Preparing to ring in the new year???

Not so much here, today is a day like any other. Well, except for the fact that Matt is home sick from work and we have a Dr. appt for him this afternoon. Ari has been Mr. Fussy Butt since everyone has left, I think he's going through Grammy and Grampa withdrawals. Oh, that and he's cutting two or four teeth (definately two on the bottom and I think two on the top but he won't let me get close enough to look)!

Brian called this morning to wish us a Happy New Year, it was 2 am New Years Day for him, he informed me that he was calling from the future to tell me things look good! He cracks me up sometimes. He wanted to wish Ari a Happy New Year too so he thought he'd call early to make sure he was awake.

No plans for tonight other than scrapping and sleeping. I don't even know if we will stay awake to watch the ball drop. It's sort of anti-climatic (sp) when your not out partying... I guess I don't really see the point when I could be getting some much needed sleep instead.

I do plan on coming back today to post some funny photos of Ari, I just wanted to get this update done in case I run out of time!

I wish everyone a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR! Stay safe!!!

What a week...

This little idea came to me last night as I was trying to figure out a way to express my anger and disappointment over some of the events of yesterday.

Party Decorations: $67
Baking Supplies/Party Food: $123
Prep Time: 3 Days
Having only two out of ten people who RSVP'd actually show up to Ari's party: Priceless

It may be sarcastic and a little mean, but that's my right. I am beside myself at the fact that people personally told me they would be here for Ari's birthday and they just didn't show up. Not even a phone call. I understand that things come up, it's the holidays... but still, how selfish and incosiderate can you be? It's very embarrasing and hurtful to be honest. Matt and I had a hard time enjoying our son's first birthday because we kept looking out the window to see if people had pulled up. We waited an hour and a half (Ari melting down and needing a nap because we waited so long) before we started the festivities. I think the hardest part of it all was the fact that all of this crap took away from what the day really should have been about, our son and the celebration of his first year of life. I'm angry and upset and I'm tired of being "the polite one" that bites her toungue for fear of offending others. I want everyone to know how much they hurt me, hurt all of us. Please take that into consideration when you just decide not to show up somewhere you're expected to be.

OK, rant over. I had to get that out, I feel a little better now. Onto happier things... we had an incredible week! Brad and Emily along with their boys Tyler and Ethan arrived Wednesday evening for dinner. We've not seen them since our wedding two years ago, it was incredible to see them and the boys! Tyler is an angel, so much fun to be around and Ethan is just the tiniest little peanut you have ever seen. They are both very well behaved and a true joy to have in our house! Thanks you guys, it was great to see you!

Matt's parents (Dick and Sharon) arrived Thursday morning, earlier than I was expecting which was awesome because they jump right in and help me out! I was able to get an uninterrupted shower and not have to worry about Ari! My dad (Brent) and Cindy arrived a little later that afternoon. We had a HUMONGOUS dinner that night with Prime Rib (with a garlic blue cheese cream sauce, YUM), Red Potatoes, Asparagus, Strawberry Salad, Corn, Deviled Eggs and Rolls... I think that's everything. It was incredible, I've not eaten that much at one sitting in a very long time. The company was fabulous, the conversation a little risque (sorry to anyone that may have been offended) but an overall great evening! It warms my heart to have so many people in our life that are so much fun to spend the holidays with!

Ooh, then Ari's party! I got up at the crack of dawn to bake cakes, clean up the house from the various other activities, wrap presents and decorate. In true Wiebke fashion everything came together very nicely at (what we thought was) the last minute before guests would arrive. Michelle and Ella came and brought balloons to finish off the decor! And that's it... no one else came (the grandparen't were already here). Besides that and an emergency nap for Ari the day was great. He tore right into all of his gifts and loved each and every one. My dad got him the "flintstones car", he had so much fun spinning the steering wheel! Dick and Sharon got him a mini table and chair set from PBK, it is the cutest thing and looks great in the family room. He got lots of other toys from us, Michelle & Ella and the Gardners! Thank you to everyone that was here, you made our day great.

