CHRISTMAS in Sparkle City

was wonderful here............The kids loved EVERYTHING they got. I enjoyed just watching them open up thier gifts and playing with it. We did a neat letter this year with Dameron. We have been doing his Jesus letter for 11 years now..........I love it every year. His big gift this year was his XBOX 360 that he got from both sets of grandparents. He literally was in shock for quite a few minutes. We did it after every gift was open so He thought he was NOT getting it. SUCKER,lol.

He made Dh and I and Ava and Aaron Christmas cards. They were VERY touching. Dh could NOT finish reading his he got so choked up. Gotta love that boy! Of course I got a picture of that moment and will be sharing,lol.

The tree is already down adn decorations put away though. Sorry I was happy to see the tree go. It was dying on us,lol. For the most part all gifts are put away in thier place. It took a few hours to get stuff situated but I am so glad I did it NOW.

I headed today to the sales and picked up some nice stuff to pull out next year. I even got stocking stuffers for the kids and a few presents for others for next year. Woohooo.

Ok picture time:) Enjoy

Angel Tree & Christmas:)

This evening we headed to my church to thier Angel Tree dinner. It was nice to put a face with the children we helped. One of the little girls dd not show but the other was there. She was a cutie and I watched as she opened her gifts(not knowing I bought them) I was THRILLED that she LOVED everything. Cutest little thing with blond hair and the most beautiful green eyes I have seen. I believe her grandmother was with her.

I did finally go over and speak BUT never let on to who I was. I hope she has the BEST christmas EVER.......I now wish I had bought more,lol. BUT I made sure to get everything and then some on her list. One or both of her parents are in jail. How hard that must be for her. My heart goes out to her....

While there..........I had the kiddoes take pics with Ms. Claus and Santa Claus....... Even Lil D took a seat on his lap,lol.

Happy Birthday Baby Boy

I can NOT believe he turned 1 today. Time FLIES seriously.........His birth story started with me having to have not one BUT two amnio's to see if his lungs were ready. They were so sure he was ready and so off I went on the 13th to have him.........Well I got the call that he needed to bake longer...........SO again on the 19th ANOTHER amnio...... He was ready!!!! However they were backed up SO I literally SAT in prep for hours STARVING.

Finally I go back and they had some serious issues getting my epidural in. I cant telling them to let me lean on someone but they thought they knew better and had me arching. Finally they actually listened and the epidural went in after MUCH MUCH discomfort. SO they are moving right along with the c-section and my doc and I are discussing Law and Order and my pressure goes down.........I had no idea that was what it was. I just knew I felt SOOOOOOOOOOO weird.......They quickly jumped on it and all was well again.

Mr. Aaron finally made his appearance but was SO quiet........ I literally could not breathe waiting to hear him. I heard this small cry and literally I got to look at him for a second and off to NICU he went. They told me so calm that he was perfect just needed some help. I was freaking out inside but praying like never before that all was well with my baby boy.

5 hours later, he was in my arms......I lost it and literally refused to let anyone hold him for HOURS. I just kept checking him over from head to toe..... He was perfect and just so precious. I could NOT believe he was here already and that I had a 3rd child. I was told I would NOT have babies SO this was a miracle.

I sadly can not find the cd of his hospital pics just yet SO I will add them when I do.. BUT until then here is a pic of him today on his First Birthday:)

I LOVE YOU DEARLY AARON. HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY BABY BOY

We Wish You A Merry Christmas!!!

Ava had her Christmas concert on Monday. It was so cute, hillarious and tear jerker....... I loved EVERY minute of it..........Dh videotaped while I snapped pics,lol. I loved that they sung off key and loud. It was PERFECT!!!

I love LOVE thier cute little sweatshirts! They were a suprise for us parents. I will keep it FOREVER,lol

Batson.............OUT!

O CHRISTMAS TREE............OH CHRISTMAS TREE

how lovely are your branches..........My kids are THRILLED. They picked out thier tree of choice and decorated it. It was kinda neat to sit back literally and just let them do it. Aaron was too impressed with the lights to even move. It was hillarious..... I snapped a few pics..... Enjoy....

