A Little Christmas Eve Miracle

Mark and I loaded up the kids and went to finish some shopping. And by finish, I mean by myself something to wear on Christmas day to church. I ran in and he drove the kids around. I came out, went down a block to pick up some lunch, came out and Mark said “I think one of the kids just had an explosion back there.”  I looked back and realized Marky had thrown up. And it was all over his car seat, his blankie, clothes and it was SOOO stinky. This was his first time throwing up, other than spit-up as a baby. So we undressed him, I jumped in the back seat, we buckled him up and drove straight home snuggled next to me. Then out of nowhere, he pulled out THIS black familiar looking item ↓

My sweet little green-faced man found my long lost camera. I knew it was somewhere, just didn’t know where. Now stay tuned for day 4 of our trip. It gets it’s own post. Thankful for please-help-me-find-what-I’m-looking-for prayers being answered. And to me, the camera being found was a tiny Christmas eve miracle. And the fact that my Marky wasn’t otherwise sick.

Day 1, 2 and 3… I think

Our trip was so great. We were gone for 11 days. We visited family, friends, strangers and many parks, rest areas and malls along the way.

We set goals to get a certain distance each day. We knew with both little ones, we would have to make frequent stops. So in order to allow plenty of time, we broke down the drive to Chicago into 3 legs.  And speaking of legs…look at all that leg room.

Day 1 our goal was Atlanta. It was a gorgeous day. When we stopped for a late lunch/early dinner break at a rest area. Mark and Marky walked around while I prepared sandwiches. We were lucky enough to spend the night with my Aunt Sandy just north of Atlanta.

 

Day 2 Goal: Get through GA, TN and end in Louisville, KY

It was so great to travel through the mountains and enjoy the scenery.

Babies sleeping

Can you believe they still use pay phones? In the middle of TN? Weird.

We made a fabulous stop in Bowling Green, KY. Highly recommend the parks there. WOW. It was beautiful. In the van that night, the kiddos fell asleep so we kept going. We made it to Indianapolis, IN. Which meant we were only 3 hours from Chicago.

 

Day 3 Goal: Get to Chicago

We loaded up after a great breakfast at Waffle House and hit the road. However, we stopped at the mall in Indy to let Marky enjoy the play area and I got to enjoy some retail therapy. Too bad to one kid’s version playing meant busting Marky’s mouth open from being rough.  So back on the road.

The kids slept the WHOLE way to Chicago

Indiana was so pretty from the backseat.

And look at that cute baby. Just want to give a shout out for my little pork chop…She is 5 months old today. We’ll see about throwing her in here later.

Back to Chicago…We got checked into our hotel and hit the streets. Saw lots of awesome stuff in Chicago.

Santa’s Visit 2011 Round 1

 

Marky and Callie sure do love Santa…

and this Santa is their Pappaw.

Good News/Bad News

Remember when I mentioned my camera broke? Well, I figured out (just in time for Marky's birthday in Sept) that if I used it upside down, it worked. YAY!!! So we got some awesome video footage and everything. Then we got to use it on our AWESOME trip. We came home from our trip at ridiculous o'clock in the morning. That evening, we went to a high school homecoming football game where our niece was presented as the Junior class Princess (I'm a VERY proud aunt) and went home. After settling in from getting home Mark bought me a laptop. So I was all ready to load pics and our camera that we thought was broken but we could still use is NOWHERE TO BE FOUND. :( I'm devastated. I have avoided blogging from all the disappointment. And man, there was some great stuff on there. I'm still praying it appears. In fact, I just said another quick silent one. Now I shall move on...

Road Trip

We're taking a trip and I am SOOOOOO excited. I haven't been on a real trip in so long. You might think we're crazy...cause I do--we're driving to Chicago and then going to Michigan with our two little ones. Along the way we get to stop and visit my Aunt Sandy in Atlanta, then through Louisville to get to Chicago. I've never been to Chicago so this is THRILLING for me. After Chicago, we're going to visit Mark's family in Michigan. Then on the way home, I get to visit my dear friend Sharon (a mission companion for 3 whole days) in beautiful western Virginia (not to be confused with regular West Virginia).

We're planning to be gone for 10+ days. I will miss my family and especially my bed, but I'm so excited!

Better Pictures?

I can't sleep so might as well try to upload pics directly from my phone to my husband's laptop to see if they turn out any better...here's hoping

I love these little feet

finally caught a smile.

Love these eyes.

