Christmas 2007!

Well this year we decided to have an old fashioned fun-filled family centered Christmas at OUR house. This was the first time in my life I haven't celebrated Christmas in the home I grew up in or opened the stocking hanging from my parent's mantle, but it worked out just fine. We had everyone come to us this year and what a good time that proved to be.

Christmas Eve Joni, Jay's sister, was here to help with last second cleaning and straightening up before the crew came in. About three o'clock Jay's mom, my parents, and my brother all arrived. We hung out the rest of the afternoon then ate dinner and went to the Christmas Eve service at church. We had to sit separate since it was so crowded so I took Katie Jo and my mom took Georgia. The lady behind my mom commented on how well behaved Georgia was and when my mom told her she was her granddaughter the lady replied that she thought my mom was Georgia's mom. I think it made her day! Jay served the Lord's supper along side the other deacons so Katie Jo was pretty excited to see him up front. Afterwards we came home and along with the Weaver's went out to see all the lights. Our neighborhood puts out luminaries every year and each yard is lined with the little paper bags filled with sand and a lit candle. It makes for a beautiful site on top of the regular lights people have out. We've never seen it since we aren't ever here so it was fun to see how beautiful everything looked. Jay had hooked our trailer up to the Trailblazer and we piled up among all the blankets. It was so fun. We sang carols, wished people we passed "Merry Christmas," and enjoyed all the lights. For once, it was actually cold which made things even more festive!

Here is our house all lit up for the holidays. The little bags lining the edge are the luminaries. If you look real close you'll see two dark figures on the porch. That's my parents who opted out of the ride around in the trailer.

After the ride we came back and sat on the front porch. It was so nice to relax and enjoy waving to the cars that rode by. Here is a picture of Gran and Pop with their first grandchild, Lexi.
After everyone went to bed Santa and I started setting everything up. Thankfully we didn't have too much to put together so it was more set up than anything.
Katie Jo's loot. Her big gift this year was dress up goodies with a princess theme.
And here's Georgia's loot. Her big item from Santa was the Laugh and Learn House.

Katie Jo was a little timid at first when she woke up Christmas morning. I think having all the people watching her might of had something to do with it! :) After she got a little more awake she immediately went to the selection of dress up shoes and tried them on. After that it's all a blur of wrapping paper.

Georgia got lots of stuffed animals this year. She was delighted with each one and promptly put them in her mouth!
Katie Jo loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and I found a flashlight and mouse ears that play the song.
Here is an apron for when she helps Mommy and Daddy in the kitchen.
Georgia got her first doll.

This is a desk my mom and I found at the Flowertown Festival a year and half ago. It's actually five pieces that fit together to make a ladybug. Jay put in a couple of screws to make sure it didn't slide and Katie Jo loves it.

Aunt Joni and Pop were a big help in figuring out how to work the gifts for Georgia.
A Katie Jo look-a-like doll from Gran and Pop.
"Look everyone it's Cinderella!"
Katie Jo loved Georgia's house and kept wanting me to run through the door to get away from the mean cat. There was no mean cat around but she had one in her mind that was chasing us!

Another hit was the car from Gran and Pop.

Georgia was just happy to have someone holding her.
This year I decided we would fry a turkey for our Christmas meal. I bought the fryer, looked directions up online, and found an injector recipe. We let the oil get a little too hot but it was still juicy on the inside.
After Christmas dinner it was time for more gifts. Uncle Brian waited all day to give Katie Jo and Georgia their gifts

I'd like to title the below picture "The Overseer."
It was a wonderful time overall and hopefully everyone else felt the same way. The girls got lots of fun new things to play with and I managed to find a home for most everything. What a great first Christmas it was for us here in the lowcountry! They say "It isn't over until the fat lady sings." Well, I say "It ain't over until the chubby baby sings!"

The End

Better late than never

Thank you Santa for hearing my cry! It was a little late but the good night's sleep was appreciated nonetheless.
Last night I fell asleep in bed watching Elf at 9:00. At 11:00 I woke up, fed the baby, and went back to sleep. I woke up this morning, rolled over, and looked at the clock. It was 7:58. My first thought was, "How nice! I got to sleep in." Then my next thought after some quick calculations was, "Holy Cow! I slept 9 hours straight." Technically it was 11 total but who's counting? I couldn't believe this was the first night of uninterrupted sleep I've had in almost 6 months. It was a welcomed relief.

