Quick Pic Post

Surgery & a Great book!

The Hubby being silly in pre-op ( & this was pre meds)

An Amazing story told through the eyes of a 4 year old.

So Joey had his surgery today and all went well and we are back home. I think it is gonna be a LONG recovery process ( longer than either of us expected) Will is already VERY distressed that he cannot cuddle with daddy. I have a feeling this issue is only going to get worse seeing as he is a TOTAL daddy's boy. Joey also has a continous nerve block/numbing infusion into a nerve in his shoulder and i have to pull the cath from his neck on sunday...eeeekkk! I am no go with the adult stuff so wish me luck ( knowing that Joey will scream either real or fake when the time comes just to give me a heart attack). We got to the surgery center around 7:30 and i believe they started the procedure around 9:45. We got to leave at around 12:30 so overall it wasnt to long of an ordeal. Joey slept most of the afternoon and now we are al watching tv.

So since i knew that I would be waiting for a while during Joeys procedure i tried to find a new book to read. I brought my nook and after viewing the barnes and noble top 100 i found an interesting title. Heaven is for Real to make it better it was only 6.00 on my nook so i read the summary and it stated that it was basically a 4 year olds experience after having a near death experience that led him to visit heaven. Its a true story and needless to say i was sold. I think about Will and his innocence being so young and I was intrigued to read more from this little boy. So I bought the book and uploaded it to my reader. And so began my love affair with this book. Its a good thing I had nothing else to do because I could NOT put this book down. The story is told by the father ( who is a pastor) but he recalls all the events leading up to his sons incident and then vividly recalls all his sons memories from his short time in heaven. It was so beautiful to imagine the way this 4 year old saw and took in things. I consider myself a believer but I am still so flawed. I think my biggest flaw is that I am scared of death. I know no one wants to die but I trully have panic attacks in the middle of the night ( yes pretty much nightly) about dying, I cant believe I am admitting this hopefully no one thinks I am totally morbid. I guess my fears all boil down to the fact that I feel I am not ready. I love Jesus and I am baptized and I attend church on a somewhat regular bases , and pray and blah blah blah but I know that I am no where near what I need to be to meet Jesus and be welcomed into heaven and I desperately want to be that person but for every step forward i have steps that I take backwards. Its funny because this was never something that stressed me until I had a child of my own. Its funny how God can send you the smallest package that can make the biggest impact. Ok so i completely got off on a self revelation tangent lol but any how this book makes things a little less scary. The pastor in the book even states how some concepts are hard to grasp even though you believe without "seeing" its hard to fully understand. Well even though I havent seen anything imagining what this little boy depicts will melt your heart. Its a short read ( only 158 pages) and I just cannot say enough about it, if your looking for a good book i highly recommend reading Heaven is for Real. Well thats it for me tonight got to go care for the sick :)

Back in the Land of the Living....I hope

Whew what a weekend I dont think I have felt that bad in a WHILE. I must admit I am a huge wheeny when it comes to being sick! ( As a nurse you fall into 2 categories you either have to see a bone to freak or you can stub your toe and freak, I am definitely the later of the two and the same goes when I am sick....I whine plain and simple) I started feeling bad the weekend before last and i think it was last tuesday that I went to the dr and got a sinus cocktail shot. She gave me an antibiotic and some cough meds but seeing as i thought it was just sinuses i didnt get my rx filled, I mean she said they were just in case anyways. Well fast forward a week and i still wasnt better. I went to work saturday but it was a struggle to get through the night. I felt faint, I couldnt breathe etc so i came home sun morning and crashed! I slept till about 2 when i woke up and tried to get out of bed and i really dont know how i didnt fall out! Normally sinus funk always travels to my chest but this lovely infection clooged my whole head SO for the past 4 days I have felt like i was swimming in a fishbowl. I decided to call in, fill my rx and stay in bed and after almost 48 hrs of doing this i think I might be on the mend. I still cant breathe but the pressure in my head and face and the dizziness is wearing off. I tell you i dont know whats worse coughing my head off or this vertigo of sorts???
Anyhow thats enough of talk of being sick. As of yesterday afternoon it is OFFICIAL Joey and I along with 2 other friends couples will be heading to a tropical destination come April....the Dominican Republic woo hoo! I guess I should start trying to cope NOW with leaving Will for a few days I have never left him for more than a night at a time so this will definitely be our longest stretch, I guess its about time considering he is almost two! I havent been ready up until this point and I am not realy sure Im ready now but I know he will be fine and well taken care of so it makes the stress a little lighter.
On another note I am getting a wild hair to tackle another home renovation project....hmmmmm but what to do, nothing to pricey of course since we are going on vacay but im thinking a) a playroom for Will it has actually been a work in progress since Christmas but considering we have NO storage in out house that spare bedroom has always been our catch all room sooo sorting through that is a task of its own! Another idea I am throwing around is painting our dining/formal living room I was totally a red dining room gal and now it just seems so dark ( I was forever transformed when i painted my bedroom blue/grey) I think I want to do a soft grey or celery or canary color to lighten up the space, I think this would help capturing photographic memories of Will as well. I also want to weather my kitchen table, It was a hand me down anyways and I think it would look really good distressed decisions decisions!
So this was a lot of random but since ive been stuck in bed for a few days i had lots to think about. Gotta go for now :) Will is up and its time to play!

