Happy Birthday??

As I said, yesterday Jodi and I were hoping to scrap, well we did, and we had a great time. I have to say I'm super proud of both babies because they were very well behaved while their mamas were playing! We had to take a few baby breaks, but for the most part they played well together and entertained themselves. I'm not really sure what has happened to my scrapbooking abilities, but I totally blame the cricut! I just can't explain how much I LOVE it!! I remember when I used to go to Danna's on Friday night and spend 3 or 4 hours and get 4 to 6 pages done...well no more! There are just so many options with the cricut...and they are ever increasing as we experiment with the software! The great thing about the software is it makes visualizing everything so much easier, not to mention that you can weld EVERYTHING together and not only make awesome words, but you can also weld the different designs together to make page borders and other kinds of things too. I have only gotten to play with it a little bit, but I can tell it's going to be awesome, and my addiction is going to get even stronger!

Jodi worked on a page with a picture of Walker with Brad's mom, and I FINALLY finished Alexa's birthday spread. I was super pleased with how it turned out. The whole thing is full of cricut cuts! We also played with shrinky dinks yesterday...it's plastic that you cut out into any shape you want, and it's about as thick as a transparency, then you color it or leave it white, and bake it...it shrinks (hence the name) and becomes a thick piece of plastic and ou can use it like a charm. We used the cricut to cut different charms, and then baked them, it's really cool! We did an A and a W at 4", and they ended up being about 1.5" charms. They will look super cute on a page!

The rest of the weekend has been pretty uneventful, I was hoping to get some other things done, but that's just not going to happen now. Oh well! Tonight we have our Christmas music, and sadly, mama has lost her voice so she can't sing :(. She was hoping she would be better by today, but she isn't, and I told her she doesn't need to try and strain her voice! I hope we have a great time tonight, and that God is completely glorified through our performance! I hope everyone had a great weekend! As we look into the coming week, we are getting so close to Christmas, don't forget the reason for the season...and don't let anyone ruin it for you! Only 9 more days!! :) I'm so excited, this is going to be an awesome Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Savior!

The journal tag slides under the picture...it needs some ribbon, but I didn't have any that worked yesterday, so I'll have to add that later. Then the pink at the bottom was a shrinky dink that has Alexa Lynn '07 written on it.

What a week!

This week has been a whirlwind of activity! For starters, I have pink eye again! This time in the other eye, and it's not nearly as bad, thank goodness. I've had it for a couple of days, and today my eye looks much better. I'm still slightly aggrevated because I just replaced my mascara, and now I'm going to have to do it again! :( Oh well, I guess I should be glad I have eyes and that I'm not blind! Both of which I am thankful for!

Tuesday we went to Jodi's house for supper, and Mimi and Pop tried to get a picture with the babies for their Christmas card. I think we maybe got a good one...it's just so hard at this age to get them to cooperate, especially at the same time. No, I'm not talking about the grandparents!! :) LOL! I'm talking about the babies. They are both so sweet, but it is nearly impossible to get them to smile at the same time. Then Jodi took a HORRIBLE picture of me, and we started fighting over the camera. Not really fighting, play fighting, we were both laughing and being silly...and then Jodi tossed the camera to Brad. Unfortunately "she throws like a girl" as Brad said and the camera hit the laptop...the camera is now dead. I feel really bad about it, we certainly didn't mean for anyone or thing to get hurt! Ane NO I will not post the picture that we were fighting over! I hope she won't either!

Then on Wednesday, Anthony and I went shopping for Alexa's Christmas present. The child honestly doesn't NEED anything, but what kind of parents would we be if she didn't have something to unwrap? We got her a little kitchen, and I really think she will like it. We also got her some educational books, and Anthony is going to buy her some new shoes too. We saw some friends while we were at Toys R Us, so it was nice to catch up with them for a few minutes. I feel like I never see people anymore, we are always just so busy!

Last night mama and I had our dress rehearsal for our Christmas music. We are singing Sunday night at 6:30 if anyone would like to come! It's sure to be a crowd pleaser! Afterwards we are having the whole family over for soup and chili, which is always super YUMMY!

Then today we are having our Christmas gathering at work...where basically the hospital provides snacks and we get the chance to talk to coworkers, eat, and get paid all at the same time. I think it's a wonderful concept! :) I know it will be fun, but it's tonight that I'm really excited about! Jodi's friend Liz has a cookie exchange every year where she invites people to her house and you bring a plate of your favorite cookies. Jodi has invited Alexa and me to go with them this year. The cool part is that she has a Santa at her house so your kids can have their picture made with him!! I am really looking forward to it, and hopefully Alexa will like Santa! I told Jodi we will probably have to give both of them a bunch of cookies so they will be in a good mood! :) Hopefully I will have some cute pictures to post tomorrow.

Finally, I HOPE we are going to scrap tomorrow! I have been going through withdrawals for the lack of scrapping in my life right now. There just doesn't seem like enough time to do it all! Jodi and I have both been experimenting with the cricut software, and we can't wait to get the real thing instead of the trial version. We are going to have some KILLER layouts when it's all said and done! I hope you all have a great weekend!

