Our Home. . . aka Construction Site

Since closing two weeks ago we've got a couple items checked off our to-do list! The day we closed, my loving brother came and painted our entire house {minus our office, I take full credit for it!}, we've also removed all the base boards, all the carpet and have successfully laid wood floors in two rooms!! I'd say we've done pretty good so far. However, I think it's going to be slow moving for the next couple weekends! I don't think we realized just how long putting down the wood floors was going to take. But they are so beautiful and are so going to be worth all the time and sweat put in to them! Don't worry I've been snapping a bunch of pictures and once I've got complete before and after pictures I promise to post a room-to-room explanation!!

Mandy & Brady came over the day after Christmas to help lay floors. This was during one of our {short} breaks to enjoy the snow {that you can't actually see}! Brady thought he was escaping the snow in Boston . . . Little did he know we'd have a {white} Christmas in Florida!! :)

Little sneak-peek of the floors in the office!! {Sorry about the white circles, apparently my camera thought we were still outside trying effortlessly to capture the snow in a picture!}

Christmas Recap

Another wonderful Christmas surrounded by the one's I love. We've just now settled down for the first night in over a week. We spent most of the week in Jacksonville @ my moms! What can I say it's one of my favorite places . . . especially during Christmas time :) Wednesday Todd & I went to buy a new F150 Lariat 4x4. Luckily it took 4 hours and we didn't get all the paperwork signed, because come Thursday afternoon Toddy Boy had changed his mind about the new addition. So we drove the truck back said {goodbye} and decided maybe buying a $40,000 truck wasn't the smartest idea. What a husband I have. {Always looking out for us} Wednesday night we had a family dinner at my Aunt Cherrie's full of laughter, BBQ, & trying to get rid of our unwanted items for the white elephant gift exchange {next year everyone is going to get a gift that I no longer want out of my house. Seriously, it was the funniest thing ever!}

Friday was a relaxing day at home with my mom doing what I love the most! Cookin' & cleanting' {hopefully you've all watched Diary of a Mad Black Woman and understand that slang!} Our Christmas Eve is spent at my mother's house with all the siblings, niece's & nephews, opening all of our presents and eating lovely food!! Each year we draw a siblings name and write a poem either about the person or the gift you're giving to the person. This year we also decided to write a poem for our parents! Let's just say lots of tears and {happy} parents! :)

My Boppa {name sake}, Baby, & Mrs. Edythe
Sis & Mom - - Love them :)

Family Christmas 2010

Sweet Baby Quixote curious about her stocking Christmas morning!

She loves her treats!! :)

After breakfast Christmas morning we packed the car up and headed west! {Madison Bound}. We had Christmas dinner at Todd's sisters house. More YUMMY food and fun times with everyone {especially the boys!!} Zachary got a wii and we spent a good part of the night playing Mario! {One of my favorite past-times}

Mrs. Libby and the Boys!!!

We were so blessed in 2010, and continue to be thankful for all we have and the life we are able to live! God has blessed us tremendously, and we are eager to see what 2011 has in store for us! We are ringing in the New Year in Savannah with some special friends. Todd & I have never been before so we are excited to explore the city and enjoy another vacation prior to parenthood, just us. {NO NO, we are not expecting, but I know vacations will not be the same with babies in tow - - so we are going to enjoy all the ones we get in before!!} Everyone be safe and have a wonderful time bringing in the New Year 2011!! :)

Happy Birthday Jesus!

We have the car all packed up and are heading back to Jacksonville tomorrow after work to spend the week with the family celebrating Jesus' Birthday!

We closed on our house Thursday at noon and seriously haven't stopped working there since! My arms are so sore and my entire body is aching. . . I keep telling myself it's all going to be worth it once we get moved in. But boy is it tiring! I've been trying to take pictures of everything we are doing so I can share with all of you after we are done. So far we've {I use this word loosely} painted the entire house, ripped off all the baseboards and quarter-round, ripped up all the carpet, {I} busted up all the tile in the foyer, bought our wood floors and got all our lighting.... Seems like we've made progress. . .

We are hoping to relax and enjoy family this week because when we get back we have a long week of work before we can go on vacation to Savannah for New Year's!!

I hope everyone enjoys Christmas with their families, celebrates the birth of our Savior, and truly embraces the things in your life that mean the most to you and the ones who are special enough to want to be apart of it.

Oh I finally uploaded pictures from my camera and thought I would show you my Christmas wreath with all our Christmas cards from family & loved ones!!

MeRRy ChRiStMaS!!!

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E . . . Mickey Mouse!!

