Eliza's 1/2 Birthday at preschool

Eliza had her half birthday at preschool since she's a July birthday. She decided that she wanted to take donuts for a treat and I surprised her and also took Squeez-its, she LOVES them. I took two of her scrapbooks and talked all about her and how much we LOVE having her in our family. She loved every minute of it, she loves seeing and hearing about herself as a baby. One of her favorite things to do it to look at her scrapbooks. She'll look at them over and over if I let her. It was fun to see her so excited! Love you like crazy Lizey Lou!!

In this bottom picture Eliza is giving me her totally silly give me a kiss face, I adore this sweet little face of hers! It never fails in making me smile!

Ringing in 2009!!!

This year for New Year's Eve we kept it pretty simple and just stayed home. I bought a party kit and some sparkling cider and the kids were in heaven! Blake wasn't so much though, the kids were blowing the horns well before midnight. He was a good sport though and let them have their fun, headache and all. All three of them even stayed awake to see the Times Square ball drop. It was about 1 a.m. before they winded down and finally fell asleep.






Eliza and her streamer hat....

Christmas 2008

We had an amazing Christmas this year, the kids were spoiled of course and got almost everything they asked for. I say almost because some of the requests were a little out there, Gage wanted a new dirt bike for instance and we just weren't going to spend $2000 on each of our kids. Sorry Gage. We did have a fabulous time though. We woke up to a great breakfast, had a fun filled morning with all of the new gifts and then went to Grandma Jan's house to spend the rest of Christmas Day with Blake's family. Later that night we went and watched Bedtime Stories to end our day. Here are some pics and a few of the gifts the kids received.


The boys got Guitar Hero World Tour, they also each got a Jazz jersey, and a couple of Bionicles. Gage also got an origami kit because he loved it so much at the breakfast with Santa activity, a couple of Nintendo DS games and a new MP4 player.

Max also got a new camera, a light up coloring board, play-doh, and

Eliza got a Learn to Potty baby doll, a Little Mermaid dress,a Barbie princess castle, a light up coloring board, and a Littlest Pet Shop toy.

They each got a few other little things in their stockings as well. The gifts were fun, but the important part is that we all had a great time using them together as a family and making some memorable moments.

ChRistMas 2008

Every year on Christmas Eve we make sugar cookies for Santa and Reindeer food for Rudolph and his pals. It's a fun tradition and the kids always get excited about doing it and have a TON of fun. This year was no exception, we had a great time as usual.






There was one difference however....we got a call from Santa Claus!! Only Eliza ended up talking to him because he was so busy trying to deliver presents to all of the children in the world, but luckily the boys didn't seem to mind too much. She was so thrilled and her eyes beamed with excitement, it was very cute!


After all of the fun and excitement we played Settlers of Cataan, one of our kids favorite games to play together as a family.

I came home from work one morning to this very sweet, heart tugging note. Max wrote: Dear mom, I hope you get home safely. Love, Max. He is the sweetest, most caring, darling boy. I don't know what I would do without him in our family, I love him dearly. He is such a positive influence in our home and always kind to his brother and sister. He always puts others feelings and needs above his own and is always thinking of others. I love you dear, sweet Max!

Breakfast with Santa....

Saturday we went to Wheeler Farm for breakfast with Santa. We did this last year also but last year we did dinner. I much preferred the dinner and not sure I would do breakfast again. The food was awful and they ran out of a lot of different items by the time the boys and I got through the line. The boys were so into doing the crafts that they didn't want to get breakfast when they first started serving food and I figured no big deal, I'm sure they have plenty of food and why go stand in line. Boy was I wrong! It was still fun, food and all, because the kids enjoyed making the crafts, we were with great friends, and it's all about the memories for me! They had ornaments that the kids could make and an origami table also. Gage and Max must have had the poor origami lady show them how to make about 10 different things each! They just kept going back for more and more. They also had face painting and pictures with Santa. Last year when it was dinner, since it was at night, they took you on a ride through their Christmas lights and gave you hot chocolate. I kind of missed that part of it, but since it was so cold I decided I could live without it. The kids had a great time and that was my goal in taking them, so I'd say it was another successful Christmas activity.

We're Moving to North Carolina!!!!

I found out yesterday that I was accepted to CRNA school in North Carolina. I'm soooo excited!! It is at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem which is about a half hour from Greensboro. It doesn't start until August so we'll be here until the summer time. Thanks to all of my friends and family who have supported me through this entire process. I couldn't of done all of my shadowing and interviewing without your help! Now we just have to sell our house. Think good thoughts for us!