O' Christmas Tree, O' Christmas Tree

Every year since Daniel and I have been married we have tried to come up some new Holiday traditions! Well....being a creature of habit I am not willing to give up any of the traditions that I have been accustom to for the last 29 years (hot dogs on Christmas Eve, Christmas a.m. at my parents, looking at Christmas lights at my favorite places, and the list goes on)! So this year we finally found a new tradition that we both agreed on...Going to a Christmas Tree Farm to get our Christmas Tree! And this might now be my new favorite tradition. IT WAS AWESOME. I highly recommend doing this. Now, it is not exactly what we had in visioned-(insert scene from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation) I think it was even better. We found Tom Saywer's Christmas Tree Farm the weekend we were in Highlands in November, so we did a little sneak peek and instantly knew this is where we wanted to get our tree from.

Now for those of you who know me know that me, my mom, my sister, aunt and cousin (are all crazy) and we get up at the crack of dawn the day after Thanksgiving to do some shopping. This is one of those traditions that I am not willing to EVER give up except for this one Friday. **On a side note-we got married on November 17th and that year I guess Thanksgiving was early because we missed it while on our Honeymoon. I cried on Thanksgiving day and on Black Friday because I was a little sad to be missing them. Needless to say I have a very understanding husband and he now knows that we will never be out of town on a Holiday!** So anyways...Daniel is on a horrible rotation and if we were going to do this Christmas tree farm thing this was the ONLY day we had unless we waited until this upcoming weekend in December. Well of course that is ENTIRELY too late for me to do decorations. So I caved on the black Friday shopping-sort of we did do a little shopping in Highlands- and we headed off to get the perfect Christmas Tree!!!

So this place had everything...an elf village complete with a chapel (where Jami and Gabe wanted to get married), elf gift shop, hot cocoa, a cute little Santa house, story time, outdoor fireplace and of course lots of Christmas Trees. We decided to do the Santa thing first and then find the tree. Well Miss Priss LOVED Santa! She saw his beard, grabbed on to that thing and wouldn't let go. She thought it was so funny! I am so glad her first experience was a good one. I know that this doesn't really mean anything for the future Santa experiences, but we have a least 1 picture of EG and Santa without her screaming bloody murder!

I have to say that I ended up finding a Christmas tree relatively fast considering the first year Bones and I bought a real tree I made him go to 3 different lots before purchasing 1! At the farm they are much easier to pick out because you can see them all full and in the ground! So after walking around for a couple minutes we found the perfect one, cut it down, got it wrapped in burlap and off we went!

It was a great day, and a new tradition has been made for years to come! I can't wait until EG is a little older and can enjoy this new tradition! Here are some pictures from our trip!!!

Here is the whole gang at lunch in Highlands. It is very rare that we all get a picture together!

On the bus to the farm





Checking this guy out

I think she likes him!

This one is a little awkward...it was kind of close quarters in there

All the girls

Here it is!


This one is kind of dark...the finished product!


We are all ready for Christmas-minus some final shopping that needs to be done!

MERRY CHRISTMAS to you!

My Christmas Wish List...

If I could tell Santa anything I wanted for Christmas, here are a just a couple of things that would be on my Christmas (yeah right not in a million years) list!

1. 2011 Tahoe
I think that EG and I would look great scootin around town in this thing!

2.The setting that goes with my wedding band


3.A tropical vacation
This looks pretty heavenly!

4.This very cute monogrammed necklace (The real gold one is a little pricey)


So Santa if you happen to be reading this blog here is my Christmas list!! Haha!! A girl can dream-Can't she!

Not a Creature Was Stirring...Not Even the Baby!

I cannot believe that I am sitting in my den ALL BY MYSELF! I am pretty sure that this has not happened in oh about 4.5 months! Daniel, the baby and the dogs are all settled down for a long winter's nap and I am sure visions of Sugar Plums are dancing in their heads!

I am sitting in the dark with only the light of the Christmas tree and gas logs! I love it! It is so cozy in here. I am sort of tired (and should probably go to bed), but have decided to use this time to do a little online shopping/browsing/idea getting while watching Home Alone 2.

Here are a couple of pics of my little Christmas Elf to leave you with!!!!




She is such a great sport!! I bet she will hate me for this one day!

Poor EG and Pearl were just worn slap out from all the Christmas decorating!


