With our one year anniversary fast approaching (October 16th) I've been thinking a lot about how much my life has changed... Not just this past year, but the past several. I've got to say, this has certainly been one of the best! I'm happy and most importantly my kids are happy.

I cannot express in words how much I appreciate my husband and our new life together. I am so thankful for everything that he's done for me, the boys and our family. He stepped in and stepped up when he really didn't have to. He's more than just a step dad to Camron and Brady. In fact, the words 'step dad' never enter my mind unless some one else points it out. He IS their dad. Period.

Josh has been here for us since Brady was only 4 months old and Camron was 2.5 years old. Josh was the one there who witnessed all of Brady's major milestones. Rolling over, crawling, sitting up, pulling up, standing up, walking, talking, etc. He has been there for Camron in all the ways a dad should be there for his son... teaching him how to be a good big brother and showing him right from wrong.

Josh is the one who provides for us and makes sure we're never going without any of life's necessities. When Camron needs new shoes or clothes it's Josh who takes him out shopping. When Brady needs more diapers it's Josh who comes with us to the store.

My marriage to Josh is such a sharp contrast to my previous marriage... I was always doing things on my own. Very, very rarely did we ever do anything as a family. Even after Camron was born. Josh on the other hand, wouldn't have things any other way. He comes home right after work every day so we can eat together at our dinner table as a family. He spends every weekend with us doing something as a family. All of the grocery shopping is done as a family. He insists on doing it all with us. (Of course there are times now and then where we each go do our own thing, but it's not the norm.)

Now don't get me wrong, it's not all rainbows and unicorns 24/7. We have had our ups and downs... like every couple. I'm sure there are plenty more disagreements and petty little fights in our future... (mainly because we're both so hard headed!) But we handle them and we move on (because we also easily forgive and forget).

I'm looking forward to all the years to come as we enter new chapters in our lives. I have no doubt that Josh will be right there by my side through it all. He has definitely come through for me and our boys and I couldn't be happier. I love him so much and I'm thankful that Heavenly Father helped guide us to one another (because I have no doubt that he had a hand in all of this). He knew just what I was looking for and needed in a husband and I am so thankful I have found everything and more in Josh.

Happy Anniversary Babe. <3

When you find out that you're going to have your first baby you do like most women do and get prepared.... by reading books, magazines, internet articles. By taking parenting classes. By talking to your mom or your friends who have already had kids....

Then your baby arrives.

Everything you read about, talked about and learned about goes out the window. It becomes a learn as you go type of process. Sure, some of the things you learned about during your pregnancy might apply to you and your baby, but you also learn that your baby might not go by the book.

I know my first baby didn't.

My oldest always seemed to take his time with everything that he did. He arrived 2 weeks after my due date... (he had to be evicted because he was just so warm and snug that he didn't want to come out.) He didn't sit up til he was 8 months old. Started crawling at 10 months. Walked at 14. He didn't start talking well until he was almost 3. He didn't understand the potty training concept until just a few weeks ago... and he's almost 3 and a half.

That's just him... He's like his mama and takes his time with things. I think he wants to be sure that he gets it right before he actually does it.

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When you find out that you're pregnant with baby number two you might think to yourself that this is going to be a piece of cake. (I know I did.) You think to yourself that you've done all this before.... baby #1 was almost like your "practice" baby. Now you're a professional. You've been through it all and now you're totally prepared for another baby.

Then baby number two arrives.

Everything you thought you knew has now gone out the window. Baby number two is nothing like baby number one! Where did this child come from?! He's the complete opposite of his brother!

There must have been some sort of mix up at the hospital.... 


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I quickly learned that, yes it's true... every baby IS different. Even if they're related. I thought I knew everything I needed to know when I got pregnant with Brady. I thought surely another boy of mine wouldn't be that different than his older brother. I was wrong.

I was thinking about all of this earlier today when I was watching my 2 boys fighting playing together in the living room. Where did this 16 month old child come from?! He's screaming, talking, running, fighting, playing, jumping, singing.... He's doing everything that my 3 year old is doing. I don't remember Camron being like this at 16 months old. But I guess that's just it. Brady has an older brother. Camron just had me. Makes me wonder what Brady would be like if he were an only child.

From the time he was born Brady seemed like he couldn't wait to do things! Rolling over at a few weeks old. Sitting up at 4-5 months. Crawling at 6 months and walking by 9 months. He's been playing side by side with his brother ever since. Was he just trying to keep up with his brother... or is that just him? I'll never know.