Remain with me

Wow what a day today! Today was the rescheduled speaker for the Hope Womens Group ( Moms Bible Study Group) I feel like I havent seen my MOTs ladies in forever ( probably bc i havent with busy photo session and the holidays) But i loved how we all got caught back up sitting at our table and it made me feel super special that a few of the ladies even said they were worried about me ( due to my recent blog rambles) It sure is nice to know you have friends out there :) any how our speaker was Angela Thomas and we will be reading her book " Tender Mercy-For a Mothers Soul" this semester.I hadnt heard much about her other than she was coming but wow did she rock my world. her speaking was just amazing. I think every woman who has come to speak to us has been amazing in their own right but Angela it seemed was just speak to me. She didnt sugar coat things she told it how it was and she showed ways to incorporate God into my daily life that I was capable of.
On top of her amazing ability to speak its as if God had brought me to Hope this morning for so much more than I even knew. As Angela spoke about we all get empty spiritually. Some arent empty for long and others have cotton mouth for a while. Im not really sure where I fit in. I know Im not where I need to be ( do we ever think we are) but i know I want to try. I know that with trying I often feel as if I gave up and couldnt really tell you when. I have a womens devotional Bible that I once read religiously every night, can I tell you the last time I picked it up....no! I use to pray every night and every morning, does this still happen? Sometimes but not always. I can feel myself sinking and I dont like it. I think a lot of it has to do with situations that are arising in my life that I feel that I have no control of ( i know this is the time i need God most I just seem to not be reaching out) Well enough with the depressing stuff. Before I head Angela speak today I knew i was reaching my breaking point. To be honest i wanted to stay in bed opposed to heading to kick off I guess i had been gone so long i didnt figure one more day would hurt but Will had MDO anyways and I had told a friend i would shoot pics so luckily the dont skip out on people part of me led me on my way to hope :) Just this morning I read my devoitional from Jesus Callin, my mother in law gave me this book for Christmas and i will admit I had only read two days up until today. But todays passage caught my attention ( as I am sure evey day to come will)
The page read
" Let me prepare you for the day that stretches out before you. I know exactly what this day will contain, wheras you only have vague ideas about it. You would like to see a map, showing all the twists and turnsof your journey. You'd feel more prepared if you could somehow visulaize what is on the road ahead. However ther is a better way to be prepared for whatever you will encounter today : Spend Quality time with ME. I will not show you what is on the road ahead, but I will thoroughly equip you for the journey. My living Presence is your Companioneach step of the way. Stay in continual communication with Me, whispering My Name whenever you need to redirect your thoughts. Thus, you can walk through this day with your focus on Me. My abiding Presence is the best road map available. "

The Bible verse to follow was Exodus 33:14 & John 15: 4-7
the later verse really stuck with me and as I prayed this morning I simply asked God to remain with me and open my heart to him, to see him in everything I did today and to just make more time for him in my everyday life. I have read blogs where they say to simply pray for God to oversee your every step and to help you find his will and this is where i thought I would start.....little did I know he would take me exactly where I needed to go.

