Christmas Survey

I thought this looked like a fun little questionnaire on my friend Caroline's blog, so I thought I would copy and paste it!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?

Definitely wrapping paper!! Especially for the kiddos! They LOVE to unwrap presents! But I have to admit, I am NOT a wrapper! My hubby takes on that task! He is awesome! I pretty much stink at it!

2. Real tree or artificial?

Artificial! Who doesn't LOVE a pre-lit tree!!

3. When do you put up the tree?

This year right after Thanksgiving....when you have an excited little girl begging, we didn't have a choice:-)

4. Do you like eggnog?

Nasty!! Coffee will do for me!

5. Favorite gift received as a child?

Celine Dion concert tickets from my parents when she came to the Pyramid! And I got an extra one to take a friend! Of course I took Sarah Moseley, since she shared my LOVE for super sappy love songs:-)

6. Do you have a nativity scene?

No. But, I really would like one....I wanted to get a Fisher Price one for the kids this year...whoops! I forgot!
7. Hardest person to buy for?

.My husband!! The man doesn't tell you ANYTHING he wants!!!

8. Easiest person to buy for?

EVERYONE, except my husband:-)

9. Mail or email Christmas cards?
I have always mailed them, except for this year I am WAY BEHIND, but to be COMPLETELY honest, if everyone I sent to had an email address, and it wasn't SUPER tacky, I might just email them!

10. Favorite Christmas movie?

Home Alone

11. When do you start shopping for Christmas?

Around Thanksgiving....but I start making a list of ideas in January:-) I typically don't let the gift giving stress me out anymore!

12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Anything my mom makes, she is a GREAT cook! And she always makes the BEST desserts!

13. Clear lights or colored lights on the tree?

Clear for our family tree and outside, but I eventually would like to get a tree with colored lights for the kids playroom! We are adding a little each year As much as I LOVE the decorations, I HATE spending a ton of money on Christmas decorations, unless they are on sale!!! I try to hit up the 50% off stuff after Christmas!

14. Favorite Christmas song?

O Holy Night~

15. Travel or stay home at Christmas?

Both, this year we will be home for Christmas Eve and Day and then head to Arkansas the day after Christmas for Jason's side of the family Christmas

16. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Of course, but isn't Rudolph the MOST FAMOUS reindeer of all?:-)

17. Angel on tree top or star?

Red sparkly star, but I already have plans for a really cool tree topper next year after getting some ideas from some super crafty women at the church!

18. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Morning?

Jason and I have always opened on Christmas morning, but as a kid I can remember my parents letting my brother and I open ONE present from under the tree on Christmas Eve, and they got to pick it, and of course it was usually something like socks:-), but still fun non-the-less. I think we may let our kids do the same thing! I love making new traditions for our family!

19. The most annoying thing about this time of year?

CRAZY traffic and CRAZY Christmas shoppers!! I am AMAZED at how many people will put themselves in COMPLETE debt each year over Christmas gifts!!! We are trying to teach our children that it's not the amount of money you spend on the gift, but the "thought" behind the gift!! DON'T JUST BUY, TO BUY!!! Because most importantly, Christmas is ultimately not about "gifts", but about the the one TRUE gift that God gave us, JESUS!!!!!

20. What I love most about Christmas?

Celebrating Jesus, Christmas music, decorations, Christmas Dinner, Family, Making Christmas Treats, and creating new traditions with the kids!! I LOVE celebrating Christmas through my kids eyes.....beautiful!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!

LOVE these babies!!!!

My sweet baby (big) girl!!!!

Who could resist this smile!!!!

8 things....

It's been a while since I've posted....I feel like I'm always trying to come up for air....Two kiddos is HARD WORK.....One of my New Years Resolutions is to *try* an update more frequently!....So just for fun.........


