Thanksgiving

I'm thankful for so many things but especially my family. We ate and then ate again, and then ate leftovers.

Raigan wasn't too happy, but she ate a lot.

I guess the turkey made her sleepy, but there was no time for naps, we had multiple dinners to eat. 

Pumpkin Pie, my reason for existing.

My brother, Chuck is teaching English in Japan and missed out on Thanksgiving this year, poor guy didn't get any pumpkin pie. We skyped him though, so he could feel there with the family. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Monica's Christmas Pictures

I took pictures of my friend Jamie's daughter Monica. She is almost 2 and the cutest little almost 2 year old I know! She speaks like a kinder gardener even better than some kinder gardeners!

Here are some of my favorites! Some of the one's I like most she isn't smiling or looking at the camera in. 

I also love when a photograph shows emotion. I especially like the 6th and last photo, because of the emotion in them.

Christmas Traditions

Christmas is swiftly approaching, which I can hardly tolerate because that means my baby will be a year old.

A YEAR OLD!!!! 

Uggghh how did that happen?

When did that happen?

Okay, I'll collect myself here...

I have a few things that I'm addicted to as I have mentioned before... like mail, little girl hair bows, magazines, party supplies. At least they are all legal things. Right? That's what I tell myself anyway.

Another of those things happens to be Christmas ornaments.

When Riley was a baby I bought her about 10 my first Christmas ornaments, because how often is your baby going to have a first Christmas? Only once.

With all that being said, each year as a family tradition, we go pick out a Christmas ornament for our tree.

I think I love ornaments so much because they can tell the story of your life. There's just something so darn poetic about it. Like this one:

 This is the year we bought our first home and here's an ornament of it!

These are the ornaments from this year. We got them from Hobby Lobby.

Riley's:

Mine! I love nutcrackers. My mom always had a ton of them when I was a kid. 

This is Hub's. 

I have a ton of nicknames for Brandon, one of them is bears.

 Since Raggie is a baby, I thought she would too young to pick out her own, but she wasn't. I wanted her to get this cute cupcake one, but she choose this one instead and WOULD NOT let go of it for anything! haha

Here's our little ornament family for Christmas 2010!

What are your family traditions?

The Cheerleading Competition Video!

I am still forever impressed with the girl's performance considering their ages 3 to 6, most of them being 4!

Baby Shower!

My sister in law's baby shower was today!

The bedding they had on their registry was nautical themed, so I thought they would like to have their baby shower that theme too! (and I secretly wish I had a little boy and loooove the nautical theme)

I found these cupcake toppers from this site, Tulsa Details printed them at Fed Ex Kinkos and used a 2' circle craft punch kind of like this one: Martha Stewart 1-Inch Punch Circle Then I hot glued them to candy sticks I picked up. They were probably my favorite decoration.

My mother in law made chicken salad and we had them on croissants and a ton of other food.

 

 

I used a scallop craft punch to cut out some sailboat scrapbook paper and then secured the silverware with them using a hot glue gun I recycled the bucket that I used for the girl's cheerleading party.

We played a game called "My Water Broke!" where there is an ice cube with a little baby in it and whoever can get the baby to float freely and then they yell out, "My Water Broke!" I thought it would take the entire duration of the party for these babies (pun intended) to melt, but it took like 20 minutes. Crazy. 

I made the banner using the teaching cutters at the library at school since I don't have a Cricut 29-0001 Personal Electronic Cutting Machine but it turned out really well I thought!

I made a diaper cake too! I used a tutorial I found on You Tube! and it was relatively easy once I had all the supplies. Riley kept asking me if we could eat it. haha

I am in love with this photograph.

And this one! Can't you just hear the laughter? I can.

 

What a cute baby! She must have cute parents. 

I love this photograph too. I think I have been in too many photography critiques, but this photo just has  a glow about it, like a pregnancy glow.

Brace yourself for the next one... you may just die it's so sweet....

Raigan LOVED baby cooper and she kept holding his hand. I thought I was going to melt when I captured this one.

Rock out baby boy, I hope you and your mama and papa had fun at your shower. I really enjoyed it!

When it rains it pours!

No one ever tells you growing up how expensive being an adult really is.

And then when you have children?

Yeah, you anticipate the diapers, wipes, clothes but what about all the insurance and unexpected costs?

I mean it's well worth it for sure, but I would have appreciated a little heads up.

Even when I moved out I thought I had thought out every cost that I would ever encounter, and then there was more. I knew there would be unexpected when buying a house, but jeeze.

Yesterday, all before I had to be at work there was a plumber here to fix a leaking into the wall toilet and we were all huddled around the space heater since our furnace would only come on when it wanted to. The service people for that made it out today, apparently there's a computer like thing that directs the thermostat and that needed to be replaced. You know you spend a lot of money on these services when you are on a first name basis with the repair guys and when they leave your hope you say, "Hope I don't see you for awhile!"

Then our house phone stopped working. Granted, it was Brandon's phone from when he was in college, but still! All on the same day!

My screen on my phone also shattered (even though that happened Wednesday) after dropping in in the gravel parking lot at school, it doesn't negate how frustrating everything can get! And of course, that's the one thing in my life it feels like that i do not pay monthly to insure.  Almost $200 to replace.

I would like to say though, that I am very thankful that I have a house to break, because there are many that do not.

I am grateful for my husband and how hard he works for us.

I am thankful for my crazy wild healthy children and that they slept in till 10am!! today.

I am forever thankful that my stressors are wonderful ones to have. I am very blessed.