What I do know is that this has been a huge test of my patience learning experience for me. I love learning about their personalities, seeing them grow and learn new ideas and concepts. They constantly amaze me when they learn new things.

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Now baby number three is in the works. :) We're in the "talking about it"/"considering the possibilities" phase of it right now. We haven't officially told anyone yet, but I think a few people are suspecting. Well, if anyone in our families is reading this... consider yourself in-the-know... but no talking about it! (:::cough::cough:::Annie!:cough:::) When it happens it happens.... :)

I'm sure that baby number 3 will be no different than my first two... (Read: I will have no idea what I'm doing when the baby arrives.)

I'm excited, nervous, happy and scared all at the same time about the possibility of a new baby... a new baby with the man of my dreams. One thing will be for sure. This experience will be completely different than the previous two. I can't wait to share about this new chapter coming up in our lives.

This is going to get interesting....

The older I get the more I realize how important family is... So when Josh came home and told me that his mom was giving us 8 tickets to 2 Padres game for a Thursday and Friday night game we knew just who we wanted to bring! My Grandma and Grandpa Looney! (yes, Looney is their real last name.) Grandpa is a HUGE Padres fan. Ever since I can remember he'd be listening to the game on his little radio while sitting outside in their backyard.

*And just as a side note... Josh's parents didn't go because his dad can't sit that long through a game and I don't think his mom cares for baseball.. at all. ;) *


We decided to bring my grandparents to Thursday's night game. It was so much fun! I'm glad we were able to take them with us. We had pretty awesome seats and there was hardly anyone seated around us. My grandpa bought us hot dogs, hot chocolate and some peanuts to share. Only thing I would have changed was the weather! It was FREEZING that night!













On Friday night's game we took my friend Teresa and her husband Robert. Soooo thankful we didn't take my grandparents that night. We had some loud, drunk, obnoxious guys sitting behind us. They left before the 7th inning though because they stopped serving alcohol. It was still fun though!


I'm not by any means a baseball fan, but I think I actually like going to the games. Watching baseball in person is a lot different than on TV.

For the past several weeks I've been keeping busy with researching my family tree. I think I'm starting to drive Josh a little crazy with it. I've done some research in the past (around 2003 maybe?) and I didn't find much further than my great great grandparents. I had always been told that my family hasn't been in America for very long so I figured that I wouldn't be able to find much... I was told that my dad's side was Irish/French Canadian/Native American (no one knew about the Indian side..). I was told that my mom's side was Italian. What I found out was that there's so much more to the story!


I think what sparked my interest was that new show that comes on NBC called "Who Do You Think You Are?" I was watching the episode with Sarah Jessica Parker... where her ancestor was part of the Salem Witch Trials. Little did I know that I probably should have been paying closer attention. (More about that later.)


I started asking Josh about his family and where they came from. He had no idea. He barely knows  anyone beyond his own immediate family. His family members keep adding me as a friend on Facebook. When I ask him who they are he'll say, "I don't know... a cousin or something..." So I decided to ask his mom.


I figured his mom would be my best chance to learn more... She helped me out by giving me a few pedigree charts from their family history folder. That was MORE THAN enough to get me started! 


As soon as I got them home I filled in my Personal Ancestral File with the info from the charts she gave me. Then I went on Ancestry.com to see what I could find. (Birth records, death records, marriage records, etc, etc, etc.) I found a gold mine of information!! Not only on his side of the family, but on mine as well. The more I found the more into it I got. 


I signed up for the 14 day free trial and planned to cancel it, but I'm STILL finding out stuff so I think I'll pay for a month or two.


So back to the Salem Witch Trials... In that episode with Sarah Jessica Parker she learned about her 13th great grandmother Esther Ellwell. Turns out that her great grandmother and MY great grandmother (9th), Rebecca Dike (maiden name Dolliver) not only knew each other, but were both (along with Abigail Rowe) accused of using witchcraft against a woman named Mary Fitch. How crazy is that? I was watching that episode and learning about my (9th) great grandmother without even knowing it. :)


There's so much more I've been learning about our family that I never knew before. No one told me that we were some of the first settlers in America... Josh's family too... I also had no idea that I had so much French blood in me... Or that my 3rd great grandmother was full blooded Argentine and was adopted by an Irish family.