Weekend before Christmas

The weekend before Christmas found us in the upstate. We had a gathering with Jay's family on Saturday night and Sunday was spent with my extended family. It was lots of fun and the girls got to see cousins, eat good food, and open lots of surprises.

On Saturday night we went to Jay's mom's house and had Christmas with Grandmoney, Papa (who was delivered from the nursing home via a moving truck), and lots of extended family. We ate a wonderful meal, which once again I enjoyed and was grateful considering last year I remember sitting in a chair and not moving most of the time due to morning sickness. Katie Jo especially loved the crock pot mac and cheese and had three helpings! Georgia enjoyed being held and all around loved on. We played a couple of games put together by Aunt Karen and rounded the evening out with some gift opening. Katie Jo got lots of fun things but loved her baby doll most of all from the Moon's. She especially loved the bottle that came with it so she could feed her baby.



On Sunday we went to church and then came home for some afternoon rest. Then we went over to my grandparent's to eat and open gifts with all my cousins and their children. There were two children under one, three children under three, and one child that's almost four. It was loud, busy, and fun to say the least. Katie Jo had fun with all her cousins and loved the golf club set that Drew got. I guess that's something to think about for her birthday! We drove back to Summerville after that and I spent most the trip trying to recover from the fun we'd just had. Katie Jo and Georgia both slept the entire way back and neither woke up when we got them home. Katie Jo slept in her clothes!

"Santa, is there room on your lap for me?"

All I want for Christmas is a good night's sleep. That baby woke up three times: 12:58, 2:00, and 6:30. Katie Jo woke up at 6:30 as well. I told her it was still night time and she needed to go back to sleep. She wanted to read books so I turned on her star light and she was content. I think she read for an hour and then called for us to come get her. I slept until 8 and thankfully Jay wrangled Katie Jo until I could get up.
I also would like a time frame of at least two hours where both children are asleep. I need to do about 10 loads of laundry and pick up the house so I can get it cleaned. And I need to go to the grocery store, and I need to wrap gifts, and I need to pack bags and put away clothes and fold clothes and empty the dishwasher and clean the dirty dishes that are piling up on my counter.

Santa could you just come babysit for a day?

Sorry this was a complaining post only. No pictures.

Season's Greetings!

Well it's been well over a month since I posted anything on the blog and tonight I have gotten all caught up so hopefully you will enjoy all the new entries. The past month has been busy. In the last few weeks we got all the puppies sold, I had mastitis, Georgia turned five months old, Katie Jo turned 2 1/2, Jay had four wisdom teeth cut out, we decorated for Christmas, went to the upstate for Thanksgiving, has a disastrous photo shoot at the beach, and a host of other activities both good and bad but those cover some of the stand outs. The below picture is our Christmas photo so we are wishing you a very Merry and will probably not get back until after the New Year.

Thanksgiving 2007

We left for the upstate the Saturday before Thanksgiving and came back the Sunday after Thanksgiving. It was a long visit and everyone got ample Katie Jo and Georgia time. We did lots of fun things but the couple that stand out are our day at the park and Katie Jo riding a horse for the first time.

Here's our little priss at the Lake Cooley playground. She had such a blast and afterwards we enjoyed a nice picnic. As you can see from her clothes the weather was still on the warm side and we enjoyed being outdoors so much.


On Wednesday we celebrated Gran's birthday. She decided she wanted us all to go to a Japanese restaurant. We talked to KJ about how they would cook with fire and the man would cut and cook our food right in front of us. She seemed ready. The first picture is from the beginning of the service and the second is after the nice man lit a big fire. She did get used to it but the show we enjoyed wasn't watching him cook but watching her react!

Thanksgiving Day we enjoyed two huge meals. The first was at Jay's cousin Tricia's house. They live in a restored farm house with a barn, fence, and horses right in the backyard. Katie Jo got to ride a horse for the first time and she really enjoyed it. She did very well holding on and letting her Daddy hold on to the back of her shirt. She was wearing overalls which seemed very fitting. That afternoon we went over to my grandparents house and had another tasty meal. I never once felt bad for enjoying all the food and eating until I could feel it at the back of my throat considering last year this time I couldn't force myself to eat because I was so sick. Thank you so much Georgia!


Saturday night before we headed back to Charleston I got to attend a shower for my friend Kelli. She is due to have a baby boy in Feb. It was so much fun to get together with my "home girls." We had lots to catch up on and it was great to hear what everyone had been up to.