Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

Today has been a BUSY day! This is the second year that Ryan and I have hosted a Christmas Eve party at our house. Last year we did a cookie exchange where everyone brought Christmas cookies or another dessert and we sat around stuffing our faces, drinking coffee or Ryan's apple cider. This year we decided to do finger foods instead of just sweets.

I spent most of the day yesterday trying to get my house clean. Not only for the party but because my parents are coming in Christmas day and my house has to pass my mother's inspection! Not really but I make sure it's extra clean for her! :) Abigail tends to create more messes for me to clean up so the work doubles as the day goes! Today I spent most of the day baking, cooking, decorating, and cleaning. I made fudge for the first time today and it turned out so yummy! I was pretty proud of myself. I also made Oatmeal Jumbo cookies. They are a family favorite. I came across a recipe for them last year and gave them a try. They quickly became my favorite cookie! I also made hamburger dip. Ryan's mom and Mimi and sister-in-law Mellissa also brought some goodies. We had a great time eating all the goodies and engaging in conversation. Ryan's cousins Josh and his wife Leah and baby Jansen came. As well as his Aunt Susie and cousin Trey. Aunt Selma, Amanda, and her girls, Samantha and Sabrina stopped by too. (Pictures to come. My computer is being slow about uploading them tonight.)

Mellissa and Jon stayed for a bit after everyone had left and Mellissa helped me clean up! I am so blessed to have two great sisters-in-law. After they left, I put Abigail to bed, read her a Bible story and a Christmas story. It was late so she went right to sleep. It's nice to be able to put my feet up after a long day. I need to put out her presents from Santa before I go to sleep. She doesn't really understand the concept of Santa yet but she definitely knows what presents are! She's been asking me every day this week when we were going to open presents!

My Facebook/Twitter status from earlier in the day was a passage of Scripture from the book of Isaiah. I often think of this passage of Scripture during Christmastime because part of it was used in a song that the choir at my home church in Georgia sang when I was in high school. The lyrics go something like this, "we who were walking in darkness have seen a great light, a great light, a great light." Isaiah 9:2 states: " The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of darkness, a light has dawned." If Jesus had not left the splendor and glory of heaven and come to earth as a baby born in a cattle stall and placed in a lowly manger, we would still be walking in darkness! Thank you Jesus for being the Light of the world! Thank you for being born in the shadow of the cross! Thank you that we have more to celebrate at Christmas than Santa or Rudolph, or Frosty, or other commercial fixtures of Christmas. But we can celebrate the LIGHT!

Not Me Monday

I am NOT the worst blogger on the planet! :) I just can't seem to keep up. I'll try and do better next year!

I did NOT slide down in the muddy infield during softball practice within the first five minutes of being there! My pastor did NOT take a picture of my muddy self and threaten to post it on Facebook. I did NOT get ragged the rest of practice. I was NOT surprised to find that even my underwear were muddy because it has soaked through my shorts! Nothing like that ever happens to me. NEVER!

I did NOT sleep on the couch with Abigail when she woke up in the middle of the night because she was sick and had been running a fever. I did NOT wake up after NOT hearing her throwing up. I did NOT realize that she had puked all over me. I did NOT take her to the bathroom to clean her up and she did NOT puke all over the floor. I did NOT clean her up and I did NOT change her pj's. I did NOT have to change my shirt. I did NOT have to get a new pillow. We did NOT fall back asleep only to NOT wake up to Abigail NOT throwing up again! I did NOT put a puke bowl under her mouth and I did NOT congratulate myself for catching all the puke. I did NOT get up to clean out the puke bowl and I absolutely did NOT stick my hand in a puddle of puke on my blanket. She had NOT been throwing up before I woke up and realized it! I did NOT just throw the blanket in the hallway and grab another and go back to sleep!