I could go on and on... but I'll save some for another post. I'll end with 2 pictures. One is a picture I found of Josh's great-great grandfather, Frands Peter Hansen Petersen. The other is a recent picture of Josh. Don't these 2 look very similar?

I have a little one sitting on my lap so I'm gonna have to keep this short.

About an hour ago I dropped Josh off at the airport... He's on his way to Saint Louis for a job interview!!! About a week and a half ago I sent a cover letter and Josh's resume to a company that is hiring for a maintenance tech in this historic high rise apartment building. (Really ritzy and nice looking.) They wanted someone with lots of HVAC experience... (someone like Josh who has worked in the HVAC business for the past 5+ years.) They called Josh the next business day and asked him when he could come interview. Once the guy on the phone mentioned the pay Josh tried to be polite about it by saying that he wasn't going to be out there for another month or two. A day or two later Josh gets an e-mail from the General Manager asking why he can't come interview now. Josh wrote back saying that he just couldn't take that kind of pay cut... and he was sorry for the misunderstanding. It was $5 - $7 an hour less than what he makes now. She wrote back and offered him $5.50 more than they originally did... and asked him if that would get him to come out to St. Louis to interview with them. So we decided to go for it.

He interviews tomorrow morning. I'm so nervous and excited for him! It's not exactly what his dream job is, but it's a start. They're offering him decent pay and all the benefits that he has at his current job. And let me tell you, this place is NICE. It's not just some run down apartment building... It's like top of the line everything.. Clothing store, restaurant and even a doggy salon in this building. (And the best part, you can order room service from the restaurant!) I told him if he gets hired we should see if we could get a discount on this place. I was only half joking though... I know he wouldn't want to live where he works. ;)

If things don't go well at this interview I wrote down a bunch of Heating and Cooling companies that don't have websites so he can drive around and look for work that way.

If absolutely nothing goes well and he comes home with no job from this, well, at least we can say that we tried. Business is pretty slow in the HVAC industry right now. This economy isn't helping at all. I'm just thankful that he does have a job here and he's not in any danger of being laid off. If we have to stay here a little longer than planned it's not a big deal.... We'll just be stuck in a 2 bedroom apartment until further notice.

Kids are getting cranky... Gotta run! Wish us luck!

 Well, in San Diego county at least. :)

Today Josh and I took the boys to go see snow for the very first time. We drove about 40 minutes east of where we live to the little town of Julian, California. Since we've been having some pretty crazy weather here in Southern California this past week we figured that it probably snowed in Julian. Today the forecast predicted pretty clear skies.... So off we went to find out! About halfway there the snow started showing up....
I started to get excited because I hadn't seen snow in about 10 years. How crazy is that? I live 40 minutes away from where it DOES snow and I haven't driven up here since I was a teenager!









 It was absolutely breathtaking! The skies where a bright, bright blue with very few clouds. The snow was freshly fallen. I just kept saying, "Oh my gosh. Oh! Oh my gosh! How gorgeous is this?! Oh my gosh! Oh man, I have to blog about this..." Josh just kept laughing and making fun of me. I couldn't help it though! It was just fabulously GORGEOUS out there!





Seriously, doesn't this just take your breath away?!












Ok, this could be on a stinkin postcard. AHH-MAAAZING!











First time seeing snow in real life!! They had a blast!












On the way back home I couldn't resist taking a few more pictures...












We tried to bring some back home with us and this is all that managed to make it.











So now I'm realizing what an awesome place we live in. I kinda get why we're paying outrageous rent on a tiny 2 bedroom/1 bath apartment. Today we spent a day in the snow... Tomorrow we could be going to do this: (like we did this past summer....)

We're probably going to be super busy this weekend (Chargers are playing on Sunday!) and I'm not going to have time to blog. I don't normally post anything on the weekends anyway... so this is a super special treat! Tonight (Friday) I went over to my old friend Alyssa's apartment to pick up our photo session CD. I've been anxiously waiting to get this CD for about a month now. :) I'm soooo excited to finally have it! Hopefully soon I can print them out and decorate our apartment with our beautiful pictures. (My mom let me know last night that it looks like we're moving out because there's nothing on our walls lol.)

So without further interruption here are just a few of the fabulous pictures that Alyssa of Hybrid Photography took for us back in December...

