Our Christmas

I hope that everyone had a great Christmas!! Adam and I had a wonderful Christmas together this year! On Christmas Eve, we went to Church which was an awesome service! The band worked so hard on the music, it brought tears to my eyes. They did a beautiful job! They sang The Little Drummer Boy and Mary Did You Know. Have you ever really listened to the words of Mary Did You Know? It is such a powerful song! Then we went to Mom and Dad's for their Christmas Eve party. All of our family was there and it was a joy spending it with both of our families. We ate lots of yummy food, tracked Santa, and even got to see him via Skype at Mem and Pep's house in RI. On Christmas morning, Adam and I woke up early and opened presents together at our house, then went to Mom and Dad's to have Christmas with them. Then we all went to Mem and Pep's for presents and brunch, all while still in our pj's :) After Mem and Pep's, Adam and I went to my Grandma's house for lunch. That afternoon, we went to my Mama's house and had a great Christmas with her there. Adam and I were blessed beyond belief with all of the gifts we received, but the greatest gift with being able to share this wonderful time of year with the people that we love most and to give to those less fortunate!! It is so exciting to think that next year we will spend Christmas with our sweet little girl!! It is going to be such a joy to experience Christmas with her. I cannot wait to keep alive the traditions that Adam and I had as a child and the ones that we will create together as a family. I have a lot of pictures that I want to post from our holiday, it is just finding the time to do it. Speaking of pictures, Adam got me a super duper nice Nikon camera with a big lens for Christmas! I am so excited about it and cannot wait to spend time taking nice pictures, especially of our precious little one :)

O Christmas week

It always seems that once December gets here, Christmas Day comes all too fast! So here we are the week of Christmas, and Christmas Day will be here in a few short days. Leading up to the big day, we have events planned for each night of the week which ofcourse will make the days go by even quicker which is a little sad, but it will fun enjoying the season with our family and friends. Tonight, we are celebrating Mutante' Paulie's birthday(and hopefully going to see the lights at Hopeland Gardens-a little tradition of ours); Tomorrow, I am going to dinner with the girls and it is Adam's birthday; Wednesday, I am getting together with my two cousins, Jen and Amanda, and Adam and I will have nice dinner to celebrate his birthday just the two of us; Thursday, Christmas Eve, I have to work until 1 pm and then we will get ready for Church and Mom and Dad's Christmas Eve party; Friday, Christmas Day, we will spend it with our families and just enjoy each other and the day and give thanks for ALL of our many blessings. I am so thankful that Adam's last day at Walgreens is Wednesday and we will be together Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, which wasn't the case last year. I will look forward to many more Christmases together and being able to share them together with Ella Jae and starting new traditions with her! Adam and I really want her to know and understand the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus and giving to others less fortunate. We want to teach her that Christmas is not just about "all I want for Christmas" and getting presents. We plan to not go overboard with gifts but trying to convince the grandparents to not go overboard might be a different story haha! This week, I hope to find some down-time in between all the happenings to bake and listen to Christmas music and really soak in everything about this Christmas season!

Our weekend

Friday night, Adam and I had a night in :) We had breakfast for supper...love it! It was nice just relaxing and staying in because I had a crazy day with my glucose screening and then having to go to work in the rainy freezing cold weather. Saturday, I hosted a Pampered Chef Party! It was so much! Who doesn't love for someone to come cook in your home? The products are great, too! Adam went into work (only 3 more days of yuck-greens) and I spent the rest of the afternoon going through some baby clothes that my cousin gave to me and shopping for things to go on Ella Jae's walls. Who knew that deciding on decor for a nursery could be so difficult. I think I almost have it though!! Sunday, Adam had to be at work at 8 am so I went to Church solo after stopping by Dunkin Donuts ofcourse :) Then went to Mom and Dad's for lunch. We also celebrated Adam's birthday last night. I had to run to Publix to pick up his cake. His whole family came over for sandwiches, chips, potato salad, and cake. It was fun having everyone over and celebrating my sweet husband! His birthday is Tuesday and he has to close so we can't celebrate Tuesday, but hopefully we go to dinner on Wednesday. I have a lot of pictures to post from our holiday season!! Hopefully, I can get a chance to do that sometime this week! Hope everyone has a great week and can enjoy the last week before Christmas :)

A fun girl's night!

After work tonight, I met some of my best friends at Elegant Bridals for one of my best friend's, Jessica, wedding dress fitting! We had so much fun and she looked so beautiful! Afterwards, we ate at Five Guys Burgers and Fries or as Jess referred to it, "Five Guys and a Burger!" So yummy! Jess is going to make such a pretty bride! I skipped trying on bridesmaid dresses haha! But I still have to order it in January, but hopefully I can just go up a size from what I wore before I was pregnant and then just have it altered. Surely I will lose most of the baby weight 6 months after giving birth haha! Jessica is getting married in September and I plan to work my little (so not so much now) booty to the bones to get back into shape. I have Nicholas and Megan's wedding to get ready for in October, too. 2010 will be a very eventful year :) How exciting!!

Me and my beautiful besties!