8 Things!

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To:

1. Christmas activities with the kids (Starry Nights, Storytime with Santa, Alpine Village)
2. A FULL nights sleep without one of the kids waking up
3. Delivering gifts to our CRB (Christmas in a Red Bag) family
4. Jason taking off a few days for the Holidays (We love...love...love...it when daddy is home)
5. Painting/Decorating Macie's "big girl" room upstairs
6. Caleb crawling
7. Beach vacation next summer!
8. Macie and Caleb being able to really play together and the possibility of a 3rd child in the future....(Maybe)

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Went to church at Highpoint (AWESOME!!)
2. Ate lunch at Swanky Taco (LOVE me some Chicken Salad)
3. Fed, clothed, bathed, played, and tended to both kids by myself (Jason had to work ALL day)
4. Laundry.....laundry.....and MORE laundry......(it never ends)
5. Made cookies with Macie while listening to Chipmunks Christmas
6. Washed my china after using it Saturday at the Women's Christmas Dinner at church.
7. Marinated a Pork Tenderloin to freeze and cook later....I LOVE cooking ahead
8. Picked up the HUGE mess the TORNADO (a.k.a Macie Jewel) made all over our house

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. Go on Cruise with the hubby~no kids
2. Have a FULL day to myself......without having to come home and feed a baby:-)
3. Figure out the PERFECT gift for the hubby....the man is SO hard to buy for!
4. Stay caught up on all my chores, meal planning, and budgeting
5. Be given a fully loaded gift card to Target.....oh that is my happy place:-)
6. Figure out how to get Macie to leave her brothers head alone (no mashing, poking, hitting, rubbing, squeezing...you name it, she does it to his head!!!!!)
7. Have time to read a book from start to finish
8. Let go of some of my obsessive compulsive/stressful tendencies.....and I wander where my daughter gets it from:-)

8 TV Shows I Enjoy:

1. Days of Our Lives (yes it's a Soap, and YES I LOVE it....DON'T JUDGE!!) It's my
2. Mercy
3. Private Practice
4. Grey's Anatomy
5. Food Network
6. Criminal Minds
7. Today Show
8. Dr. OZ

8 FAVORITE Things

1. Target
2. Sonic drinks
3. Pedicures
4. Cooking (find a great recipe)
5. Jeans, a T-shirt, and running shoes
6. Cheesecake Factory (Nashville)
7. My mini-van (yes, I said it, I LOVE it)
8. Mothers Day Out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6 Months Old!

Where has half a year gone?!?!?! My little boy is growing up so fast! I'm more in love every day! He is such a sweet little boy! We have our 6 month check-up this Friday and I can imagine he weighs close to 20 pounds! What a chuncker! I LOVE it!! Caleb is such a sweet, content, little guy. He never cries, only fusses if he is hungry or tired, and LOVES his big sissy! It is so much fun watching them interact! He is rolling all over the place and at the beginning stages of sitting up! Can you believe it! Little C is FINALLY sleeping through the night and his mama couldn't be happier! He loves tummy time and we are officially eating all Stage 1 fruits and veggies! What a big boy!!!

6 Months Ago........just a few hours old...

Today..........6 months old.....

New School!!

Macie started a new school this fall and we could not be happier with our choice! She is attending Advent Presbyterian Preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and it is a GREAT school, with a wonderful program. Her teachers are Ms. Susan and Ms. Diane and Macie seems to really like both of them. She has already come home singing new songs and telling me all about her days. I LOVE it! Although is makes me sad she is growing up SO FAST, it's so much fun to watch her learn new things and begin the process of becoming a "little girl" and not a toddler anymore!!!

5 Months Old!

This little guy just MELTS my heart! I am enjoying so much having a little boy! He definitely LOVES his mama and of course that just makes me one happy lady:) Our little man started solids this month and he really loves them. We started with rice cereal (but that was doing a number on his tummy), so we decided to go ahead and move to the green veggies!! He is rolling over and seems to really like being on his tummy. He is already in 12 month clothing (yes, our children get BIG....FAST....!!) I'm guessing he is around 18-19 pounds~

LOVE them so much it makes my heart skip beats.....