Ryan and I did NOT decide to bake and ice cookies with Abigail. I did NOT tell him that he didn't need to buy blue food coloring because red and green make blue! He did NOT laugh at me because he would NEVER do that to me. He did NOT threaten to make that a quote or status on Facebook (why is Facebook such a good place for blackmail or embarrassing people?). I did NOT argue with him that I was NOT right. I do NOT tend to think that I'm am NOT always right! Abigail did NOT play in the flour and get it everywhere. I did NOT take a lot of pictures to capture the memory because I do NOT like taking pictures! Here are a few pictures that I did NOT take:

Update

I was doing so well with keeping up this blog but here we are and it's almost the middle of December and I haven't posted in a month. Here's a look at what we've been up to:

Abigail celebrated her 2nd birthday on November 21. She had a Dora and friends party. We had a great turn out and she got some great gifts. Now she is obssessed with presents. I have a hard time keeping her away from the presents under the Christmas tree. She thinks they are all hers and can be opened whenever she wants! :)

A few days later we traveled to Georgia to be with family there for Thanksgiving. It was an unusual Thanksgiving due to the fact that my aunt and uncle and their family were gone to Ohio to be with relatives up there. And my cousin Kyle was getting married the day after Thanksgiving so several members of the family didn't make it due to traveling Thanksgiving day or the next for the wedding. I was sad that I wasn't able to go but I heard it was a beautiful wedding and I wish them all the best.

The following week after we got back our family passed around the stomach bug. Apparently Abigail got it from a kid in the nursery and passed it on to me. Ryan got it a little later. It was not a fun week in our house. We had to cancel the youth Christmas party/progressive dinner. But to make the day better, the Gators lost to Alabama. Woohoo! :) I'm a Georgia girl but I cheer for whatever team Florida is playing against!

This week has started out slow. We've been getting over being sick last week. The house work has piled up but I've had no energy to do it. I was able to to buy a few more Christmas presents on Monday and yesterday Ryan and I watched Christmas movies while I wrapped presents while Abigail took a nap. December is really flying by and I don't want to rush Christmas. I absolutely LOVE this time of year but I'm a giver and once the presents are bought and wrapped I get ansy. I am so ready to give everyone the gifts I picked out for them and see their reactions. The only downfall is that we wont be seeing my brother and his family this year for Christmas. The invention of web cams and Skype makes it easier to be away from the ones you love. We'll open our gifts from each other via web cam so that we can see each other and their reactions!

The holiday's are so busy. We have the church Christmas party on Saturday. On Monday we are going to Ryan's work Christmas party at the Ritz Carlton. The invitation says "cocktail attire"! I have no clue what I'm going to wear. I don't own any "cocktail attire" at least not that still fits! :) Later on over the next couple of weeks we have the choir Christmas cantata and various other holiday obligations. I am looking forward to them. I just want to make sure that we don't lose our focus. It's not about presents or parties but about JESUS CHRIST! He left all the splendor and glory of heaven to be born as a lowly infant in a stinky manger all because He LOVED us! I am always reminded that Jesus was born in the shadow of the cross. He paid a debt He didn't owe for a crime He didn't commit! The greatest gift of all is His death on the cross for our sins!!! So this Christmas let's remember to celebrate His birth because without His birth there wouldn't have been a death! JESUS is the REASON for the season! Merry Christmas everybody!

I am NOT Scatter Brained

My post just a few moments ago was entitled "Not Me Tuesday" but after I posted it, I realized that it is actually Wednesday! I did NOT drink two cups of coffee earlier tonight! I am NOT up way to late! Hope everyone has a blessed Wednesday!

Not Me Tuesday

Sorry for not posting "Not Me Monday" again! I think "Not Me Tuesday" will probably be permanent. So here goes:

I did NOT leave dirty dishes in the sink for five days straight. I did NOT drop one of the dirty bowls. It did NOT shatter everywhere. I do NOT think that I have a piece stuck in my foot.

My husband was NOT supposed to wash said dishes five days before. He was NOT supposed to wash them because I did NOT cook him steak and twice baked potatoes. I did NOT make a deal with him on Sunday that I would NOT wash the dishes if he bought us dinner and and rented a movie. I did NOT wait an addition two days. Nope, NOT me!

I am NOT still in the same pajamas that I was in when I woke up this morning. I would NEVER stay in my pajamas all day.