This past weekend we took our annual Christmas trip to Disney World! You would think after going 3 years in a row we might start to get bored with it. . . But every year Todd & I enjoy ourselves even more! It's going to be bad news when we have kids old enough to enjoy Disney. We are going to be in tRoUbLe!!!

Our first night in Orlando we went to Downtown Disney and ate dinner at Rainforest Cafe. I had never been before and knew the nephews would enjoy eating in the Rainforest with all the animals!

He's such a kid!

Sunday afternoon we went in the park. Every year it's decorated the same and EVERY year it still gives me chills when we enter down Main St. How magical? Seriously, there is no place on earth like this!

Good ole' Walt in the background! The castle before it was all lit up!!

The clouds were black. But someone was looking out for us, no rain the entire night!

The boys just entertaining themselves while we were waiting in line to ride PooH!

So eXciTeD to be on the carousel!!

Forced Todd to ride Dumbo and to enjoy it! :) What can I say my Mommy & I loved riding Dumbo! {Notice the fierce clouds in the background!}

Thunder Mountain {Zachary is fearless}

Firework show over the BEAUTIFUL castle!

Another perfect Mickey's Merry Christmas . . . Until next year!

We also made a little stop @ Ikea while we were in Orlando. Got some awesome stuff for the new house. {I'll be sure to post on those items later!!}

Work Christmas Dinner

I must say I think I have the best boss around! Not only does he spoil us daily with breakfast and lunch, he also goes out of his way to make us feel special around the {holidays}!!

We had dinner at Lucy Ho's, a chinese restaurant in Tallahassee.

We all had a very enjoyable night!

Dr. C's Nurse's

Me, Baby Boy, & Bethany!
{Family Affair}

The Girls with Dr. C

{SAKE}

Presents!!

Nice fleece Columbia sweaters :)

Ash & I were {clearly} excited!

Christmas Card

We got our Family Christmas card all done and sent out last week! We are truly enjoying this Holiday season and are looking forward to 2011!!

Quixote loves giving me kisses!!

GiLLeaN's 2010
{in front of our new house}

Getting My Martha On!!!

Super excited this is my last year Christmas decorating on a mini-scale! I did get in my crafting fix with this super EASY, super awesome Martha Stewart idea!! It's a Christmas card wreath!

All you need is a quilting clamp, clothes pins, ribbon, and some decorative pom poms. Total cost was less than 10$!!

Cut the ribbon small enough to cover the tops of the clothes pins

Covered the clamp with the large ribbons

Made a big bow and hung it from the wall!! This was before we had received any Christmas cards and I was too lazy to take a picture with the Christmas cards we've now received.

Mine - Looks a TON better with the cards added!

Martha's

Black Friday . . .

Todd and I were crazy enough to get up at 2:30 a.m. after going to bed @ midnight to fight the lines with all the other crazies in Tallahassee. Kohls, Lowes, Home Depot . . . Quick breakfast at Chik-fil-A . . . Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Old Navy, Michael's . . . all around the mall . . . Finally short nap @ 4 PM followed by some Florida/Florida State Downtown Getdown!! Needless to say I spent the next week trying to recover from my lack of sleep. And I don't think Todd and I will be waking up early next year even if they're giving stuff away at the door!

I knew no one would believe Todd actually got up to go {SHOPPING} at 3AM, so I took it upon myself to snap a quick photo of Babe waiting in the long line outside of Home Depot!!

Seriously, I would have never truly believed there were that many people that actually did the 'Black Friday' thing until I saw it for myself!!

Todd and I were both selfishly motivated to get up that early and thankfully we got everything we wanted off our list!!

Todd:

1.) Shop Vac

2.) Chop Saw

3.) Nike Free

Lauren:

1.) KitchenAid Mixer

2.) Nike Free

We did a good job getting gifts for our self!! We also snagged some good deals for others but unfortunately can't post on those!! :) I just love this time of year!

Thanksgiving took on a whole different meaning this year. Not because it was the first Thanksgiving I've spent away from my family in 23 years, but because the one thing I'm more thankful for than anything turned 27! Every couple of years or so Todd's birthday falls on Thanksgiving and this was one of those special years!! Turkey Baby!! We had celebrated the weekend prior to Thanksgiving, but I did get up and bake him a yummy breakfast that held us over till our {HUGE} Thanksgiving dinner!

BC was home from Boston for the occasion!! :)

One of Todd's favorite little people! Sweet Braxton!

Seriously if our kids get half the looks of this sweet baby I'll be happy! :)

No big deal, only a table full of desserts. {Completely Normal}

Birthday Boy!! Happy 27th Sweet Angel!!

I Love You!! :)