It's a Wonderful Life (Story to go with Christmas Day 2008 Slideshow)

We had the best Christmas we have had in a long time. My slide show below shows all the pictures and I will try to do my best to explain some of them. First it starts with what our tree looked like with just the presents that we were able to get. As you can see it was not much. We did well with what we had and the boys were happy! My favorite moment was when Alex opened the Kingdom Hearts 2 Playstation 2 game that Lloyd got him. He was so excited that he hugged Lloyd! I definitely captured that moment! Nathan got Luke a piggy bank which we had him open first. If I could go back and change anything, I would have had that present be the last thing Luke opened. Once he opened that gift he did not want to open anything else!

I kept the thought that there was not much until all the gifts we had got were open. Then I explained to them that we were very blessed this season, not only with food baskets and financial blessings, but also with more gifts. Their eyes light up; as I explained that when you are faithful to God he is faithful back. I explained to them that God whispered our names in someones ear and that person was able to plant a seed that God blessed. I then brought out the rest of the gifts. This was another favorite moment because as soon as Luke saw the gifts he went and grabbed a gift bag, put it on his arm and started to walk away. The funny thing was the bag he grabbed was his! I did as I was asked and gathered them around to pray and thank God for our blessings. There is one picture of us praying where we are all in a circle and I am holding Luke and he has a bag on his arm! Lloyd took the picture, but did not participate in the prayer. (God is still softening his heart to this).


The boys were so excited and enjoyed all the gifts that they received. Alex kept saying, "Thank you God." Once we were done opening all the gifts and cleaning up, Nathan and Alex immediately went outside to play the new Nerf Tag game that they got. They played this game several times through the day! Then we all went to my mom and dad's for dinner and a few more gifts. The picture in the slide show of Luke with a scratch on his face happened at my mom and dad's. I just thought it was kind of funny that we could not make it through the day without an accident! Over all we had a Wonderful Christmas and are so thankful for all the blessings that we received!

Christmas Day Slideshow

Luke's Santa Picture

Let me start by saying that I am not happy with this photo at all! It was taken by one of my bosses at an event we hosted at my work. Although it was free and Luke was crying, I still feel she could have gotten a better picture. It is one thing to have a crying picture of your baby on Santa's lap, but to have half my child's face cut off that is ridiculous! Now she took three photos of Luke and I really did not get a chance to pick out the best one, so this very well may have been it, but I don't know. I was also told that she took like fifty photos of her own son sitting on Santa's lap and can almost guarantee you she got at least one good one. This was not the only bad photo experience with her as the photographer either. She has been taking pictures of the children to put on their cubbies and a majority of them have turned out crappy. For example, one picture she took of this little boy in our infant room; he had a rash all over his face and was just feeling all around icky the day she took his photo, but she used that picture on his cubby. I would be so mad if I was his parent. Ok enough venting. The top picture is without the frame it came in and the bottom picture is with the frame. With the frame I have a great photo of Santa, without the frame half my son's face is missing!

The Blessings Continue

Once again my family was blessed today! At the beginning of church one of my friends came up to me and asked me to see her after church; she said she had something for me. So I found her after church and she informed me that her family had received a huge blessing from their local Rotary Club; a food basket. Only this was not just a food basket it was enough food to feed a family of five for two weeks. They did not need all the food, so they wanted to share the blessing. She gave us a box of food for Christmas, but it will be enough for Christmas and some! This is a huge blessing considering I was just talking to my mom during the church service about how we were going to have food for Christmas dinner. My mom was talking about calling a church and ordering a food basket; now we will not have to do that. I cannot even express how much Christmas Spirit has been radiating around my family. The most amazing part is that I am seeing blessings happening not only in my family but other families as well! God is so good.

Story to go with Slideshow

Of quite the surprise Lloyd actually suggested that we go look at Christmas lights this year. Normally this is not something he enjoys due to the crowds, so of course I jumped on the offer. It turned out to be the perfect night to go out. It was not to cold and we had a few surprises along the way. One was that when we got to Dovewood Court it was not to crowded, then as we were getting ready to leave a Fire Truck came down the street with a load of Santa Helpers including Santa himself. A couple of Firefighters got off and were handing out candy canes! It was great. Also the local church was putting on a live production of the Nativity Story. Although we choose not to stay to see the show; on the way home Lloyd mentioned possibly going later this weekend since the show runs until Sunday. He does not know it yet, but God is working in his life right now and it is awesome to see! Well after Dovewood Court we headed to Rocklin to another neighborhood on Pebble Creek Dr. This is a much bigger neighborhood and there were a little more people. You have to park in the shopping center nearby to walk along the street, unless you are brave enough to drive through. We choose to walk; luckily a local business in the shopping center was handing out free hot chocolate! Like I said this neighborhood is a lot bigger, so we did end up cutting it short; all of us were getting tired and unfortunately Lloyd got a work call as we were heading out there, so we knew we did not have much time. Luke did great and although he tried to fall asleep a couple of times on the way to both locations, we were able to keep him awake long enough to see both neighborhoods. Then as soon as we were done he was out! Nathan and Alex did good too and I think they actually enjoyed the time out as a family. After our light viewing we dropped Nathan and Alex off at their dad's for some much needed time with him! Now Lloyd is off to work and I am going to head to bed myself. Tomorrow we are going to try to get some Christmas shopping done and attempt to clean the kids' rooms and the rest of the house! Enjoy the pictures and Merry Christmas!

