Happy New Year!!

Here is to a great 2009!

Where there is no pushing...

and NO choking...

only hugs and kisses...

and lots of smiles...

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!


P.S. This cute little boy is 3 months old today!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Last night we ventured down in Columbia in search of the perfect Christmas Tree. This is, after all, Graham's first Christmas, so it must be perfect! Last year, I had to meet Michael at the tree gettin' place and by the time I got there he already had it picked out. It was perfect! He did SO good. It never fails, I always question whether or not we made the right decision and I totally stress about it until we get it home and put up. Only then do I love it. Wellll....this year, we say to Lila, "Time to go get a tree!"
This is the look we get. "What u talkin' about?"

I am telling you...she must have known! She must have known that this trip wasn't going to go so well.
Problem #1: The man who is usually there and has come to know my routine of picking out a tree was not there. Not that the girl who helped us wasn't great, she just wasn't HIM! ( I am a little superstitious like that)
Problem #2, #3, #4, etc. etc....I just didn't love any of the trees.
I was hoping and praying that it was just going to be like any other year and I that I would get it home and it would be perfect.
I muster up a smile for the picture, just hoping it was going to be OK.

Nope, not this year. We get it home and I CRY!!! I cry because I hate it, hate it, hate it. Then I cry because I feel selfish that I hate it and I keep thinking about all the people out there who don't even have a Christmas tree. Then I cry because I know that this is going to be the only tree I have and I am afraid that I have hurt it's feelings so bad that it will be a mean ole' tree to me and die early or something. Then I cry because Michael is mad at me because I am crying so much and mad about the tree. He tells me that I probably hurt the girls feelings who helped us pick it out, so guess what? I cry some more! Then, I cry just because I realize that I must still have some major pregnancy hormones going on since I am crying so much! I admit it, I really and truly was SO mad about this tree. How totally selfish does that sound? Hey, at least I am being honest. It ended up being WAY smaller than our previous trees and I just felt ripped off and felt like it looked super puny. I refused to put lights on it for days. I actually called the people multiple times to see if we could come and exchange it. I only got their answering machine and was too embarrassed to leave a message. Anyway, once I got the lights up, it looked a little better. I still haven't put decorations on it yet. I think that part of me keeps thinking that a new tree will just appear. Michael kept saying that he was going to throw that tree out and go get a new one. At one point I really thought he might, and then I would have been REALLY mad for wasting that money. :)
I will post pictures later of the tree once it is decorated.
In the meantime, this is what Graham thought of his first Christmas tree gettin' experience.


Honestly, as silly as it sounds, this whole hating on the tree situation was actually a good lesson for me. Once again, I was reminded of this season and what it is really about. It isn't about perfect Christmas trees and not enough decorations or presents, or dinners, etc. It is about celebrating JESUS! My prayer is that my children always remember that. What I don't want is for them to remember their crazy momma crying over the Christmas tree!
This season is also about being thankful for miracles, like this one right here.

This week my babies hit milestones. LB turned 18 months. Although she is still a baby she is growing up so fast. Graham is now 2 months. I finally feel like I have been able to spend some time with him. He is just the sweetest thing. We went to the Doctor for their well check ups. Lila despises the Dr. She has been tricked lately because when she has gone with us when we've taken Graham and she hasn't had to be checked out. Well this time she just knew it was for her. She burst into tears as soon as we walked into the room. We decided to not even attempt to take her clothes off for the scale. Actually Michael had to take her without the nurse and put her on the scale. She weighed a whopping 23 pounds, with clothes! The shots were terrible. They really are worse when they get older and they KNOW what is happening and can yell NO. I did a little better with Graham's 2 months shots than when Lila had hers. He was still pitiful and I hate seeing them go through it. Thank goodness Michael goes with me to their appoitments because I just can't watch. Graham weighed 14 lbs 9 oz. I was thinking he might have weighed more, but I am chalking it up to lots of spit up and not eating well while we were out of town the week before. They did discover that he has acid reflux and he is now on Zantac. I am praying that this works for him. I am so tired of being covered in spit up and worrying about letting people hold him in fear that he will spew all over them. Mainly I hate how much pain he is in from it. It breaks my heart to think that it is something in my milk that is doing this to him. Hopefully that is not the case.
I was a bad mom and didn't do their monthly pictures, but here are a few pictures of my cutie pies.
Graham is becoming a lot more alert. He still sleeps quite a bit, but he is starting to focus more on his toys. He loves to be talked to and we are finding that his happy, talkative time is late at night after everyone else has gone to bed. He likes to sleep up against us belly to belly.

Wordless Wednesday

That's AMORE!

Lila refused to wear her hat any other way.

AP

We are always looking for a reason to visit with our dear AP. We got to have lunch and as usual, she spoiled my kids rotten! WE LOVE YOU!

Sweet Miss Ellie!

So many of you have heard me talk about our wonderful sitter, Miss Ellie, so I decided to post some pictures. She has been a life saver for me more times than I can count. I can use her on an as needed basis which is perfect for my line of work. When I entered into real estate, I thought it would be perfect for having a family. Little did I know that having a "flexible" schedule is not so easy with a little one. Especially since I cannot say no to people, my day could change at the drop of a hat and I would have to pick up and go. I could literally call Miss Ellie on my way up to let her know I was bringing Lila. Since Real Esate could keep me slammed one week and not so much the next, I did not want to put Lila in daycare if I could just stay home with her. As usual, I am making this a really long story. The point is, this is Miss Ellie and she is WONDERFUL! She loves Lila and Lila loves her! Lila even starts dancing and squealing as soon as we pull into her driveway. We were even able to call Miss Ellie from the hosptial when I had Graham to have her keep Lila, since she desperately needed a nap.
I kept telling Michael that I wanted to get a picture of Lila and Miss Ellie so Lila would know who took such good care of her! Well, today was the perfect opportunity. I was talking with Miss Ellie and she was holding Lila. I noticed they were both sporting their pink so I asked to snap a picture. Too bad Lila is teething and would not get her hands out of her mouth.
We love Miss Ellie and hope and pray that she is always able to help us out. Right now Lila is the only one she watches, but I just found out that that is about to change. Since I only send Lila sporadically, I obviously wouldn't want to take anyone's spot if they would be going full time to her. Let's all just pray she can still watch her for me.

Oh, and a special thanks to Alana for this precious outfit she gave to Lila. You all will be seeing lots of pictures with her in it because it is just too cute!