So back to Hope and Angela. I was at the Women Ministry kick off cisiting with friend and listening to everyone speak when they finally introduced Angela. She stepped up to the microphone and began to speak. From the very beginning I hung on every word, this was a women who could relate to ways I have often felt. she ahd experienced things in her life that I too has witnessed or been a part of. It seemed like the perfect way to dive back in and get my glass half full ( not half empty) Well wouldnt you know the longer she spoke she continued to speak to me. She decided to discuss a Bible verse with us all and the importance of it. You wanna know a secret...shhhhh...it was John 15:1-11. Wait a minute didnt I just read and pray about this this very morning. I sure did! She emphasized the word REMAIN as well and it just hit home to me that Jesus was talking to me and personally telling me to REMAIN with him, even when i feel like he isnt right by my side he is and that I can do all things through him! REMAIN with him and study his word REMAIN in my moms group with the lovely women who help me be the person I want to be, REMAIN calm and know that GOD is alway near. REMAIN sane when Will has me at my wits end and last REMAIN with GOD even when I feel like my world is upside down. I cannot express how much i took from todays message. My heart is still full of it now. It spoke such powerful things to me that I once again tried to take matter into my own hands with some issues I have been facing within my family. The problem is still not fixed, nor do I think it will be for quite some time but where I had once felt like there was no use in caring my spirit was renewed to REMAIN with that person and to try and try again no matter what.
Ok so I know I have been babbling for days so for the whole 2 of you ( if that ) that are still reading I will end on this even when you think there is no extra time for GOd in your day to day life just ask in your prayers for him to show you where you can add him in and by golly he WILL! Im looking forward to tomm devotional and right now for bedtime, i hit up the gym for 45 min today but then totally ate bad so Im still a work in progress :)

Miss Ainsley is here

My sis-in-law and brother-in-law welcomed their 3rd little girl into the world last thursday and I had the pleasure of photographing her today. It was a short shoot seeing as how we only had about an hour of good sun, BUT we will have many more to come so stay on the lok out for more pics :) Isnt she just the cutest thing youve ever seen.

I Almost Forgot!

Ok so upon my daily blog check i read my friend Laurens blog and she posted about weight loss and a beautiful looking cruise she is taking well it totally made me remember that although I had taken my pics for my blog post i NEVER posted about my adventures in the same area! Thanks for the reminder Lauren sorry bc i am totally copying you:)
Any how after having Will i lost most of my humongous weight fairly quickly i gained around 45lbs ( i think the finaly weight was 204 eek!) Any how i got down to 175 pretty fast and well i have stayed in the 170 world since then but i must say i havent even tried to do anything to rid these pounds so there is not much complaining i can really do. But that is about to change! I have been checking out the gym option and Joey and I are about to join the dac they are the only gym in our area that offers child care. They also offer a team training class that is pretty intense, its a big price increase to add that class to your membership but i think i may do it in a couple of months. I was going to do it from the start but its a twelve month commitment and i dont want to pay all that money if i dont go. I went one day last week and it kicked my butt literally which was good but it made me realize im sooooo out of shape that i may wanna start slow in my own and with the regular classes for a month or so and then do that class for a couple months before the trip! And secondly i know i wouldnt conitnue that class when i get pregnant again ( i want to stay active during my next pregnancy but with all my complications i think that class might do more harm than good) so anyways enough about getting skinny we have established that that is the plan! Now onto my 2 incentives..... First off we have decided to go on a last hurrah trip of sorts. We are headed to the Dominican Republic in April with some of our closest couple friends and well to put it nicely im the largest of my two friends going so we got to work on that! I dont want any beached whale sightings hehe! the second incentive if you couldnt guess from this post is that Joey and I would like to expand our family this year and i do not want to even start until im pre Will weight ( and of course now until after April lol) Of course after meeting the newest little addition to the Oconnell household ( Miss Ainsley was born 1/6/11-pics to come) i got a surge of baby fever I must admit she is sooo cute although i would have no clue what to do with a girl, Will is soo all boy that i would be lost. And im not so sure what he would think of a sibling he kept saying baby baby walking into the hospital and then when we tried to introduce him he freaked out and wanted nothing to do with Miss Ainsley he was too funny! We will just have to wait and see what the good lord blesses us with. Speaking of speaking Will is getting so good with his words just this morning he walked into his bathroom and saw the empty tub he looked at me and said and i quote " There is no water, where is the water" of course although pronounced very well it still had quite the baby accent added to it ... translated der is no WA-tur, wer is da WA-tur but i we got tthe point hehe.

