Christmas in Tulsa

Matt made it to Tulsa on the 26th.  We were all thrilled!  We headed to lunch at Charlestons and then my mom drove home.  

We celebrated Christmas with Matt's immediate family on the 28th because Mike and Meg didn't fly in town until the night before.  We all went to Charlestons again for our big dinner.

Roman, of course, had to sit with "grandma"

The beautiful Mark and Whitney

Crazy girl was obsessed with her daddy

The Franks ladies at dinner

We attempted kid pictures forever.  A little Carmen wasn't going to have it!

Our little family

Preggo pics!  Meg is only two weeks ahead of me with a boy too!!  

Roman decided he needed a preggo pic too!

Sisters! 

Pam said she cut back this year on gifts!

Pa and Grandma with their grandchildren

We had a great Christmas and feel blessed to have such loving families.  God is so good!

Christmas Day

Roman left some pretzels and milk for Santa.  He decided that he would leave the cookies for himself. Oh boy!

Santa went a little small this year.  Roman got the Captain America that he's been wanting for forever!

Carmen got a Mrs. Potato head.  

After we opened gifts, Mom and I headed to Tulsa for the rest of the day to spend with Matt's family.  Poor Matt was in San Juan, but his family is so great for having us come!

We all went to Matt's Grandma's house for lots more present opening

silly kids!

Carmen never napped that day, but sat quietly on Pa's lap for a long time.  It was so cute!

Christmas in Springfield

I flew out to Springfield about a week before Christmas because Matt was able to take me to the airport and help put me on the plane, but he couldn't fly with us because he had to fly to New York that day.  I managed to fly with both kids and Captain sitting below Roman's seat all by myself.  We managed!  I realized really fast that all of my music and movies had been deleted from my phone, so Roman just played with his superheroes.  He did great!  Carmen was a little more difficult, but oh well, what do you expect from an 18 month old!

Matt came to visit for a night in between flying.  Poor guy flew the entire weekend before Christmas and spent Christmas  Day in San Juan on the beach by himself.

Meema and I helped the kids bake and decorate cookies all day Friday.

Sunday after church, we all went to my uncle Randy's house on the farm.  The kids were in heaven!

Caroline, Roman, and Catherine

Carmen actually let Elizabeth hold her!

My little diva farmer girl!

Roman LOVES his girls!

We decorated gingerbread houses!

Roman, of course, wouldn't pose for the photo.

Christmas Eve before we headed to church

I had to give Carmen her blankie and bells to take the picture.  Roman decided that he needed his blanket too.

Meema and her grandkids

We opened gifts before church on Christmas Eve night 

Roman got his Captain America sheets for his new big boy bedroom and  his spider-man helmet

Carmen got a bitty baby from Meema!

I think my mom is officially telling everyone now, but she is planning to move to Georgia at the end of April. I am so thrilled that she will be 10 minutes away from us.  Anyways, it was a little sad to think that this might be the last time I'm in Springfield for a long time!  Crazy!  We had a great pre-Christmas as a family together, just missed Matt lots!

Baby

We found out for sure at the 18 week appointment that baby Franks is another Boy!!! We're thrilled! Carmen is destined to be one tough little girl sandwich!
The ultrasound was fine until the end and the technician said there was fluid on his brain. Matt swears he heard the word hydrocephalus. Which is not good at all. The fluid could lead to brain damage and mental retardation. We saw a different doctor right after the ultrasound and he was very calm and said it was just cysts. We were scared out of our minds! We had to schedule another ultrasound with a specialist at the hospital after Christmas. Anyways, we had to wait through the entire holidays to see if everything was okay. It was very scary to say the least! The ultrasound was on the 3rd of January. The technician and doctor both said there was no fluid and no longer any cysts!! Baby boy is completely healthy! As you can imagine, I was crying tears of joy. Matt said he got on his knees thanking God. We feel blessed and overwhelmed with gratitude! My whole perspective has changed now and we can't wait to meet our little boy. I was excited before, but just a lot more appreciative for this little surprise miracle that we're about to have soon.

They are thrilled to announce they are having a little brother!

21 weeks preggers with our little boy

Fun Christmas Day!

We had so much fun as a family preparing for Christmas. We woke up and headed to a local donut shop. After stuffing our faces full, we headed to the mall to see Santa! We thought for sure Roman would be excited to tell him what he wanted. Not so much! Both kids cried, loud! It was actually hilarious! People in the mall were starring. After we got home from the mall, we got in our wagon and passed out Christmas cards to the neighbors. It was a great day!

Bible study

I take the kids to CBS bible study every Tuesday morning. We all love it! Carmen walks right in her class and Roman loves his class too. I enjoy having a little study every day and getting deeper knowledge of the bible. Roman's class performed for us the last week before Christmas. They recited their bible verse and sang 'Go Tell it on The Mountain', and 'Away in a Manger'. It was so cute!!