Sleep tight and stay warm!

LPS

Thank you to Jami....

She is such a great friend! She took some pictures of EG and I a couple of months ago! I love them! It is hard being in pictures when you are the mom because you are always the one taking the pictures. I so appreciate her taking some of the both of us! I will truly treasure them forever! In hinds sight I really wish I would have made Bones come out back with us (he was watching the USC game) to get some pictures of the 3 of us! Oh well...next time!

I totally think Jami should start doing photography (even if it is just on the side)-Dont you agree?! She did an amazing job!

Here are just a few from our little photo shoot in her back yard! I cant show you all of them because they will be featured on the infamous Christmas Card!

HaHa...poor thing couldn't sit up yet so we had to put her in this basket!!

Love EG's face in this one!

She is just such a happy baby!





I love this one!




Thanks again Jami for being such a great friend and for capturing such great memories with me and EG! I hope I can repay you one day!!

A Picture (and a Christmas Card) is Worth a Million Words....thanks to Shutterfly!

Wow....Thanks to shutterfly for offering bloggers 50 free Christmas cards! That is awesome...and such a money saver! Since I am a slacker and NEVER did any birth announcements for sweet Emma Gray I had to make it my mission to send Christmas Cards this year! After searching many places I found the perfect card on Shutterfly!!! I wanted to be able to include as many pictures as possible of our little Fancy Pants! I found the perfect one! This is one of the many reasons that I love Shutterfly! I also love being able to share pictures of Fancy Pants with our friends and family through Shutterfly!I also love shutterfly because if I can get my act together I will be ordering some Christmas presents from here!

There are so many cards to choose from! Here are just a couple that I liked! Of course the final one I decided on will not be shown below-You will just have to wait until you get it in the mail!!!

Here are a couple of my runners up!






I think I love this one so much becasue this little girl is adorable!

So....if you havent ordered your Christmas cards yet check out their selection Here. And if you have a blog and want to take advantage of this amazing deal click Here!

Happy Shopping!

Happy Thanksgiving.... a little late!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving....lots of food, family, fun and shopping (of course)! This year we sure do have a lot to be thankful for!

Daniel had to work Thursday a.m. so I headed to my parents to go walk with my mom-unfortunately we got rained out. I really wanted to burn some pre-turkey day calories, but oh well at least we tried! Instead we ate breakfast and EG enjoyed her very first Macy's Thanksgiving parade. I truly feel that the Thanksgiving Day parade is the start of the Holiday Season! I love it and EG seemed to really enjoy it as well! After the parade we headed back to my house to get ready for a full day of eating. We hit up the Smiths' first! Since our families were eating only like 1hr. apart this year, I decided that I was only going to eat one meal. Last year I had an excuse to eat as much as I wanted-I had another human being to feed! But if I ever want to get rid of the rest of this baby weight off I cannot allow myself to eat 5000calories in one day! Needless to say we definitely got plenty to eat and it was as delicious as it has ever been! Before we ate at my parents I saw my dad cutting the Turkey and he cut off these 2 GIGANTIC turkey legs (my mom cooked at 25lb turkey). I asked him to put one aside-I had the wonderful idea to take some pics with EG and the turkey leg!!! It was the greatest idea ever because these pics are too cute! This will def. be a new tradition!
Another new tradition will be our pre-Thanksgiving baking session! I know EG is too young to understand what is going on but I really think she enjoyed baking with me!!!! And I hope in years to come she will continue to enjoy doing things like this with me
!!
Here are some pics from our great first Thanksgiving with our little one!






EG was such a big help (quite the messy baker)baking the pumpkin cupcakes! The final product was delish if I do say so myself.








This is my favorite! She wanted a bit of this thing so badly! I think she is going to do great with her smash cake on her 1st birthday!



Here are all the girls getting ready to go to Gaffney for some shopping! Dont worry EG stayed at home with daddy...but next year she is going with us! :) I mean she is one of the girls too!




This is from our dinner the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. I hope this will be a new tradition as well!!

I hope everyone else's Thanksgiving was as great as ours!

July 20th What???

That was the last time I blogged! OMG...I have a lot to catch you up on!

My biggest hesitaiton with starting a blog....not keeping up with it! I have proven myself right. I have been such a slacker since Emma Gray's arrival. I am going to try my best to be better from now on out because we have lots going on and I want to remember everything that is happening in my little lady's life as she grows up! So my December Resolution is to be a better blogger!