Here are a couple of pictures from Jodi's on Tuesday. Alexa had the best time playing with the metal bowl and wooden spoons! Here she is on the caterpillar with the spoons...she thought it was great fun! She still thought all of the spoons should be hers. Even when we got out 2 more spoons for Walker she wanted those too. Still working on sharing!

Then in this picture Mimi was holding her and being the drama queen that she is, she threw her head back towards Pop and Walker to see what they were doing. In the previous picture Walker had given her a kiss on the head. They were both really sweet all night! When we got there Walker was asleep and when he woke up Mimi was in the den with both of them and Alexa kept walking over to them and giving Walker a hug. Too cute!! :)

Snack time with Pop

For those of you who know Alexa, and spend any amount of time around her, you know the child LOVES to eat! It doesn't matter when she has last eaten, if she sees food, then she thinks she should eat it. If you have food, she thinks you should share it...and if she thinks food should be coming and it's not (like waiting in a restaurant) she gets rather unhappy. We are working on this one...but at almost 15 months, it's a slow process. Last night I went Christmas shopping with Anthony for Alexa...we got her some great stuff. She is getting one big toy, and then some books and things like that. When I got home she had already had a bath, and Pop was sharing a pear with her. Now, sharing is not a concept Alexa has mastered at this point, especially where food is concerned! She has the what's mine is mine and what's yours is mine thing going on right now. I'm not sure if Pop actually got to eat any of the pear or not! She is such a sweet baby, and she really does share sometimes...but only if she wants to. I think we are all that way to some extent. She is too cute with her little bird mouth open, I love her so much! Here are some pictures from last night! :)

Please Smile!!

Isn't she just adorable!! :) This is Alexa's Christmas picture from the daycare. They have someone come in every year and take pictures. I think most daycares do this...but not necessarily at Christmas. Anyway, last year she was about 8 weeks old when they did the pictures. It was her first professional picture experience...and from the picture, it looked painful! She looked so scared! Now, I realize she was a tiny baby, so I wasn't expecting a miracle, but I was still a bit nervous about this year. I mean they have so many children to photograph, and I'm sure it takes all day, so it's not like when you take your child to the photographer and they have lots of time to take dozens of pictures. Well, when I got there this morning and saw this picture, I was so excited!! :) Not only do I love the scenery, but she has the best expression on her face! I am super pleased with the picture!



This is her picture from last year...doesn't she look scared? Obviously you can see why I was so pleased with how this year's picture turned out! I can't wait to get a frame for it!! :)

Picture Perfect??

We had a wonderful weekend...extremely busy, but wonderful nonetheless. Friday I got off work at 1, and had my crown done at 3:30, I'm glad that's over! Alexa spent the day with her daddy, so after I went to get her, we relaxed at home. Then on Saturday, we got up early because we had a bunch we needed to accomplish before 2 Christmas parties that night. Mama has decided she needs a new sewing machine...I'm really not sure why she thinks that, since the one she has was made before she was born! So, after testing a new sewing machine we headed to Wal-Mart to get a few things for Angel Tree and stuff like that. Then it was off to Haywood...and boy was it packed! After battling the parking lot we decided to eat lunch at Chick-fil-a. We were so glad to find some girls leaving their table to we didn't have to fight for one of those too! :) Then mama sat with Alexa while I waited in line for our food. The Christmas spirit was abounding as always when it comes to long lines at the mall. The lady in line next to me got very testy when a man who had been there longer than both of us "broke" in front of her. I have to admit that I wasn't paying that much attention to it, but once she thought he had wronged her she proceeded to discuss it with the lady in front of me (who was just as clueless as I was) and then she proceeded to be hateful to him until she got her food and left. I guess Christmas doesn't always bring out the best in people. I hate to admit it, but I know if it had been me I would probably have felt the same way, but I definitely wouldn't have acted so ugly!

After we ate lunch we set off to find several different things...I can't tell you how much I hate shopping with a stroller! The worst part of our shopping experience was mama and I getting testy with each other while trying to find an elevator. Then if you need to try anything on it's impossible to fit into a dressing room with the stroller and still be able to see the mirror. Like at Lerner when all three of us were crammed into a sweatbox of a dressing room and trying to see what our clothes looked like was impossible. So impossible, in fact, that mama bought a pair of pants that 3/4 of the hem was out of one leg. There is a possibility that we would've missed it anyway, but since we were so packed in the dressing room I'm going to blame it on that! :)

After we finished shopping we came home and were lazy until it was time to get ready for our Christmas parties. My Sunday School class party was at 6, and mama's work party was at 7. Daddy was supposed to go with her, but he wasn't feeling well, so I told her I would go with her instead. So, I went to my party for about an hour, and then came home and got her and we went to her party for a little while. We had a great time socializing with her co-workers, and the food was awesome. The shrimp were HUGE! :) I'm not usually one to comment on things like that, but these really were huge! Alexa stayed with Aunt Sylvia while we were gone, and as always they had a great time! They even walked to the neighbors house to look at the Christmas decorations in their yard.

