Tales from Mommy Merrill: Holidays 2012: Ronnie, Katie, 'the bump' and Sammy

A year ago Ronnie and I spent Thanksgiving in Iowa celebrating our wedding with our friends and family back home... then we jetted off to the Domincan for our friends Amanda and Bryan's wedding and spent Christmas in Florida with Ronnie's family.

THIS year.. the experience was quite different! Gonna give you the rundown. Lots of stuff to report - so you might want to grab some coffee and kick your feet up for a bit :-)

We spent Thanksgiving here and had a great time celebrating all the things we are thankful for (there are SO many of them) with Ronnie's parents and sister. Here's a shot of Ronnie, Sammy (a cameo of Ziggy - Steph's dog in the bottom right :-) and Sammy in Ron and Cathy's backyard. Potential Christmas card shot... but didn't make the cut.

Photo opp #2 was Thanksgiving weekend at Anna Maria Island. We met some friends down there for dinner.. the sunset was beautiful!

The official Project Nursery Kick-Off also started Thanksgiving weekend. Because I am pregnant - I wasn't an active participant in the painting. However - I had the vision ... which included STRIPES.

Once Ronnie got the base on, we started taping and the fun began

Stripes are up! Thanks to a tip from some friends we were able to seal the lines and didn't have any dripping! It was VERY nerve racking pulling back that tape, though!

Of course being new to the neighborhood this year - we had to hang lights! Next year we are going to research the best way to hang lights on a palm tree trunk... this was just a practice year ;-) We had fun doing it together... and laughing as we compared our work to the neighbors!

The first weekend of December mom and Frank came down to visit - we had a GREAT TIME! I don't have a lot of pics :( Seems like whenever mom is here we are always so busy doing stuff we forget to get out the camera. But the shot below is in front of this huge Christmas tree at an outdoor mall near our house.. we had a fun night out with mom and Frank!

Ronnie and Frank had a great time golfing and then Ronnie introduced Frank to the Brass Tap for Sunday football... Good times!

It was sad to see mom and Frank leave, but we knew we would be back in Iowa soon! Plus, we had Sammy to bring us some Christmas Cheer! He is all decked out with his Christmas tie - very festive this year!

Now back to the nursery.. just before we left for Iowa we had the new carpet installed and the rocking chair arrived! Phase 2 (carpet and furniture) was in full motion!

We had a great trip back to Iowa for Christmas...I was so excited to get back to meet my new NEPHEWS I could hardly stand it! Kelby Lee Butcher and Beau James Butcher. They are both absolute dolls spending quality time with them was THE BEST!

And of course I am ALWAYS excited to see Ethan. He was a funny and charming as ever...loved a few of his one liners. He cracks me up!

As an expectant mommy, it was fun to see all the different stages the little boys are in.. from 3 1/2 weeks, to 3 1/2 months to 3 years old! SO FUN!

I also LOVED spending time with Wendy! I miss her and so much and having 5 days to hangout was the best Christmas gift I could ask for! She has sure shown me all the ropes of what to expect during pregnancy - and now we are experiencing it at the same time.. so awesome. Here are our belly shots:

Now.. on to the babies! Aunt Ronda with Ethan and Kelby. We all laughed whenever Kelby would get mad and stick out his lower lip... it's the cutest mad face I have ever seen!

Andy my little precious baby Beau! I was titled 'the Beau Hog' during this trip because I just couldn't get enough of this little guy!

The two little cousins.. so peaceful on Christmas Eve!

Ronnie and I.. and the bump on Christmas Eve before heading to the candlelight service

On Christmas Day we had a great time at Dad and Connie's! Grandma Butcher, Ronda and Harry were there to join us for the day which was so special. Grandma is quite the baby whisperer...she just has a way of calming those little guys right down!

Dad likes to give Ronnie a hard time about his very shiny hair that resembles that of a hampshire pig. LOL! He wanted to make sure Kelby got to touch it this year === looks like it might have freaked Kelby out!

The three little guys - look at that trio! Kelby, Ethan and Beau.

Of course Dad didn't want to miss out on this fun!

Getting a little practice with the babies was great for both of us! We love our nephews!!!

We were blessed with safe travels and it sure was a Christmas to remember! When we returned we celebrated with Ron, Cathy and Stephanie. We are so thankful to have such wonderful families!

Next up New Years Eve. We had friends in town over the weekend and it was such a blast being able to host! Below are the guys... Bryan, Alex, Ronnie and Mike. What a good lookin' crew!