Dear God It's Me Dana

The older I get, I realize that God truly must have a sense of humor. He always brings the most hysterical moments into my life - some that make me laugh and some that put me on the edge of tears. But always moments that make life OH SO interesting.

Like Bad Hair Days on a Baby....

Or a Dog that needs a $1500 surgery for bladder stones and must wear a cone on its neck and a onesie the rest of the week - funny and sad....

Or a daughter that proceeded to point and laugh at the dog everytime she saw it...

Or a sweet image of a recupping dog, just when I was thinking that this "damn dog" was driving me crazy (prior to surgery) -- and yes, all of you mothers out there understand this feeling, about your once endeared pets.

But, the funniest bit of God's humor had to have come on Christmas morning....

Last Christmas, after Samantha's arrival, I woke up with a D-sized chest plentiful of milk and fulfilling my long fantasy for "real" boobs (the joys of nursing)! YEAH!!

This Christmas I woke up to my first period in almost 2 years (hence cramps and break-outs like I was 14 all over again) and small and saggy boobs (the joys of post-nursing -- poor Keith)! I have to say that His funny sense of timing was not lost on me -- had I been bad this year, was this the "coal in my stocking?"

While I was in the process of whining about this to my husband (I blame the onslaught of estrogen), it was my dear, sweet husband that said "Dana, all this is, is God telling you that you can have more babies." I know, let's say a collective "ahhh" for how sweet this is. And, yes for those of you that know Keith, these moments of sweet abandonment are rare...but again another needed twist from God.

I have to say that the Man upstairs keeps it exciting! I think it does it to remind me how lucky I am. It seems just when I am stressed about money, hard on my looks or my value in life, missing family and friends, or just in one of my "whoa is me" moments...he makes me laugh at silly moments with my daughter, reminds me how sweet my doggy really is, reminds me how lucky I am to be able to have children and have the husband I have, and just well slaps me sideways and says "shutup Dana and enjoy life."

Dear God It's Me Dana and I just want to say...THANKS! :)

Christmas at the Cabin

Make a Smilebox slideshow

My Baby Turns 1

My SamBug turned 1 on December 22nd! I have to admit that I was on the verge of tears the whole night - she is such a big girl now. What a special memory. We feel so blessed to have her in our lives - she brings more joy than I could have ever imagined. :)

Keith's sisters got to join us at his parents' home for the party. What great families.

Ahhh...the precious Mickey train -- she is obsessed with it. She can't ride it alone, but giggles like crazy when you push her around or she pushes it.

Posing in her birthday outfit. Too cute!

One of her fav gifts - a big girl seat from Aunt Vicki.

Blowing out the candles and making wishes - okay, Mama wished that this next year would slow down a little. The first year of her life went by WAY too fast!

She plowed into the cake -like mother, like daughter. However, note to all mothers - red icing is hard to get out of hair and off hands!

It did get a little overwhelming -- too much, too many papparazi.

Yep, holding back tears AND giggles - she was hysterical unwrapping gifts. I swear she has OCD - she had to make sure even the tiniest piece of paper was removed. ;)

Keith's nieces and nephews - what a great group of kids. So wierd though, since I have seen them grow up from ages 4-6 when I met them and now they are hanging out with my baby. It makes me feel old! ;)

Christmas in Indy

As you can already probably tell - Christmas lasts forever in our house! With 2 families spread over 10 hours apart, we alternate Christmases which means that we spend one night opening gifts from one family whom we cannot be with in person. Here Sami is opening some more gifts from my my parents that Mom picked up when she visited in October.

We truly missed my family over the holidays, but were so appreciative of the great gifts for Sami's birthday and Christmas. She has loved them dearly and had a blast opening them!

Sadie is hysterical - she rips open gifts! She helped Samantha with every one.

