Miracles

Every year, I buy a new ornament for our Christmas tree.  I try to find one with the year on it, but the only one I found for 2011 was very similar to 2010's Hallmark snowflake that we already had.  So, if I can't find one with the date, I look for one that reminds me of something from the year.  The "theme" of our year was just this....

Not that the baby process was a struggle or we didn't think it would happen, but baby Buzz is still our miracle! :)

Santa was good to us this year...

As "he" is every year. 
...
....

Source

I was spoiled with a Kindle fire!  I never asked for it or even mentioned that I wanted one.  I didn't even KNOW I wanted one :) But I'm really enjoying having it.  I think hubby really enjoys it too.  Every night, I have to wipe off the multiple finger prints from the hours of Angry Birds that were played.  Until Christmas Eve, he didn't even know that game existed!

I also got a few other things, like a frying pan with no dents in the bottom, mixing bowls, a cookbook, maternity clothes :), and things for baby Buzz.  He was definitely a spoiled little guy too.  We got his first stroller and car seat, some clothes, and one noisy rocking horse (thanks Gpa and Gma!). 

Hubby must have been a good boy this year too.  He got a pair of Under Armor pants and shirt.  He loves them so much, I think I will have to buy another set for his birthday coming up soon!  Even though he got all the gifts he got, I think his favorite was the gift from me :)  I wrapped up the sheets and curtain for Buzz's room as part of his present.  He loves them so much, that he has showed everyone who comes over. 

Our Christmas Eve was spent with my family like usual.  We ate lots of good food and snacks, played some games, and shared some laughs.  It's always great to be at my parents for the holidays.  Then, Christmas day, we spent at my in-laws house.  What a change from Christmas Eve.  All the nieces running around and the added noise from the extra 10 people.  But I won't complain about the noise, because it only means we are all enjoying ourselves.

Hope Santa was good to you and you all got to enjoy some quality family time. 
Wishing you Happy Holiday's and hopes for an awesome New Year! :)

Merry Christmas!

A wish to you and your family to have a very Merry Christmas!
I hope you get to spend time with family and friends and make new memories while sharing old. 

I also hope your Christmas looks like Christmas!
Here's a glimpse from our front deck....

There might not be snow, but I already got my Christmas gifts from my hubby.  And I love them.

Thankful

Again, I've been MIA.  Back for a quick chance to recap life.

So far the pregnancy has been good.  I couldn't be happier that everything is good and we are both healthy.  We have our ultrasound scheduled for December 9 to have our first glimpse and find out if it will be Princess or Prince! 
Some of the normal everyday things are getting a little challenging.  Such as bending down to tie the shoes, get into our tall bed when I'm already only 5'1", and remembering.  My mind is shot by the time I get home from work.  Poor hubby has to deal with my forgetting.  I'm not huge by any means, just finally gained a little weight and the baby bump is there. 

Proof for those who don't think there's a baby in there because I'm not huge already! (excuse the dirty mirror...lack of motivation is the issue)

No weird cravings yet.  I guess that's unless you count the number of times I've wanted to head into town to get a slushie or something similar.  Yes, I have been craving icy, fruity things.  I've been trying to keep it to my breakfast smoothies, but that doesn't seem to curb the craving.  I guess it could be worse, I could be craving a fried pickle sandwich or something!
I'm still able to wear 4 pairs of pre-pregnancy jeans and I bought 2 pairs of maternity jeans.  I love maternity jeans! And I am going to proudly wear them tomorrow for the Thanksgiving feast so that my jeans stretch with me!
But, we are getting very anxious to start on the nursery.  We have ideas and plans, but mostly if we are having a son.  I want to start painting and buying furniture and bedding and all the CLOTHES! I'm so excited!

And I do have a few things to be thankful for this year...
My wonderful family and extended family
Awesome friends
My loving husband who has put up with my emotional pregnancy hormones and forgetfulness
For the opportunity to get away for a week and spend time with hubby and family
For the roof over my head, the shoes on my feet and the work at my job
For never having to experience extreme heartache
For the son or daughter we will have in April, who will bless our lives forever
.....this list can go on and on, so summing this up in one word....LIFE

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving holiday.  I hope you make new memories while sharing a few old ones.  I hope you stop and think about all those things you have in your life and remember those who may be less fortunate.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Well, my sister in law reminded me today that I am a quarter century old today.  Thanks Bri! 

We are having people over to our house for a BBQ and good times.  Hubby spent a long time putting together horseshoe pits (seems to be his new favorite game) and cleaning up the garage in case of rain.  We are hoping to have the fire pit lite and plenty of foods, fun, friends, family, and drinks!

I will be posting later this week my list of things I want to accomplish before I turn 30.  Ugh, that's only 5 years away, I better get my butt in gear!

