Good morning and happy new years eve!

Josie girl helps us see things for the first time all over again. I hope to bring her sledding (at the only hill around that just happens to be one block from our house. Win.) and just give her a chance to play in the snow before the temps drop for the lovely January days of below zero records.
I'm trying to figure out how to blog from my tablet so excuse me while I struggle with the format and the awkward picture locations.
Can't wait for our game night party tonight, lunch at olive garden, and some pinterest experimenting today!

Happy birthday to me

We went to Mexican Village for my birthday supper since I had to work all day. There isn't much better things than chips and salsa.

ok so maybe the quality of the pictures aren't the best quality, but the family time was super high quality! cue the cheesy collectives awes...

This week was so crazy that I hardly felt like my birthday was really my birthday. I need things to slow down a bit so I can catch my breath!

Don't worry everyone, no quarter-life crisis happening here. There's no time for such silly things when I have more birthdays (is everyone celebrating birthdays this week or just me?), New Years parties, and messy houses to look forward to. I know, I know, there's nothing to look forward to with a messy house, but it is something that (always always always) needs addressing.

Thanks for the birthday wishes, by the way! Always makes me feel so good. :)

Midweek Confessions

Linking up...

I'm completely into the show "One Tree Hill" and it makes me feel like a high schooler again. The drama (theirs, not mine) and the cute boys make it good, and the fact that there is like 60 more episodes makes it better. I do love a series.

I'm not related to that crazy lady

While its so fun having a tablet, I do feel cooler after all, I haven't really used it a lot and feel completely stupid whipping it out in public. One time it came in quite handy: waiting for Mike in the car when Jo was sleeping and I knew it was going to be over five minutes, Sudoku made that time just fly by. 

I have a gift left to wrap. How does this happen?? Christmas is over, my birthday is over. But then again I wouldn't have to wrap my own present so that is irrelevant. Anyways, I have a legitimate reason...this time... The gift was wrapped with another one and I didn't notice it so now it (they) is unwrapped but not ready to be given to the correct person. Does that even make sense?

Did somebody say presents??

I like white wine and I'm not afraid to admit it! So the confession part? I really don't like red wine. It's just not good and I don't care to acquire it... I'd rather just enjoy the cheap white wine and call it good. 

I get to pretend that I don't care about something that I really do/did care about and it's going to be pretty fun (note the sarcasm). I love rejection! Who's with me?

Stop talking about serious things. Me and Grampa are bored.

It shouldn't matter to me that so many people may read my blog but only a few follow it, but it does. Why do I care? I don't always, but then I love blogging and its just fun to know who is reading. Don't be anonymous. I just admitted that I want to know you/know you are reading. That ain't no small thang!

I'll stop with the southern accent if you follow me ;). Ok just kidding about that but seriously.

Better quit while I'm ahead.

Somebody tell her that she's not ahead.

Christmas part 3

Once the kid(s?) were in bed, the real party started. 

To be fair, she (my sister Lara) had surgery last week so laying on the floor was a valid option almost all weekend. Nobody even made fun of her more than 2 times each. Impressive. 

We played the game "Ruckus" which was fun. Two reasons: one, Ruckus is the name of Buckley when we first got him, but it didn't really fit... so we liked to yell it out and see his reaction. He on the other hand did not think it was so fun. And two, its super easy and each round only lasts 4 minutes or less. Perfect for those of us that can't handle true concentration.

Once those silly kids arrived (who has to work 60 hours a week and not get off til 6:30 on Christmas eve? Answer: Jewelry store consultants.) we got down to business and opened the presents. I show you these pictures with a word of caution. There is a lot of chaos, and your eyes may not know where to focus. Just note that the point of the pictures is the chaos. :)

Cousin-in-law-to-be Arron, sister Lara, aunt Lynne, dad Paul

continuing around the room: cousin Lindsay (usually quite a bit happier than this?), uncle Mike, mom Laurie, hubby Mike

Controlled chaos

Its getting crazy...

Crazier...crazier...

Paper, bows, boxes, and bags everywhere. She got the most gifts (deserved. Usually she gets jipped and she's the best gma/ma/wife there is) so she couldn't move from this spot for a solid 2 hours. 

Oh man was it fun! Here are some highlights:

• I got a Garmin Forerunner 205 from my parents and declared it the best gift ever. 
• My mom had to open two gifts for every one that we opened. I also secretly skipped my turn a couple of times to let her catch up. (We open gifts one at at time so we can enjoy each other's gifts as well)
• The true winner for best gift(s) ever was the thick socks that my aunt got for the men. Ohmygoodness why these were such a hit nobody knows, but they practically fought over them and were all grinning ear to ear after opening them. Good job Aunt Lynne! 
• What did my cousin get from her fiance? Good question! The answer may shock you like it did to all of us. He got her these A-maz-ing platform peep toe zebra print shoes that fit perfectly. Who does that successfully?? They looked kind of like this but better.:  

• The best present for me was the Motorola tablet Mike got me. Like previously mentioned, I wanted a Nook super duper bad, but this is the clearly best alternative. Sidenote: how do you get library books on the Nook app? I figured it out on kindle but I don't really like the whole pay-for-it thing... if I only want to read it once, I certainly don't want to pay for it! 
• The wine, the company, the whole weekend. It was wonderful. 