Excellence Punta Cana ( Dominican Republic) We started the vacation talks with Costa Rica in mind but couldnt find a place we just loved other that the beautiful Los Altos de Eros but it was more than we wanted to spend on this particular vacation (since hopefully all vacationing parites will be saving for baby number two at some point after the vacay) And for me personally i dont wanna go somewhere unless i can go how i want so one i WILL visit Los Alto de Eros and be in heaven every minute of it ( check it out it is amazing!) So after scratching CR we talked about the Dominican, Jamaica, the bahamas and Mexico. We had all been to Mexico so that was out ( not to mention have you seen the new eek) a few had been to Jamaica( plus we hadnt heard to many good things about there) and a few had been to bahama so we wanted to go somewhere no one had been and DR is what we came up with. I think we are going to have a blast. Its all inclusive ( a must) and they have tons of resturants, a casino, a disco-tech and a Micheal Jackson show I mean what else do you need!
The gorgeous rooms although i plan to be out about most of the time

My new work out clothes and lens ( sigma 30mm, 1.4=Amazing) I know this is so one of those cheesy self pics but i want some "before i get buff pics" HAHA

My starting weight...yup thats right 170lbs (for the record i have always weighed ALOT even when i was skinny!) pre Will weight was 162 lbs so I have 8lbs to go to get rid of my baby weight. I would like to reach 150 but in the end since the number on the scale is always high when i look at it i would just like to get fit and lookk and feel better ( maybe get rid of a chin or two!)

again just playing with my new lens but at the same time i feel a lot of my weight is showing up in my face so i wanna keep picture tabs of any loss. Ive noticed I can totally feel skinny in my skinny jeans and sweater and then see a pic i snapped and be like WHOA i went out of the house looking like that so picture documentary will be a must this time! I would love to be as brave as this blogger i love reading her blog bc well it is up front abrupt probably not the most politically correct and well just down right hilarious. In this post she puts it all out there for eveyone to see ( and well im just not so sure everyone would wanna see me this way haha)
http://www.lowefamilynews.com/2010/06/resurrection-of-hotness.html

So this is my new years resolutin in blogging therefor i must stick to it after all. I wish everyone luck with there resolutions and ask for a little prayer that i will stick to mine :)

Snow-M-G! ( and a sick baby)

My sick little man snoozing after his 5 minutes in the snow.....he was NOT a fan of it thats for sure. I dont think it was that he was cold i think he is just still not feeling to hot and it was about nap time. Atleast i got some pics of him out there BUT this is my favorite pic ( I am in LOVE with my new lens)
This was the other night laying it bed he felt really bad that night but even when he is pouting he is too cute. With that pitiful face he got his way and was able to sleep in mommy and daddys bed that night.
My husband the master sledder i mean he did learn from the best watching the good old Griswalds in Christmas Vacation.
Me and the Snowman
Will in the snow, he would not even look at me for one second ( that seems to be the trend with all our attempted pics these days)

We had fun playing in the snow todya and sledding down our hill in our front yard ( the only time I have enjoyed it being there thus far) It didnt even seem to cold out there for me anyways i hate the cold. We didnt go out till lunch time bc i was catching some zzzz's after work. I had to drive home in this mess for the first time in my life. It obviously went ok bc i am at home typing this, but it didnt go off without a hitch. I completely slid through a red light with oncoming traffic. Luckily they were able to stop bc i wasnt so accident was avoided but then the mata bus came flying by me doing like 50 and fish tailing so i totally called and reported his tail! The roads were yucky so i intend on staying indoors for a couple days for sure. Hope everyone is enjoying this winter wonderland. Be safe and take pics :)

What Will the New Year have in store for the Boussons

You hear everyone say either the 2010 was a great year or a bad year. Well mine was really neither good nor bad it was just there with ups and downs. I hope to do a year end recap but all my pics are at home and not at work with me. As far as resolutions I really on have one LOSE WEIGHT! These last 12 pregnancy pounds have been hanging around too long ( like 21 months too long)so they have got to go. Other than that I want to make this year count. I look back at last year and although it was amazing there are only a handful of events that stand out ( Wills 1st Birthday, My surprise bday celebration and Garth Brooks just to name some off the top of my head) but for 2011 i want to think BIG. I want to take Will to do and experience more things we kind of get in the stay home groove and I want to change that. I also want to photograph Will more. I got so caught up in my photography business last year that I want to remember to make time for what REALLY matters and that is documenting my baby as well. I want to make more time for me and my husband were even talking about taking a trip in March to Costa Rica with some friends. I know it sounds crazy but i hope it works out so that we can go for a long weekend, I've never left Will so I will be curious to see how I handle that not to mention theres no where for him stay considering everyones crrazy schedules of their own so we will just see. If its Gods will then it will work out if not theres always time for traveling when hes older and can come with. this is just a quick post so i dont forget all the fun things i want to post soon about! But heres to a fantastic New Year!

