We Shopped 'Til Momma Dropped!

Madison and I decided to venture out to Conway this afternoon to do a little shopping. I was hoping we could still catch some after Christmas sales. Well, let me just tell you. I was completely exhausted by the time we finished shopping. Madison is a pretty high maintenance baby girl. She will not ride in her stroller. She constantly wants to be held. So, you can just imagine what the day was like. Picture this...me pushing a stroller, holding her, and trying to shop. Sounds like a lot of fun, doesn't it? Ugh! I've gone shopping with Madison by myself before in Conway, but after today I've pretty much decided that it's just not worth it. I'm pretty sure once baby #2 gets here we will not be shopping at all. I guess we'll just become hermits! ;)

Christmas with the Freyaldenhovens

My Dad wasn't able to go to TX this Christmas because of work, so he ate Christmas dinner with us and the Freyaldenhovens. We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas dinner!

Playing with her Christmas toys...

Grammy & Poppa and the grandkids

Madison, Grammy, & Poppa

Poppa & Madison

Family Pic on Christmas Day 2009

Have a blessed year this 2010.

Guess What?!!!

Talk about a great Christmas gift! We just found out that we're pregnant again! Madison will be a big sister around the beginning of September. We want to have all of children close together in age. It's kind of crazy thinking about it right now, but Madison will be 19 months once her little sibling comes around. I got this shirt monogrammed for Madison and we put it on her before we celebrated Christmas with each of our families. I think everyone was surprised and excited!

Hope you had a Merry Christmas. 2010 should be an interesting year!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Friday night we celebrated Christmas with my family. We took some family shots before we opened presents and got tickled at my Dad trying to make Madison laugh!

Happy Baby with Grandma

Madison with Grandpa & Grandma

Opening presents...she loves her leap frog play table from Aunt Melissa and Uncle Ryan!

Saturday morning we watch Aunt Melissa graduate from Arkansas Tech. She is now officially an elementary teacher! Way to go, Mrs. Cutler!

All of us cheering Melissa on...

Saturday night we threw a Christmas party for Gabe's employees from the clinic. We had it at Lake Point Conference Center. It was decorated so beautifully for Christmas! We had a great time.

And now for some exciting news, Madison has a new tooth! Yay, it's about time. She has a small one coming in on the top.

We are really looking forward to Christmas this year! Merry Christmas!

Graduation

My little sister, Melissa, is graduating from Arkansas Tech this Saturday morning with a degree in Early Childhood Education. She just found out that she passed her PRAXIS test and she was so relieved! I don't blame her. She has worked really hard throughout college and has had awesome grades. I hope she gets a great job! I'm sure her future class will think she's such a pretty teacher! We're going to celebrate at Italian Gardens on Saturday, after she walks across the stage.

I'm officially DONE shopping for Christmas! Thank Goodness! It stresses me out to not have it all done. Now I just have about 3 more presents to wrap. We're actually celebrating Christmas with my family this Friday night. Part of my family will be in TX around Christmas, so we are having our family Christmas a little earlier this year. I can't wait to see Madison open her presents and play with all of the wrapping!

My Christmas cards have been ready for some time now, but I'm waiting for a return address stamp to come in that I ordered. I'm thinking it should be here tomorrow!

One last thing, let me tell you about my great bargain. So, my CHI hair straightener broke this morning. It just wouldn't turn on. I have a friend that sells them for $65, which is a GREAT price, but I found one for $44, no shipping, online. Now, THAT is a steal! (They are $109 regular price, but I paid $130 for my very first one. This will be my third!) I'm so excited about my great find, but even more ready for it to get here. My hair is a frizz ball without it! The color is called pink dazzle. Great name, huh?!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

I don't know about you, but this Christmas season finds me busy, busy, busy. So much to do, so little time...not enough time for blogging!

1st Christmas Present

Madison received her 1st Christmas present in the mail! It was from her Great Me Mommie and Big Daddy from Texas. (my dad's parents) Madison has not yet met them, but hopefully will get to soon. We will not be traveling to TX this year for Christmas so it may be summer before we get to make it down to visit. As with every baby, Madison enjoyed playing with the box and wrapping probably more than her presents.

Once the clothes were out, she kept picking them up and throwing them down...again and again. Madison got a cute black corduroy dress and pink pantsuit.

I dressed Madison up in her new dress for church this morning and we just had to take some pics. They turned out pretty good. She's smiling and she hardly ever smiles in pictures! She must really like her new dress. ;)

Thank you Me Mommie and Big Daddy for the sweet outfits. Wish we could spend this Christmas season with you! We love you!

Christmas Card

We took SEVERAL pics for our Christmas card today. I think we ended up with some pretty good ones. It was pretty hard taking a family pic with Madison. I can't even imagine what it will be like to take a family pic with several little ones. ;)

Of course, Madison is not smiling in any of them. It is like pulling teeth to get her to look at the camera, let alone smile! But, she's still too cute to boot anyway!

Gabe and I went to our Sunday School Christmas party tonight. We had a soup potluck and it was yummy!

I've been up late working on our Christmas Card, so I'm about to clean up the kitchen and head to bed. Tomorrow is my long run day. Not looking forward to it!

Hola from Mexico!

Yes, we missed her...

We just got back from our anniversary trip to Mexico this evening. We had a great time, but were so ready to see our baby girl. We played with her on the floor and then put her to bed once she got fussy. She looks so different to me. It's crazy how much she seems to have changed in just one week!

Gabe and I went on an excursion one day during the week. We visited the Mayan Ruins, rapelled, zip lines through the jungle, snorkeled in a dark cave, and enjoyed an authentic Mexican meal. It was a fun day!


This gorgeous beach was to the side of the Mayan Ruins. Gorgeous water!

One evening we enjoyed a fondue dinner...my favorite meal during our trip. The restaurant was located on the second floor of an open hut. We sat by the ledge. The atmosphere was great and the food was great.

We enjoyed our last dinner at an Italian restaurant. For dessert, they celebrated our 2 year anniversary. They had a hard time with our last name!

Beautiful beach at our resort

One night we visited Playa de Carmen. We strolled/shopped 5th Avenue-similar to Bourbon Street, but with a family atmosphere. The streets were lined with restaurants and markets.

We enjoyed reading in sun, fruity drinks, shopping, and gourmet food. We even ran while we were there. It's a good thing too, since we ate so much! We had a great time. Happy 2 year anniversary, babe!

Show Us Your Life- Christmas Trees

I posted my Christmas Tree a couple of days ago, but I'm posting it again for Show Us Your Life from Kelly's Korner.

EDIT: I quickly posted my tree pic last night, but didn't have time to post any pics of my ornaments. Here are a few pics of some of my favorite ornaments. Notice the baby gate. Madison is 9 months old and getting into everything. We figured this would be our best bet.

Glittery branches used for tree topper- I love big & elaborate decor!

Gabe's mom carried out a neat tradition. Each year she gave him and his siblings ornaments and saved them for their 1st tree one day. Gabe loves the razorbacks and has really nice razorback ornaments from each year. Many of his ornaments represent his childhood. That's why I love them so much! I was thrilled to have a FULL christmas tree our first year of marriage. Thanks, Margaret! I definately want to carry out her tradition with my children.

I absolutely LOVE these glittery balls...any color!

Wedding ornaments...sweet & symbolic!

I really just mix and mingle all types of ornaments, but pull them together with red and lime mesh, glittery branches, and glittery balls. One day I hope to have a pink tree for Madison and razorback tree for my boys...someday. ;)