Gorilla in the Animal Kingdom Park

View from our balcony

2008 - Questions and AnswersI totally swiped this from another blog. It seemed fun so I thought, "Why Not?". I really enjoyed it! Do it if you want to. I am so curious to read yours!

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?Probably cried more than I ever have.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?Terrible to say, but I don't think that I even made any new year's resolutions. I was just trying to manage my pregnancy and a 3 year old at the time.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Can I count myself?

4. Did anyone close to you die?Yes, My Mammaw

5. What countries did you visit?Well, having a newborn, I didn’t leave the house a whole lot for the part of the year. And then when I did, I certainly didn’t leave the country, unless Target and the grocery store count. And they don't. So "none".

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? Extra cash and more energy

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
April 14 - Brennan was born.
May 26 - The day Mammaw passed away.
July 31 - Ashlyn in hospital.
August 1 - Dad had a heart attack.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Surviving! Just kidding. Honestly having 2 kids is MUCH harder than I ever imagined. I don't know how these people do it that have 4 or 5 or more! It's an achievement to just make it out somewhere with both of them by myself. My lunch break if for grocery shopping now. I'm NOT kidding!

9. What was your biggest failure? Getting stressed out easily and taking it out on Ashlyn. Sometimes her whininess just happens to be the straw that broke the camels back.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? nothing aside from the pregnancy and a few colds and stomach bugs.

11. What was the best thing you bought? Does a bi-weekly house cleaning count?

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? A & B. They've both broken milestones.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Can’t really talk about that here.

14. Where did most of your money go? Daycare, diapers, and formula. Are babies expensive or what?

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? I'd have to say that it was on my birthday when I found out that they were going to break my water. I knew that in a few short hours I was finally going to have Brennan in my arms!

16. What song will always remind you of 2008? Oh there are so many. Probably In Color, by Jamie Johnson. BTW, would anyone be interested in going to see him in concert at Coyote Joe's this Friday night? I think he's be awesome to see!

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Most days happier. I have 2 beautiful healthy children. Why should I be sad?
b) thinner or fatter? Thinner.
c) richer or poorer? about the same. Maybe a little poorer considering we have a baby to pay for daycare and diapers and formula.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?I wish I took more pictures and laughed more.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Worrying and griping.

20. How did you spend Christmas? Running from one family to the next. It was great though! The kids had a ball! We were exhausted, but loved every minute of it!

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?Everyday :)

22. What was your favorite TV program? Desperate Housewives, Greys Anatomy, Brothers and Sisters, Lipstick Jungle, & The Hills

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?NO. I don’t hate anyone.

24. What was the best book you read? Honestly I'm not big on reading. That's going to be one of my new year's resolutions.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?Hmmmm....Jack Johnson. I actually discovered him before 08, but he's my greatest discovery thanks to Moriah! LOVE HIM!!!

26. What did you want and get? A trip to Disney World

27. What did you want and not get? A brand new car, a remodeled bathroom (sidenote - I know that our house was recently remodeled, but our bathroom could use some work. I'd love to have a new tub with tile work all around it.), a new tv, a new computer, a new and improved frontyard, a trip to Hawaii and Australia. Can't a girl dream???

28. What was your favorite film of this year? 27 Dresses. GREAT MOVIE!!!

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? Had a beatiful baby boy! I was 29.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? I can't think of anything that would make it more satisfying. Maybe a little more cash flow.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? Comfort. Comfort Comfort.

32. What kept you sane?My closest friends. My family. My quiet time.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I guess Kenny Chesney

34. What political issue stirred you the most? The election. I'm over it now though, and happy with the way everything turned out.

35. Who did you miss? I miss old friends who I don't see as often as I'd like to. I miss my Mammaw.

36. Who was the best new person you met? I guess all of the people that I work with. You never know what tomorrow is going to bring with those people. They are the funniest people ever!

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. I learned to trust my instincts.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. 'If I had a million dollars."