The cake: He didn't like it one bit! I had to smush his hands in it for him and he made the most awful face! He barely touched it and didn't eat a single bite! Michelle took all the pictures, here are a few:



He wore the hat for a long time! It was adorable (obviously) ;)







Whew, I think this post is long enough. Sorry about that, I just had a lot to say! I hope you all enjoy your weekend, Ari and I are hanging out in our jammo's all day!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I hope everyone had a wonderful day full of laughter and love. Ari and I sure did, we went to Michelle's house for lunch with her huge family. It was really nice, they are settling nicely into the new house and I finally got to meet all the people I hear so much about. Oh, and the food was delish so it was a win all around! Ari and Ella were adorable and very well behaved as usual. They got to play with the toys Ella had opened this morning (kind of a preview since Ari's getting some of them for his birthday Friday). It was just a great way to spend the day given Matt's still at work. Michelle is truly a great friend, I am very thankful to have her in my life. She's a great mum to Ella and having her as a friend is kinda like my own personal partner in crime! Merry Christmas Michelle, thanks for a great day!

Ari and I came home after lunch. He was hesitant to take a nap since he's never been in Ella's new room and there were quite a few people (and dogs) downstairs. He fell asleep as soon as we got in the car which was great for the ride home, not so great for the rest of our day. When he falls asleep in the car he generally won't sleep once we get home... so it's been a long afternoon. I did put him in his crib for some quiet time and was able to bake the cookies for his birthday party. I would show you pics but the batteries in my camera are dead and we don't have any spares. Matt's going to pick some up on his way home tonight so we'll have some for the morning.

Brad and Emily (along with Tyler and Ethan) are arriving tomorrow, I am very excited to see them! The last time we saw them was our wedding in 2005 and Ty was only 10 months old. He's almost three now and Ethan was born in Sept. of this year. The rest of the week is going to be awesome with Matt's parents and my dad and Cindy arriving Thursday. I may not be around much the next few days so if I don't get to talk this week I hope you all have a very wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. Stay safe and warm. Lots of love ;)

A very productive day!

I do feel much better today. I had a chance to pop out to Target last night (by myself, which was nice)and buy all the ingredients for my holiday baking tomorrow. The line at Starbucks was way too long but it was OK, I didn't need it anyway! Well, I got everything on my list and a little something for Ari since he's been SUCH a good boy lately. I know Christmas and his birthday are super close but I couldn't resist. I came home, Matt left for work and I got a chance to scrap uninterrupted! I did one layout, for the Tinkering Ink challenge over at Crop Addict. I used photos of Ella playing in the leaves last week (or two weeks ago...) since they matched the paper perfectly. What do you think??



If you want to check out the challenge you have until the end of this month to enter! Plenty of time... go for it!

Anyway, I was up pretty late but I had a good time listening to my music and drinking hot cocoa until the wee hours. Ari bean slept until 9:30 this morning so I feel very rested and refreshed! We were busy bees around here today finishing all the laundry and cleaning *most* of the house! The kitchen and Family Room are pretty spotless, I only have to tackle the Living Room (which is pretty covered in dust) and our bedrooms before our guests arrive on Wednesday!

Tomorrow we are headed over to Michelle's to do some holiday baking. I'm making Chocolate Chip (for Santa) and Ari's birthday cookies which are going to be sugar cookies cut into "1" and iced with blue frosting! I can't wait to see how they turn out. If they end up being as cute as I've pictured in my head I'll post a pic here tomorrow night. I hope you all have your Christmas shopping done and not too much wrapping left... there's only one day left you know! ;) Have a great night...

Short and Sweet

Crop Addict is hosting another manufacturer challenge for January, this one from Piggy Tales. Here are the things I created with my little kit, it was so much fun to work with. It's the Baa,Baa Black Sheep line which will be available in the Crop Addict store very soon so be sure to head over and grab some while it lasts!





Ari is napping, I'm gonna hop in the shower because we are going to Target when he wakes up. I'm not in a very good mood today and some shop therapy and Starbucks is in order for my afternoon! Enjoy your weekend. I'll be back when I'm a little more pleasant to be around...

I'm feelin' bloggy

Not really sure why, but all day things have been popping in [and out] of my head to blog about. Of course now that I sit down to actually blog I can't remember any of them. Oh well...

We didn't make it to Gymboree today, Ari overslept which threw our schedule off and as we were walking out the door he threw a full blown tantrum so I took him right up to bed. He didn't nap very long so once he was up we were still able to meet Alice, Charlie, Michelle and Ella for lunch. Alice took Charlie to see Santa, he screamed his cute lil' head off. Oh, and Alice got the scoop on why Santa sucked... apparently he knocks back a few during his breaks! That explains the sullen look and rosy cheeks that Michelle and I experienced! I'm kinda peeved, why should I have to pay $20 for a picture of a drunk santa? Maybe I'll write a letter... [that's my "thing", I always say I'm gonna write a letter when people are crappy].

