the most wonderful time of the year

I saw this cute Christmas quiz on Jennifer’s blog and figured I’d do it too!  I am sitting here soaking my foot in epsom salt and really have nothing better to do.  I fell down the stairs yesterday (while holding Gabby – thank goodness she is okay!) and did a number to my ankle.  My hubbs told me that soaking it will help minimize the swelling so that’s what I am doing =)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? it just depends on the gift

2. Real tree or Artificial? we have a real tree but I definitely do understand why some people use artificial trees

3. When do you put up the tree? we don’t really have a ‘set’ day – although I think it would be fun to have a day set aside that we go each year.. like the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  We just got our tree on Sunday so since we waited so late to decorate I plan on leaving everything up until St. Patty’s Day!

4. When do you take the tree down? again, no set day; just when we have the time.. usually not long after the new year.

5. Do you like eggnog? YES!

 
6. Favorite gift received as a child? oh, I have a lot.. a few would be my teddy ruxpin bear, my first cabage patch doll and a shotgun shell box full of one dollar bills!

7. Hardest person to buy for? hmm.. I didn’t really have a hard time with anyone this year.. thank goodness =)

8. Easiest person to buy for? my kiddos!

9. Do you have a nativity scene? sure do – Christmas 2008 my family bought me the entire willow.tree nativity scene – and I LOVE it!!

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? definitely mail.. I love sending and receiving cards, even if it’s not Christmas =)

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? one of those cheap handheld massagers.. lame-O!

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? oh, there are too many to pick a favorite – first ones that come to mind - Elf, the Grinch, Rudolph, a Charlie Brown Christmas

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? our first shopping day this year was November 1st.. last year we had everything done and wrapped by the beginning of December (only because a certain little lady was due to arrive on December 14th and I wanted to have everything done before she arrived!)

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? yes.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? I don’t really have a favorite Christmas time meal – when I was little we always did Christmas morning breakfast and I loved the hash browns!

16. Lights on the tree (colored or clear)? colored.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Kenny Rodgers – Carol of the Bells

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? now that we have little ones we stay home; our families travel to us so the kiddos can stay home and play with all their new toys!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? sure can =)

20. Angel, star or ribbon on top of tree? star.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? we open one present on Christmas Eve, which is usually pajamas!

22. Favorite children's Christmas song? Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

23. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? stressing about $

24. Favorite ornament theme or color? we have a lot of s’moore ornaments that are special.. we also have the treasured ‘baby’s 1st Christmas’ ornaments that will always hold a special place in my heart!!

25. Turkey or ham on Christmas day? ham =)

26. What do you want for Christmas this year? for Mr. Gage David to sleep through the night!!

27. Does anyone in your family dress up as Santa? no.. but my hubbs has a pretty nice Santa suit so he could if he wanted to.

28. Age you discovered who Santa was?  I honestly don’t remember but I know that first Christmas of knowing he didn’t exist was very different.  My mom did an awesome job playing Santa!

29. Eggnog, hot chocolate, or apple cider? hot chocolate

30. Traditional colors (red and green) or other colors? definitely traditional colors – maybe a little silver and gold thrown in there!
31. Do you have any Christmas decorations on your roof? no way!

32. Do you prefer gifts or gift cards? either ;o)

33. Favorite children's Christmas Cartoon? oh, I put some of these under favorite movie – Charlie Brown, the Grinch, Rudolph – love them all!

*sorry the spacing is so weird – I can’t figure it out and my contacts are so dry right now I can barely see the screen so that means it’s bedtime, not mess with the spacing time*

Love & blessings!

giveaway.

The Vintage Pearl

is hosting another giveaway and I sure would love to win.. anything I can do to increase my chances I will definitely do!  I have a necklace, my mom has a necklace and someone special in my family will be getting a necklace for Christmas =)

Gage is two months old!

