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 :)

Holiday Travels (Warning LOTS of Pics)

Turkey Time
Prep Kitchen

The Girls

Scary pic of me but good of Joey ( the brown has got to go)

Joeys 4 leaf clover (unedited)

The Gals

Will and I

Joey and Will

Aunt Lucy & Mrs. Julie

"All Done" with the sgetti

Reed & Will

The Holiday Spread lol

A little tug-o-war

Kissy Face

Handsome Man

outside shooting some hoops

beautiful roses

The O'Connells

James & Adam

this year for Turkey Day we headed up to Nashville to spend the holiday. We had so much fun. We headed up Wed am and got some shopping in and the fabulous store The Vintage Baby

Will racked up on all sorts of goodies including a nap mat some Christmas morning pjs and a beautiful outfit ( seen in above pics). After shopping we had dinner at Joeys Aunt and Uncles house and then headed back to snooze in the hotel. On Thursday we got ready did a tiny bit of shopping then headed back over to begin the turkey day feast. All the food was delicious and with the exception of a few minor meltdowns Will had a great day :) Between the ear infections last week and his eye teeth STILL working their way through oh and lets not forget the terrible twos knocking on the door we have had been battling some tantrums like none i have ever seen. Hopefully this to shall pass ( and quickly). After the big meal we made our way back to memphis to stopp by Joeys nannie and pawpaw for another fabulous meal. I didnt get to see my mom this year which was a complete BUMMER but we are planning to celebrate on saturday and I am looking forward to it. We have so much to be thankful for this year and every year i know sometimes i fail to focus on all i have when its so easy to focus on what you dont have but sharing good times with good friends and family will get you back in the spirit :) Im looking forward to decorating for Christmas next week and my holiday mini sessions on saturday. I will be a busy bee the next few weeks but it will be worth it!

The Christmas List

Let the Christmas Season BEGIN!!!! There is Christmas music playing on the river and the stores are decorated it seems so early for the season to sneak up on us but at the same time it seems like there not enough time to put up the tree. We get real trees so we are having to wait because they arent out yet :( I am definitely ready to see how Will reacts this year! Last year he was so well behaved and didnt touvh a thing but this year I am thinking this will NOT be the case. Well everyones always chatting about what the top items are on their lists so I thought i would share what i have bought for Will. I am almost finished with him andI kmow I am totally going overboard this year but I just cant help myself! Last year we kept things to a minimum we knew he would be spoiled across the board so we kept it simple at home. At the time it was great but looking at pics after the fact his little pile looked so pitiful so this year there is no denying that he will have a little bit of everything so heres a peak!

We will learn our ABC's and 123's with this little laptop

He LOVES his cousins zhu zhu pets so i got him a boyish one



Anything thomas/Choo choo will do!



Love this buggy i see zoo fun and trips around the block!

the Potterybarn anywhere chair with an extra cover (monkeys and traffic both with William monogrammed on them

I think we are all set I may by some books and some movies then its! Promise......