So, in honor of the last 25 years, I am raising my glass of (yucky) wine and toasting to myself.  Here's to the next 25 years and an even better time! :)  Thank you to all my friends and family who have brought me through those 25 years and made them awesome!

....I'm back!

Ok, seems I've been missing for awhile.  Things have been happening, but I sometimes I feel the best blog contains pictures.  And it seems I've been forgetting my camera lately.  But over the weekend, I got a few good shots to help tell the story and I will be posting them soon. 

Quick fourth of July recap:
Hubby and I met up with my parents, brother and a few friends at the Rodeo on Friday night.  This was hubby's class reunion weekend, so we ran into a few old classmates of his and had some drinks at a local restaurant.
Spent July 2nd at the Parade in the morning with my mom, aunt, cousin and grandma.  Afterwards, we went to the Arts Roundup and walked around in the scorching heat.  I burned pretty nicely that day!
That night, we had a birthday party and bonfire at my in-laws for my brother-in-law.  Lots of food, friends, fire, and fun.  Ha!  Also a few minor firework mishaps, or I should call them, malfunctions.
July 3rd was spent doing as little as possible.  We were both tired from the night of partying that we slept until noon!  I think we had a relaxing day...I can't remember!
July 4th - I went to the derby with my mom, aunt, uncle and cousins.  About the only thing I got out of that, was wrinkles, skin cancer, and sun spots.  That night, hubby and I went to his brothers house to see the nieces.  We had a few drinks and some pizza and played with the girls.  I got my fill of baby holding and some relaxation time.  Everything was going well, until Nevaeh tripped and fell and hit her head on a brick. Ouch! Poor girl had so much blood, but she was a trooper while mom cleaned her up.  Little sis, Elli, cried for "Vaeh".  Elli made me tear up when she was crying and screaming "What wrong with Vaeh!!!!!??"

So after all the fun of the weekend, we were back to work on Tuesday. 

After boring you with a weekend recap, I will hopefully entertain you this week with actually stories and pictures.  Family reunion this coming weekend, so I should really have stories for you then! :)

I'm battling a case of the Monday's today along with a massive headache. 
But, on a better note, it's Bachelorette night! And I WILL be watching tonight!

Enjoy your day and remember to smile!

Reunited and it feels so good....

Yes, that's right.  I was reunited with my old friend, the blackberry curve this weekend! The best Mother's Day I've had so far (and I'm not even a mother!).

It took a few patient minutes standing at AT&T to get things switched over, but the curve is back times 2!

Hubby decided he wanted his blackberry back as well.  Took a little convincing, but he went for it.  You see, he's kind of hard on phones and really does need to have a flip phone for screen protection.  But, when AT&T took over, they didn't offer the blackberry flip that he once had. 

Only problem with J having this same phone, he makes me figure everything out and teach him! Example, last night, as I'm folding and putting away laundry, I hear "Babe!, Babe!" from the man chair in the living room.  I walk out into the living room, "Yes, dear?"  "Hey, what does this mean?"...as he's trying to download some weather app..."Well, just read it hunny and you will see what it means." "Oh, okay, I will just hit no then"...perfect, my laundry didn't need me as much as you did in the instant anyway!

Friends wedding June 2009.  Not so sober (either of us!)
But how could you be mad at that face!

Yup, it's just the start of a great technological relationship for him.  

I probably failed to mention, but my hubby and in-laws are somewhat technologically, umm...dumb? Is that the right word?  If it wasn't for us great in-laws to them, they would be lost!

Anyway, my phone and I spent some quality time Sunday evening getting reacquainted and back in love!

Mother's Day/Sunday recap (other than the phone of course):

We took my mom out for supper on Saturday night.  Then spent some family bonding time at a local bar.

Sunday, our oldest niece made her First Communion.  Since J is her Godfather, we figured we should make it to this special day.  We attended the beautiful mass, hugged our sweet niece and off we went to retrieve our blackberries!

Our niece.  Forgot my camera, so this is actually a picture from this past summer.

2 of my 7 babies! Charlie and Frankie
It's legit, they have names!

We spent the rest of the day mowing and cleaning up the yard.  We had to take advantage of the gorgeous day!  Of course, we didn't forget about our 7 sweet babies at the farm.  I tried to convince hubby that I am a mom to them and I NEED a Mother's Day present.  Guess the pizza we picked up before heading home was my mother's day lunch! What a thoughtful guy ;)

As the rain and moisture continues on here, the farmers are still itchin' to get in the fields.  The sky dumped a whole lotta rain on us in the past 2 days and we now have a lake in our office parking lot! 
Looks like I might be seeing more and more flax fields this year! Love the blue hue in the mornings as I drive by.  For those who don't understand, the later the planting season gets pushed, the more late crops we will be seeing, such as, flax and sunflowers.   -   Thought I should throw that little agricultural education in there.

Enjoy the fresh smell of rain and the beautiful flowers that will be in bloom because of it!

