Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Tuesdays's Little Things

1. Not having a schedule, no where to go and no plans and not even knowing what day it is. I could have sworn it was Wednesday today. I even told the kids a couple times that it was Wednesday.
2. Enjoying the couple of yummy (healthy and not so healthy) drinks made in my blender. The coffee mocha was the best!
3. Finishing making the kids smoothies just before the blender broke. Glad it held out till i was finished or else i would have had some disappointed kids!
4. Clean towels fresh out of the dryer.
5. My mom bringing me dinner.
6. The way a fresh vacuumed floor changes the look and feel of a room.
7. Jordan giving me a BIG hug on Christmas and thanking me for all of his gifts.
8. Having another adult person around to talk to instead of being in the house with kids all day! (thanks ashley!)
9. The way a child looks all snuggled up in their "blankie" on the couch sucking their thumb. So peaceful.
10. My sister in law (Roz) coming over to spend time with the baby.
11. Formula from my Mother in law!
12. Emy telling me she likes my food. (she thinks i am good cook! :)
13. Baby G not having a bottle from midnight to after 6 am.
14. Anything dipped in ranch. (and 3 cheese ranch!)
15. Blueberry salad from Matt's mom.
16. Taking the Christmas tree down and feeling like the living room is less cluttered.
17. Watching Little Man chase the light reflections on the wall. This dog has issues. lol.
18. Emma standing up for modesty when Gabe's girls are here. I never notice it as much until Emy and Isa are here and i see the differences in them and her. I am proud of Emma for knowing how a LITTLE girl should dress, talk and act. And knowing how important it is to dress modestly.
19. The kids oovoo-ing w Ashley and Skylar.
20. Having Ashley here to hold the baby when he's fussy so that i can get things done.
21. Emy reading better and better every time she comes to visit.
22. Scrabble with ashley on our iphone/ipod touch. And being able to play when we aren't even in the same house.
23. Jacob spending more time out of his room and being social. His personality is so fun.
24. Snacks after the kids go to bed because you don't want to share... hehe
25. Emma and Emy wearing matching outfits.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Christmas 2010

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! This Christmas was a lot of fun. My kids were very blessed this year.
We had a pretty organized morning (yay!). Well as "organized" as a morning could be with a 5 week old, 5 year old, 6 year old, 7 year old, 8 year old and a 10 year old all anxious to open their gifts.

  The girls woke up first. I was able to "grab" them before they went out to the living room to see if "Santa" came or not.. I had them take baths while I woke the boys up and then had them bathe and get dressed.

That was always the worst part of Christmas day when I was younger. I always hated to have to stop playing with my new toys to take a bath and get ready for the day, so i wanted to go ahead and get it out of the way.

Matt had great timing and got here just as the girls were waking up. he was able to bring his gifts by the tree before they all came out to the living room.

Of course, we carried on our tradition and had cinnamon rolls for breakfast. This was a tradition that my mom started with my sisters and i when we were kids and it was something that i have carried on for my kids as well.

This year we did one "big" item for each of the kids (of course they have to share those big items).  :)


Jacob got a laptop

 Jordan was so funny when he opened his big gift.. he was shaking with excitement!
Emma got a Wii as well. (we got two Wii's for them so that we could put one Wii in the girls' room and one in the boy's room.)
 Emy and Isabella both got DSi's. They were so excited because when they were here during the summer they wanted to play with Emma's, now they have their very own!
Is it just me or does Emy look like Selinda Gomez in this picture?  :) she is so beautiful!
Matt got Emma a cupcake full of play desserts. The girls love to put Grandmother's aprons on and pretend they are waitresses just like Grandmother.
Isa with her new PJ's

Jacob and the ripstick Matt bought him. Have you ever attempted to get on one of these things? I guess its a 2000's skateboard, but only a million point five times harder!
Jordan and the skateboard that Jacob and Daddy got him. 
Shopping for my kids at Christmas is never easy. They have never given us a list of things that they want. I have stopped asking them because anytime i have ever asked them what they want their response has always been "i will be happy with whatever you get me".  One year Emma added "as long as i get girl toys" i guess she was worried she would get all "boy toys". ?? lol. But anyway, Jacob had been trying to save up his money so that he could get this game. He had been wanting it since it came out, so he was SUPER excited when he opened this gift.

Matt bought Jordan a "small" pocket knife. We both thought this would be a good "starter" pocket knife. Jacob has one and we both felt that Jordan would be ready for a smaller one at this age. He was so cute all day, he kept pulling it out of his pocket showing everyone. 