I've been meaning to write about our new puppy for about a week and a half now. Her name is Harley, she's a Llewellin Setter, she's about 8-9 weeks old right now and she's driving me absolutely INSANE! It's like having a newborn baby in overdrive... minus the nice neat diaper to hold in the mess.

We ended up with her because Josh just couldn't resist her cute wittle puppy dog eyes. I didn't want her. I really didn't want her. I knew a puppy would be a lot of work and a lot of added stress to our family. We took her in with the understanding that she's Josh's dog and he would be the one taking care of her. I should have known better... I'm the one home all day... The majority of the work is done by me. Yay.

Where did she come from you ask? Well... My aunt works at a pet hospital. Right before Christmas a man took Harley in to her work and asked them to put her to sleep. Why? She had Parvo. Instead of putting the puppy to sleep they treated her for the disease. She starting recovering from it the next day. This man was called to let him know that his puppy was going to be fine. He said that he didn't want her because he thought she'd never be the same again.

Christmas day when we were all over at my Grandma's house my aunt mentioned this puppy to us. She was trying to find a good home for her. I said no. Josh said he wanted to see her and research the breed. So we went home and looked up Llewellin Setters. We'd never heard of them before, but the more we read about them the more we both fell in love. Ok fine... Let's at least see her.

Who can resist a puppy?! We took one look at her and instantly fell in  love. (Dang it.) My aunt talked us into keeping her over night to see how we liked her and to see how she fit in with the kids and Bella... (Dang it, again.) She ended up staying.

Thankfully she's a really smart dog and is learning really fast. The first week we had her was absolute hell... My poor living room carpet. (We're buying a steam cleaner because doing it by hand is just not my thing.) She's getting better as time goes on...

For Christmas and our birthdays Josh and I got 6 movie tickets. Last night my mom watched the boys for us so  we could go out on a date to see a movie. (We haven't been on a date since before we got married.) We ended up seeing Nine... I really didn't care for it. I'm just not in to musicals and especially musicals with an awful story line. Anyway, we still enjoyed ourselves. We spent waaay too much on snacks and drinks. $20 on popcorn and soda and we snuck in $20 worth of candy from The Sweet Factory. Last time we went out to the movies together we were on our first date. (He was so nervous that he had a hard time even holding my hand... Later that night was a different story... Our first kiss... Best first kiss EVER! lol)

Now to the strange phone call. Ronnie (my ex-husband) called me last night on our way to the movies. Weird. I never get phone calls from him. He had called to thank me for the pictures that I sent to him on Monday. He apologized for not calling on Christmas. Weirder. (Said his phone was shut off for not paying the bill.) He was actually nice to me and was being super friendly. Weirdest. I was able to ask him about dental insurance for the boys and I was also able to ask him about getting my name taken off the car loan without him biting my head off. It was kind of an odd conversation too...

Me: I know you're still in Japan right now, but when you get back to the states do you think you could work on refinancing the 4Runner so you can take my name off the loan? Maybe refinance with New Wife's name on it?

Him: Yeah of course. I don't get back til March though... and yeah... probably not with New Wife's name on it. No more co-signing for me. I swear, by the end of my life I'm gonna have eight or nine ex-wives.

Hmm... very interesting... Trouble in paradise? That or he doesn't want me to think too much of their relationship. He does that all the time though. I know him all too well. He'll brush off his relationships to other people as if they're nothing, but then to that person he'll shout his love from the roof top. (As long as no one else can hear of course.) Poor New Wife. I wonder if reality is setting in for her yet...

Moving on... Our date ended at 9:30pm when we picked up our sleeping boys from Nana's house. She asked me not to have her watch them while they're sick... Um... wasn't aware that either of them were sick. I do, however, remember you mentioning that you thought you were getting sick as I dropped them off. So yes, now I have a sick 3 year old. Fun stuff.

Who knows when we'll make it out to the movies again. I hope the gift certificate we got doesn't expire any time soon!

I am so glad that 2009 is over and done with. Don't get me wrong, there were many happy times... but there were some bad times too. It's amazing to me how much things have changed in just 12 months. I had a baby. I got divorced. I got married. Geez... It takes most people many years to accomplish all of that.


2010 has the potential to be a great year for all of us. I'm looking forward to this year and all the things we hope to achieve as a family. There will be lots of changes in the near future, but this time they're all for the better. We have a few road trips planned... Paying off our debts... Moving to Missouri... I'm looking forward to all of it!