My OB/GYN told me that Callie looks just like Mark. I told her that Mark thinks Callie has my shaped eyes. Her reply, "Yeah, now that you mention it, she does! You have big eyes like Indians, like me. And Mark has Chinese eyes." Mark and I both think she looks like Marky and they look like both of us.

Two Months of Happiness

Two months ago I was nervous and anxious and scared to death. Now, I could not imagine life without my Callie.

Callie's Blessing

Not only did my computer blow up but my camera freaked out, too. All in time for Callie's blessing. We got a few family pictures using my niece's camera but forgot to get some of the main event by herself. So here is what we have...

We blessed Callie on September 4th. It was a beautiful day. Two babies were blessed in our ward and another close friend blessed her son, too. Well, a few other friends. We were all fortunate to have our babies around the same time.

As you'll see, we didn't go with a traditional blessing dress. And boy (or girl), am I so glad, look at the outcome. She borrowed shoes from her cousin, Georgia. Another reason I'm glad we went with a short dress, she showed off those shoes and you could hear people melting when Mark held her up to show her off. And if you're wondering about her super cute bow or bracelet, I have friends and I can pass along their info, just ask.

Our Little Lady Bear

My awesome friend Katheryn was kind enough to give us the gift of photography!! She came to our house, set up in our dining room and waited ever so patiently while we tried to get ready after having a mega eventful morning. 

So my laptop is broken, I use Mark's for a few minutes a day and if it didn't take about 5 minutes to upload each picture, more would be posted. But I just NEED to share these.

Callie is 2.5 weeks in these pictures.  

One thing she got from her daddy are those toes!!

I love to dress up my little lady. I didn't realize it would be as fun as it has been. My sister and I made the flowers for her hair. I love them. Getting ready to make some more.

This is one of my favorites. I'm sure you all know that nothing melts your heart like your husband being sweet to  your babies

We have many conversations like this, especially in the middle of the night.

We sure have loved having Callie in our family. She is such a sweetie. She looks SOOO much like her brother, I try my best to always have a bow on her for pictures so we don't get confused one day. Her blessing is this coming weekend. Hopefully, our little 13 lb pork chop will still fit in her blessing dress.

Thank you, Katheryn! And if anyone local is looking to have personalized, fabulous, fun, GORGEOUS pictures done, click HERE or anywhere yellow to visit her website.

The Intro

Early July 15th, we made our way to the hospital and got all dressed up. 

Here we are waiting patiently to meet someone very special...

Just a few minutes later, they wheeled me into the O.R. and voila, we have a baby girl! Warning: I requested gooey pictures this time around. And I now present you with my gooey baby girl.

My awesome OB, Dr. Thirumlai, holding up the prize winning pig little lady. She was breech, so when pulling her feet and legs out, they got a little stuck with her belly, then there was a pop, and our little linebacker ballerina came out.

Our first time seeing each other. I couldn't believe my eyes. She was gorgeous.

Mark hid behind the sheet. But he gave a thumbs up for the world's sweetest little lady.

I made a request to have my arms loosened so I could touch my baby, not just smell and kiss her. Request granted!

Now I didn't know what to do with my hands, but here we are with our baby girl

Now to get our squishy little lady weighed in...

Yes, 9lbs 5oz and 20 inches long

This cuddly little lady is stealing hearts with these delicious cheeks

Our family of 4. Marky was concerned with why Mommy looked so crazy.

Callie Rae Gentle

We are so blessed to have her in our family. We love you, Callie!

Thristy?

Caution: arms are for reaching all the things on the counter...

...and pouring them all over yourself and giving yourself a taste.

PDA

I really have no problem with acceptable forms of PDA (public display of affection). Kissing is cute, holding hands, rubbing your spouses booty, etc. As long as the participants aren't down throats, doing things I'll have to really explain to my kids or relating on the scene, I don't feel it's my business. HOWEVER...I do find that putting your hands down your lady's butt at the grocery store is a little unsettling. It started as a soft little booty pat and some guy got the idea to put his hand down his lady's pants into her crack. This happened in about 3 seconds. And let's be honest, I couldn't help but wonder what all he had touched in the store after that. I left quickly. If you need your butt picked and you can't accomplish it from the outside, please don't do it near my groceries. :)

Take a Sniff

My husband was cuddling close to me and started sniffing me like a dog (he's really good at that) and comes back to say "You smell like a scratch and sniff sticker." I'm not sure if that's good but at least he didn't say I smell like dirty gym socks or funky b.o. or even Rice Creek in Palatka. Cause those would have all ended our cuddle session. Hope you're smelling scratch and sniff-erific.