Look for another post today...with pictures!

LPS

My bags are packed

And I am ready to go...no not leaving on a jet plane-but to the hospital to have this baby!! I have 4 more days until my due date! I would love to have this baby before then, but I am just not sure that it is going to happen!I obviously have never had a baby before,and I am not sure what I should be feeling at this point-but I dont really feel too differently this week than I did last week or last month! I have a dr. appt. tomorrow and they will check me to see if I have dilated! So I will keep everyone updated after my appt!

On another note... I only have 3 days left of work before maternity leave. It is so weird to think that I will not be there for 8 weeks! Everyday I leave I have to make sure my desk is sort of cleaned off and that I have done as much as I can for that day...JUST IN CASE! Maybe I should leave one day totally unprepared and it will make you come quicker! I will miss my work people! I see them more everyday than I do my family! I know that these 8 weeks will go by so fast and I will be in the opposite position of not wanting to leave my little "Critter" but it is just hard to imagine not being there everyday!!!

Well...good night! Maybe I will have something exciting to report tomorrow!!!

Welcome to our family....

No I haven't had the baby yet!! But we are excited to welcome a new member to our family!!! GABE! Yes, Jami and Gabe got engaged yesterday! We are so excited.

He proposed in Charleston so the family packed in the car yesterday and drove down to Folly Beach (where his entire family is vacationing for the week) and surprised Jami! What a special day! She was shocked and I think very excited to see us since she thought she was going to have to wait a whole week before she got to see us and show us her beautiful ring!!

I cant wait to start helping her plan a wedding!! So much fun! We love you Jami and Gabe and are soooo happy for you two!

Aren't they such a cute couple!!!

PRAISE THE LORD...

We got a new computer! Thank you to Gigi and Poppy! I am sooooo excited! Our computer "died" months and months ago. At first I was absoulutely distraught about not having a computer at home...but then after a couple of months of not having it I got used to it and actually enjoyed not having it at home-that way Daniel and I could spend time together and not be destracted by work, facebook, etc. But now that we got a new computer I am pumped...mainly because now I will be able to share everything that is going on with Critter when he/she gets here!!

Already been distracted for too long! Got to go do some much needed house work!

Signing off from the new computer...
Linds

I AM SO PROUD....

....OF THIS MAN!


Today is Daniel's last day of his second year of residency! Tomorrow will begin his third year and will be his first "official" day as Chief Resident! I could not be more proud of him! He is such a leader and respected resident at the hospital! These last 2 years have flown by and I know that this 3rd year will since we will have Critter growing and changing so quickly before our eyes!!

I know that Daniel is a great Doctor already and all of his patients are lucky to have him taking care of them! He may complain a little when he is at home...but I know that he loves being a Doctor and a problem solver! I am so lucky to have a husband with such a big heart that not only does he care about his family, but truly cares about these people that are brought into his life that he does not even know!

Good luck this next year Chief!! I love you

A Sneak Peek of Critter's Nursery!!!

Here are a couple pictures of the beginnings of Critter's nursery! I am still waiting on a skirted table, pillows and some wall hangings...but it is a start! It is sort of hard to tell by these pictures the true colors of the room...the furniture is espresso (very dark brown). I am really pleased with how everything has turned out so far!

8 Months down....1 Month to go!!!

Yay...only 30 more days (give or take!!!). I am getting really excited / a little nervous the closer it gets to my due date....mostly excited though. I just put on my calendar to pack my bags for the hospital on July 1st! But then I saw on Facebook that this girl I used to dance with just had her baby. Well, she was due the week before me...that makes me a little nervous! I may pack my bags this weekend just to be on the safe side! I didn't pack my bags for our honeymoon until after our rehearsal dinner (which I do not recommend doing). I don't think that this will be a situation where I wait til the last minute to pack my bags. God bless Daniel, but if I had to go to the hospital unexpectedly without bags packed I cannot even imagine what he would end up bringing me!

Here is what Critter is up to week 36! He/she is the size of a beach ball...that explains why my stomach now looks like a beach ball!