An unexpected Christmas

Ok so its taken me a while to try and catch up on my blogging. I started this post the other day and wouldnt you know I completely finished it and my internet messed up, after trying to fix it for a while I gave up hoping that some had saved. And now getting back on here i see it saved nothing but the pictures, none of the good stuff I typed...boo So guess i will just have to try and remember everything. I guess the title explains it all to be honest i expecting a not so great Christmas other than the reason for the season I saw nothing happy in the Holidays I just saw timelines and timeframes ( kind of sad I know) but to my surprise I got the complete opposite of what I was expecting. I decided to make changes for myself and my family and it trully turned out to be such a blessing. Since I had to work Christmas Eve Santa came the night before. So we opened gifts Christmas Eve morning at our house and then just layed around all day. Joeys grandparents had there gathering that evening Joey and Will went and i stopped in for a wuick second before I had to work. Then it was off to work. When I got off work christmas morning we went to my mom and sisters house to celebrate with them. Will got to open more presents and had ablast playing with Kamden. After playing there for a few hours we headed over to Joeys parents house and the fun continued :) Lastly we went to Joeys Aunt and Uncles house for the big family Christmas. We had yummy fod and the kids were running around everywhere.It was such a great ending to probably one of the best Holidays in a while :) I posted lots of pics on Facebook and hope to get them on here at some point ( but my computer doesnt like blogger most of the time) but i had already uploaded some of my favorite goodies that i recieved ( im also planning on doing a Wills favorite toys post after a little observation hehe)


Joey got me this beautiful ring. it is the oval shape of the first picture but the setting looks like the second picture. I love it!

Joeys mom gave me and his sister pearl earrings and i dont think they have left my ears since. I cant wear fun fake earrings bc they irritate my ears but these bad boys are real and dont hurt my ears a bit!

my mom got me my nook and I have already read two books ( loving some Lauren Conrad L.A. Candy)

and I got this for myself i needed some new perfum and i have been smelling this everywhere its super yummy!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Manners

Dont you wish everyone had them :( Well I think most people that read my blog are facebook friends also so I just want to apologize for the foul language that is plastered on my page today. Im only blogging about it bc it really offended me yet I would hate to give that certain someone satisfaction of acknowledging his harsh comment. the only fact its still on my page is to show my husband what a loser his friend is but any hoe enough of that just needed to get it off my chest. I mean after all i was simply stating the facts its very upsetting when you are trying to do your job and the family doesnt want you to wake them ( bc they are still trying to sleep with the kid screaming at this point) I am sorry but this does not represent a person who cares about their child ( quite the opposite they need there beauty rest after all) so i will not take my comment back but did want to apologize for the poor soul who didnt think before he typed! and for those of you who have no idea what im talking about it goes a little somethign like this

my facebook status....
so heres my tip for the day....DONT bring your child to the hospital if your just going to be annoyed that we wake you up to come in the room and CARE for your child!

now granted reading it now it does seem harsh but it just always gets me that you will call 911 to bring your baby to the ed but then you dont want them touched even if it is to make sure an iv is not infiltrating! hello a few tears and sleep loss or a necrotic arm...just saying!

well after a few likes i get the following comment from a friend of my hubby.....
( how sad is it that I have to save friend and hubby in the same sentence referring to this person..yuk!)....
If you were sick you would want your child with you, so just b/c you're a nurse doesn't make you an exception. Its your f****** job, all nurses do is complain!

ok so WAY more harsh than my statement. and like I said before why respond when im sure thats all he was asking for but REALLY who uses the f bomb on fbook?!?! Now I am embarassed that people i know have to see it.

so rest assured after i show my husband it will be gone and there will be no more typing wasted on such behavior but it was irritating and definitely rubbed me the wrong way so what else was there to do but blog about it :)