Alexa and I stayed home from church yesterday because she has been a little under the weather. I think it's a combination of teething and a cold. She had a fever some during the weekend, but by yesterday it was gone. Her top right front tooth is really coming through now...she was so cute clicking her teeth together Saturday morning when I got her up! Even though she seemed to be normal I didn't want to chance her passing her cold on to anyone else at church. We made several attempts yesterday to get a good picture for our Christmas card, she was totally not in a picture taking mood. She would laugh and giggle, but as soon as I got the camera she would just look at me like I was crazy! I have some of the out takes posted below.

I also have a picture of the ornaments we made posted below. I borrowed from Leigh-Ann's idea. Mama and I thought it would be really cute to start making Christmas ornaments as a tradition, and when I saw hers I just loved them. So, I changed it a little bit (truly very little) and we made those yesterday. I used different things as the bottom ornament, and I added jingle bells to them. LA I hope you don't mind that I copied you!! :) I also have to say that I applaud you for selling them because they were not easy to make. I made 15, one for each family member, and a couple of extras (like Joy and Peace). Next year we are going to have everybody come over one night and make our ornaments as a group. That's really what we had intended to do this year, but we just ran out of time. Mama is so excited to have them all hanging on our tree!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend like we did...now it's back to work for me! As much as I say that, I'm super glad I have a good job to come to! I hope you all enjoy the pictures...some of them are pretty funny...hopefully we have one good one we can use, I guess you'll know when you get our Christmas card!! :) Have a great week, and remember why we celebrate this wonderful season and don't let anyone steal your joy!

Alexa with her mouth open!

Taking the ornaments off the tree

Why can't I reach the breakable ones?

Waving or something

More waving

Pointing at the ornaments

Giving her Grinch a hug! (before she threw him in the floor!)

Playing next to the tree...oh look, I can smile!

A shot of our tree

The ornaments we made...I was super pleased with how they turned out, and I think it's a great new tradition!
One of the ornaments on the tree, doesn't it look great!

Yeah for Thursday!!

It's Thursday again, and as always that makes me happy because it means tomorrow is Friday! Let's see...what am I going to do my post on today...hmmm...??? I think I will post 13 things I am looking forward to...

1. The whole family is coming over to mama and daddy's tonight to put up and decorate their Christmas tree. It should be lots of super fun with both babies there, not to mention that Josh and Brenda are coming from Easley too!! :)
2. Tomorrow is Friday and I'm leaving work at 1
3. Tomorrow I am taking my last final (which I'm not looking forward to) and then I'll be done with school until January 15th
4. I hope Jodi and I get to scrap some this weekend...we are going to attempt making some pages to sell on ebay...there are some crazy people out there who pay way too much money for premade scrapbook pages, so why shouldn't we benefit?
5. Alexa's daycare did pictures with them yesterday...I can't wait to see how they turn out!!
6. I hope we are going to make homemade ornaments this year and make it a tradition from now on!
7. I'm going to try and find a cute outfit for Alexa to wear for our Christmas card and take the picture this weekend...we will see how that goes!
8. We are doing our Christmas music at church on the 16th
9. Alexa going back to sleeping through the night sans-paci!!
10. I have a really special project I'm working on right now...but I don't want to tell about it until it's finished :)
11. I'm looking forward to Christmas shopping for Alexa and some other special people!
12. I am patiently waiting on Lou Lou and Sevy to come home...and I'm really looking forward to that...so is Alexa! We miss you guys, hurry up!
13. Most of all I'm looking forward to celebrating the birth of our Savior with my family and friends!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Only one more!

Last night I was scheduled to take my networking final at 8:15pm. With 123 questions on it I was not looking forward to it at all! I know most of the material anyway, so it wasn't that bad, but still, who really wants to be taking an exam at 8:15 on a Wednesday night? I was running a few minutes late when I got to school, and they already had the door closed so I assumed that meant the exam was underway. To my surprise when I entered the room everyone was talking to the professor...it didn't look like anyone was studying, I was really confused!

I took my seat and awaited my exam. After a few minutes the instructor, who is an adjunct professor, informed us that we had no exam. The department head emailed him on Monday to let him know they would be printed and in his box...but somebody forgot to put them there. OOPS!! :) At first he was going to go around the room and just ask us questions, but then he decided to just discuss the basics of networking with us. So we spent the next hour and a half listening to him talk about networking and what you should and shouldn't do when setting up a network.

We all got a 100...and to listen to him talk for ever...I'm not sure it wouldn't have been better to just take the test and not have to listen to him. Either way, I'm glad it's over and I got a 100. Now if I could only make a 100 on my online final tomorrow. I've gotten pretty good with my router config, but I still don't think I'm going to pull that off. Oh well!! I wonder what the odds are of that happening...hmmm.