As promised, here's some pictures from Christmas... (We also got the boys... ok, ok, Josh... a new puppy. More about her at a later time.)

Well, that's all for now. I'm hoping to be able to find more time to blog soon. With two boys and now two dogs it's kinda hectic around here. Having a puppy is like having a newborn that runs, jumps, bites and pees every where. Like I said, more on here later.... I need more hours in the day! Hoping to catch up on everyone's blogs soon. I have a LOT of reading to do.

Every year ever since I can remember my paternal grandparents have thrown a Christmas party the weekend before Christmas. I can remember when I was little the excitement I had leading up to the day. Picking out my special Christmas dress with my Grandma. (Because I was ALWAYS over there during school breaks.) I remember being at the Christmas party with my sister, brother and cousins playing games while the grown-ups stood around talking, laughing and dancing. Our favorite games to play were hide-and-seek and one we called witches. (Not sure why it was called that... it had nothing to do with a witch. The game was to make it from one side of the house to the other without a grown-up seeing you. If they spotted you then you had to freeze until another kid tagged you.) I have the best memories from those parties.

Today is Josh's birthday and he's not too happy about turning a year older. He keeps joking around that he's officially an old man now. Now don't get offended if you happen to be older... but he turned 26 this year. LOL. I know that's not old, but he's freaking out just a little. For the next two and a half weeks I'm gonna have to tease him about it. (After the 2nd I won't be able to because I'll be the same age.)

I made him some Funfetti cupcakes to enjoy when he gets off of work. Apparently my cupcake pan has ran off somewhere... So I had to put the paper cups in a large baking pan. It all worked out. We just have square cupcakes now instead of round ones. Mmmm... The apartment smells sooo good! ...I ended up eating one, I couldn't help it!

After we eat dinner and enjoy our cupcakes tonight, Josh and I are dropping the boys off at my mom's house and we're going to enjoy a night alone. Ok not really alone alone... We have to finish our Christmas shopping and grocery shopping. So we'll be spending it with the crowds at various stores. At least we'll be able to walk hand-in-hand tonight instead of chasing kids around the store. LOL. Hey, what ever alone time I can get with him is fine by me! :)

A few months ago I joined this awesome community of bloggers who know that The Secret is in the Sauce... or rather... the comments. Just wanted to give a shout out to all of my SITStas and wish everyone a Happy Merry SITSmas to all!

Can you believe we only have 2 more weekends to go Christmas shopping?! I know I still have some shopping to do. I keep thinking I have all this time, but I still have so much I need to get done! Christmas cards to fill out. Pictures to print. Presents to buy.... for both Christmas AND birthdays! I still don't have all of our Christmas decorations up. UGH....Can I just say that I'm a tad overwhelmed??

Well, I was hoping to put up our new family picture in this post, but it will have to wait for a future one. (No rush, Alyssa! Lol I know Saturday was only 3 days ago.)

ETA: She sent me 2 of the pictures!! I can't wait to see the rest. :)

We've been so busy all weekend that I haven't had a chance to post anything in about 3 days! The day after the exploding casserole incident we went to Lowes and bought our Christmas tree. While we were there we also picked up this really cute toy tool set for Camron. (He's been following daddy around the house, helping him baby-proof the cabinets... pretending my nail polish is a screw driver.) I think he's gonna love it.

Friday night we went to Sea World's Members Only Night. They closed down the park at about 4:30pm and then re-opened it just for members at 5pm. We got there at about 5:30. I mainly wanted to go because they were handing out Sea World ornaments. Plus we hadn't been in over a month. When we go into the parking lot we were stuck in a long line of cars. Josh decided to follow the car in from of him out of the line, over the orange cones and through a gateway that said, "STOP! Wrong way. Severe tire damage." I was freaking out thinking that we were going to have to call for help because our tires were flat. Luckily his truck tires went over it just fine. We ended up parking right near the entrance.

We were thinking it was going to be really crowded inside, but it wasn't too bad. At around 6:20 everyone in the park seemed to head over to see the Shamu show. After seeing flood of people headed toward the Shamu stadium we decided against going. We pretty much had the park to ourselves after that. We were able to see the sharks, the penguins and the eels with no problem. The boys had a lot of fun... until about 7... then the crying started. Time for bed. So we left.