I did NOT try and sneak some of my child's Halloween candy so that I didn't have to share it with her. I did NOT try to quietly open the m&m's only to have her run into the kitchen and say, "mommy, what you doin?" I did NOT stifle a laugh and turn my back. I did NOT pour the contents of the m&m bag into my palm and I most certainly did NOT shove them into my mouth before turning back around. I also did NOT burst out laughing when she grinned at me and gave me a knowing look! She is NOT a smart two year old!

Happenings

First, let me say that I won third place at the chili cookoff! Woohoo! I ended up making my basic chili instead of tinkering with it and it paid off...literally! Third place was a $15 gift certificate to Wal-Mart. The money will probably go into Abigail's birthday or my Christmas fund! But the sweetest prize was beating Ryan! We are so competetive!

I took Abigail to her first parade on Saturday. It was the Veteran's Day parade downtown! The parade was nice. I am so thankful for all men and women who have fought to keep our country safe and free! Abigail did not have the best time though. She doesn't really like loud noises. The horns on the cars and of course the fire engines freaked her out. The worst was the pirates ship and the cannons! I sure hope she grows out of this skiddish stage soon!

I still can't believe that her second birthday is in two weeks! Time went by too fast! I've been trying to teach her about her birthday and tell her people who are coming to her party. She now goes around saying things like, "Birthday! Nana coming, Papa coming!" It's so cute! She'll be having a Dora and Friends birthday party. I'll be sure to post pics.

Be on the lookout for my "Not Me Monday" post tomorrow!

Not Me Tuesday

Another blog that I read from time to time does a weekly, "Not Me Monday" post. The author basically tells silly things that she or someone in her family has done but due to the title of the post, she actually says that she has NOT done these things. It's pretty comical and I thought I'd give it a try. I meant to post yesterday but got sidetracked so my first post of this nature is entitled "Not me Tuesday". It's not as catchy but hopefully I'll remember on Mondays. So here goes:

I did NOT change my daughter's diaper in the back seat of my SUV in the Chili's parking lot Sunday night. When I got the diaper open, poop did NOT roll out of the diaper and onto the seats. The light was NOT so dim that I could barely see. I did NOT get all the poop back into the diaper and seal it up only to realize that there was a stray turd in the floor. I did NOT proceed to throw said turd into the bushes at Chili's.

Also on Sunday, I did NOT come home from church and immediatly change clothes. I did NOT decide that I wanted Dorito's and sour cream with my chili. I did NOT throw on a sweatshirt over my tanktop and ask my husband if he could tell that I wasn't wearing a bra. I did NOT go to the grocery store without a bra on. Nope, NOT me!

I did NOT join the church softball team even if I haven't played in 10 years. I did NOT go to practice last Tuesday and pitch for almost an hour straight. I did NOT go to McDonalds after practice and order a double cheeseburger combo. I did NOT go home and eat said combo while NOT watching The Biggest Loser. And I was NOT so sore the next day that I could barely get up and down.

There were other things that I did NOT do last week but they aren't as funny. I'll try and keep a better list this week and hopefully have more NOT me's for you next week! Hope you enjoyed!

New Post

Urg! I just typed a whole blog entry that didn't post! Boo! I will try again later. Now, I better go make some coffee before my husband get's home from visiting at the hospital! Later.

Catchin Up

It's been a few weeks since I last posted. My computer has been suffering from the swine flu! Haha! I'm a PC what can I say. I really want a Mac! Now to play catch up.

October has flown by so fast. Two weeks ago Abigail and I went and visited my family in Graceville. She loves her Nana and Papa as well as her Uncle Justin, Aunt Hannah, and cousin Marlee. We had the best time. Nana and Papa took her to Aplin Farms outside of Dothan. She got to see all the farm animals, go through a corn maze, and pick out a pumpkin for her Papa to carve. Of course this gave me ample opportunities for photo ops, so I'll post a few of my favorite ones.

I can't believe that she is going to be two in less than a month. I am having fun planning her party and deciding on her presents but it's bittersweet. She's not a baby anymore. I have this little habit of holding her like a baby and saying "you're mama's little baby, right?" and she giggles then says "right" immediately followed by protests of being held that way! I love the way she comes up to me after she's been playing for a while and says "hey mama, what you doing?" And finally she loves to snuggle. That's my favorite part.

