Christmas week!

My shopping is pretty much done! I just have 2 giftcards to pick up sometime before Saturday :) Im very proud of myself for only spending the amount I did on Alyvia this year. She got a lot, but I stayed within a reasonable budget. Double score! She needs big girl stuff; a lot of the toys she has now are baby-ish and she's losing interest. I'm so excited for her to wake up on Christmas morning. Devon said she'll lose interest, probaby about halfway through opening her gifts, but I dont care! I know she'll play with everything we got her...well that Santa got her. Im really, REALLY excited for the kitchen her Granny & Poppy got her! And the barnyard set my Mom is supposed to get her.

Yesterday we ate lunch at Texas Roadhouse; I forgot how much I LOVE that place. Just talking about it makes me want to eat it now! We finished up shopping and all 3 of us napped when we got home :)

Devon is home tonight. I dont remember the last time he was home on a Monday night. He works Tues-Fri, but will be home for Chritmas :)

I dont have much wrapping to do either! Devon helped me with most of Alyvia's on Saturday night. I'm totally excited to make cookies...its another one of my favorite traditions!

If I dont get to blog before Saturday, I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

Worn out.

Its only *currently cringing as I type this* Wednesday. And I am beyond pooped. Devon has been at work since Monday night, and has to work again tonight...oh, AND tomorrow night. After work, I pick Alyvia up and get home as quickly as I can because I know I wont have much, if any, relaxing time; so, the sooner I'm home, the sooner I can relax. Its about a half hour drive from Tasha's and since the snow has hit, it takes about 45 minutes. YUCK. I can't get out of the car without Alyvia asking for num-nums or hearing Caya whine. She's in her cage when Devon is at the FH so as soon as I get home, the routine goes a little like this:
QUICKLY drop all my stuff, lug Alyvia with me to let Caya out (because she wants to help), sit Alyvia down in her booster, put our coats away and (even more QUICKLY) get dinner ready for her. Let Caya back in, get Lyv a quick snack while she's waiting for her dinner to cook, start putting things away because by this time the door to our garage is barricaded with all kinds of stuff in front of it. Alyvia eats dinner and I whip up something easy for myself (usually soup, sandwhich, of leftovers). This whole time I'm constantly telling Caya to stop begging; we dont give her table scraps.
Alyvia's finished in about a half hour and completely covered in whatever she ate, so to the bath we go. She loves the bath, so we usually play around for a little bit before it's time to get out. PJ's, clean up (dishes, counters, table), books/playdough/or coloring, either sweeping or laundry. By this time, its almost 7 and I pop in a movie for Alyvia. I call it her 'unwinding time'; she's an early bird and ready for bed about 730-8pm.
I'll probably eat something else or finish my dinner, change my clothes, and sit down with her to read another book or 2. Bed time, shower for me, MAYBE...MAYBE a TV show for me and Im ready to crash by at least 9.

Needless to say, with Devon being gone every single night this week, I'm ready for a LONG, hot bubble bath and a buffet style dinner. He's off Friday, but we have a Christmas party to go to, Photos with Santa and shoppping Saturday, and another photoshoot with Tash Sunday.

Now, I need a nap.

Happy Birthday Babe!

Today is Devon's 22nd Birthday! I hope you have a great day [sleeping :)]. I love you!

An Early Christmas for You!

Here's a sneak peek of Alyvia's Christmas Photos! Courtesy of Tasha Braniff :)

I dont wanna share TOO many because you may be getting one with your Christmas Card! :)

Tonight we are cutting down our Christmas tree! One of my favorite traditions! Cant wait! :)

More to be Thankful for!

Thanksgiving came and went. Its one of my favorites. We had a schedule conflict, so we asked my mom, 2 brothers and sister to come over for breakfast since we couldn't make it to dinner. They stayed til about noon, Alyvia took a nap and I ran to Walmart. We left for Devon's parents' around 3 to visit with them before we ate at 5. We had more company than expected, but thats always a good thing! After dinner, Tash took some photos of Alyvia in her Christmas dress. We turned on the music so she'd cooperate a little more, and it worked for the most part! She was well behaved the whole night, and had lots of fun :)

We had a little surprise for everyone. Alyvia wore a special t-shirt to bed that said 'I'm the Big Sister'!!!!!!!! We broke the news to my Mom that morning as well. Dev and I found out we were expecting Sunday, November 21st! We are totally excited and I have so many ideas that I need to start on soon! :)

Turkey Week!

We didnt do much this weekend, and it was pretty NICE! Saturday I went grocery shoppin, and Dev worked that night. Sunday was my little cousin's 4th birthday party. It was a fashion show theme. You can bet Alyvia participated! She put on a pair of sunglasses and owned the runway. It was totally cute.

Its a short week at work and Thursday is Thanksgiving! Y-A-Y! Its my favorite, besides Christmas! We have SO MUCH to be thankful for. More than I have ever realized in the past! Wednesday I have to pick a little surprise up for some family and then Thursday we have 3 dinners to go to! We probably wont be able to squeeze the 2 earlier ones in, but we're gonna try!

I dont think we have ANYTHING planned this coming weekend, and Im kinda excited about it!
Devon's birthday is about 2 weeks away. We're getting OLD! He probably has to work, or has a continued education class that day. I cant keep up with his schedule anymore. But he is plannin on applying at Norwich Twnshp that day!
Dec 4th (a few days before that) is his grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary party, and then we're going out to BD's for his birthday. YUMM-O! And HOPEFULLY we'll (almost) finish Christmas shoppin that weekend too!
Im going to book Alyvia's birthday venue this week, and hopefully start buying decorations, etc., for it soon! We are also planning to send out our Christmas cards next week!

I have so many places to go for Christmas gifts. But Im happy we'll be able to buy for everyone this year! I am SO excited :)

Our First Adoption!

Meet Caya! She officially became part of the family last night! We adopted her from SOS of Ohio. She is the BEST puppy. Crate trained, working on potty training, has all her shots, been spayed, de-wormed, knows a lot of commands and is a total SUNGGLER! She loves to give Alyvia kisses. Alyvia loves her too, but is pretty impatient like her momma so sometimes the kisses get a little overwhelming!

So far, so good! She only whined in her crate for about 10 mins last night, and didnt again until about 5am this morning! She's supposed to hit about 40 pounds; she's a pretty perfect size for our home!

If you're thinking about getting a dog, think about adoption! There are lots of animals out there that need loving homes.