Anyway, lunch was fantastic, we really need to do it more often. After the holidays are over we're going to make a point to get together more regularly. Alice doesn't really have any family here either and it gets tough just being "mommy" sometimes. I suggested a "kid swap" so each of us can get some "me" time and have a babysitter we trust. After the first of the year we're going to make it happen.

After lunch we met Matt at the airport, he had a 4 hour layover with nothing to do so we had dinner and kept him company. We ran into a friend who's fiance gave birth to their baby girl (another Ella) Oct. 8th! Congrats Dave & Maria, we can't wait to meet Ella. They live here in CLT too and also don't have any family near. The wonderful world of working for an airline that transfer's you all over creation. Anyway, I told them to call us so he and Maria can have some time off now and then, and hopefully Maria can meet my other mom friends and make some connections of her own!

So, after a long day out we came home for the bedtime routine. Ari is getting pretty good at the walking thing, he was coasting all over the family room this evening. Of course as soon as I drag out the camera he gives up! Maybe one of these days I'll get a better video, until then here's the sneeks of my layouts/project for the next Crop Addict challenge. Be sure to hop over there and check it out come January!

How dumb can I be?

Dumb in a funny way, if that's possible. Ari and I met Michelle and Ella to ride the new light rail uptown to see the singing bears. We got SO lost! Well, more turned around... and around. We walked all over the place trying to figure out where we were supposed to go asking for directions once or twice. We finally get there only to find out that they aren't singing for another three hours! It was freezing cold but the babies were bundled pretty well and didn't make a peep the whole day! The light rail was really nice, someone had spilled something [I hope] and three worker guys hopped on and mopped it right up! It was a fun day, more exercise than I've had all year, but fun. We're going to do it again when it's a little warmer. Riding the light rail is MUCH easier than driving and we don't have to pay out the butt for parking once we get there.

Ari was AWESOME today. Yesterday, not so much. I wish those few teeth would just pop through and we could move on with things. He slept until 9 this morning, the latest I think he's ever slept, ever. It was SO nice, he was really happy this morning too, playing by himself until his nap at 10:30. He slept until almost 1 when we left for our outing. This week has really flown by which is surprising since Matt's not here and the days usually drag. I think we are all happy to get back to "normal" which hasn't been the case since before Thanksgiving. Tomorrow we have Gymboree at 10, lunch with Alice and Charlie at 11:30 at the mall and then we're meeting Matt for an early dinner around 4. He has a four hour layover and we miss him, even though he's coming home tomorrow night. He won't get to see Ari since we don't keep him up past his bedtime. We decided early on that we'd do our best to keep his routine the same no matter what our crazy schedules might be. It's worked out very nicely thus far.

Anyway, here are the pics from today. Ari and Ella were so cute thinking they needed to hold on to the handrail while the train was moving. Oh, and the non-singing bears... they were still neat to see even though they just stood there. Maybe we will attempt to go again before Christmas. I think it will depend on the weather.







These last two are proof that I've been productive this week. Do you ever feel like you're just going and going but don't have anything to show for it? I had to walk around with my camera in order to feel like I've actually accomplished something. I painted the kitchen and living room, as well as the rest of our cabinets. No photo of the cabinets yet because Matt still has to put the knobs on. Oh, and I made this super cute sequins tree. It's a little flashy, but fun and festive and it really adds some cheer to my otherwise cheerless kitchen. We're still bulking up on the holiday decorations, we have much more room here than any other place we've lived so decorations were sparse there for a while. I'm making two more trees so this one won't be lonely!





Enjoy your night! Oh, I almost forgot... be sure to check back tomorrow for some sneek peeks of an upcoming challenge over at Crop Addict! I'll be posting a tiny bit of my designs before you get a chance to see them anywhere else. You won't want to miss this one, it's one of my favorites!! See you tomorrow!!

Not sure I agree, but

I'm supposed to have a blue tree? What? I took the quiz that my fellow DT member Deanna posted on her blog and this was the result.

You Should Have a Blue Christmas Tree

For you, the holidays represent a time of calm, understanding, and peace. You avoid family fights, and you don't get too stressed out - even when things are crazy! You like to make Christmas about making everyone's life a little bit better. You don't get caught up in greed or commercialism. You're too sincere for that. Your blue tree would look great with: Lots of silver tinsel You should spend Christmas Eve watching: It's a Wonderful Life What you should bake for Santa: Chocolate chip cookies

What Color Christmas Tree Should You Have?