Another month has passed as a family of 5!  Gage continues to grow each day and is such a cute baby =)  I’ll be honest, we have no routine or schedule with him; he eats when he wants and sleeps when he wants.  I need to buckle down and really work on this though, since I go back to work in a few weeks.  Last night he slept for 6 hours straight and that was WONDERFUL!!  The night before that he was up every 2 1/2 to 3 hours wanting to eat.  I am hoping things continue just as they went last night; that would make me one happy momma!  Other than the sleeping issues he is one cool kid! 

• 2 month well baby visit tomorrow! (Gabby has her 1 year visit right after yours!)
• You love sleeping in your swing during the day
• You are learning to like bath time
• You really love to lay on your changing table with just a diaper on
• You still haven’t peed on mommy! [thanks]
• You met Santa on December 6th =)
• Daddy calls you his little buckaroo and I think it’s A.dorable!
• You smile often.. but usually not for mommy.. boo.
• You love your paci in the car and when we’re out running errands but don’t care for it much at home
• wear size 1 diapers – huggies little snugglers are our favorite
• 0-3 month clothing.. but probably only for another few weeks.. you’re growing so quickly!
• still sleeping in the pack-n-play in the rent’s room – we’re nervous to put you in your crib since it’s in Gabby’s room and you aren’t sleeping through the night yet
• you don’t cry too often – only when you’re really wet or poopy or when you want to be held (he’s not spoiled.. honest!)
• You have extremely long eyelashes and incredibly adorable dimples!!

I LOVE this photo – Gage is telling you he’s 2 months old =)

    I am going to eat you!

Now I am going to drool all over you!

Love & blessings!!

ps – I lied, I hate our Christmas cards.. I’m so frustrated I didn’t put more effort into them.. oh well, at least they were free.. thank you Shutterfly!  (I should clarify, I love the design.. I hate the photo I put on it.  I look like a ding-dong and am holding Gage in a strange position, Gabby’s dress is covering Gage and she has a miserable look on her face.. Gavin & Steven, they both look normal.  Oh well, there’s always next year.

one step at a time

first step.. Wee Bit Wednesday.. second step.. Christmas cards.. third step.. cleaning & organizing this horribly messy, unorganized dirty home (which has really put me in a grumpy mood lately).. fourth step.. bottles.. fifth step.. devotions.. sixth step.. shut eye (maybe, depends on sweet baby Gage)

{one} if you were granted three wishes, what would they be? first I’d ask for more wishes, if that’s possible!  If not, wish one = an unlimited supply of money for the rest of my life and for the rest of each one of my children’s lives.  wish two = peace on earth (no, really).  wish three = perfect health for my entire family until the day they meet Jesus Christ

{two} who is your favorite author? John Grisham – A Time to Kill is one of my all time favorite books!

{three} what crowd were you involved in during high school? that’s hard.. I was in the band, was class president and was involved in a bunch of other clubs and activities.. my group of friends was a good mix of band kids, athletes, brains and good looks ;o)

{four} what is your favorite thing to do when you have time to yourself? I enjoy roaming around on the internet, blogging, looking through old photographs & watching reality tv.. sounds like buckets of fun, huh?!

{five} do you have any hidden talents? nope.

{six} can you fake any accents? nope.

{seven} have you ever been mentioned in the newspaper? yes, when I was in high school I was student of the month so I had a little blurb written about me

{eight} have you ever been arrested? my mom reads this blog so I can’t say ;o) 

JUST KIDDING!!  No, definitely never been arrested!

{nine} what is your favorite job you’ve had? I guess I’d have to say my current job, mostly because I adore the people I work with! Being a junior janitor was just plain nasty, the hardware store was fun but boring at times, waitressing was not my cup of tea, the WVU library basement was sometimes scary, the pizza shop made me fat and the at-risk youth at Devereux beat me up too much =)

{ten} do you have any scars? yes, a bunch.. the biggest is from having a tumor removed from my arm when I was a toddler. I scar very easily.

ps: Mr. Gage David will be 2 months old tomorrow!

now I am off to address my free Christmas cards from Shutterfly!  I think they turned out great .. other than yours truly looking like an idiot in the photo! oh well, Christmas isn’t about looking good ;o)

LOVE & BLESSINGS!