In case you haven't heard - she is obsessed with Mickey. Thanks Tia for the book - she loves it. That and her singing Mickey from my sister Tara, have been huge hits. :)

New Minnie sippy in hand, while tasting the paper. Had to watch her closely.

My baby will be styling this Spring with a bunch of new clothes - thanks Nana!

Thanks Nana and Papa for the great toys. She loves them all! I feel like we have Toys R Us in our house now, though.

We miss you SO much and can't wait to spend Christmas and her 2nd birthday with you next year!

Early Christmas and 2 Special Birthdays in NC

Keith and I went to NC for an early Christmas and birthday celebrations, because we are spending Christmas with his family this year. It was great spending time with Nana, Papa and my sister Tara and her family! We celebrated an early 1st birthday for Samantha and Dad's 60th! We will miss them SO much over Christmas, but felt so blessed to have this time.

Nana and my little Diva - yes, I know this kid wears a lot of different hats and headbands --heck, why not until she begins fighting me! ;)


I love this picture - what a sweet moment.

"Mom, seriously!"

After MANY shots, we finally got a few pictures where everyone is looking at the camera. Whew, that is a challenge. :)

Our little snow bunny

Showing off her 1st birthday outfit. Thanks to my friend Kendra for making her adorable tutu!

Dani and Grace were there to help Samantha celebrate.

"Up there" -- Samantha favorite thing is to point - now usually nobody is sure what at, but it is cute nonetheless. ;)

Typical Sami - God help you if you wear glasses in her presence. Sorry Dani! :)

YUM!!! She LOVED the icing, but could have done without the cake (Tara -- she must get that from you! :) )

Happy 60th birthday Daddy! What a year to celebrate God's blessings, after the scare we had around this time last year.

Great to get some sister time - I miss both of my sisters SO much! I just wish Tia and her family could have been here too.

Looking good Daddy - 60 is just a number!

Thanks everyone for making our early Christmas and the birthdays SO special! Thank you Nana for putting together an amazing birthday party for Samantha -- it meant so much to us!

I loved waking up to you all - having coffee with my parents in the morning, going out shopping, hanging out with the neighborhood ladies at the PartyLite party, seeing Dani be a reindeer in her school play, and just soaking up every minute I had to laugh and be in your presence. I am so blessed to have such an amazing family and Samantha is so blessed to be surrounded by so much love!

I love and miss you all. Have a Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving with Friends

This year we couldn't go see family, which we missed dearly! So, since we could visit my sister's family in CO, we decided to spend Thanksgiving with our dear friends, Heather, Freddie and their family. We split up the food and had a feast - including a 20lb turkey (yes, I know), various delicious sides, pumpkin and banana cream pies. yum. Why so much food -- why not!! ;)

While nothing replaces family, it is nice to have such special friends to share the holiday with. We just adore this family and got to meet another wonderful friend of theirs, Wei.

Instead of taking the pictures myself, I put my camera in the trusty hands of Heather's oldest, Kaitlyn. So here is the evening through her eyes. And to be honest, I think it captures the evening better than I ever could. :)

Kaitlyn - the girl behind the camera! :)

No, I am not sleeping on the job, but rather being climbed on by my daughter!


Keith - stop trying to scare the children. hehe

This is an intense competition of Mario Cart on Wiii.

No makeup and a whole lot of food -- so be nice!

Porter even got in on the Wiii action.

Heather - aka - "Super Mom." I keep asking her to write a book. ;) Seriously, one of the sweetest people I know.

Freddie - finally giving in after being chased by Kaitlyn.

Kaitlyn - what a goof! :)

Sadie - tons of cute poses in her arsenal

Okay Keith might kill me for posting this - so it might be a limited time viewing.... here is Keith doing the Hula-hoop on the Wiii that night. At least I didn't post it with a suggestive title, like my brother in law Brian did of Tara. tsk, tsk. :) However, I am not above blogging it and laughing at my dear husband's crazy hips - it is like the beast has been unleashed. (I do love you bunches hun!)