We are having a Family Fest instead of a Fall Festival at our church. It's the first Wednesday night in November. Part of the fun is a chili cook-off. Ryan and I have both entered and there has been a lot of smack talk. I think the chili that I make for our little family is great but I really need to practice a bit so that I can make it better. I'm pretty competitive so I really, really, really want to beat Ryan! Love you honey! :)

I hope everyone is having a great fall!

The Weather Outside

The weather outside is...PERFECT! I must say that I am a summer girl at heart. I LOVE the beach, summer clothes, flip-flops, backyard barbeque's, etc. But my second favorite season is fall. The nostalgia that fall brings is wonderful. I love the cool crisp air, caramel macchiatos and pumpkin spice latte's from Starbucks, scarves, and the knowledge that the holiday's are right around the corner. This time of year brings out my inner child. I get giddy with excitement.

Living in the south means we don't get to experience the changing of the leaves but I love the change of color in other aspects of life that signify fall is here. I love going into the stores and seeing the browns, oranges, greens, plums, and so forth. It will probably be a while before we have constant cooler temperatures but my heart is warmed by this sneak peek into fall.

We have taken advantage of the cooler weather and hit the park a couple of times this week. Abigail still doesn't like the swings. But she loves to slide! On Wednesday Ryan was able to go with us. We took our lunch and spent some time playing with Abigail and then had a picnic. We had a great family day!

What is your favorite thing about fall? Leave me a comment and let me know. Have a great fall y'all! :)

Two Post in One Day

Wow! I am actually posting twice in one day. It's a miracle! :)

Actually, I wanted to share some pictures of Abigail from this past weekend. She was the flower girl in her Uncle Jon's (Ryan's brother) wedding. She was so cute! The wedding was on the beach in the evening. It was a perfect day. Everything was beautiful. Here are a few pictures from the day.

I told you she was too much like me!

The two flower girls, Abigail and Hailey

The next few are some of my favorites from the day. Enjoy!

Randomness

I always say I am going to keep up with this thing and I don't. It's the same way with me and losing weight! I say I'm going to do it then turn around and eat a bag of chocolate covered popcorn! Oh well, it tasted good! :) Have you ever heard the expression, "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels"? Well, I would like to say that's true but I love food too much! Yes, I want to be skinny and I know it will feel so good to be so. But food tastes good! And I have little self-control when it comes to it! As the holidays are upon us, I am going to try and do two things that I have trouble doing: keeping up with this blog and losing weight. Fingers crossed people!

Our summer was crazy. We had family and friends at our house almost the entire summer. It was fun but exhausting. The first part of September we took our vacation. We dropped Abigail off with my parents and Ryan and I made the trip up to Greensboro, Ga to the Ritz Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation. It was so nice! Plus it was the first alone trip that Ryan and I have taken in over 4 years. It was great to get away. We stayed two nights and then made our way back to Graceville and spent the remainder of the week with my family. I miss them so much! Going home is always great but makes me miss them even more when we get back to Fernandina. I would love for us all to live in the same area again!

Abigail continues to amaze me! I can say that being a mother has taught me more about God's love for us than anything else! I am overwhelmed by it! She looks like her daddy the most but bless her heart she is me in personality and behavior! She has as many of my bad qualities as my good! :) For instance, I am easily irritated when I am trying to do something and it's not going my way. This child will whine and cry when it happens to her! She also has my facial expressions. She is always making goofy faces and poking her lips out! Haha. She is a well rounded person. Somedays I think she's just 100% girly girl but then she turns around and I think, "she should have been a boy," jumping off couches, trying to beat her daddy or me up, she loves balls or boomas as she calls them. But she also loves clothes, shoes, jewelry, cell phones, purses, singing, and dancing. And let me tell you, this girl knows how to shake her booty!

Now, she is whining for more juice so I better sign off here and get us both out of this house before we go crazy!

Family Time is Fun

My brother, sister-in-law, and niece have been here since last weekend and we've been having a lot of fun. Yesterday, we took the kids to the zoo. They had a blast. Abigail and Marlee both were well behaved but were exhausted by the end of the day. Abigail got a cup and a monkey as a souvenier and Marlee got a t-shirt.

