Merry Christmas plus lots of Happy Birthday's

Alright, so I have a bit of catch-up to do! Life has been busy lately and I find myself especially exhausted thanks to this exponentially expanding "bump" that I am carrying around! Speaking of my "bump", everything is still looking great and we are still planning on another little girl come the end of June! I can't believe how quickly that date is approaching! Thanks to the holidays and 3 birthdays, I haven't even thought about preparation for baby #2! I have about 15 weeks left and I have so much to do to get ready! I don't have much to buy, it is more about cleaning out closets and re-organzing things so we have room for another baby and all of her clothes, blankets, etc. Wish me luck!!!!

So, onto the catch-up session. I'll keep this quick since there is a lot to catch up on! Christmas was great! We stayed here and enjoyed spending Christmas Eve with Robert's entire family...and then we had a nice quiet Christmas morning all to ourselves at home! Robert and I decided not to get each other anything, but it was so much more fun to watch Meredith open her presents! A few days after Christmas, we headed out to Arizona to have "Christmas" with my family and celebrate an early bday for Meredith. We had so much fun in Arizona, although, I'm realizing we didn't take very many pictures...whoops! We were there a little over a week and I am hoping we get to go back again soon! Meredith misses her Papi & Tutti!

January and February were busy months...Meredith's 2nd birthday was January 10th. Robert's birthday was January 11th...Valentine's day was February 14th and my birthday was February 18th!

I can't believe my baby is 2 already! I love watching her grow and it is so fun seeing how quickly she is learning, but it makes me sad that she has gotten so big SO FAST! She is still my baby and sometimes I wish this whole growing-up thing would slow down a bit! Lately, I'm trying to enjoy every minute because it just seems that before I know it all my kids (however many that will be?) will all be grown up and married and having children of their own. Weird thought, but I'm sure you all know what I mean! I just want to really soak it all in, ya know?

Here is a slideshow of some of our pictures from Christmas and the January birthdays. I still need to download pics from February...so that will come later!!

It's a...

GIRL!

We just found out yesterday and I thought I would share. It looks like Meredith is going to have a little sister! Poor Robert, starting in June he will be out-numbered 3 to 1!

Happy New Year!

We celebrated Christmas here at home this year. It was fun to watch Meredith open presents...all four or five of them. It wasn't a big Christmas, but luckily she is young enough to not care! :) She did get a cute rocking horse...that was her big gift and she definitely has had a lot of fun with it so far. She is our little horse-lover these days. Horses and sea creatures...interesting combination.

We went to Arizona a few days later to celebrate Christmas and New Years with my family. It was so nice to be home. It was a little crazy at times, but so much fun to hang out with my family! Plus, thanks to my mom and dad, I had some time for a few fun projects...and Robert and I actually got to go OUT on New Years Eve! Thanks mom and dad!

We are home now! We got back on Sunday, but the sad news is that my computer doesn't work! Grrrr! So, no new pictures yet. Robert has promised to get a new one soon...hopefully within a week. So check back next week for posts about Christmas/New Years/Meredith's 2nd birthday(today!) and Robert's birthday(tomorrow!)...so many things going on lately!!!

Happy New Year!! I still can't believe it is already 2008! Scary!!!

Finally!

Sorry for the huge gap in posts. The holidays have been keeping me busy and I finally had a chance to download all of my pictures (since Thanksgiving) last night! I had almost 400 of them...lots of pictures! I only included about 40 in the slideshow, though!

These are pictures from Thanksgiving (we stayed here and enjoyed time with the Holmes Family)...some random pictures of Meredith in this cute poncho my friend Laura made for her...pictures of the primary christmas party...and pictures of christmas tree shopping & decorating! I love the last picture of the slideshow...we were up late decorating the tree and as you can tell, Meredith was ready for bed!

Hope you are all enjoying the holiday season! I can't believe Christmas is 2 weeks away...if I don't post again for awhile, it is because I'm trying to get all my christmas shopping done! I haven't even started yet! Wish me luck!!

Dog days of summer?

The last few days have been so warm...it has felt like summertime again! Here is something I've been trying to catch on video for awhile, so thanks Elise for taking this video! Our little Meredith is a bit crazy when it comes to the sand...you'll see why I gave this post the above title!

Apples 101

Yes, more eating pictures! I can't help myself! It is just so cute to watch her try to eat like a grown-up. She no longer wants her food cut-up and she no longer wants help eating...she wants to do it all on her own, like a big girl! So cute, right? Anyway, here are some pictures of Meredith eating an apple (a WHOLE apple) for the first time! As you can tell from the pictures, she really enjoyed this eating experience! :)

First couple of bites!

The End!

#2

So, I have a little announcement to make. I think many of you already know, but for those of you who don't...I'm pregnant! #2 is expected to arrive June of next year! We are all excited, even Meredith! She is already happily claiming the title "big sister"!

Tag...

My friend, Felicia, tagged me over a week ago and I'm just getting around to posting now! Sorry, Flicka!

Okay, so here are six facts about me you may or may not all know:

1) I'm a bit of an introvert. I love people and I love chatting with friends, but I do better one on one...I don't really like big groups!! I don't know why, I've just kind-of always been this way. Guess I'm a tiny bit on the shy side sometimes.

2) Even though my hair is SOOOOOooooo dark these days, deep down inside...I'm a blonde. I've always been a blonde and I will always think of myself as a blonde. Whenever people ask me where Meredith got her blonde hair from...I think..."hello...me!" I forget that I'm not blonde anymore! In fact, whenever I look at recent pictures and see my dark hair, I can't believe that I'm actually a brunette! Weird!!!

3) I love to clean! Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have a maid and all, but I really do enjoy cleaning. There is something so satisfying about cleaning...it is such a good feeling to walk around your house knowing everything is in place and in order. I enjoy cleaning even more now that I have a kid. I love it when Robert takes Meredith away and lets me have time to clean at home. Even though I'm stuck cleaning, I love it since I am actually doing what I WANT TO DO FOR ONCE!!!!!

4) I miss my friends! I have some of the best friends in the whole world. I really mean it! Throughout my life I have always been blessed to have at least a few really good friends. I have been thinking about all of these friends that I have collected throughout the past 30 years recently and I realize how much I miss them! Life is busy and it seems that the bigger our families all get...the less time we have to keep in touch. I wish I got to see my friends more often or at least talk to them more often...but I love them and always will...no matter what! You know who you are...XOXOXOXOXOXO!!

5) I have a love-hate relationship with computers and the Internet. At this point in my life, I don't think I could ever live without them...I'm so addicted. However, sometimes I'm so bugged at how many hours of our lives are stolen away from us...wasted on these evil little machines each day! In an effort to spend more time with Robert, I keep trying to make a rule about no computers after 7 o'clock. Hasn't stuck yet, though! :(

6) When Meredith wakes up every morning, she comes into bed with us and drinks her milk and snuggles. It is the best part of my day, especially if she doesn't get up too early! She is so sweet and I am so in-love with the girl...my favorite is when she puts her head on the pillow right next to mine...puts her nose against mine...then says "hi mama" and giggles. Priceless!!

Okay now for the tagging part:

Beth, Laura, Sarah, Julie H., Heidi Shirley and Rachael...you are all tagged! Have fun girls!!