39 weeks

my pregnant days are numbered.

if baby doesn't come on her own, i'm getting induced December 26th, @ 6am!!

we can't wait to meet our little girl.

On our seventh date of Christmas...

we saw it SNOW!

well, as close as you can get to snow in LA.


the Americana @ Brand.


please ignore my large self and just see the pretty snow.


such a good sport.

On our sixth date of Christmas...

we finally used a gift card we'd been hoarding to PF Changs!

Appetizer: Spring Rolls
Entree: Chang's Spicy Chicken
{trying to get baby out}



Dessert: Mini Carrot Cake



y.u.m.

Dear Santa,

All I want for Christmas is to be home with my parents, my husband and our brand new perfectly healthy baby girl.

Can you please get a move on?

Love,

Mandy

On our fifth date of Christmas...

we walked to a christmas tree farm lot just to smell the trees.

we love our artificial tree but nothing beats a real one...some day we'll go cut our own down like i did growing up.

my parents still go out and cut down their own tree.

this will suffice for now.

December EAT: Sweet Swap

this is my favorite EAT of the year.
not because of all the junk but because of our gift exchange. last year we set a 5 dollar limit but we raised it to 10 this year.
the challenge is to find the absolute best thing you can within the price. love it!

digging in.


melissa. jenae. mike.


brady. jamie. sara.


david and landon. how cute is that?


starting the gift exchange!!!


i forgot to take pics of everyone with their gifts but i snagged a few.
sara and stewart w/a pazooki cookie pan & mix.


dan, lauren and baby girl.
w/flavored hot chocolates, marshmallows and mugs.


tyler and blair.
w/monopoly chocolate edition


jenae and mike.
w/cute picture frame.

other gifts to note:
monopoly & scrabble card game.
penguin's frozen yogurt gift card
flavored hot chocolate set

see last years december EAT here.

gingerbread houses

to kick off the christmas season we made gingerbread houses with our friends the Lukers after Thanksgiving.

it was the perfect start to the holidays.


house planning.


we introduced the Lukers to the Stephens' way of building gingerbread houses...

yes, we use a glue gun.
it really is the best way to go. and you can actually create the design you envisioned without it taking four hours to construct.



decorating.




the Lukers house.


our house.

On our fourth date of Christmas....

we visited Historic Christmas Tree Lane.

the history behind this place is probably the best part.

it was not exactly what we were expecting. we both imagined seeing something more along these lines. so at first we were disappointed. but then we decided to appreciate the simplicity of it all.

after all, christmas isn't about the big and shiny, but about the simplistic yet miraculous birth of our savior, Jesus Christ.

On our third date of Christmas...

we made a yummy dinner together.

london broil.
mashed potatoes.
corn.
carrots.
green salad.

we played Monopoly deal. {seriously love this game and i hate monopoly}.

we drank hot cocoa and snuggled on the couch.

perfect.

On our second date of Christmas...

we went to The Wonder of Christmas.

by the Southern California Mormon Choir.



we're so grateful for the music of the Christmas season.

On our first date of Christmas...

we shared a milk shake @ the pharmacy.

christmas is going to be a little different this year.

actually, a lot different.

we're staying in Cali.
no snow. no mittens. no scraping our car windows.
my parents are coming.
we will most likely have a baby!
no recreating our first date.
no family fights while playing cranium or any game really.
no niece and nephews to snuggle and wrestle with.

but we've learned that it doesn't matter where we are.

we are still making it feel like christmas.

and we're loving it.

since these are our last few weeks as just the two of us we are going on the 12 dates of christmas.


we love coming here @ Christmas.


coke tree.


{36, almost 37 weeks}


mmmm. cinnamon milkshake.

true story

Cub Scout: What happened?

Me: What?

Cub Scout: What happened?

Me: What?!!?!

Cub Scout: Did you gain weight?

Me: NO I'm pregnant!!!

Cub Scout: (bewildered look on his face)

Me: There's a baby in here!



The best part of all of this to me is that I've known this scout for over a year and he see's me every Tuesday at scouts!

I wonder how many other scouts think I'm just packing on the pounds!

someone had a birthday

russell turned 28 on tuesday! we had a great time celebrating his birth.


baby and i met him at institute for lunch and gave him his first "present." russell loves these fruit bars but i wont ever buy them because they're expensive...but he got one on his birthday!


opening a few gifts.


loved our dinner...this place never disappoints.

thirty one & thirty two

{please don't confuse my shadow for an even bigger belly}

happy halloween from the 3 of us!

October EAT

Toppings:
Milk Chocolate
White Chocolate
Crushed Butterfinger
Crushed Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Crushed Oreo
Cinnamon & Brown Sugar
Nuts
Candy Corn
M&M's


amanda..jenae..sara


mike..jenae..russell


me..melissa..blair


melissa..landon..lauren


snuggling w/landon

playing catch phrase
{girls WON}

grandpa j

my dad {baby girls grandpa j} came for a visit a few weeks ago. we had lots of fun showing him around town and doing some things we'd never done before.


at the Santa Anita race track. i brought our camera but forgot the sd card.
so i used my phone. awful quality.

{i was 28 weeks here}


a little game day breakfast.


russell took my dad to in n out for lunch.


wsu vs. ucla @ the rose bowl


my dad scored us some great seats with backs instead of bleachers.
baby and my body were very grateful.


we hiked to the hollywood sign.








view from the top.




we started the hike the same time as another family but beat them to the top.
when they made it to the top they told me i was their inspiration.
if a 7 month pregnant lady can do it, anyone can.

thanks for a great trip dad.
can't wait til you and mom are back for Christmas and baby's debut.