Merry Christmas!

Here it is - Christmas Eve! Whether we're ready or not. This year we'll be moving at a slower pace - the Reed family get-together has already passed (we missed it because Julie was too sick) and the extended Martin family is postponing their gathering until January, due to Grandpa's recent passing. So unlike other years, where we have either attended or hosted 8 or more events within 2-3 days, Christmas 2008 will consist of 3 get-togethers in 2 days. We're happy to be able to linger, put our feet up for a bit, and enjoy the holiday.

This past weekend, while Julie was still recuperating,
Scott took Evyn to see Santa!


We hadn't intended to "do" the whole Santa thing - and haven't in past years. But this year Evyn took a sudden self-led interest in the St. Nick stories, and became convinced that he would be visiting our home this year. We discussed it, and decided to allow Santa to bring her some gifts, at least this time around.

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Our builder has been hired! Once the township approves our building permits we can schedule a firm start date, but construction is expected to begin in early January. We're running short on time before the Littlest Martin joins us, so let's hope that January is free of too much bad weather that can slow us down!

Baby is doing well - very active, and not staying in one position for more than a day at a time. Only 82 days until our due date! Julie's belly is noticeably bigger, the last week or two, though she's still hanging out at +7 pounds over her pre-pregnancy weight. Thumbing through Evyn's baby journal we realized that the two pregnancies are almost identical, at this stage (right down to Julie getting a nasty cold in the 27th week!) which is interesting, because they've been very different up until this point! S/he should would measure around 15" long and weigh about 2.5 pounds this week. The baby has been quick to respond any time Julie uses a noisy hair dryer, blender, or cranks up the music in the car.

Tonight we're off to Larry & Lori's house, for our annual Christmas Eve festivities. We have a new theme this year - Italian - as Lori, Michelle, Leo, and both Larry's, are all cooking traditional Italian food for us.
Christmas morning will be a quiet one - the last with just the three of us! - before we head to Scott's parents house in the afternoon.
Then, Christmas night, we'll stop by the Dave & Leslie's to visit with the Hartsough's. We'll try to squeeze in an update between then, and Scott's birthday celebration on Saturday :)

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas! Much love to you all~