An Early start to Christmas

Merry Christmas to all I am sure that many people I know are getting ready for Santas arrival while I am here at work. Santa came to our house early so that I wouldnt miss out on all the excitement. things didnt go quite as planned ( no cookies were baked, etc) but overall i think Joey and I did good. We went to church at 7 on thursday. I have to admit I was feeling down in the dumps for a number of reasons. None of which I can share ( kinda stinks you cant always speak your mind even on your blog) but lets just say i was starting to sink into pitty party mode. Needless to say Hopes Christmas Service did not dissapoint and even gave me inspiration to do something i never thought i would ( again maybe one day i will discuss but not now- I will just ask for prayers to get through it) I cried and cried while Joey held me and then after a slight argument ( poor thing I always tend to bottle it up and then explode it on him) Santa got underway a little after midnight. I went to sleep thinking things were different only to find in the morning that they were pretyy much the same ( again SO SORRY im sure this is hard to follow but somewhat talking about it still makes me feel better) After realizing that the show must go on we hit the living room to proceed with Santa. Of course I am not to sure that Will really got it but he did notice all the goodies and quickly walked over to investigate. We even got him to be a little interested in opening presents thanks to Thomas the train paper. He wasnt as thrilled about his Pottery Barn chair as I was but he did love his first remote control tonka car ( a big hit that almost wasnt haha) and in true kid fashion he was not interested in opening his clothes...any of them he simply shoved them to the side-how do kids learn this esp at a young age :) Joey loved his gifts i got him a surround sound system for our living room ( yeah I know we both will enjoy that) so I also got him some sweaters and a massage since i went a month ago without him...hes been pouting ever since. He actually told me what he was getting me a few weeks before Christmas bc he had to order it and wasnt sure if it was my style. he order me a right hand ring. Its a beautiful blue topaz oval stone surrounded by diamonds and then they go down the sides. Of course i love it although I will admit I wasnt sure about it to begin with but Joey obviously knows my style more than me hehe. Anyhow it wasnt going to be here before Christmas so he was kinda bummed i didnt have it to open this am and then this afternoon ups delivered it so i did end up getting it for Christmas :) After we were opening presents we went to assist...watch daddy put together his new toy and then we watch dispicable me (sp?) and let me just say it was the best little movie I loved it and so did Will( he didnt even budge). I also think I am going to enjoy this blue ray player deal Yeah you pay more for the movie but in most of them you get a dvd copy as well as a digital copy to put on your phone ( aka back up option when Will pulls out operation Freak out somewhere ) So I would definitely say its worth the money.
After a little nap we got ready to head to Joeys grandparents for christmas Eve. I only got to stay for about 30 minutes but it was good to see everyone.
There is still more fun to be had in the morning. Since we did santa today we will head straight away to all our family destinations :)

Merry Christmas to Everyone I hope everyone has a safe and fun Holiday!

Birthday Surprise!

Well man oh man do i now have a fun story to add to the Birthday books. My Birthday was saturday ( the big 29...one year left in my twenties EEK!) Well the whole week prior Joey had convinced me that we were going to his bosses Christmas Party. While yes this would have been fun it was not exactly what I had in mind to do on my bday. Well Joeys parents came over to babysite and we left for the party only to be called back when we were about ten minutes away. Apparently Will was fussy( that was the excuse hehe he was fine) Well when we left Joey pointed out how a few of our closest couple friends were all down at our neighbors house bc they were all going out to eat ( this made me sad bc i thought they were all going out without us while we were at some party :( Well when we turned back onto our street i saw my sisters car...and so did Joey which he was very upset about bc obviously at that moment i figured it out. I tried to explain it was sweet that he even managed to put somethign together for me. And if my sisters car didnt give it away the loud sea of "ssssshhhh" that was just on the other side of my front door did lol. As I opened the door everyone jumped out and said surprise which made me super happy to finally be celebrating with all my firends and family-so much better than strangers :)so we cooked out and visited and had a few cocktails while all the kiddos played. It was a great night and a great way to start out being 29! Oh and on top of the joy I got from being around everyone i care about they even brought me presents woo hoo. My in laws got me a digital pic fram ( can you believe i dont already have on eof these i mean hello) I cannot wait to load it up! My besties got me some good gidt cards to tj max and to target hello who doesnt love those places my sister got me an awesome planner that has a different newborn pic on each page ( great inspiration for future sessions as well as cute babies to look at everyday) and lastly Joey got me this gorgeous peice of jewelry . It didnt ship yet so i havent got it in my possession but as soon as it hits the door step it is going aroun dmy neck. I LOVE IT! i also started follwing her blog and she has some awesome stuff on there check it out ( shes on my side bar-blogs i follow) or google lisaleonarddesigns! Oh and one more last thing me and my bestie Rachel decided that our bday presents to eachother would be to go to the Garth Brooks concert in Nashville on tuesday. I cannot wait. I hate our hubbys have to work but I am super excited to venture on such a fun roadtrip! Pics to come soon of my bday party and the concert woo hoo!