I suppose I agree with the explanation, but, just like Deanna, it's all about the red and green. Silver and Gold count too, the only time of year I allow anything gold in my house. For some reason it just fits. Oh, and Chocolate Chip are the only cookies we give Santa, that's just the way it's supposed to be!

Anyway, I'm off to finish getting ready, Ari and I are meeting Michelle & Ella to go Uptown to see the dancing bears at Founder's Hall. We're riding the new light rail too, I'll tell you all about it when we get home!

Oh my, I'm going to bed

Sorry dudes, I have no energy left for a decent post. Ari's teething and Matt's at work which means I have to be super-mom. I must say I'm not doing a very good job. I think I got used to having Matt here with his two week vacation, it's taking me a little bit to get re-adjusted to being the only one here. I am exhausted, Ari cried most of the day, the only time he wasn't crying was when I was holding him. I'm gonna take a nice hot bath and curl up in my flannel sheets. It's absolutely FREEZING here, the coldest day of the year so far... yikes. Anyway, since I really don't have anything worthwhile to say I will just give you these pics from Ari's party yesterday. Good Night!

Moments like this...

As I was sitting down to check my email I realized the house was unusually quiet considering we just woke up from our naps. Yep, that's "we"! Matt left early this morning and Ari and I went back to bed. Anyway, the house was quiet (which can either be very good or very bad) so I looked over to Ari and this is what I saw.



He is fascinated with this plastic airplane that my dad put in his stocking.



He must still be a little sleepy, he just layed his head down but still kept playing. How cute is this.



He is most definatly into "little things". He sat and poked at the wheels for at least 20 minutes, twisting and turning them and pointing at the metal pin that holds them in place.

It's moments like these that just make you sit back and smile, perfectly content with everything in your world! But alas, we must disturb the peace and get ready for our christmas party. Have a great day!

A Blustery Day...

It's starting to feel a lot like winter! It was super chilly today, overcast and now it's raining [WooHoo!] which is really a good thing considering we are very close to severe water restrictions due to the drought. I'm just now getting back into the swing of things from being away and having visitors. Brian [the brother] left for Korea this morning, his flight out of Panama City yesterday was delayed so much so that he missed his connection and had to stay in Atlanta overnight. He made it out today though, and is most likely about to land! I think it's about a 12 hour flight and it's now morning there so hopefully he got some sleep on the plane. He has to go straight back to work and I really hope the jet lag doesn't knock him too hard.

Mr. Bean had the best night sleep last night since Thanksgiving. While we were in Florida he didn't sleep for more than 4 hours at a time, waking up scared (most likely due to the fact that he was sleeping in the laundry room) and needing to be comforted. He took a HUGE nap, not waking until around 7 pm, which is usually when he goes to bed, so we gave him dinner and let him play around until about 8:30 when he went back to sleep. He woke up at 8:30 this morning, had breakfast and took a nap from 9-12:30. Matt and I napped too, we stayed up a little too late last night catching up on the things around the house that needed tending. I got two scrap layouts and a project done, three more are about to be started! It's so nice to have my space back and the freedom to sit by myself whenever I choose!

Matt is back to work tomorrow on a 4 day trip. Ari has a christmas party at Gymboree that if it weren't for Michelle reminding me about I would have totally forgotten. Thanks girl! I have a lot to do around here to get ready for Ari's party, I want the entire downstairs "complete" before we have a house full of guests. That includes all the unfinished painting, decorating and cleaning that I've been neglecting since, well, forever! We did get some painting done today and I bought Ari's birthday gift (so cool!) so at least I feel like I'm making progress.

I'm about to hit the sack, it's late and I'm exhausted but I will leave you with the (short) video of Ari's first steps yesterday. In true Ari fashion, once the camera came out he totally gave up on what he was doing so this is the best I could do. I am seriously thinking about getting a hidden camera... anyway, here ya go!

We're Ba-ack (in my sing-song voice)

What a week! Now I remember why I fly everywhere I go... don't get me wrong, the trip went surprisingly well despite getting rear-ended on the way home today. Yeah, that's right... we got hit again! Apparently the guy coming up behind us at a red light decided to put his cigarette out and his foot slipped off the pedal and crunch. Matt and I just looked at each other like, "you've got to be kidding me". I'm thinking it may be time to trade in the ole' Vibe seeing as it really wants me to be smushed. There was barely any damage, only some scratches in the fresh paint job and a small dent. No biggie! Thankfully Ari was watching Baby Einstein and didn't even look up until Matt got out to survey the damage.

Christmas was pretty great, my dad went overboard as usual and got us way too much. I kinda went overboard too though, so I have no room to talk. Here's what Ari came home with...