Saturday afternoon we took a drive to Old Poway Park in North County. We were meeting up with my old high school friend, Alyssa who is now a wedding photographer. She offered to take some family pictures for us as a late wedding present. The location she choose for our pictures was perfect! I had never been to Old Poway Park and I was really impressed. It's located right in the middle of this adorable little community. The boys had fun running around in the grass and playing in the leaves. I think she got some really cute pictures of us and I can't wait to see how they turn out! I'm hoping there's a good one in there of all 4 of us that I can put in our Christmas cards.

Sunday was spent going to church and trying to get the boys to behave during sacrament. Right now our ward starts at 11am... which is right before nap time for both of them. (Not a good combination... Church + Cranky Kids = Most of our time is spent walking the hallways.) I can't wait til the beginning of the year when it will change to 9am. I think they'll be in much better moods at that time.

Now it back to the regular work week. Only 17 more days til Christmas!

I completely ruined dinner last night, almost severely injured myself in the process and messed up our other plans for the evening.

Josh was on his way home when he called me. My wedding ring was back from being sized and he said we should go pick it up... and maybe get a Christmas tree while we were out. I was excited about doing both. I've been waiting for a couple weeks for my ring and I can't wait any longer to start decorating for Christmas!

The boys were ready and dinner was cooling on the stove when Josh walked in the door. He wanted to shower, eat and take the dog out before we left....

So this is how I ruined everything:
I baked this yummy dinner in the oven and when it was done I took it out and put it on top of the stove to cool off. Well what I didn't know was that I accidentally left on a burner (Can't believe I did that!)... and put the casserole dish on top of it. When I finally noticed it, I shut the burner off and looked underneath the dish and saw that it was badly burned. No biggie... only half was ruined. I walk away. Just as I turn the corner I hear the biggest POP! The ENTIRE casserole dish shattered in to a million pieces... scorching hot food and glass EVERYWHERE. Oh My Gosh! I wanted to cry. Thank goodness the boys and I weren't in there when it happened!

Josh watched the boys as I took Bella outside and then while I picked up glass off the floor. He asked if he should bother getting dressed to go out. I told him not to bother.... I didn't mean it! I wanted him to say something like, "It's ok Babe, we can still go out. We can pick up some dinner while we're out!" I was in a really bad mood after all this happened. I was really looking forward to that dinner. I was also mad at myself for being so careless! I wanted him to read my mind! I'm laughing at myself now for not just saying what I wanted... Josh would have gladly continued on with our night... I don't know why I do that to both of us. I need to work on that.

The rest of the night was spent with me sulking and Josh asking what was wrong. After the boys were in bed I went out alone... I had to pick up some formula and diapers for the baby. I listened to Christmas music on the way to the store and it got me out of the funk I was in. I came home and explained to Josh why I was being such a you-know-what. He just laughed at me. I love that man for being so loving and supportive.

Josh - I know you can't read my mind and I promise to work on saying what I mean and meaning what I say! Love you!

It seems like our family has been non-stop since we got married. As of right now, I don't see any signs of it slowing down. I'm not complaining really... It keeps life interesting. The month of December and January is no different.

• December 4th - Sea World's members only night. We want to go get the special ornament that they're passing out that night.
  
• December 5th - Family pictures! An old friend from high school is a photographer and offered to do pictures for us as a wedding gift. :) She's awesome!
• December 15th - Josh's Birthday
• December 23rd - Camron's Birthday
• December 24th - Christmas Eve and my Dad's Birthday
• December 25th - Christmas
• December 31st - New Years Eve
• January 3rd - My Birthday
• January 12th - Brady's Birthday

Mixed in there we have Christmas shopping, grocery shopping, doctor's appointments for Camron's 3 year check up and Brady's one year (that I still have to make), getting our Christmas tree and decorations up, wrapping presents, making cookies, making cakes, visiting family, putting together the gifts I'm making... not to mention doing our daily routines. Oh yeah and Josh's friends want him to install heating ducts on their addition to their house as soon as he can...

There's lots to celebrate this month and lots of fun to be had... but I'm not gonna lie, I'm looking forward to when I can stop stressing about all this and finally breath again!

It's been a long standing tradition of mine to head out in the wee hours of the cold... and I mean COLD!... morning to fight the crowds on the day known as Black Friday. This year was not really different. I was determined to get out there yet again and see what kind of good deals I could score. The difference this year is that I have 2 kids to shop for now. In the past I was all about the DVDs and electronics. This year I had my eyes on toys.

