The Year in Pictures....

I am so thankful that both my friend Allison and Nikki inspired me to start blogging.  In the beginning I was on a roll then life got hectic due to my dad's illness but I committed to keeping up with it so with a little bit of a push from Nikki I got back into it.  Although I did not start blogging until half way through the year I loved the idea of doing "The Year in Pictures" that both Allison and Nikki did.  Wow! What a year we have had. 

October 2009

It's a GIRL! Abigail Elizabeth was born on 10/23/2009

Pop Pop, Grammy, and Grandmommy meet Abby in the hospital

Nana proudly holding her 2nd granddaughter!

and we wondered how long until she was wrapped around Daddy's finger!

Grandpa wouldn't miss the big day for anything!

and Aunt Lea wouldn't miss being there to tell us
"I told you so" (she was convinced it was a girl).

Abby is welcomed home by our sweet neighbors

and her BIG brothers meet her for the first time. 

Annual Pumpkin carving with daddy...guess who did all the work?

Curious George and The Man with the Yellow Hat

November 2009

We had newborn photos taken

and now we are a family of 5.

Big Brother Colby gives Abigail her 1st bath

Uncle Chris and Aunt Nikki meet our little princess

and cousin Addie is in love!

The family surprises Nana for her "30th" Birthday

Abby gets her first boyfriend (Liam) and her first kiss!

Thanksgiving with Mark, Nikki and Liam

and Uncle Grady finally meets our baby girl. 

December 2009

2nd Annual Kids Christmas Party

The Moms

and the kids.

Uncle Shawn meets Abby

Dear Santa, I've been good! Love, Colby, Dylan and Abby

Abby meets Grandpa....I mean Bobby Bowden

and the boys learn the tomahawk chop!

We decorated a gingerbread house

and fed the reindeer. 

and couldn't forget our annual Christmas Eve Picture.

Celebrated Christmas with the O'Hare Cousins

Singing Happy Birthday to Jesus

Santa brought daddy a table for his Green Egg.

and spent more time with family at the holidays.

Sims-Minkley and Batsch Family

Surprised Dave with a 40th birthday celebration

and nearly killed him by making him run Gator Bowl 5K!

The kids enjoying a tradition at Grandmommy's - eating ice cream. 

January 2010

Abby started our year off with a true smile!

Bobby leaves FSU football as a legend and Wins the Gator Bowl!

and Scott met Warrick Dunn

Colby finally gets his 1st official haircut

Abby and Liam have another date

February 2010

Went to Disney

and toured Epcot with my buddy Carter.

Played in the snow at Monkey Dave's

with all of our cousins.

First time roller skating

Monster Truck Show

with daddy

Colby played T-Ball for the 1st time

with daddy's help he hit the ball

and pulled weeds!

March 2010

Celebrated Scott's Birthday after we ran the River Run

and my best friend Ami came to run with us.

Abby tries cereal for the first time

April 2010

No screaming this year with the Easter bunny

Annual Easter Egg Hunt in the neighborhood

We did another Easter Egg Hunt at Grammy's Easter Morning

with the cousins

April 2010

Fishing Pole for Colby's 4th Birthday

Colby's is surprise and thrilled

over his AWESOME cake Aunt Lea made him!

another trip to Disney...Colby's Birthday with family

We went to Nana and Papa's to see Grandpa Buddy,

 Aunt Nikki and cousin Addie

May 2010

Another great shoot from Brittani

along with Colby's 4 year pictures

and Abby's 6 month picture.

The boys had fun with Gavin playing in buckets of water

Scott and I went to Aruba

with best friends John and Bonnie

watched sunsets

and enjoyed some "us" time

Went back in times with long time friend Carrie

and had a blast with her family.

June 2010

Celebrated Janice's birthday at Red Elephant with family

Went fishing with daddy

Colby's first fish he caught

even Mommy and Abby caught one too!!

Surprised Grandpa for Father's Day with my brother and his family

July 2010

Celebrated our 10 year anniversary in Boston

Grammy and Pop Pop tagged along!

Go Red Sox!

and saw the best fireworks in the country on the
 4th of July as the Boston Pops played. 

Colby became much more confident in swimming.

August 2010

Tried out bowling for the 1st time

and Dylan became best friends with the gutters!

and Abby began to push things to get around the house.

We went to beach over and over

and Abby loved the sand.

September 2010

Colby started soccer

\

and it became tradition to go out with our close friends after the games

Dylan gave his paci to the recycle man

and was so proud of himself!

Sweet little girl became a professional climber

and ended the month with Dylan 3rd birthday party

Garbage and Recycling Themed

October 2010

Grandpa had open heart surgery and came through like a bandit!

Went to a sunrise on the beach

Aunt Lea made an amazing Buzz Lightyear Cake for

Dylan on his actual birthday

Abigail turned 1!

Once again Aunt Lea made a fabulous cake and

mommy made my "smash" cake. 

and she loved it!