As your baby's "rapid growth" period approaches an end, she will top 19 inches and almost reach 6 pounds. However, she will continue to add weight in the form of extra fat until delivery. Those nails are so long, in fact, that she might even scratch herself in utero. The only organ that isn't fully mature yet is her lungs. If she hasn't done so already, this is probably the week that your baby will drop into the birth canal.

You have probably gained 25-30 pounds, and you probably won't gain much more in the final weeks of pregnancy.

The placenta's role is coming to an end and producing fewer hormones now that your baby's body is capable of being more independent from yours. Your baby has developed a nicely functioning pair of kidneys, and her liver is processing some of her waste products. You still provide antibodies for your baby through your bloodstream. These antibodies can protect your newborn from whooping cough, mumps, measles, and even mundane coughs and flu.

As your baby has grown inside you, she has developed a sucking reflex. She's tested out that reflex on her own thumbs and fingers. Now she's well equipped to nurse. Her gums are hard and ridged--almost as if teeth are emerging--and those will help her latch on to a nipple to feed herself when the time comes.

A couple of things...

1. If I can possibly help it next time I will NOT be pregnant in the summertime! I am sweating in places I didn't even know I could sweat in! I have on about the least amount of clothes that is allowed in public-next to being naked! It is absolutely miserable out there and I am sure will just get worse over the next 30 days!

2. One major annoying thing about being pregnant is the amount of times that you have to go to the bathroom...during the day, during the night, when you are in the shower, when I walk, sneeze, laugh...ALL THE TIME! It is a vicious cycle- I try to drink a lot of water to stay hydrated, but then it makes the above situation even worse! UUGGHH!!

3. Learn to keep your mouth shut....so the other day Daniel and I were at Wal-Mart and here is how the convo went with the (over weight) check out lady and myself:

Her "When is your baby due?"
Me "In about a month"
Her "Oh...I thought you were going to say any day now....you got twins in there?"
Me "UM NO....there is just one in there"
Her Eyes widening "Wow...I only gained 4 lbs when I was pregnant, and my baby was 8lbs. I walked every day when I was pregnant"
Me (sarcastically) "That is amazing!" (Now thinking to myself-what is your excuse now..do you just get up and walk to the refrigerator and back to the couch?? You are one of those people that watches the biggest loser while eating a gallon of ice cream aren't you?)
Her "Well good luck with that one"
Me BITING MY TONGUE!

Seriously people do you not know when enough is enough? I am not even THAT big and I am 8 months pregnant might I add! Here is just a bit of advice for those who come in contact with pregnant ladies:
1. Do not use words like: HUGE, BIG, GIGANTIC, FAT, LARGE, TWINS, SWOLLEN

2. Only use these words: BEAUTIFUL, GLOWING, CUTE, PRETTY, FABULOUS

3. If you do not know that someone is having twins, don't ask them if they are... it is better to be safe with just asking about 1 or even better yet don't assume people are pregnant!

4. Always offer to open the door, carry large and heavy items, pick up things they may drop, offer them a seat...just be courteous! Being pregnant isn't easy!

Ha Ha! Now that I got that off my chest...I feel better!

So tomorrow marks exactly 1 MONTH LEFT! I am so excited, but feel like I have a ton left to do before July 24! I guess the baby will come whether I have scrubbed the baseboards or not!!!

Have a Happy Hump Day!!

Happy Father's Day!

2 Posts in 1 day is pretty good! I gave a shout out to my mom on mother's day, so I can't go without giving my dad and husband shout outs for Father's Day!!!!

To my dad:
You truly are the definition of what unconditional love is! Daniel and I have some major shoes to fill when it comes to parenting! I have learned so much from you over the last 28 years and cannot thank you enough for all that you have done for us and all of the life lessons you have taught me! Thank you for always putting Jami and I first and having to sacrifice your own needs to meet our needs and wants!! I love you and cant wait for Critter to meet his or her Poppy!!






To my Dear Husband:
Our baby is going to be so blessed to have you as their daddy! I can not wait to see what this little Critter has in store for us! You have already shown how great of a daddy you are going to be....moonlighting so that our little Critter can have the best of everything and he or she is not even here yet! And You are already a such a good daddy to our "furry babies" that I cant even imagine what you will be like with Critter. Thank you for all that you do for Critter and I and I can't wait to share in this whole experience with you! I know that you are going to be such a rock for me! I cant wait for July 24th! I love you so much and I am so glad that you are my "baby's daddy"!!!