Wonderful Christmas

As you can see from the pictures we had a GRRRRREEEAAAAATTT Christmas! Ashlyn got everything that she wanted, except for that gigantic dinasour and a biscuit dog that does all sorts of tricks. Trust me, she's let us know NUMEROUS times that Santa forgot these 2 things. Santa never even knew about the biscuit dog, and neither did Ashlyn until she saw that Santa had brought her cousin one on Christmas morning. Brennan was more interested in eating all of the wrapping paper than playing with any of his toys. He goes for anything that he spots on the floor and it goes straight in his mouth. We have to watch him like a hawk! Last night I was taking down Christmas decorations and he had gotten into some of the paper towels that I was wrapping my ornaments in. I saw him chewing so I did the finger swipe in his mouth and was quite surprised when I swiped out 2 small gold glitter balls that had apparently fallen off of the gold decorations that you just stick in the tree. Britt and I would have been quite shocked if he would have swallowed them ,and would have pooped out 2 gold balls! Oh what a sight that would have been! =) Our best Christmas gift is what Mom and Dad got for Britt, Ashlyn, and me...................A trip to Disney World. We are going January 23-29. The hard part is going to be leaving little Brennan behind for a week. Britt's mom is going to stay at the house and keep him while we're gone. I know that he'll be in good hands, but I'm going to miss him like crazy! Let's face it though, it really wouldn't be all that fun for us or Brennan if he went along. Mom and Dad said that we'll just take another trip in about 4 more years. Sounds good to me! We'll be staying at the Animal Kingdom Resort. We decided on it because Ashlyn takes after her momma and LOVES animals! Oh I can't wait!!!

Christmas Pictures Galore

Pappaw and Brennan.........PRICELESS!!!
As Whitney has stated...'The closest thing I'll ever have to a sister.'
Love her!!!

Five little monkeys sittin' on a bench. =P

M.R.S. Work Party

Me & my hubby

Me & my Bestest Ever!

Matt & Kellie

Me & Robin. Love her! She's so much fun to work with!

Most of, but not all, of the MRS crew. Some were either smoking or in the bathroom. It's hard to round that many guys up for a group picture. We were lucky to get this many! Ha! =)

Hanna & Me

The 2 stooges..........Curtis & Britt

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

I'll give you a thousand words. I'm sure that there would be a few four letter not so nice words in the mix! Ashlyn was still sick on Saturday and I had just gotten her in bed for a nap, Brennan laid down for a nap, and I had just laid my head on the pillow for what I thought was going to be a quiet afternoon nap myself when I heard this awful crash. I jumped out of bed to this sight! Good Greif! Can't a girl get a nap? Did I cry..........nope. I laughed. I wasn't going to let this get me in a bad mood and ruin my Christmas. I had a screaming match with the devil. I felt like he was trying to do everything in his power to get me to break, and well so sorry devil, but that just isn't going to happen! I cleaned up what I could and then waited until Britt got home to pick the tree up and move it out on our front porch. We have no clue how or why it fell, but half of our ornaments were broken, and it was probably going to fall again, so we just tossed it. It's a good thing that I bought that artificial tree this year or we would have been S.O.L.! Merry Christmas Y'all! =)

Bad Deja Vu

All I can say is......................UGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brennan and Ashlyn have both been sick with yet another stomach virus. Brennan got sick Tuesday evening right after their Christmas program at preschool. The program was wonderful! I'm so glad that we were able to be a part of it. Half of his class had already gone home sick that day due to this nasty little bug. There were only 4 babies from his class in the program that night. We went to Gepettos after the play and this is where it all started. Brennan took half of his bottle and then............up it came..................all over Britt, Brennan, and the carpet. That night he probably vomited 12 times in a matter of 5 hours, and that was just the beginning of this nasty little virus. Britt stayed up with him that night. He said that he threw up until 3:30 am. I woke up at 6:30 am to give Britt a break. He did pretty good until later in the day and then it started all over again. Every bit of Pedialyte that he drank came right back up. It was just pitiful! I have never cleaned up so much vomit in all of my life! Ashlyn stayed with my parents Wednesday and Thursday night in hopes that she did not get sick. WRONG! Mom called last night to inform me that Ashlyn had asked to go to bed because her belly hurt, and also she did not eat a bit of supper last night. I felt terrible! I called this morning and sure enough she's got the bug too. She woke up last night sick in her bed. She was sick all night long. I hate hate hate these stomach viruses!