4 Months Old!

17 lbs 11 oz and 26 inches of handsome CHUBBY cuteness!!!!! My sweet baby boy is growing so fast. Laughing out loud, rolling over, and "talking" all the time! Where has the time gone! We are so blessed!



**Photo taken by Emily Wilson

Swingset!!

Daddy worked so hard to put together the swingset for the kids! Macie has LOVED playing on it everyday and Caleb really enjoys his swing too!!! Thank you daddy!!

Kathleen "soon to be" Spurlin!

One of my dearest~bestest (forever) friends, Kathleen, is GETTING MARRIED!! On September 6th @6:00 p.m on the white sandy beaches of Florida, Kathleen will say "I DO" to the man of her dreams, Brian! I could not be more happy and excited for them both! Kathleen is one of those friends that I LOVE TO DEATH and no matter how long we go without talking or how much catching up we have to do, we will always be SUPER CLOSE! Those kinds of friends are KEEPERS!! We go waaaaaaaay back!! Can you tell I LOVE this girl!! I was given the honor to host a bridal shower for Kathleen with my other incredible friend Lisa, and we had a blast! The food turned out great and she got some AMAZING gifts!! The whole family will be traveling down to Destin in less than a week to watch the happy couple get hitched and I couldn't be more excited~a beach trip and wedding!!! Congratulations Kathleen and Brian!!

The bestest friends a girl could ask for!

Bride to be opening gifts!

F-O-O-D!!!!

LOTS of presents!!

Wilder Avery Young!!

Little Miss Wilder will be here ANYDAY now!!! I helped host a shower for Wendy and baby Wilder this month and it was loads of fun!! Girls are so much fun to buy for and decorate for! Lea did an AWESOME job with the decorations; and the brunch food was SO DELISH!!! Wilder got some super cute gifts that she will soon be able to enjoy!! It's so fun knowing I'm going to be an Aunt for the first time very soon! Wendy is due Sept. 12, but I have bets that Princess Wilder will make her debut before then:-) Congratulations Wendy and Brad! We can't wait to meet Wilder! You are going to be so in love!!

Mama to be!!

Can you believe it! We are all mama's!! We have come a long way girls!!

BEAUTIFUL diaper cake made by the great Lea Haley!!

Gifts!!

Hostesses with the baby mama!!

Brunch!!

Girls clothes are so much fun!

GORGEOUS painting for Wilder's room!!

Baby Savage!!

This month has been FULL of showers!! Baby showers, more baby showers, and wedding showers!! One of the recent showers that I hosted was for one of my best friends Jana! She is due October 13 and Baby Savage is a SURPRISE! How fun!! I LOVE hosting showers....so it was such a treat to be able to shower Jana and the soon to be baby with gifts and desserts! Can't wait to find out if it's a BOY or GIRL!! My bet's are it's a BOY!!

I LOVE these girls!!!

Me with the Baby Mama:-)

FOOD!! Yummy Desserts, Coffee, and Punch!

Gifts!!

Caleb 3 Months Old!

Caleb is now almost 5 months old, so these are long overdue! I apologize! But they were TOO precious to pass up!! And as always, our amazing photographer, Elizabeth Wiggs, did an OUTSTANDING job!!! Love her!!

So far behind.......

Yes, I have been MIA!! Probably due to chasing around two precious kiddos!! Being a mommy of two young children is truly fun and a wonderful blessing, BUT very draining!! I hope to get back into the swing of blogging soon!! So much has been happening:-)

Happy Birthday Kay Kay

Last Friday was Kay Kay's birthday! To celebrate we took her to Red Robbin and then headed to Ben and Jerry's for some ice cream! Of course, Macie wanted to have a little more fun before the night was over, so she BEGGED (more like obsessively continued to ask) to go to the Cameron Brown Park, and of course we gave in and took her!:-) She had a blast playing with her Kay Kay! Happy Birthday! We love you Kay Kay~

Eating at Red Robbin

Kay Kay and Caleb

Swinging at the Park

Checking out the ducks!

Kay Kay with the grandkids~Macie had just gotten out of time out~if you can't tell:-)

New Arlington McDonalds!