A visit to the pumpkin patch

and the kids kept tradition carving our pumpkin with daddy.

Halloween was a family affair and what fun it was!

November 2010

We  made a school bus and "Wonder Pets" school house

out of cardboard boxes

Dylan got his first "official" haircut with James

Abby started to walk

Grammy, Abby and I went to England

to visit Jo, Trevor, and Baby Sam.

and spent Thanksgiving with the O'Sullivan's - a tradition it might be!

December 2010

Had fun at our annual neighborhood Christmas Party

Told Santa we wanted scooters and a pink dog for Abby

3rd Annual Kids Christmas Party

Spent Christmas Eve with family and close friends

The boys woke up Christmas Day to see that

Santa brought them Scooters

and Abby got her pink dog!

The year came to an end and we all are so blessed and thankful for our family, friends, and our faith in God.  We look forward to 2011, making more memories and all that it will bring to us. 

Where's the Rain?

Dylan loves his rain boots that were a hami down from Carter.  He wants to wear them everywhere...the store, outside, church, to lunch, to dinner, and possible to bed if we suggested it.  Of course I have to say when it is OK to wear them and when not.  Today we were riding bike and scooters to the park so no reason to say no.  This child has a mind of his own but I love it!!!

Busy Season makes for long days....

Its January and its a given that Scott will be working late almost every night.  For mommy this makes the days seem as if they will never end.  It never fails on the nights that things have been going smoothly and I should get them bathed, in PJ's, and in bed at a normal hour that one of the 3 kids and/or one of the cats do something that makes the night go down hill. 

As I write this story in the blog I am sure some may find the story gross and wonder why I am even documenting this.  Its my way of remembering how things don't always go our way and since we have no control over the situation why not laugh! 

Abby and Dylan were in the tub and I hear Dylan say "mommy Abby pooped in the tub".  Of course I think he is joking since his favorite conversation and word at the moment is about poop.  I walk in there anyway to be sure all is ok and yup there they are floating!!  Great, I thought.  I take both of them out of the tub and go get paper towels, plastic baggies, and bathroom cleaner.  When I enter the bathroom Abby is standing there at the side of the tub still pooping!!!  Dylan is screaming "mommy she is still pooping!!".  Seriously Abby get on the toilet is my next thought.  I clean her up and clean the tub.  Then as I turn around to put her and Dylan back in the tub she is standing there peeing all over the clothes on the floor.  Again I think , get on the toilet that is right in front of your face!

In the middle of all this Scott text me that he is on his way.  I text back "Fabulous! Abby just pooped in the tub! I love my job!!"  He text back and says " Really?????? Puke." My response was " Don't Really????? or puke at me when you are driving home in a nice cozy sports car listening to music as I clean up poop with no make up on and know I still have a house to clean up when I'm done cleaning your daughter's poop!!!" He then has the nerve to text back with "what?? Why is the house not clean already??"  Good thing I know his sense of humor or I may have gone a little crazy on him when he walked in the door. 

In the end I laughed, actually so hard it was hard to talk.  So why are we going for # 4 I ask????

Passing the time....

Dylan has been sick for the last three days and we are all going stir crazy!  We decided to make pretzel letters and numbers!  Of course we ate them after.....I cant say they were anything like Aunt Annie's but they were still good!

We did it again!!

Well its official we are having baby # 4 in September!  WOW! I took a test on Monday and it was + then Tuesday it was - then Wednesday it was +.  Wednesday I had my annual with Dr Barnes and gave him the scoop so he went ahead and did blood work to be sure of the results.  On Friday my HCG levels were 171 and he took more blood to be sure my numbers were climbing.  By Tuesday my HCG levels were 1181.  That gave us the answer and we are now preparing to have another little one in the house.  Not really sure what I am thinking right now.....paranoid, nervous, excited, overwhelmed.......

Zoo Trip

Spontaniously we decided to take the kids to the zoo so they could see the Baby Giraffe that was born on Christmas eve. Unfortunately, we didnt get see the baby becasue it was wet and chilly outside. Zoo keepers said that just like newborn human babies they need to be proctected from getting sick. My question is: how do they do this in the wild?

It was a fun day since daddy was able to go. The kids love the zoo and we normally go during the week while daddy is at work. There isnt much that we do when the kids ask: "Can we take daddy here next time?". Its very sweet and we wish daddy could be with us much more often.

New Year

My only two followers probably dont believe I am really even logging anymore due to my lack of posting as often as they do but I have decided that this year I will commit to blogging!! Im in the prime time of my children who are changing everyday and showing so much of their personality. In theroy I would like to blog once a day and simply write one funny thing that happened thorugh out the day. Unfortunately I know that is NOT reality with my life.

I will start off with what Colby said today:
We were putting together a dinosaur puzzle and when we finished he was so proud of himself and wanted daddy to see it. Daddy asked if he knew the name of the dinosaurs and Colby proceded with T-Rex and Broccolisauris (meaning brachiosaurus). Too funny! Love what kids say!!!