On to the next thing. Birthdays! Food! Working out! Crawling, teething, and sitting up on your own (do you do that already? Josie's jealous). It's going to be a busy couple of weeks. :)

Christmas part 2

Being Josie's first Christmas, we had to document all of it. **Sorry, future children, for not doing the same for you. I will do my best but if you haven't figured it out yet, I never finish what I start. Never.**

Mostly my point in these pictures was to point out her adorable new sweater and hair tie. They don't match, but I'm fine with that as is Josie. We both agree that she is a trend setter.

Buckley was all about Josie, especially when she was sitting right by his favoritepersonever Mike. (sorry about the creepy eyes. Photoshop isn't working and I'm too lazy to try another program) 

He just about laid on top of her belly side up. She loved it completely. This was the point when we had Jo open her Christmas presents. It was earlier than everyone else since we waited until my cousin and her fiance came, but it worked out well for her being that we showered her with all of our attention (there were like 6 people just staring at her while she did it). Let me tell you something. This girl knows how to put on a show. While this could be trouble down the road, its just all together entertaining right now. 

The video's kind of long... but right in the middle, Jo gets super excited for one of the gifts. Worth the watch.

Mike was all about these atom-like toys that Auntie Lara got the Josinater. These things are the craziest funnest thing for all ages. Josie noticed how good they tasted, while Mike noticed how he could replicate what he learned in science 100 million years ago.

See what I'm saying? Fun colors and they go together all funky-like. Win/Win.

Christmas part 1

One of the things we did this Christmas weekend was go see my mom's parents. They live in a nursing/assisted living home and don't get the chance to get out much, so we go to them. Cool thing: every time we go there, there is a new picture of Josie (8 X 10) that my mom prints off from this here blog... so it will be fun to see one or two of these pictures next time.

Right away, my grandpa asked if he could hold her. You have to understand: he hasn't wanted to at all since she was born because he was afraid that he would drop her. Baby intuition! She knew how important it was and was therefore perfect. PERFECT. She had just woken up so she just chilled in his lap for a while before playing with her pony (in his lap). 

 This grin right here, seeing him so happy, is the best. Even though he's gotten more fragile and limited in movement and energy, his soul, his being is the same and that is the smile I grew up with.

 She would just stare at him when he made faces. Too funny.

Then we gave her the card she got from them. She was into it... into eating it.

The present from them was entertaining too, but not quite as much as Grandpa. She was only interested in it for about 5 minutes. 

I didn't get any pictures of my grandma this time, but she was just as excited to watch Jo scoot around on the floor and -just-about- crawl. She's sooooo close.....

android tablet

My sweet hubby got me one for Christmas. Crazy and wonderful. What I had originally wanted was a nook, but this is so much better. I'll blog much more about Christmas, gifts, and Josie later, but for now I'll just leave you with this sneak preview of Jo's first Christmas.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

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Entertainment at it's finest

Huge things happened today.

1. My sister got a job doing what she wants to do. Can you believe that?? A real grown up job. And she's only twenty years old! So proud of her. She's still in town, close enough to be auntie of the year (well, tied anyways) and starting out her career. 

2. Josie got her first tooth! It's hard to see so I couldn't really get a picture of it. Its on the bottom and you can barely feel it let alone see it, but it is there. She hasn't been all that fussy but she has had a bit of a runny nose. If all of her teeth are this easy, we are going to breeze through this. 

Look at that crazy long piece right in the middle. Bahaha

This goofy grin looks like me when I was a baby. Too funny.

Must be something good going on over there.

Whenever this innocent face makes an appearance, you know something's up.

The Great Escape

Busted.

Here's what she was looking at in the picture above. She's IN LOVE. I know I've said this before, and I know I'll say it again and again. In her mind, he is the best thing since mashed banana. I'll post a video of them playing later.

For now, here is a picture of us playing. I guess I'm kind of fun too.

Midweek Confessions

E, Myself, and I does this thing called Midweek Confessions and I have jumped on this bandwagon finally after reading her last couple of week's worth of confessions. Too funny! So this week...

I have no idea how to "link up" or what that really means. It sounds fun and makes me feel cool, so I'm trying it out #givingintopeerpressure

I don't really know when the (#) hashtag is appropriate and would love a nice, simple user's guide for that. Also, if you could explain to me which one you are supposed cross out (cross out), the joke or the actual word, that would be great. Blog humor is too much for me to handle sometimes.

I didn't go to the gym this week and was planning on going everysingleday. Sunday, my excuse was that my family came up (love you, don't feel guilty). Monday, well it was Monday. Enough said, right? Tuesday, Mike had to leave early like he always does and it was the perfect excuse to sleep in. Someone's got to stay with Josie! Today, well I legitimately did not have an alarm today! I don't know why it was off when I said on. Maybe I'm losing it or maybe I turned it off in my sleep. It's a toss up.

I feel like no week has ever been as slow as this week. Ever. It is painful. I am so excited for this weekend that I can hardly stand it. Goal for future: Do not put all your hopes and dreams on two days. There is so much room for disappointment, right?

I read a FWD email today (hate those but loved this one) about how Christians made Christmas Christless. Say that 5 times real fast. Ouch convicted!! How many times do I focus on snowflakes, snowmen, and reindeer? I've done pretty good steering clear of santa, but his elves and reindeer are still in control. Another goal for future: Remember that Jesus is the Reason for the Season. It is so hard to type cheesy things like that.

That's probably enough for now. Anybody else have any good confessions? This could be fun... maybe it will be a new weekly thing.

Rolling, wiggling, grinning

Can you honestly resist this face?

This one will be framed. Count on it.