The kids finished opening their gifts, they got numerous games for the Wii and PS3, books, clothes, pj's ect. and then we packed up and headed for Grandmother's house.
Baby G looked so cute in his little Gymboree Christmas outfit that Mrs. Christine bought for him. 

Once we got to Grandmothers house the kids were so excited to see all of the presents. Grandmother spoiled all 7 of the Grand kids this year. Thank you Grandmother!!!
Oh and i have to tell you about the yummy Christmas dinner she worked so hard on. She made the best meatballs and lasagna (another Christmas day tradition) only i think this batch of lasagna was by far the best she has ever made!
The best Grandmother ever!
Emma and Skylar (my adorable niece) opening their gifts.
Tony Hawk Wii game. This game is so cool. Check out the video for it here.
Emy about to open her gifts.
All three of the girls got the Hello Kitty DS games and cases. They all three LOVE Hello Kitty.
Jordan and Jacob both got remote control 4 wheelers. 
Emma and some of her gifts from Grandmother and Grandpa Bill. 

This year the adults all drew names. I got Bills name and he got a Bat warmer. Mommy drew Melinda's name and she got clothes. Amanda drew Ashleys name and she put in money towards her ipod touch. Melinda drew Gabes name and he got Versace Cologne. Bill drew my name and i got money for work clothes. Ashley drew Mommy and she got a Gators shirt and a knife set. And Gabe got Amanda's name. Now i have to tell you how we were all jealous that Gabe drew AMANDA's name. We all know that Gabe buys the best gifts. So what did Amanda get? She got a leather COACH wallet!!!
Isn't it pretty??
So after we were all finished opening gifts the kids headed outside to ride their Skateboards, ripstick, and bikes. (Jordan and Emma also got  new bikes)

After we left Grandmothers the fun didn't end there. We headed back home and the kids were ready to set  up their Wii's and play with their new stuff. the girls played Just Dance 2

All day i could help but to count all of my blessings and to think of the American Military families who were not as fortunate this year. My thoughts were with the Military families who had to spend Christmas without family members because they are away serving our country.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and I hope everyone has a safe New Years.






Thursday, December 23, 2010

Oovoo with Ashely

So i was on OoVoo with Ashley and skylar while my mom and sisters were at walmart. Ashley has been waning an ipod touch for a while now and has asked for one for Christmas. 


Ashley asked me if i knew if my mom was buying her one for Christmas. i said "no". Then Ashley looks over and at Sky and asks her if she knows what she is getting for Christmas and Sky yells "IPOD!!!!" lol.

Thanks for ruining the surprise, SKYLAR!!! lol.
So then i ask Sky "what are you getting for Christmas?" and what is her response? "EVERYTHING!". lol

Well since she is an only child and spoiled rotten, i wouldn't doubt that santa is bringing her a little of everything!
Skylar is soooo funny. i swear she is just like my sisters. she says the funniest things all the time. Amanda needs to write down some of the things she says. she always has us laughing.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Tuesday's Little Things

I actually had to look at the calendar on my phone to see what day it was. Is it Tuesday already?? really? 
 1. Watching Little Man chase the light reflections all over the house.
2. Frozen Yogurt from Twistee Treat.
3. A visit from Mrs. Christine. And her taking Emma for "girls day" with Molly. Mrs. Christine is so wonderful. We are all thankful for her, especially Emma.
4. Jordan following the rules.
5. Medical insurance! Got some medical stuff in the mail from my delivery. total charges for the hospital (not including my OB care at my Dr. )were over 23 grand.) yikes! i am so thankful that i have medical insurance and only owe 600.00 of it.
6. Jacob asking me for a hug out of the blue. (now if you know Jacob, he is a very "keep to himself" kind of kid.) it's very rare for him to just come and ask for a hug. he said "i don't know why, i just felt like i needed a hug from you". my heart smiled, he sure did make my day!
7. Hand-made Christmas ornaments from the kids. Emma made the cutest ornament!
8. The Tango App. check it out!
9. Gabe coming home tonight. i feel like i haven't seen him in forever!!!! 
10. Bare, clean counters.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Day 1 of Christmas Vacation

So, Jordan thought it would be fun to slide down the stairs in a Rubbermaid tub (like the one seen here) today, and even talked Jacob into giving him a little push. Only I don't think it worked out like Jordan had planned. As i am in Emma's room helping her clean i hear a continuous crash, bang, bang, crash proceeded by laugh, laugh, laugh, CRY. I ran out to see what all the noise was and there Jordan is, at the bottom of the stairs holding his head standing next to a broken Rubbermaid tub. I am sure he won't be trying that again anytime soon!
Jacob felt bad since he did "push him", and gave him a dose of motrin for his headache.