We are SO excited that the new Arlington McDonalds is now open! It's really nice inside and out! There isn't much in the way of food out in Arlington, so having a McDonalds is a pretty big deal! We are sure this is just the beginning of the growth out our way! The rumors are a Sonic, Back Yard Burger, and either a Target or Walmart aren't far behind! And of course McD's holds a special place in our hearts because our one and only Pop Pop is the proud manager of the one in Bartlett!

My Little Spitfire!!

We have definitely entered the terrible twos around our house! I promise the MINUTE Macie Jewel turned two, she turned into a completely different person.....and she continues to change by the minute! When you combine the terrible twos plus a new sibling, there is definitely going to be some adjusting:-) Jason and I are learning how to be parents to this sweet little girl, but man it sure is hard some days:-) I am ready all the books I can, getting advice from as many people as I know, and praying REALLY HARD! I know this is just a phase and it will get better, right?!?!?

On a sweeter note, she is full of energy, VERY smart, CUTE as a button, full of life, extremely funny, and definitely Miss Personality! Her vocabulary is growing by the second and just recently has she started telling us she loves us without it being an echo from us saying it to her! Sweet!!!! I am excited to see how she is going to grow over these next fews months before we reach the big 3 years old!!!

3 Months Old!

I have NO IDEA where the last 3 months have gone, but it has gone by WAY TO FAST!!! My little man is growing up too fast! Caleb is definitely going to be a big baby just like his sister was! I'm guessing he is somewhere around 16 pounds (or more) and is already moving up to 6-9 month clothing!! Gotta love some chubby babies! He is so much more alert now during the day and sleeping more at night. He only wakes up 1 time during the early morning (around 4 a.m.), eats and goes right back to sleep until 7:00 or after. But the past few nights he has been sleeping in until around 6:00! He goes down around 8:00 and then I give him a "dream feed" around 10:00 and then he is down for the night! We just recently started putting him up in his room to sleep and he is doing great! It was a bitter-sweet moment for me, but I know it was for the best:-)

His smiles are HEART MELTING!!! He is such a happy baby and hardly EVER cries! He will fuss if he is hungry or tired and that is about all you hear from him, except for his cute little coos! I am still nursing him and I'm LOVING it! It was a rough rode for me at first, but now that we both have the hang of it, I'm enjoying it more everyday! It is such a blessing to be able to feed your baby and know that there is a bond between you and him that he doesn't have with ANYONE else! The Lord definitely created a beautiful thing! There is nothing sweeter than when I'm feeding him and he completely stops eating to look up and just smile this HUGE smile at me! LOVE IT!

Happy 4th of July!

For the 4th this year, we decided to take Macie to see the Bellvue Fireworks. We thought she would have a blast and LOVE every minute of the beautiful light show. We parked across the interstate behind Old Navy and even invited along some friends, the Stones! Of course the fireworks were delayed, so Macie ran around like a crazy person anxiously awaiting the fireworks! At almost 9:45 p.m. she quickly decided fireworks were NOT HER THING!!! She began FREAKING out, screaming "stop the drums", while digging her head into her daddy's chest! The whole way home and the whole next day all we heard was "scared of the fireworks"!! Friday night Jason had to work the Collierville fireworks so we decided to head over to Nonnie and Pop Pop's house for a swim. The Bartlett fireworks were that night, so I thought we would try again, this time parking MILES away and letting her watch them from a far distance. Yah, NOT A GOOD IDEA EITHER! The minute they started, the freaking out began, and continued until we finally left.....needless to say she HATES fireworks! I guess there is always next year! HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!

Mommy and Macie before the fireworks started! Doesn't she look so happy:-)

Very soon after the fireworks began!!

Round 2~ waiting on the fireworks to start!

Hanging out with Nonnie and Pop Pop!

Caleb LOVED them fireworks:-) Smiled and cooed right through them!

Mommy and Macie! And yes, myself and the kids are in our pajama's! It was going on 10:00!