He really likes everything, especially the giraffe. He crawls right up and mashes the balls right in it's mouth, it's really cute!

Speaking of cute... guess who took his first steps this evening! He's been really close for a few weeks but tonight he walked all the way from his room to ours, about ten steps! I think I scared him because I was so excited I kinda yelled and started clapping. He did it three more times though, I really think he's getting the hang of it. I will be sure to get a video tomorrow so you all can see!

Since I came home today to a giant box of Crop Addict goodness and can't wait to dig in I will leave you with some of my favorite pics from our trip. Have a good night!





I'll be back to tell you more about the trip, so hang in there!!

I do. Still!

Today was our official two year anniversary! It really was a great day, we got some stuff done around the house and had plenty of time to get all dolled up for dinner. Well, as dolled up as I get anyway! Here's a pic, we make a point to get a picture every year to put in an engraved album that I have. I thought it would be a nice way to keep track of where we were and what we were doing. Last year I was extremely pregnant, this year not so much! It's fun to see how far we've come in such a short amount of time!



We had such a nice time at dinner. I've not eaten so much in a very long time, I'm a little miserable now... we started with calamari, I had mahi mahi and Matt had two lobster tails [so yum], and we split bananas foster for dessert. Oh my, so good!!! You know it's a really good meal when neither of you are talking because you can't stop shoveling food in your face! It was that kind of meal. We need to do this more often, it's just so hard finding someone we trust to leave Ari with. There are too many crazy people out there that's for sure.

We are all packed, leaving bright and early in the morning. Here's a photo of the presents under the tree, only now they are all in the back of the car! It was pretty for a couple of days though. Wish us luck as we have never travelled this far by car with Ari, hopefully he will be a good boy and we can make it there at a decent hour. I'll try to check in while we are there but Dad doesn't have WiFi so it may be tough.

Have a great week, I'll miss you all...

Whew, It's late...

I intended on a nice long post full of pictures and whatnot... until I looked at the clock and realized it was midnight! Oops, guess I got carried away wrapping all the gifts I bought today! I had the whole day to myself, Matt stayed home with Ari and Brian went off to do some shopping of his own. Our shopping is all but done, we just have one or two more things to get, WooHoo!

Tomorrow is a lazy day, I plan on staying in my PJ's for most of it. Matt and I are going out to dinner tomorrow, er, today I guess since it's after midnight. It's our 2 year wedding anniversary! I can't believe it's been two years, so much has happened. I told him today, "2 down, 78 to go!". I think 80 years is a nice good long time ;)

Dick and Sharon sent us a super cute card and a gift certificate for Bonefish Grill, one of our faves! Thanks so much you two, you're the best in laws on the planet!

Here are some photos of the cute little decorations I can only get away with this time of year, gotta love the homemade look! Happy Weekend!


Found this cutie at Target today stuffed in a corner and thought he'd be much happier on my sofa!


Can't beat $1, which is what I got this tree for!


I think I have glass ornament balls in every empty bowl/vase in the entire house, I even went out and bought more ornaments for the vases I had under the sink. They are now scattered throughout the entire house, including the bathroom.

Don't you just love Christmastime!?!

Ho Ho Ho

Well we got to see Santa!! Ari woke up from his nap, we called Michelle to let her know and were out the door, ON TIME!! Well, until Michelle called and said, "don't take Tyvola" (which was the road we were on, by the way). So, we detoured and got there just a few minutes late. Apparently, some lady drove 60 miles per hour straight into the wall of the parking garage and the whole corner collapsed, killing her and smashing two other cars. Horrible disaster, really.

Santa was alright, sort of unfriendly, I don't think he said two words to us the whole time we were there. He just spread his arms so I could set Ari down and looked straight ahead the whole time. He made no attempt to smile or even look at Ari. We got a photo though, not really worth $20 but what can you do? Here it is...



He almost cried but I stood pretty close so he could see me the whole time. Right after they snapped the picture he let loose so I scooped him up and he was fine. He did better than I thought, I was waiting for him to wail the minute I put him down. Ella did very well, not a whimper and she smiled super cute! Her dress was adorable, she looked like a little baby santa. There was a hat that went with it but Michelle thought Ella would hate her forever if she wore it! I thought it was cute!



