December and Christmas

December's been a pretty happening month here at the Kramer household. At the beginning of the month, I went for my normal check up and blood work. The one-hour glucose test came back a little high so I went for the 3 hour test a few weeks later. Unfortunately, those numbers also came back higher than normal so I've been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I have to test my blood sugar 4 times a day and methodically watch the amount of carbohydrates I eat. I was concerned with the diagnosis because throughout my pregnancy I've been eating healthy with some not-so-healthy stuff but only in moderation. The doctor assured me that it happens sometimes in pregnancies because the body is more resistant to insulin. It's going pretty well so far. I've been able to keep my blood sugars in check with just simple diet changes. I have to say that it's a little weird counting carbs, fats, and calories all the time but so far it hasn't been overly hard. :-) Because of the GD, my doctor wants me to deliver between 39 and 40 weeks (unless I deliver naturally beforehand) so we've decided the best time to have Trinity is February 8th. I'm so stoked that it's only 6 weeks away and then we get to meet our beautiful bundle of joy! Anyway...

I got to do a bunch of volunteer stuff with the PTA and holidays at Kristi's school. I'm the chair of the community service committee and as our first drive of the year, we did a toiletry drive for Once More Ministries. Each grade had a specific item to bring in like toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, etc. The classrooms collected 2 huge boxes! As an incentive to bring in items, the classroom with the most items gets a holiday cookie party in January. The next drive I'm planning is to help re-stock one of the local food pantry's. Since the holidays pretty much wipes them clean, I thought this would be perfect. Moving on...

We had a family weekend where we did movies, made meals, and made gingerbread houses. I think more of the candy went in Kristi's belly than actually on here house but here's the finished products:

Mine

Andy's (love his wreath!)

Kristi's

I think when we do them next year, I'll use different icing. I thought royal icing would be best because it dries hard but man, trying to get it to stick to anything was sooooooo hard! Lesson learned...

Next up was Kristi's Christmas party at school. We started in the cafeteria/gym with the entire school carol sing-a-long. Then we went back to the classroom for her party. She had so much fun playing games and making crafts. She got to decorate a cupcake, make an ornament, unscramble words, and play a game. The next day, the three 1st grade classes got together and had different stations of activities for the kids. I ran the Pictionary station and it was so much fun watching the kids try to draw and guess the pictures. There are some really great artists there!

Christmas was great again this year, although I did miss having my baby girl here. We had Kristi open a few of our presents to her as well as family gifts that were sent before she left on Friday. I think the gift she freaked out the most about was the Victorious t-shirt we got her. She's been begging for it all year!

We spent Christmas Eve finishing the shopping we didn't get done the prior day and wrapping presents for the next day. We went to the Christmas Eve service which was awesome. The choir didn't do a cantata this year so the service was a little different. The children acted out the nativity scene while one of the older children narrated the story. It was really, really adorable! We ended the service with a candle light ceremony which is always my favorite! We spent Christmas day and the day after with Andy's family at his parents. We got to their house pretty early in the morning and had Carol open one of her gifts so she could use it later that day (if she wanted):

After the family arrived, we had breakfast and opened gifts. Here's a few of the highlights:

Sophie loved her gift from us

Such goofs!

I think she liked it?

Loved her reaction to our gift!

My totally awesome new boots

He's a coffee fiend :-)

Trinity's sock monkey

Since then, Andy and I have been hanging out, cleaning the house, and rearranging things. We've been having a really great time having some "just us" time. Well, that's about all I have for now so until next time... Much love and many blessings!


♥Courtney♥