Mother's Day 2010

I had a WONDERFUL Mother's Day this year. Not only did David let me sleep in (greatest gift EVER), but I also got a new tree to plant in our front yard (once I pick it out that is), some new sudoko and word search books (YAY!) and a gift card for a pedicure (heaven!). I was truly spoiled. David made me a bagel as I requested for breakfast, though he thought it was kind of boring and was hoping to make me a big breakfast. A girl wants what a girl wants. :-) Ally carried it over to me and had the biggest, cheesiest smile ever while delivering it to me. It was ADORABLE!

We got ready and made a stop to see David's step-mom. (We visited with his mom and Grandma on Saturday and had a wonderful lunch...YUM!) Then we went to my mom and dad's house to have dinner with my mama and to see my Granny and Grandpa who are back for the summer from Florida. It was so nice to see them and I know they have been itching to see Ally and Dylan. We had a DELICIOUS meal of chicken and steak kabobs, with salads and potatoes and then chocolate and angel food cakes for desert. YUM again!

I was a big flake and didn't remember to bring my camera all day, but we got some pictures with my mom's camera and I am so happy to have them, especially this one of Ally and me:

This one isn't super flattering of me, but it is really cute of Ally and my beautiful mom:

And this last one is nice to have, because my Granny is in it. The kiddos were over having pictures taken at this point, but it is cute anyway:

It was a great day, but most of all, it was nice to spend it with people that I love and adore so much. It is exciting to think that next year I will have two little ones to spend it with! Hope all of you fellow moms had as great a day as I had! You all deserve it!

Boing, Boing, Boing!!!

Last night we took a trip over to Julie and Brian's house for a little cookout with them. We had such a fun night just hanging out, relaxing and playing some games (David and I apparently are NO GOOD at 80's trivia, but Brian rocked it out!). We had great food. Brian is a master at kabobs and Julie has a new signature dish in her potato casserole, if you ask me. :-) The highlight of Ally's night, though, was getting to jump on the trampoline with Jillian. She LOVED it and we had a really hard time getting her off of it when the rain started. We will definitely have to do that again soon. Jillian is such a pro at jumping already! It took ally a little bit to get used to it, but by the time it started to spinkle, she had really gotten the hang of it. She had the best time! Thanks to the Martins for hosting such a fun evening!

A Birthday Dinner Celebration

Today we went to Dave and Lori's house to celebrate Dave's birthday with a yummy lasagna dinner (well WE all had lasagna and the birthday boy had prime rib...either way, who loses? Yum! :-)). We had a large crowd (large enough that we are outgrowing the kitchen table!), which meant lots of noise, but lots of fun. Even David's Aunt Karen and Uncle Brian joined us and it is always great to see them. After dinner there was some drawing and Wii playing and wedding planning and all sorts of good stuff. It was a nice evening. I hope you had a great birthday, Dave! So glad we could be a part of the celebration. We love you!

An Italian Christmas

Stop #1 on Christmas day is to Grandma Lang's house. David's Grandma makes a HUGE and wonderfully yummy Italian meal every Christmas day...and it is all handmade. She makes her own sauce, meatballs AND pasta! We look forward to it for months, it is just that good. In addition to the food, though, we always look forward to seeing the family and the last couple years have brought several additions to our family, so it is fun to see the little ones all running around. Ally had so much fun playing with her cousins. We filled our bellies and are already looking forward to next year. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Morning

We had a wonderful Christmas morning. We didn't get back from Cincinnati last night until about 1:00am, but Santa was prepared this year and didn't need much help from us, so David and I were able to get to bed by around 1:30 or so. Ally actually slept until around 9:00, so we all woke fresh and ready to go. Look what Santa left for us!

Ally was very excited and ran right over to the tree, but stopped short when she saw her new table and chairs. She wanted to sit right down on her new "seat".

And then Daddy sat down in one of her seats and she thought that was pretty funny...
We finally convinced her to open some of her other gifts and she had a ball! She got so much stuff from Santa (a little too much stuff, but whatever)...
Then Daddy opened a few gifts...he got some books, a new hat, some clothes, some fancy playing cards, etc..
Then I opened a couple gifts...a very nice shelving system for the garage that I have been wanting, but have been told I don't need (I wonder if Santa was just trying to trick me into thinking I wasn't going to get it :-)) and the most amazing gift I have ever received under any tree...
This photo doesn't do it justice, but in this picture are my two Ally's...my daughter, Allyson and my grandmother who passed away four years ago. My Ally is named after my grandma and she was one of the most important people in my life. Our time with her was far too short, but at least now I have this amazing reminder of her. David has been planning for months for this gift and I was in total shock! A lady he works with is an artist and sketched this beautiful photo for me, so that I would have a picture of Ally and my grandma together. I think I sat and stared at this picture for ever, after I was done crying tears of joy that is. Thank you, David for the most amazing gift! I can not put into words how much it means to me. Here is a picture of Ally and me, after I had cried my eyes out for 15 minutes. :-)

After we finished all of our presents (including some that came all the way from Florida to us...thanks GG & GG-pa Clark!!), we let Ally have a sucker from her stocking. Then she preceeded to lose her mind, because she wasn't allowed to have another one. :-) After we calmed the meltdown, I fixed eggs and biscuits for breakfast and we relaxed and played with new toys before heading to our first of several Christmas stops for the day. What a fantastic morning! Merry Christmas, everyone!