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Saturday, December 31, 2011

Goodbye, hello!

I know 2011 has not been such a good year for everyone. But for us, it has been pretty darn good, all in all. It has been a special year of firsts for my little family. Sully has learned so much this year- eating solid foods, crawling, stair climbing, talking, pointing, throwing and the lists goes on forever. For the hubs and I, we have a whole year of parenthood under our belts so we are basically aces now...

I will miss 2011, but like all good things, it must end. I still have all the memories (and lots of pics) from this special year that I will carry over to 2012 with me. I won't forget and I am forever grateful to have had it. I don't see how it can get any better but who knows what life still has in store for us?  For anyone?

Well, off to celebrate the remaining hours of this amazing year and welcome what the future holds for us...






And from NYE 2004...

Friday, December 30, 2011

7 years ago...

Seven years ago today,
we were getting ready for our big day.
To celebrate with our family and friends
as a new year begins and the last one ends.
Getting ready to start a new year
forever joined to you, my dear.
But I knew years before
that we would have marriage in store.
Only I didn't know how long it would take you
to also decide it was the right thing to do.
But you took my "hint" which was not so subtle,
straight to heart, lickety split, on the double.
The scene was set, Christmas Eve 2003,
you popped the question in front of my family.
A date was quickly set,
and straight to planning, I did get.
I was determined to plan the perfect party,
getting all the services lined up, can't be tardy!
And you, in typical Clayton style,
planned a speech about farts all the while.
So that on this date, seven years ago,
we were all rehearsed, set and ready to go.
I didn't sleep well that night,
nervous, hoping it would all go right.
Turns out, I didn't have to worry,
you were ready, after that pull of Jezy.
And I would do it all again, a hundred times more, become your wife,
marry you again, chose you as my partner for life.

Happy 7th Anniversary Babe!!!!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Toeses

I was going to blog about all the projects that I have lined up.  And believe me, there are a lot of them in the planning stage.  It is always depressing to look around my house after I put away Christmas and see all the large cavities that their absence has left.  So I will be filling the void with lots of projects.

But some snaggle toes caught my attention....

Here is a classic shot of the snaggle toes on Christmas morning...

And then tonight, I come home to them again...






I am not going to lie, I am not one for feet but these are just irresistible.  And they are soooooo soft!  It is hard to believe that these slightly stinky baby feet will some day grow into really stinky teenage feet and then into snarly adult feet.  He will play sports on these feet, run on these feet, dance on these feet. 

These snaggle toes are one of the first things I noticed about my baby boy.  He even had them as a newborn.  So uniquely him, so imperfectly...well...perfect.

Monday, December 26, 2011

So that was Christmas

 Luring Santa to our house...


It worked!




Oh what fun!







And contrary to what most would think, the kid loved his pillow pet...



Sully thoroughly enjoyed his 2nd Christmas.  We got to spend lots of time with family.  Hope your holiday was very merry as well!

Friday, December 23, 2011

Cookie Crazy

Yesterday was our cookie baking day with my MIL and SILs. 






These cookies in the last picture were finished off with a dollop of chocolate and an almond.  I had more pictures of the cookies but you get the idea. 

We did have to compete with some cookie monsters running around...


There was a lot of fighting over a remote...



Oh, these boys are going to have so many years of "sharing"...

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Mod Podge

If you have not heard of this product or used it, go get some now.  For reals.


I makes any crafting project infinitely better, less DIY-y.

Here is the house warming gift I crafted for the Shagers.  I took some close up pics of some of the unique features of their new house and Mod Podged them together onto a piece of cardboard.  Then I placed that in a frame and actually Mod Podged the glass/plastic that came with the frame so it looks more like a canvas than a picture just stuck in a frame. (I think this project would have turned out a bit better with my new lens)


Have you ever gotten a present with the most fantastic wrapping paper that you could not throw the wrapping paper away?  Me too.  Just yesterday, even! 


I took the paper, Mod Podged it to a canvas and then Mod Podged over it and stuck it in a frame.  Instant winter art. 


So easy!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Addiction...

My not so new addiction is...

















Starting with Sully's birth announcement and following through with picture books and invitations and then our Christmas card, you can really make some great, personalized things.  I so love everything I have made on Shutterfly and here are all the cards...




And just for the hell of it (Merry Christmas to me), I went and bought myself a new lens for my camera.


Now I am obsessed with mastering bokeh photography, or at least practicing it a lot.  Bokeh is the blurring of highlights within a picture (basically).  Wikepedia has a much more in-depth definition so feel free to reference that if you need to.

(Oops, Sully is just a bit fuzzy in this one)




Yes, I did try to practice some bokeh with my pics of my Shutterfly cards (you guys are good for noticing that).  Well, have a fab Tuesday!

Monday, December 19, 2011

Weekend

What a wonderful weekend we had!  It started off with water park fun on Saturday...

Sully + Santa does not equal happy.



This is my FAVORITE pic of the weekend.  Sully and Papa...



Sully and Gamma in the water park...



On Saturday, we went back to the water park for about an hour and then after watching the Packer game, we headed to my brother's house for our family Christmas celebration. 

Sully and cousin Jerry...


Jingle boy...


4-wheeling fun!


Sully and his cousin Jack, Aunt Gina and Uncle Jesse (full house style)...

Jack is completely mesmerized by his work bench that my dad built for him.  He spent most of the night organizing it over and over...


Jerry opening one of our gifts for him...


Sully and cousin Harlie...


Our Harlie girl...


Jack using the nail gun we got him to "fix" his present...


Such a happy baby...


Gamma and Jack...


2 year old + 1 year old= impossible to get a decent cousin pic...


All and all, it was a wonderful weekend with my family.  I did not escape the weekend without injury though.  I stabbed my hand with a steak knife trying to get one of Sully's toys out of the packaging.  Yes, I totally know better.  But why does everything have to be zip-tied into the boxes, is that really necessary?  I think not.  Fortunately, I am pretty sure I will live so it is all good. 

Now I am going to enjoy my week off.