We don't have any plans tomorrow, the alarm people are coming out to the house. Apparently there is a serious problem with our system, they are unable to establish contact in an emergency (um, hello... isn't that the point) so they have to troubleshoot and possible install a new system. WooHoo! They are being super nice about it, fitting us in asap since we're leaving town Sunday. If you live in Charlotte and need a security system I highly recommend CPI!! The customer service is probably the best we've received anywhere. I do need to run a few errands, I want Ari to have a super cute outfit for his birthday and need to order it if it's not in the store. I'm making a few little gifts for the fam too, so I'm gonna get crakin'! Oh, and wish my friend Virginia some luck, she may be going in to labor tonight!! Hugs girl, lotsa love!!

I'm really looking forward to today!

We are taking Ari to see Santa while we're at the mall today! I went to Old Navy yesterday and bought him a little "ho ho ho" onesie to wear so he would look festive! We're doing Christmas like three times this year too so he should get a lot of use out of it, plus it was on sale for $5!

Yesterday we went to Gymboree, it was a different class and I liked it much better than the class we were in. Michelle and Ella are in this class with us, it's nice to have a class with them again since Ari and Ella play so well together and are at the same developmental age. Ella is crawling like a champ now, and pulling up to stand too! She's so cute, you can see her HERE!

After Gymboree Brian and I went to South Blvd. to try to hunt down the gifts he wanted to get Ari. No such luck so we went to toys r us later in the evening. When we got home CPI (the security company) had returned our call so we called them back and were on the phone with them until almost 11 pm. That wasn't so fun but at least they are working on fixing the problems that occured the other night. Apparently, the girl that we talked to has been pulled off duty and sent back to training! Oh, and I want to mention that she wasn't just "listening in". When the alarm goes off it opens the two way communication to which she is supposed to ask if everything is alright, so she kinda had to listen, she just chose not to identify herself in a timely manner (or at all) which is where the problem lies. It's all getting resolved though, and they are sending someone out to the house to test our system to make sure this doesn't happen in a real crisis!

I'm gonna post again later today with pictures, I'm just really hungry right now (what's new, right) so am giong to get some breakfast!! Happy Day ;)

Stupid Fire Alarm

We've been having "issues" with our fireplace. When we light it all the smoke comes into the house until there is enough heat generated to push the smoke up the chimeny. It's not been that much of an issue... until tonight. I was making dinner (spaghetti from scratch, salad, and garlic bread) while Matt and Brian (the brother) were building the logs to light a fire. We planned on playing Mille Bourne after dinner in front of the fire. Anyway, they light the fire and the smoke pours in... so much so that it sets off the fire alarm. No big deal right, we just cancel the alarm and all will be fine. WRONG. The alarm would not cancel no matter how many times I punch in the code. **history: we have a security system and the smoke detectors are tied into the system. The bonus of this is if the smoke alarm goes off the fire department is notified immediately, we don't have to call them. The down side is there are 5 smoke detectors in the house, one carbon monoxide detector, two security keypads and the central monitoring unit... ALL OF THEM beep loud as hell when one of them goes off. Poor Ari woke up screaming his little head off, there is an alarm in his room and three others upstairs that were all going nuts! They went off for at least ten minutes, we were all running around here like crazy trying to get them to turn off. Matt was finally able to get someone on the phone to cancel the whole thing but by then we were all wired!

I got to thinking though, why did no one contact US when the alarms were going off. I purposefully waited to disarm it the last time for someone to come over the speaker so we could talk to them. It's supposed to be a two way communication that if the alarm goes off they come over the speaker and ask if everything is alright. We could have been burning to a crisp in here... Matt said the girl on the phone told him that she listened in but the alarms were too loud for her to talk to us, now what is the point of that? I'm really upset and have a few phone calls to make in the morning. I don't pay to have a fire/medical/security system so someone can "listen in" while our house is burning to the ground.

Anyway, enough venting. Until this evening we were having a really good day. Michelle called and wanted to have lunch so we met her and Ella at Chick-Fil-A. Matt's never been there so we had to drag him out the door. It was pretty good, I've not seen them since before Thanksgiving so it was nice to see them. We're going to Gymboree with them in the morning so Ari and Ella can really play some more.

Brian made it in around three, we chatted at the house and then ran out to the grocery to stock up for the week. I made dinner (he saved it from being charred on the stove while we figured out the whole alarm thing) and it was nice to sit down at the table. We're skipping Mille Bourne, we all have headaches from the noise earlier.

I'll be back tomorrow with some photos, my head is pounding so I'm gonna take excedrin and curl up on the sofa with the TV on until I'm tired enough for bed. Hope your day was quieter than ours...

