Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas!! I just wanted to share our Christmas with everyone. We had a wonderful holiday. It was very busy but very fun. We are blessed beyond belief with loving family, traditions, and the ability to give our children the magic of Christmas.

Throughout the Christmas holiday season we have 4 places we go to. My parents, Chad's parents, Chad's grandparents, and our house!! Below are some pics from all our travels this holiday season!

The kids with their Uncle Jonathan and his girlfriend Caitlin


The kids with Mawmaw and Pawpaw Riggs at their house on Christmas Eve.



All of us with Nan and Poppy (Chad's grandparents) on Christmas Eve


The kids with my mom and dad on Dec. 21st





My aunts got Brady the Thomas the Tank Engine Wooden Roundhouse for his train table. He loves trains!!



My aunts got Abby the Nintendo 3DS and she was thrilled!!!




Brady got the Little People Farm and Tractor from Nene and Papaw Cox!!!



Abby got the Melissa and Doug Horse Stable from Nene and Papaw Cox!!




Brady got a bike from Mawmaw and Pawpaw Riggs!! Cant wait for the weather to cooperate so we can take it out!


Abby got a Kindle from her Mawmaw and Pawpaw Riggs!! She was so excited!



Christmas Morning!!!


Brady with his Santa gifts!!!!!


Abby looking at her Santa gifts!




The kids and I got Chad a Craftsman tool chest for all his tools! I have to share the story, I was afraid he would guess what it was so I had my parents pick it up and wrap it and put it to the kids. Christmas morning I told him it was too heavy for the kids to unwrap he needed to do it for them....yep we totally fooled him. He loved it!



I took the money and gift cards I got for Christmas from my family and Chad's family and bought myself this awesome new bedding, sheets, and pillows!



My gift from Chad was a Pandora Bracelet! I love it so much!


My parents also got me an awesome vacuum cleaner (I know--but I like those kinds of gifts, its something I wouldn't buy myself!) and baking dishes. I didn't take a pic of them because I was too busy taking pics of the kids!

Abby turns 9!!

Today my little girl Abby turned 9!!! What a blessing she has been to our lives. She is the sweetest, kindest, most caring little girl. She is such a wonderful child. I cant say enough good things about her, yes she's my daughter but she has such a wonderful soul and is such a delight!

She took her sweet time coming into this world. I was in labor with her for 15 hours and finally at 8:18pm she made her grand entrance! Her personality beamed right away--she did not cry when she was born she just made a little sound to let us know she was OK. She was such a good baby and has continued to be a great kid.

She is definitely a daddy's girl! She loves to crawl into his lap and sit on the couch and watch TV with him like she was still 2 years old. When she is sad or hurt she wants her daddy!!

She adores her little brother to no end. When he is upset she is upset, when he is hurt she is the first to run to him, she kisses him good night EVERY night, and she worries about him all the time (even though we assure her he is fine and we will take care of him! LOL). When we were pregnant with Brady we worried she would not adjust well (she had been an only child for 6 years), we had a pregnancy scare when I was about 12 weeks along and she had to go to the ER with us....she sat and cried saying "please let my little brother or sister be OK"....she was the first to hold him when he was born besides me and Chad. She loved him before he was born and is the BEST sister in the world!

Some interesting facts about Abby at 9 years old:

Her favorite animal is a horse!
Her favorite color is blue!
Her favorite places to eat are Steak N Shake, Cracker Barrel, and Subway!
She loves to watch the 1981 Spider-Man cartoon with her brother!
She loves fashion design and says she wants to be a fashion designer when she grows up.
She loves to play board games, especially Monopoly!
She loves to read the series "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" and Warrior Cats Manga books.
She is in 3rd grade and her favorite class is Art!
She runs cross country for her school in the fall and plays AYSO soccer in the spring.
Her favorite person in the world is her brother Brady!
She is learning her multiplication tables!

Happy Birthday Abby!! We love you so much and we are so proud of the wonderful young lady you are turning into!!!










A daughter is the happy memories of the past, the joyful moments of the present, and the hope and promise of the future.
-- Author Unknown

Happy Anniversary!

December 5th was our 13th wedding anniversary. I don't like the number 13 but Chad assures me in this case it is NOT an unlucky number! :)

I was 20 years old and Chad was 21 when we got married. WOW, that sounds so young today!! I do have to say that God blessed me with a wonderful husband. He has given me two beautiful children and a life I am so thankful for.

Some interesting facts about us:
We met on January 26, 1998
We went to Cherokee NC to Harrah's Casino for our honeymoon (our one day honeymoon..LOL)
We LOVE to go watch plays!!
We both LOVE pizza!!
We LOVE to watch Notre Dame Football!
Chad chose our daughters name and I chose our sons name!!
We have a standing date every year on Black Friday!!
We never hang up the phone without saying I love you.
We leave each other silly notes all the time.

Here are some photos our our wedding! I wonder what Randy Fenoli from Say Yes to the Dress would say about some of these fashions??? LOL






And here we are now!




I love you, not only for what you are, But for what I am when I am with you. -Roy Croft

Birthday Party and Bears...Oh My!!!

Sunday we had Abby's 9th Birthday party at Build A Bear with all her friends. Her real birthday is really close to Christmas so I always bump the party to the first of the month so people aren't so busy and her friends can attend. December birthday's are kind of hard to do, especially when its really close to Christmas!!

All the kids seemed to have a great time and Abby was beyond happy!! After the Build A Bear fun we went to the food court for a Rudolph cookie cake and gifts. I never know if you should open gifts at the parties or not, all the parties we have been to except a couple the kids opened the gifts so that's what we did too and no one seemed to mind.

Abby is so blessed to have such wonderful friends and she was so happy they all could make it. Great party!!!

O Christmas Tree!

We put our Christmas tree up last night! I love putting our tree up, we turn on Christmas music and go to work!! Its so fun to talk about all of our ornaments! There are only a few ornaments on my tree that doesn't have a story that goes along with it like why we have that ornament, who got that ornament for us, who made that ornament, etc. We have several ornaments on our tree that were on the white and silver Christmas tree we had at our wedding reception. Those are my favorites! Abby has made several ornaments in school and those are my favorites too! So yes all my ornaments are special and the top of the tree is my favorite part, I love to make it huge!! I love our Christmas tree!!

Tree up, lights on, bows on....



Lights and bows on, ready for the ornaments!



getting ready to hang ornaments! The kids had to look at every ornament!



Abby hanging her handmade ornament she made in 1st grade!!



Brady playing with the Santa car ornament I got when I was a little girl!



Abby playing with my wooden Santa I hang on the wall!! LOL FUNNY!!!!!


Chad's Notre Dame ornament we bought in South Bend, Indiana a couple years ago.



Vera Bradley ornament, this is my favorite one of the three I have.



Santa heads, we have several stuffed in our tree! I love them!!




Cousin Eddie's RV....That there...that's an RV...



The Elf and ladder...he's been climbing our tree for 10 years now!!!



White birdhouse ornament that was on our wedding Christmas tree!!!




St. Nicholas!!



Our Boxer angel ornament..in memory of our first dog Sadie!



Brady's Elmo ornament...one of the gifts on the ornament has the name Abby on it. Im sure its for Abby Cadabby but it was so fitting!!!



Ring-o-gingerbread men



The top of the tree....personally I think the MOST important part of a Christmas tree!!



Abby and Brady had a great time helping hang the ornaments! I hope they always help me decorate my tree!!



Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time. ~Laura Ingalls Wilder