Anyone need a little Inspiration?

Well, it's no secret anymore, on October 31, we will be boarding the Carnival Inspiration Cruise!  My dad surprised my mom with a Happy Easter/Happy Anniversary/ Happy Birthday gift on Sunday.  Him and I have secretly been planning this little adventure for about 2 months. 
He called and asked one day if I was mom, would I rather go to Vegas or on a cruise.  Thinking like mom I said, "I know she loves Vegas, but she has been begging to go on a cruise for years."  Perfect!


Our cruise ship...Inspiration!



Mom was in shock (and quite possible, still is).  She wasn't quite sure what was going on when she opened the envelope.  However, J and I knew exactly what she was in for.  

I can't keep a secret and I'm glad he let the cat out of the bag a day early.  I was ready to explode!!

It is their 31st anniversary today! :)  Happy many more years to you, Mom and Dad! <3

I will fill you in with more details when we get closer to Halloween at sea! 
So.excited.  Can't wait to have a little visit with J's aunt, uncle, and cousins while we are in Florida a day early.

Life is good right now!

Easter recap ....
Spent the early part of the day at my parents house.  Mom made a great lunch of ham, cabbage rolls, mashed potatoes, veggies, and lots of appetizers and desserts.
We
     were
            all
               stuffed!

We took a little trip down memory lane by pulling out Dad's yearbooks and having some laughs! Then pulled out my yearbooks and senior memory book and looked at some of my brother's old pictures as well.

Hubby and I went for a short walk around the farm yard looking at equipment and old machinery.  I captured some good pictures that I will post when  I am at home.  (Shhhh..don't tell anyone that I am blogging at work, again!!)

After our little walk and mom's surprise, hubby and I headed back on our journey to my in-laws.  It was so beautiful outside that we spent some time in the yard.  MIL mixed up the fleischkuekle meat and the dough.  SIL and I made the fleischkuekle while BIL fried them up.  We enjoyed a great meal with the whole family, minus one. 

We all decided we needed to get up and outside after the big meal, so we sent the little ones on their egg hunt.  They had so much fun and found so many eggs filled with change! What a blast! (pictures to follow here, too)

Now, back to the work week.  The weather is just right for Spring time.  We need a good breeze and a few days of warmer temps to dry up the land.  Farmers are itchin' to get in the fields. 

Enjoy the "heat wave" and any good news coming your way! :)

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Being almost half Irish, I do enjoy myself some St. Patty's day!  It is quite possibly my 3rd favorite holiday :)  Hope you all have your green on and, maybe, catch some luck today.

On another note.  After well over a month, I. Keating decided to stop hording our new furniture and it is now in its new home.  Once again, another lovely D-town business has managed to anger  piss us off enough to probably never order through them again.  It wouldn't have been so bad, but they said it would be here around March 1.  When I called on March 2, they said it wouldn't ship until the 11th and MIGHT be in on the 14th or 15th.  Thankfully it was in on the 15th, otherwise there may have been a beat down.  In the meantime, we had also purchased a new coffee and end table set which was in when we bought it, but decided to take it all together.  Well, we picked up the tables when we were in town one Saturday and thought we would finance everything while we were there.  Come to find out that J's "open" account was closed after the financing company was bought out.  We were not supposed to open any new accounts because we are in the middle of refinancing.  So I may have gotten a little upset and said a few things to the lady at the counter (who I know has NOTHING to do with the fact) and said I am done with I. Keating.  So we tried to re-apply and they denied us right away because we have so much money tied up in the refinance right now.  End of story, mom was nice enough to apply and was accepted and financed for us. 

Anyway, new furniture and tables are lookin' gorgeous in the living room.  Now, I just need to find new curtains or girly, fancy scarf like drapey things.....whatever they are called.  The ones we have, except in the bedroom, are all ones that came with the house.  I'm not real good with decorating! 

View from the front door.



View from the dining room.

Hope everyone is enjoying some nicer temps and your green beer today! Don't eat too much corned beef and cabbage!

Valentine's Day...A little late

So I don't believe that we need a holiday to get our significant other something.  I flat out told hubby that I wasn't getting him anything and he shouldn't bother getting me anything.  Plus, we bought new furniture just before V-Day, so I counted that as our gift to each other.  Even though J does not sit on the couch or love seat, we did get a new coffee table for him to eat off or put his feet on.  We couldn't get a new recliner because he says his is finally broke in (and needs a good cleaning!).  I'm pretty excited to get the furniture that was extremely back ordered...shows how popular it is, so it must be nice! I'm not much of a decorator, but that's for another time.  I just thought I would show off how sweet my hunny is.  He got me a cute little rose and daisy arrangement.  When the furniture comes in, I will show off our new additions and transformed living room.  Can't wait to buy new curtains now! :)

Me TRYING to be creative!

Again...TRYING to be creative

Have a great day!