One Grateful Girl

Do you ever just take a step back and realize how truly wonderful your life is? I don't believe in luck, so it's really hard to describe. Last night as I was walking upstairs to go to bed I stopped and looked out over the living room. Our tree is in there, along with the fireplace and all the holiday decor. Sometimes I'm in awe that all of this is mine! At 25 years old (well, I was 24 when we moved in) I have everything I have ever wanted. You always picture how you want your life to be but never actually think it will end up as good, but mine really has. I have a truly wonderful husband that loves me more than anything. We own our own home, two vehicles, we are healthy and have a healthy baby boy. How much better can life be? I most definately do not take anything for granted, it can all disappear in the blink of an eye, but right now things are pretty much perfect!

Anyway, back to reality. Today was a great day! I think Ari has outgrown his play cage... for the last few days he's been increasingly cranky while in there only wanting out. We dismantled it today and wrapped it around some furniture. Now he has the entire front half of the family room to play. We push the giant ottoman in front of the TV so he can't play with the cable box and that opens up the floor for him to practice walking, which he is SO close to doing! It's nice to have our room back, that cage was HUGE!

Brian didn't come today, he said he would be here tomorrow and didn't really elaborate on why he changed his mind. It's OK with me, gives us one more lazy day at home. I think we're sleeping in tomorrow and spending most of the day in our PJ's. Matt doesn't get to do that very often so it will be a nice change of pace for him.

I finally had a bit of time to scrap! I did the circle layout for the Crop Addict weekly challenge and the other one just for fun. I love the photo of Ari on the parachute, he really has a blast at Gymboree! Speaking of scrapping, my two scrap buddies Jen and Amy have convinced me to go on a "scrap your stash" diet. The idea behind it is to do a certain number of layouts using only what you already have in your stash. You are forbidden from buying anything new until that number of layouts is complete. The only thing you are allowed to buy is cardstock and adhesive. It would be hard to do layouts without glue, huh. Anyway, Jen and Amy are doing 50 layouts... I don't think my stash is that big and I'm a slow scrapper so I'm going with 25. It's gonna be SO tough not to shop but I really need to use up what I already have. Wish me luck, and feel free to join me in my "scrap diet"!!!

A Very Productive Day

We hit the ground running this morning! I've not had this much ambition since, well, I don't really remember. Ari Bean woke up at 7 this morning, earlier than usual so I hopped out of bed to let Matt sleep in and brought Ari downstairs. He cried and cried for the longest time, nothing I was doing was working so I grabbed the baby tylenol and his bottle to put him back to sleep but it was too late, Matt was coming down the stairs. I think Ari missed him or something because as soon as we were all there together he was totally fine. We played in his room for a while before he took a nap.

While he was napping Matt made us breakfast. I wasn't super hungry and actually took a little nap myself. Ari woke up while I was asleep and he and daddy played and played until Ari just fell right over in his play cage and needed another nap. During that nap Matt and I painted the last wall in the family room and hung the curtains on the other window. Ari woke up cranky again so we decided to head out for a haircut for Matt. The fresh air did us all some good I think.

Whew, long day so far huh. Once we came home I baked some cookies for us to eat while we decorated our tree! Ari was not in the mood to decorate today, he just wanted to be held so he sat on Matt's lap while I hung the ornaments. The tree came out gorgeous though, and we still got to light the fireplace and eat our cookies!










We're going to veg the rest of the evening, tomorrow we have some serious house cleaning to do before my brother gets here on Monday. Hope your Saturday was as satisfying as ours!! Happy weekend ;)

Oh the weather outside...

Is a little too warm for this time of year! Not that I'm complaining, it just feels a little weird chopping down your Christmas tree in sunny 65 degree weather. I guess it's better than having to lie down in a big ole' pile of snow and ice! It was kind of a spur of the moment decision to get our tree today, Matt is super sick and we thought it would be better to go today than have to deal with crowds tomorrow. Plus, it's right up the road from our house, so it was really easy to get there and back in between Ari's naps.











It is the absolute most perfect tree I have ever had! It's a Leyland Cypress which means there are no needles to poke the crap out of your (er, my) arms while decorating! It smells so yummy, just like Christmas should smell. We're going to decorate it tomorrow, light a fire in the fireplace, drink hot chocolate and listen to holiday music. It's a new tradition I want to pass down to Ari and Matt and I are both pretty excited about it.

I think Ari's getting bored with his "baby" toys, we are in serious need of some upgrades. I took him to Target with me today and let him pick out something new. He picked the Fisher Price Little People dump truck. It's so cute, the little man driving twists back and forth when you push it. Ari just likes to take the "dirt" out of the back and put in back in over and over. We are going to get him more of them for Christmas, he's just having so much fun with it. The poor child hasn't gotten any new toys in months and now that he's practically walking he is completely uninterested in anything he has.