Today we had lunch at Bonito's. It's a great Asian inspired restaurant downtown. The sushi was very yummy and so was the chicken Bento Box. After we came home, Justin and I continued our Super Mario Brothers 3 game. Ryan downloaded it for the Wii for me last week and we've been reliving our childhood the last few days. We wound up playing for a little over 3 hours today. We finally made it to world 8. Maybe we'll beat it tonight!

My brother is getting his tips frosted by Lori Beth, our cousin. He is so weird. He barely has any hair to begin with! Pictures to come on a later blog.

I'm super tired today so this is it for today because I can't think straight.

Ready for the Weekend

Woohoo! Today is Friday. Tonight the youth are having a video scavenger hunt around town. I've come up with a list of 25 random things for them to do and capture on video. Each item has been assigned a point value and some items even offer bonus points. They have an hour and a half to complete as many of the tasks as they can and get back to the church. When they arrive back, we will have some snacks and watch the videos. The videos will be judged on whether or not they completed the task and bonus points may be awarded for creativity. It's going to be a lot of fun. I sure hope they are ready to embarrass themselves!

Tomorrow Justin, Hannah, and Marlee are finally coming for a visit! They haven't been here since Abigail's birthday party last year! So they haven't seen our new place! We are so ready for them to get here and to have a great time.

My cousin Courtney has been staying with us for the past month and my aunt, uncle, and grandmother are coming to get her tomorrow as well. So we will have a house full this weekend. I love my family and having everyone over! But I hate to clean! lol! It's mostly done except for washing some laundry and last minute things.

Hope everyone has a blessed weekend! To God be the glory, great things He has done!

It's Been a While

Hi all!

Wow! I haven't blogged in a really long time! There is a lot to update you all on. First, Hannah did have her baby! :) Marlee Brooke is so beautiful and about to be 6 months old! Boy does time fly! Justin, Hannah, and Marlee will be here this weekend for a week long stay! We are so excited to get to spend this time with them! I am so ready to spoil my niece! We are taking the kids to the zoo! I'll be sure to blog about that and post some pics!

In February, Ryan took a music minister/associate pastor position with Five Points Baptist Church in Fernandina Beach. In June, I became the interim youth "minister" there. We love our church family and are very blessed to be serving our Lord together!

Abigail is growing and changing so much every day! She is already my little "mini-me"! She is 20 months old! I can't believe that my baby will be 2 years old in 4 months!!! She is such a blessing and joy in our lives! I just love watching her take delight in God's creation. We have gone to the beach several times this week and I just love to watch her as she squeals in delight at the waves crashing on the shore or the sand between her toes! What lessons we can learn from children. We often get so busy in our lives that we forget to find the joy in the little things in life. Thank you Lord for Your amazing creation!

We have had a pretty busy summer so far. We have had a steady stream of visitors over the last month or so. It's so nice being with family though! We have also had several church and youth activities including VBS, Wacky Relay Game Day, and Cosmic Bowling. Friday night the youth are having a video scavenger hunt. These are always great fun. Hope everyone is doing great! Night all!

The Past Few Days

Let me start by saying that Hannah is still pregnant with Marlee. :( I have been in Graceville for 11 days now. Abigail and I have had a great time with our family. It has been good to be with them for this extended period of time but we really miss Ryan!

Last night, Hannah was having some pretty strong but irregular contractions but they calmed down during the night. You can definitely tell that Marlee has dropped some more. We are still hoping that she decides to make her grand entrance soon! We can't wait to meet her!

We had an awesome day of worship on Sunday! It was sooo good to hear sound biblical preaching! I did something on Sunday morning that I haven't done in two years or more...I signed. It was an amazing worship experience. I signed the song "Worthy the Lamb" by the Gaithers. Thank God that the Lamb was worthy to set us free! Dad preached on the purpose of the church on Sunday morning and the Lord's Supper, in which we took part, on Sunday night. Worthy the Lamb that was slain!!!

Monday was sort of a lazy day. Yesterday, Justin and I washed, vacuumed, and cleaned out the insides of his and mom's car. Then we had yummy fried shrimp for supper! Abigail and I spent the night with Justin and Hannah last night and today we are enjoying a lazy rainy day inside. Now, if we could just convince Miss Marlee that it's more fun on the outside!