Toys R Us opened their stores at midnight on Thursday night. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had no idea what I was dragging Josh into. He didn't want to go and I practically begged him until he gave in. Now I feel really bad...

Thursday night we dropped the boys off with my mom and then went home to sleep for a few hours. I think I only managed to get in 45 minutes of sleep. At 11pm Josh and I dragged our butts out of bed and went to the toy store. We should have been more prepared. At first glance the line didn't look that bad. What we didn't realize was that it wrapped around the building before getting to the front entrance. We were at the end of the line. At midnight they opened their doors and let in about 30 people at a time. It took us 90 minutes to get to the front of the line. When we finally got in there I spotted what I wanted! It was a Home Depot work bench that was regularly $49.99 marked down to $19.99. I grabbed it and started heading towards the checkout line. That's when all my high hopes were thrown to the floor and stomped on! A man standing next to us told me that the one in my hand was NOT the one that was on sale. This one was $59.99... not the $49.99 one. WHAT?! The other one was sold out. Okaaaaay.... So we headed to the next item on the list... A train table for $79.99. If you bought that you got an $80 train set for free. Of course they were all sold out too. We overheard a store clerk saying that it was sold out in the first 10 minutes of opening. We left. Toys R Us left us very disappointed and we promised ourselves we would NEVER shop there again. They should really take a page from Walmart's book and have plenty in stock of their sale items. TRU knew that they would have a huge crowd. They're the only one around for miles of where we live. I had planned to spend at least $200 there... as I'm sure many other people there were going to do. I have a feeling they lost out on a lot of sales...

So we pulled out of the parking lot. I was apologizing to Josh for dragging him out there for nothing. Just as we turned the corner to get on to the freeway a cop flashes their lights at us. Great. Let's just add to our fabulous night. She was pulling us over because Josh was wearing his seat belt under his arm and not over his shoulder. She was a total you-know-what... she gave him a ticket. Josh was pissed. As she was writing it up he says, "Is that why you work nights? Because you can't sleep?" Argh... That didn't help.

I dropped Josh at home. He was done after that ticket. I was still determined to get something good out of that night. It was about 1:45 am so I headed over to Old Navy. The line was short and they opened at 3am. They passed out wristbands to the first 50 (or so) people in line to get the Lego Rock Band Wii game for free if you spent $20. I got one! They stopped passing them out 2 people behind me. That was close.... I picked up some cute hoodies for the boys along with a few shirts for them and I got myself some awesome fitting $15 jeans. I was in and out within 10 minutes of them opening. Success.

I was done after that. I went home and slept until 7:30am... I had to pick the boys up from my moms. I was dead tired and I don't think staying up all night was worth all the trouble we went through. I still plan to shop Black Friday next year, but I'll be staying far, FAR away from any toy stores!

Thanksgiving is tomorrow! I'm pretty excited because we get to spend time with family that we don't get to see everyday.

It's always been a family... ok MY... tradition to go over to my Grandparent's house for the holidays. Ever since I was a child we spent every year doing the same thing. When I was married to Ron he never argued with me about where to go because his family is spread out over several states. It worked for us at that time. Now I'm married to someone who has family here in town... Things are going to be a little different.

This year and next there's going to be a lot of firsts for both Josh and I. We just spent our first Halloween together... not really a big deal to us or our families. Next is Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. We're going to have to figure out and establish our own traditions. New traditions. I think it's important for Josh, the kids and I to come up with our own. Next year we're planning to move to Missouri and we won't have our families around...

Maybe next year we'll figure out our own family holiday traditions. I think this year we'll just spread ourselves thin and try to visit everyone who wants to see us. We won't have the option next year so I think it will be worth it.

First stop for Thanksgiving will be Josh's parents house at noon. We'll eat just enough to hold us over for the next meal. After we finish up there we'll head to my grandparent's house around 2pm where we'll eat a little bit more and probably have dessert.

Next we'll head over to my mom's house for a quick hello and to drop the boys off with her. They're going to be spending the night with her so I can do some Black Friday shopping in the wee hours of the morning. (Wish me luck on that...) I'm still trying to convince Josh to come with me. He hates crowds and he hates shopping. Black Friday is not a good mix for him...

Now I'm off to make some pumpkin pies for tomorrow's feast!