I'm going to hit the scrap table tonight, I've not been able to complete a layout since before Thanksgiving and I really need to. My December Crop Addict kit will be here next week and I haven't even used the November one yet. Oops. Enjoy your Friday night, I'll be back with more photos tomorrow!

Kisses from Ari

You should pause my music player before you watch. Just scroll down and click on the pause button twice! Then come back up and watch Ari send you some kisses!!

Tissues, NyQuil and Cough Drops... Oh My!

I think I'm finally starting to get over this cold. I'm still stuffy and coughing but it's definately not as bad today as it has been! Unfortunately Matt is sick now though, so it's not all the way out of the house yet. We've both been taking medicine around the clock, drinking tons of fluids and I bought an entire box of clementines to pump up our vitamin C intake! Despite our ickyness we were able to hang the curtains I bought yesterday in our front room. The front room is very multi-purpose for us; it's where Ari plays, I scrap, Matt computes and we all watch TV. Needless to say we spend a LOT of time in here and it's just now starting to feel like home!



After the curtains were up I sat down at my very messy scrap table and made my advent calendar. I found it at Target, it's a kit from Making Memories. It came with the plain red box, pre cut patterened papers, buttons, holly leaves, poinsettias and rub-ons. I love how it turned out, I still have a little bit of sanding and inking to do but other than that it's done, and it only took about an hour!!



I've never had an advent calendar but I love the idea of chocolates every day!! Speaking of chocolates, I bought Matt a box yesterday to thank him for everything he's been doing around here this past week. He jumped right in and took care of Ari, the house and me while I was sick. I literally did nothing for two days and it was fabulous! He was pretty excited about the chocolates, half the box is gone already! Guess it's my turn to take care of him now... maybe I will get some candy too!

We are going to be lazy tonight, much like the rest of our week. It's Thursday which means CSI and ER for me. Matt got a new computer game at Target the other day so I'm sure he'll be glued to the screen for the rest of the night. I have some scrapping to do tomorrow, not to mention cleaning this house. Brian (the brother) gets here Monday and I don't want to have to clean while he's here!!

'Tis the season

Yesterday I dug through the boxes in the garage for my holiday decorations. I've only found half of them, I really hope the other half turn up. Of course, the missing boxes have all the good stuff in them, my favorite ornaments, the tree skirt, stockings and ribbon. Anyway, here's what I've done so far...





Sorry if the photos are blurry, my head is still a little blurry too! Matt is coming down with this cold now too, which sucks because he goes back to work tomorrow! It's a short trip though, his two week vacations starts Saturday at 5pm!!! I can't wait, we have so much work to do around here. I picked up some curtains today for our front room, I wanted to hang them tonight but it's already 10:45 so we will most likely wait until the morning.

I'm going to brew a large cup of tea, eat some chocolate and go to bed! Doesn't get much better than that...

My Voice Is Gone...

This has to be the worst cold I've had in a few years! I had to sleep on the sofa last night because if I tried to lay flat in bed I couldn't breathe. I'm sure Matt was awake until I came downstairs from my sniffling and coughing [sorry about that]. We picked up some more medicine today at Target, hopefully I can double up on the NyQuil and actually get some sleep tonight.

In my fogginess yesterday I completely forgot to post the picture of my Label Tulip kit that came while I was in Louisville, so here you go!



As I said before, if you like what you see (hopefully you can see it, I think I forgot to photoshop it) you should head over lickety split. These babies sell out within minutes and they are offering the chance to preorder their December kit!

I love this photo of Dick and Ari, I had to sneak it in here. My little guy is definately a "Grandpa's Boy" and he's going through withdrawl today! He's been a little on the fussy side for most of the day. That might have something to do with the fact that our flight was delayed 4 hours. He was a trooper though, only cried once and slept the entire flight!



He had his first taste of Starbucks! I'm only kidding, the cup was totally empty. All he wanted was to take my cup while I was drinking so Sharon rinsed hers out and gave it to him. He had a great time chewing it up!



I am really going through scrap withdrawl. I got a really cool advent calendar to alter today, I have tons of ideas for it. I still need to finish my Thanksgiving mini album and Dick took like 400 photos this past week that will go perfect with my LT kit! Oh, and I still have my 2008 calendar to finish too (um, I've only done one month, shh..). Yikes, I better get off here and get moving...