Here are a few pictures from Sunday:

Patience is a Virtue

Today is day five of out trip to Graceville. On Tuesday night, Hannah was put in the hospital to be induced because her blood pressure was up. By Wednesday afternoon, we still had no baby and Hannah was not progressing as she should be. To keep her from having a c-section, they took her off the pitocin and sent her home. We were all a little disappointed that we wouldn't get to meet Marlee on Wednesday but God is still in control and we rest and wait in His good and perfect timing.

Abigail and I stayed with Justin and Hannah last night so that he could go back to work today and I could help her out so that she could get some rest. It's going pretty good. Today is Marlee's due date and it would be nice if she would come today. We are all so ready to meet her.

Below is a few pictures from our time here so far! Enjoy!

Uncle Justin, Aunt Hannah, and Abigail on day #2 of our trip.

Abigail and I before we left to go to the hospital on day #3.

Aunt Hannah...hopeful that Marlee will arrive sometime on day #4 but no luck.

Uncle Justin with his two BEAUTIFUL nieces, Abigail and Addison, a few hours before Hannah was released from the hospital to go home and rest.

Still Waiting...

Abigail and I made it to Graceville on Sunday around 1:30 central time. We spent the day hanging out with my brother, Hannah, Heather, and Addison. Abigail and Addison finally warmed up to each other but both had a hard time sharing! Kids are too funny!

Justin and I made some breadsticks and he also made some jalepeno cheese bread. It was so yummy! Abigail especially like the breadsticks! We also played a little guitar hero world tour but at the end of the day...still no baby!

Abigail and I are staying at my parent's house and she is getting spoiled rotten. She loves sleeping with mom and dad in their king size bed! Justin and Hannah came over last night for supper and afterwards, I gave Hannah a foot massage and painted her toenails. And then gave her a back massage. I also spent some time talking to her belly and begging Marlee to come out or at the very least to break her mommys water! No luck there either.

Baby, it's extremely cold outside! We are not used to weather this cold here in Florida. Hannah has a dr's appt today so maybe we'll know a little more this afternoon. We are all very ready to see Marlee Brooke!

Abigail's First Trip to the ER

Wednesday night at our house was pretty exciting, to say the least. For those of you who know Abigail, you realize that it is not uncommon for her to have bumps and bruises. She is one independent chick! And even though she has been walking for some time now, she loses her balance easily. However, this was not the case on Wednesday night!

Ryan was getting ready to go to choir practice at church and was standing at the dining room table putting his watch on. He didn't realize that Abigail had followed him over there and was standing behind him. So...when he turned around, he bumped in to her, causing her to fall into one of the chairs. Her head apparently hit the corner of one and of course, he immediately picked her up to try and console her.

We didn't immediately notice the small gash on her forehead because as stated in the first paragraph, she falls down all the time. But when Ryan finally tilted her head back to look at what we thought would be a bump or bruise, we found a bleeding gash. At first glance, we thought it was just a small cut. Ryan had gone to wet a paper towel to clean off the blood, while I held her to inspect it. I immediately noticed that while small, it was fairly deep, deeper than I had expected. We cleaned it and put a bandaid on it and within a few minutes it had bled through.

Ryan decided to go ahead to choir practice and told me to call him if he needed to come home. After I took off the first bandaid and replaced it with a fresh one, I gave the Pediatrician's office a call. The answering service took down the information and got in touch with Abigail's dr. who immediately called me back. She said to take her to the ER because we didn't want to risk it getting infected if the cut was very deep.

Ryan came home from choir practice and we headed to the ER. For once, we didn't have to wait very long. After inspecting the wound, the ER dr. decided that it didn't need to be stitched and they cleaned the area up and put another bandaid on it.

We were very thankful that she didn't need stitches and that she was okay. Of course she had a headache and woke up often through the night but by morning she was her happy self again. Hopefully we won't be making any more trips to the ER in the near future.

Oh and my sister-in-law lost her mucus plug tonight! Hopefully Marlee will be making her grand appearance soon!