Mr. Peeps

No, this isn't a creepy little elf "peeping" in your window (wink, wink). It's a fun new family Holiday Tradition! Bare with me here. I promise you'll love it!Mr. Peeps is an elf sent from Santa's workshop to watch if your kids are "Naughty" or "Nice". He arrives with a poem and goes home with Santa on Christmas Eve. He has really made a HUGE difference in Ashlyn's behavior! Isn't it funny what a little elf ornament can do? Ha! And the best thing about this elf is that you don't have to pay +$30 for the real Elf on a Shelf. The poem reads:

Christmas is approaching, and this is the day
Santa has sent Mr. Peeps to your house to stay.
He send this small elf to your house and mine.
Soon after Thanksgiving, He must be on time.
Mr. Peeps has a purpose. His purpose will be,
To whisper to Santa all the good that he sees.
Soon after he gets here, he moves only at night
To high places, low places, he stays in plain sight.
In the kitchen, for instance, he sits high on a shelf.
Mr. Peeps can sit anywhere, for he is an elf.
He holds very still when he thinks you are watching.
His magic is precious, it fades with on touching.
He sits on the tree on Christmas Eve day.
He knows that Santa is soon on his way.
He waits and he waits without making a noise.
He waits until Santa arrives with the toys.
So you better be nice and mind what you say
Because Mr. Peeps will tell Santa when he comes with his sleigh.
Once Christmas is here and Santa has come,
Mr. Peeps must leave, for his job is well done.
But, he will return next year on the very same day,
To watch your behavior as you work and play.
- Sharon Reynolds

Isn't that fun?? A great way to help your kids be good this season. So pop on over to your local $1.00 store and see if they have any "elves". Ashlyn's teacher asked me to do print this out for her classroom. I'm going to print it out and take them a little helper ASAP! Mr. Peeps is wonderful! I'm wondering if he has to leave with Santa on Christmas!?!?! Ha! =)

Change

Sorry I keep changing my background so frequently! I swear that being indecisive is one of my biggest flaws. I'm going to try to keep this one through Christmas! =) No more changes for at least 2 weeks. Ha!

Oh Christmas Tree'S

Brennan's Tree

Our Real Tree

Ashlyn's Tree

OOur Artificial Tree

Yes..........We, actually I, put up 4 trees this year. Don't ask me what I was thinking. Brennan's tree really doesn't even count as a tree. It's more of a decoration, so I actually only put up 3 trees, but still. It took me the whole weekend to get my house decorated. Anywho, the house is decorated, now I've got to start my Christmas shopping. I'm getting a late start on EVERYTHING this year! Fa la la la la!

Gingerbread Cookies

Ashlyn's friend Carly came over on Saturday night. These girls really know how to have a good time! They play so well together! I bought this Gingerbread kit at Michael's. I thought that it's something they might enjoy, and they thought that it was the best thing ever! Notice the icing on Carly's lip. They were eating as much as they were decorating. =)

Check this out!

Santa came to visit!

Santa.........I thought that you were have a list that seperated the naughty kids from the nice kids.?.? Well I can tell you right now that Ashlyn is not on the nice list, but last night you told her that she was. Why Santa? Why did you tell her that? You completely destroyed my 'you're on Santa's naughty list, and if you keep this behavior up Santa won't bring you any toys for Christmas' disciplinary plan. Arrrggghhhhh! Ashlyn spent the entire evening trying to keep Santa's attention focused on her. She had to give him 'just one more hug' before we left. Give me a break kid. This proves my point as to how bad she's been. She's trying to suck up to Santa Claus! =) Lord help me! Notice the pictures above also. See how she's hugging him and loving on him. Does it look like she's trying to win him over or what? LOL!

DANCING BIRD! TOO FUNNY!!!