Aaron...........

had his bday party today. Technically he will not be 1 till the 19th BUT we celebrated early because of Christmas. He enjoyed his day ALOT, especially the cupcake. He had NO issue digging into it. He got tickled at us wishing him Happy Birthday:)

He is also walking!!!! He walked ALONE on his own on yesterday............He has been walking every since. He does still enjoy a good crawl though,lol....... I will NOT kill you with pics. I will do that on his actual day,lol.

Everyone we invited came and we just enjoyed the day. I cooked like it was a Sunday,lol.......BUT served the bday goers chicken nuggets and fries, applesauce and juice:)

The adults had Baked Ham, Mac and Cheese, Potato Salad, Mixed Veggies and Rolls.... YUMMY!!!

16 Years Ago Today.............

I married my soul mate and best friend. I am in shock that it has been that long. It really doesn't feel like it. Although we have had our ups and downs it has been a great ride. Dh received a gift card from his job for being there 6 years so we headed to City Range to enjoy it. I got the Bourbon Pecan Chicken..........It was TDF and he tried a new dish called Herb Stuffed Chicken. I had a bite of it and it was delicious. They gave us a free dessert but of our anniversary. I only had a few tastes of the delicious cheesecake because I was literally stuffed. I brought ALOT of my food home with me. We ended up the night with shopping for our kids for Christmas. Just a nice night in all............Happy Anniversary Baby:)

SINK or SWIM BABY............

SO we(parents) thought swimming class was ending because Ms. Colleen was walking them towards us( or so we thought) they went right past us to the DEEP water........I tried not to freak out........She stopped and said we are diving off the diving board today. Ava looked SO ready for it SO I just swallowed and followed. Dorcas had her new camera so we got pics AND I did a video of each kiddo. I can NOT wait till she sends it my way. I will add it in. They not only dived into the water BUT then swam to the railing where Ms. Colleen was. They all did really well. Nolan was NOT feeling it the first time around and had some actual tears going BUT in the end did it again without any problem. Ava SHOCKED me and loved it. I mean really LOVED it. She did it 4 times and was ticked because she could not do it again. I am glad she is LOVING the water now BUT fear she has NO fear and will just try stuff,lol. It is amazing how far this chick has come. Just 3 months ago, she freaked out over lotion on her face,lol. I have a few pics. Enjoy.

Bye Bye Chinese Class.............

till we meet back up in February..............Lil D and A completed thier first semester of chinese today. It ended with a nice party and snacks for the kids. They reviewed everything they learned and played some chinese games. It was awesome to watch how much D and A know. I was super proud of my kids as well as the others.......I snapped some pics because I have issues,lol.

T.G.I. BLACK FRIDAY..........

Of course I really did not find any GREAT deals or stuff I just had to have. I am sticking to a list this year. I am NOT buying to just buy because some doll or toy is cheap. I have done that for years with Ava and it ends up not played with. SO I am working hard to BUY what I know she wants/plays with or needs and leave the rest alone. I thought I would cave BUT I actually stuck with it...........I need a reward for it.

What made it great this year, was Dh and I got up in Georgia and went alone and just had fun being together. We love the rush/crowd(although we heard some walmarts were crazy and someone got fatally hurt, so sad) . We just enjoyed being together and shopping. We did get some things for each kid but it was on the actually will use list. I also picked me up a memory stick for my camera.

We went to just Wally world and Big Lots. I did take care of some godkids and Ava's best bud, Julia. So it was productive but mostly I just enjoyed being out with Big D:) I just asked and he said he had fun with me but then started laughing(what the heck does that mean?)

Being Thankful...........

We spent Turkey day in Hinesville, GA with my brother, his wife(Shatrece) and my nephew Rashad, as well as her extended family AND my other brother , sister and my dad. It was WONDERFUL. We all got along superb! We did not even want to come home. The food and company was awesome. We played games, did karaoke(Aaron did as well,lol) It was just NICE all around. Thier home is beautiful and they took awesome care of us. She put her FOOT in the food(this means the food was AWESOME) Everything was good. Shatrece cooked us breakfast all three days, lunch and everything........... We just really had a good time. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving......I sure did! OH a picture Ava made at school. I LOVE IT!