Amanda, Megan, Me, and Jess (the bride-to-be)

A sigh of relief

I went to the high risk doctor today for my last visit! My last visit was actually supposed to be last month, but I was given somewhat of alarming news or atleast it was to me being a new mother. I was told at my last visit that Ella Jae may have a heart valve or atrium abnormality, which means that one side of her heart would become enlarged and fluid would begin to build around it. I was completely blown away because every screening had come back normal so far. The doctor went into great detail which confused and upset me even more. Then she said that it could be completely positional but wanted to see me back in 4 weeks to confirm if it was positional or if there was an abnormality with her heart which would mean surgery after she was born. Fortunately, Adam was with me at this visit otherwise I would not have been able to drive home. I completely lost it in the elevator. I tried so hard to wrap my head around everything she said, but none of it made any sense to me because every screening and sonogram had been completely normal until then. All I could think of was Ella Jae and feeling her tiny movements at that moment and then the possibility of something being wrong with her precious little heart. In my heart, I felt everything was fine but I still new that there may be a possiblity. Well, the next day I called the doctor to get better clarification and try to understand why I couldn't just go back right then and see if she was in a different position and they could take a better look at her heart. I spoke with the really sweet technician who I love, and she really gave me a peace about things and basically said that nothing was wrong with Ella Jae's heart and the doctor had to give me the whole scenerio and the possibilities and that I had to wait so her heart would be bigger so they could definitely confirm it was only possitional. I tried very hard to put it out of my mind and prayed a lot. We didn't tell many people because we did not want to alarm anyone if it were just positional, and praise the Lord, today it was confirmed that Ella Jae had a perfectly normal healthy heart!!! Call it mother's instinct, but I felt in my heart that she was perfect and I did not worry over the last month. When I would think "what if," I knew that God has a plan for her little life no matter what health condition she may be in, but I am just so thankful that she will be healthy. It was such a sigh of relief and I could have cried but I stayed strong! Praise the Lord that our sweet baby girl has a healthy strong heart. She is growing perfectly and putting on weight as normal. She weighs 2.8 lbs and is over 15 in. long! Which is right on target for 28 weeks, which I will be tomorrow!

Christmas 20 Questions

1. Eggnog or hot chocolate? I love both but I'd have to choose HOT CHOCOLATE!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? When I was little Santa just sat the presents out, but now he wraps them and puts them under the tree for me :)

3. Colored lights or white? I use white, but colored make me think of Christmas as a kid.

4.Do you hang mistletoe? No, but I'd like to get a mistletoe ball!!

5. When do you decorate for Christmas? The day after Thanksgiving.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish, excluding dessert? Any casserole :)

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Spending the day playing with my cousins and our new toys.

8. When and how, did you learn the truth about Santa? I was probably about 8 or so and heard my mom putting out the presents.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Adam and I use ornaments that we've had since we were little and the ones we've collected since we've been married. I also like lots of color so I use red, green and gold balls with matching ribbon!

11. Snow. Love it or hate it? Love it but would never want it ALL winter long. A day or two is enough.

12. Can you ice skate? I love to skate, but unfortunately I'll have to skip it this year with Ella Jae on the way :)

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I think I have a new favorite every year!

14. What is the most important thing about the holidays to you? Being with family, remembering the true reason for the season and giving to those less fortunate.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Red Velvet Cake :)

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Going to church on Christmas Eve and the Lambert's party, and spending Christmas Day with our families!

17. What tops your tree? A red and gold bow with gold glitter sticks.

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? The feeling you get when you give to others!

19. What is your favorite Christmas song? Ahhh...so many favorites....

20. Candy canes. Yuck or yum? YUMMO!!

I tag anyone who reads this!

Great news!

I have great news...Adam got the job at Enterprise Rent-a-Car as a manger! I am so proud of him and so thankful that this is happening for our family's future! Adam will no longer have to work night or long weekends and NO HOLIDAYS! Fortunately, he will put in his 2 weeks notice tomorrow and avoid working at Walgreen's on Christmas Day! As a manger, he was going to have to work Christmas Eve night and Christmas Day, which would have been terrible. He basically would have had no Christmas this year. Bless his heart. I am so thankful for how the opportunity to apply for the Enterprise job came about and that we was chosen for the position! God definitely heard our prayers! This job could not have come at a better time with the arrival of Miss Ella Jae quickly approaching! We are so excited! We just got back from a little celebration dinner from "The Wing Place" with his parents. We had such a fun time and good conversation. I cannot express how proud of Adam I am. He played phone-tag with Enterprise for the first week and even became somewhat discouraged but did not give up. He finally was in correspondace with Enterprise and was given an interview which led to 2 more. The last interview was in Savannah last Thursday. I felt pretty confident that he would get the job! And sure enough, the regional manager called him today to offer him the position!! Adam is so hard working and ambitious. All his talents and goodness shine through when you talk with him. Any employer is so fortunate to have an employee like Adam! I cannot wait to see how far he goes within the company and how soon! He begins on Tuesday, Dec. 29. His last day at Walgreen's will be the 23rd so he will have a little break to rest up and enjoy the holidays before his begins his new job. Praise the Lord!!