Christmas Light Viewing

Just For Grandma Pat

This post is just for Grandma Pat. Here are some pictures of your boys! LOL!

Christmas Spirit

Let me start by saying that ever since I went through my divorce with my first husband Christmas has been rough for me. We started having troubles three days after Christmas in 1999. I tried hard to stay strong for the kids, but one year I did not decorate including putting up the tree until Christmas Eve. Every year since then I try to make sure to decorate at least a week before Christmas. We have our traditions and I try to keep up with them. One of our traditions is that every year at Alex's counseling we make Gingerbread houses. This is Alex's:




And Here is mine:


Usually Nathan makes one too, but he did not come with us this year. Luke helped by eating the graham crackers, Cheerios and chocolate chips! We made the houses this Thursday. Last night we put up the Christmas tree. This was interesting because Luke was only 5 months old last Christmas so it was a lot easier to keep him away from the tree then it is this year. Last night he was taking ornaments off the tree, but after a few times of telling him no he seems to have learned to leave it alone now. He loves the lights and when I turn them on he points at them and gets a big smile! We are probably going to take him to Dovewood Court before Christmas to see the lights. Dovewood Court is a popular street where every house decorates. We took Nathan and Alex a couple of years ago and I really think Luke would like it. I will post picture of that when we do!

If you read my Random Acts of Kindness post you will see another reason why I am in the Christmas Spirit a lot sooner this year then normal. Another fun thing we are doing this year is a family gift exchange. We put all five of our names in a stocking a drew names whoevers name you drew is who you buy for Christmas. I got Lloyd, Lloyd got Alex, Alex got me, Nathan got Luke and Luke got Nathan. Of course we will help Luke, and Lloyd may still get me a little something, but that is what we are going to do this year. I am excited for Christmas day to come because as of right now Nathan and Alex still have no idea how much they are getting. They think things are tight, which they are, but because we were blessed they are going to have a wonderful Christmas!

Week 16 day 5 pregnancy update

My doctors appointment was quick and painless! The ultrasound showed that everything is just fine and the baby is growing normally! Everyone (including myself) is going to have to wait another 4 weeks before we will be able to find out the sex. The doctor did say that all he saw between the baby's legs was umbilical cord, so there is still hopes that it is a girl! We are still not sure if we want to find out, but it is looking more like we will! As for symptoms, I am still not able to eat much of anything. I just eat when I can and what I can. I have not gained any weight and I am having a hard time getting a good belly picture. Stephanie was so good to me during my pregnancy with Luke and took all the pictures! I MISS YOU! Well next time I promise that I will get someone to take a picture of my belly. Until then enjoy the latest ultrasound picture. It is not a great one this time, but you can see the baby's back and head and a hand up by the head. The doctor reassured me it was a hand and not a deformity!

Just a quick update

Well pretty much since I found out that we are expecting again, I have been trying to wean Luke from breastfeeding. He was already down to about three sessions a day and then I was able to get it down to two. Then we went back up to three again. It has been an emotional roller coaster for both of us. He does not understand why his "momma" is getting limited. Well this weekend we worked really hard and now we are two days down of only one nursing session! We are on our way to weaning. I just need to be consistent. We were at this point once and I started offering the morning nursing session again. Now I know we can do it and we are both ok.

On a side note I have been sick since, well honestly this whole pregnancy, but Thursday I got a stomach bug. I have not been able to eat much, pretty much living off water and toast, the occasional soup or broth, but mainly I feel like I have not had anything to eat. If I do eat it causes me to have a major stomach ache or get nausea. I tried to eat some plain noodles tonight and could not even stomach the smell. It has been terrible and I am so ready to be able to eat. I am not sure if it is still pregnancy related or if I really did have a stomach bug. At least the vomiting and diarrhea was only short lived. (Sorry TMI!)

I hope everyone is doing well and preparing for a wonderful Christmas. I need to get our tree up and decorate. Was suppose to do that this weekend, but sickness took over! Hopefully before Thursday I will have at least the tree up!

I will be posting a pregnancy update with possibly the sex of the baby on Wednesday. I think we are just going to find out. ( I have not discussed this with Lloyd yet). I just know that I cannot stand the suspense any longer!! I know I am a wimp. I would not have survived in the days before ultrasound.

Well more to come on Wednesday!

To Know or Not to Know that is the Question

At our next doctors appointment there is a big possibility that we will be able to find out the sex. Even though we have the poll on this site and a majority says we should find out; I am still not sure. I keep going back and forth. I want it to be a surprise since it is our last, but at the same time the suspense is killing me. I think it is a girl and I want to know if I am right. Lloyd thinks it is a girl, his mom thinks it is a girl and one of my friends thinks it is a girl! I just don't know if we should find out or not. I did not want to find out with Luke, but Lloyd convinced me saying we needed to know so we could plan. I found out with Nathan and Alex and it was never a question. This time, it is really a big question and I am really not sure what to do! Our appointment is on Wednesday and if the doctor can tell the sex and ask if we want to know, I am not sure what we are going to do. AHHH! I thought the hard decisions did not come until after the baby was born!

PS: You still have time to vote if you haven't already.