So here are a couple things I heard today that I couldn't help but smile...

"Mommy, we can kinda see our floor now!!"-- Jacob

"Emma, you have to have a sandwich before you eat another bag of chips." --Me
"Well then Mommy, can i have an ice cream SANDWICH?? cuz that's a SANDWICH you know...."--Emma.

So the baby's "stuffiness" cleared up for a few days but now its back and it's bad :(  also, Jacob woke up with a headache and stomach ache. I sure hope everyone is well on Christmas.


Here a few quick "little things" for today since i didnt post any yesterday either.
1. Chilis. YUM! i have always loved that place.
2. Shopping with my mom and sisters.
3. My kids coming home on Sunday night and running straight to their brother, and Jordan begging to hold him. 
4. Emma's CLEAN room. I am sure it won't stay that way once Emy and Isa get here.
5. The sun shining, listening to birds chirp and noticing a beautiful bright red bird.  (i know nothing about birds, so dont ask what kind it was... lol all i know is it was BRIGHT red.) lol.
6. Staying in my PJ's all day, hanging out with the kids. It doesn't happen many times a year when that i spend the whole day with ALL of my kids at home.
7. Calling my disability insurance and getting good news. i HOPE to have a check this week. It's been a long four weeks with no pay check! I am keeping my fingers crossed that they mailed  it out on Friday.
8. My baby being one month old yesterday. He's grown so much already..
9. The words "yes, Ma'am" when my kids are told to do something.
10. Ending the day with a scorching hot bath.
11. Jacob taking meds without throwing up. WOOHOO Jacob!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Saturday's Little Things

1. Hearing about my kids' day on the phone. They had a blast at the Christmas party they went to. They always love seeing their Gigi. :)
2. Getting all of the kids' Christmas presents wrapped. (and realizing that I bought two of the same size items for the boys...oops I guess I have a couple more gifts to buy :p )  == i have to be careful what i write on here since Jacob reads my blog lol.
3. Having a great nephew, Jose who is always willing to help. Thanks, Jose!
4. Listening to Pandora (Nelly station) and hearing songs that I haven't heard in YEARS! Brings back many memories!!
5. Baby Gabriel fitting into more outifts.
6. Fighting my brownie batter craving. I want to give in SO bad... but I haven't yet.. lol
7. Baby Gabriel's chubby cheeks.
8. The excitement of looking at pictures just picked up from Walgreens. Even though I already know what they look like, i still get excited when i pick up prints.
9. Sleeping in till 10:00.
10. Random calls through out the day from Gabe.
11. Baby Gabriel sleeping all night till 5am last night. 
12. Waking up and hearing the rain. So relaxing.
13. Play time with the baby, trying to capture his smiles in a picture.... lol I think it's impossible!

Friday, December 17, 2010

Today's Little Things

1. Got another hat  in the mail, that I bought from Ebay, today. I cant wait to try it on him.
2. A yummy lunch at Ocoee Cafe with Gabe. And you know we go there to see my Momma too! :)
3. Coming across a great deal on something that i have been wanting to buy! And buying it. (cant pass up something that is 50% off)
4. Kind compliments from a friend.
5. Gabe's days off.
6. Baby Gabriel's awake times. He loves to be read to.
7. PJ day at the kids school.
8. Christmas vacation officially starting today at 3pm. Looking forward to full days w all four of my kids.
9. The little "oink oink" noises the baby makes when he's hungry.
10. My addiction to buying the baby hats, (just like when Emma was little and my addiction of buying her shoes... lol.)
11. Great conversation and catching up with a friend at lunch! :)
12. People looking forward (and reading) my little things. Thanks guys!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Christmas Over the Years

  I was looking at some pictures that i have on my computer (i have over 11k on my computer now and more on an external hard drive!!) and was reminiscing.. I thought I would post the past  years of Christmas pics that i have of all of my kids. They have grown up so much. Why can't they stay little forever?
2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Baby Bear

I was so excited today when my door bell rang. I knew it would  be the mail man delivering the baby's hats that I ordered from my friend, Melissa. I customized both of the hats, and I absolutely love them! The dino hat is a little bit big for him but he will definitely grow into it. I definitely recommend these hats to everyone. In the next few weeks I think I am going to order Gabe one. He loves all kinds of hats.




 the dino hat