Christmas Card 2010

With Love Chartreuse Christmas Card

Shutterfly has classic, elegant Christmas invitations for your party.

View the entire collection of cards.

Grumpy Santa

Last Years Santa Pic

What a Difference a year makes. Will did not cry ( as expected) but I think that is only due to the fact that we gave him a candy cane pre Santa.

This is what most of the pics look like lol

All the Kids

The Big Kids

I guess overall you could say Santa was a success but i urge people to not go to Bass Pro if you can help it. Santa was NOT very nice! The store even apologized for his behavior and said he is not suppose to act like he did...but i will get to that. For the older kids he didnt even let them tell him what they wanted for Christmas. It was in the lap- click a pic and off you go. Of course i would get this if it were slammed busy but we were one of the 5 people there. I didnt get frustrated till Santa YELLED at me!!! Ok so he didnt raise his voice but he did speak to me quite rudely. I asked prior to entering the line if we could take photos ( we could last year i have tons) the lady said yes a few. Well i took a total of 5 pics ( 4 before i got in trouble) I took a pic of My step sisters son, then a pic of my sisters son then the both of them. My sister wanted to get in a pic so i snapped one real quick ( I should probably add that i was NOT being photographer Cassie I was standing off to the side snapping candid photos while the picture lady was between shots I knew this was not the place to hold up traffic so i wasnt waiting for them to strike a pose I was simply getting some shots.) Well at this point Joey is putting Will in Santas lap and as soon as he hit Santas lap i was about to click my final pic ( would have been the last one regardless) and Santa looked at me `pointed and said Mam You Can Only Take ONE Picture! ( Im thinking REALLY bc you just stood here and watched me take 4) I didnt say that i just simply said " I was told I could take pics and i was taking them for my sister THIS is my son and he is the only one I want a picture of but forget it" Well then the bass pro lady said I could take a pic so the pic you see above is what i took very quickly and then i didnt hear what he said but Santa mumbled sonething under his breath and it just flipped a switch i was OVER IT! i told Joey to grab Will and lets go we would go elsewhere for our Santa pic. The lady then said she hadnt taken a picture yet and i said thats fine i will be taking him to see a different Santa anyways ( insert Bass Pro apology here). I mean really it was so crazy! Im glad that Will wasnt old enough to encounter such a sour Santa but his cousins were and it was sad. My sister in laws girls said mommy i didnt even get to whisper in Santas ear what i want for Christmas :( She had to tell them the next time Santa flies in from the NOrth Pole we will visit him ( as in we will have to go elsewhere to visit a nice Santa!) So if you have big kids or even smaller kids just be warned. Maybe he was just having a bad day but i would hate for anyone else to have a less than perfect Santa experience. After all its a once a year thing.

Oh Christmas Tree

Now we just have to decorate it!

Free Christmas Cards just for Bloggers!!!!

Word on the street was that Shutterfly was offering free Christmas cards soooo i decided to see what the fuss was about. I use shutterfly for everything else so why not add my yearly Christmas card to the list. Well after some research i found that it is true as a blogger you are eligible for 50 free Christmas Cards from shutterfly Well i took a look around and here were a few of my faves. I must also add that it was very hard to narrow down bc there are just soooo many good ones. I love picture cards and I love stationary so now that there are picture cards on cardstock paper I am in heaven. Im still waiting to take that perfect photo to add to the card i finally pick out but i know it will all come together in the end, and who knows I may only change my mind like a hundred times lol

Many Memories Tree

Family Memories - I know its not his first year but i bet the changes in pics would still be cute!

For Goodness Sake

i could go on and on but these are just a few i am loving. You know me and my pics! Also i love that they are offering stationary cards (http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards) i think they have a look about them that is so much cuter than just a plain pic card but then again if the non paper style pic card is your style here is a link for you (http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards) Oh and i also kind of fell in love with the idea of getting a 2011 calendar full of some Will!!! How cute would that be might also make a great gift :) (http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars)



Hope this will make you jump up and go after your 50 free cards :)