1 YEAR OLD!

To my sweet Gabrielle Louise - Happy 1st Birthday!!  This past year has truly been memorable =)  I have enjoyed each and every second of watching you grow and learn.  You are developing into such a bright, sweet, loving, strong, silly little lady and I just love everything about you!  I love how you play with my shirt as you fall asleep; I love how you won’t give daddy kisses but give me kisses all the time; I love how you wrestle with your big bro even though he’s 20 pounds heavier than you; I love your beautiful curly hair; I love how you try to sneak up the stairs when you think no one is watching you; I love how you splash and carry on in the bathtub; I love how independent you’ve become with your food; I love how you say “hi Gage” and give him smooches; I love how you bark [aka scream] at the dogs when they are outside; I love how you always try to climb in the dishwasher when we are putting dishes away; I love your adorable scrunchie-nose face; I love watching you ‘read’ books; I love watching you dance when mommy has the radio on; I love watching you with your daddy (you are and will forever be his little princess!); I love it all.. everything.. my heart is full.. you are a dream come true and I love you to pieces, now and forever.

At 12 months you are:

• not sure of height & weight, will find out next week
• wearing size 3 diapers
• wearing mostly 18 month clothing
• You have 6 teeth (2 on the bottom & 4 on the top)
• You are very close to standing on your own – you’ve done it a few times and it won’t be long before you’ve mastered it
• no walking yet but that’s okay – your brother didn’t walk until he was 15 months old and truthfully, things will likely get much harder when you start walking so mommy is okay if we need to wait a few more weeks for that to happen =)
• you love love love the bathtub!
• Books are one of your favorite toys right now
• Gavin’s cars are still probably your favorite (but you got 2 very cool pink cars for your birthday so now you have your own!!)
• You refuse to eat baby food – you will only eat food that you can feed yourself – the only thing mommy or daddy can feed you is yogurt
• Hot dogs, carrots, apples and pasta are likely your favorites right now
• Goodbye formula – Hello whole milk!!  (and your really seem to like the milk, as long as it’s warm)
• You love when mommy puts lotion on you after your bath
• You enjoy having your fingernails clipped… do I see manicures in our future?!!
• You’ve mastered the stairs – you’re one quick little chick!
• Music & dancing are a big hit with you – you get a kick out of watching mommy dance around the kitchen like an idiot =)
• you say mama, dada, ‘hiiiiiii’ and ‘gaaaaaaaaage’ – and something that sounds like baby but I’m not quite sure that’s what it is
• You are one AWESOME daughter – with an adorable nose!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET POTATO!

Love & blessings!

cake!

the party was wonderful – we have amazing family & friends!

Happy 1st Birthday Gabrielle Louise – you are an absolute dream come true!

ONE!

It’s hard to believe a year (almost) has come and gone so quickly.. so many fun memories and special times with my beautiful daughter..  Just for fun I re-read my posts about her delivery and our first few weeks home – I feel like I am reliving them all over again with Gage.. strange but fun!  When I look at some of the photos in this post [Welcome Gummy Bear!] I just can’t get over how tiny she was.  I look at her now and am just amazed; she’s simply wonderful =) I feel beyond blessed to be her mommy!

Her first birthday party is tomorrow and I am hoping everyone has fun.  I have been thinking about it for weeks now and will be SO happy to finally get it underway!!  I must get a move on – there’s lots to do while Big G, Middle G and Little G are actually all sleeping at the same time. (wish I were sleeping!)  I’m not sure when I will be back to post about the party or do her 12 month post – we’ve got a busy few days ahead of us.  One thing’s for sure.. there will be 14,229,456,201 photos of it all!!

Love & blessings!