our doorway. I'll have to get a picture of that. Chris bought me a wreath and bows, so I took the bows and tied them to the wreath and it looks pretty cute! Thank goodness it was easy to do!

Oh yes, here is our mantle, with our stockings:

Liz is the snowman stocking.

Mom is the Santa stocking.

And Dad is, of course, the Broncos bear stocking, complete with helmet and football. I laughed when I saw this stocking for the first time, because it is CHRIS to a tee!


Later that night was the ward Christmas party. We had a really good time! We sat with the Heit's and the Turman's and proclaimed our table "The BYU Table" since all of us adults graduated from the Y. There was dinner (HAM!!) and a Christmas program with musical numbers from members of the ward. We are very glad the snow didn't stop the celebrations because it was so much fun!

The snow is melting as I type because the sun is shining. We shall see what it looks like outside in a few hours! Have a great week!