Happy New Year!!!!

Happy New Year to all of our friends, family and fellow bloggers! I hope that 2007 brings the best to everyone.

Enjoy some pictures from today....





You can't tell in the pictures, but the headpiece has 2007 on it. Of course, we had to have the kitties wear it too!



Bing was NOT amused. He wouldn't look up with it on.



Apple freaked out and took off through the house trying to get it off of her head right after this picture.

Tagged!

I've been tagged by Farrah to do this A to Z list, so here goes:

A- Available or Taken? Taken! Married 12 years, together for 18.
B- Best Friend? I'm going to not say the obvious of DH and say my best girlfriend Sarah.
C- Cake or Pie? Pie - Key Lime(and if it's a Key Lime Martini, even better!)
D- Drink of Choice? Diet Coke with Lime
E- Essential item you use everyday? Bath & Body Works lotion of some kind
F- Favorite Color? Purple
G- Gummy Bears or Worms? Bears
H- Hometown? Merritt Island, Florida
I- Indulgence? Homemade macaroni and cheese
J- January or February? February
K- Kids and Names? Gabriella, 9 1/2 months
L- Life is incomplete without? Family and good friends
M- Marriage Date? September 17, 1994
N- Number of Siblings: Legit or not? None, I'm an only child and adopted myself
O- Oranges or apples? Apples
P- Phobias or fears? Frogs! They're slimy!
Q- Favorite quote?


R- Reason to Smile? My family is complete with my beautiful daughter and I am a SAHM
S- Season? Spring
T- Tag 3 or 4 people? Ginger , Ana's Mama , Sig
U- Unknown fact about me? People who know me know this, but my blog friends don't - I'm a wedding coordinator for my church. It's fun! Right now I'm on hiatus.
V- Vegetable you don't like? Brussel Sprouts - ugh!
W- Worst Habit? Serious procastination and disorganization
X- X-rays? Broken leg in junior high, boob squeezes, HSG(female parts X-Ray)
Y- Your favorite food? Toss up between Thai and Italian and of course Macaroni and Cheese
Z- Zodiac: Sagittarius

I Have the Best Secret Blog Pal Ever!!

I got another gift today from my SBP. This adorable shorts outfit for Gabriella that will be perfect this Spring!

Thank you!!!!! You're just the best!!

Oh, and the Peppermint Bark??? Gone days ago!! All by myself.....

I Need New Clothes Now!!

We ate so much tonight!!!! I think we'll all moan and groan for the next 3 days. We had appetizers of deviled eggs, shrimp, hot artichoke and blue cheese dip & crackers. We followed that up with some shots of Coquito, the Puerto Rican version of egg nog(but there are no eggs in it). For the main event we had ham, corn casserole, broccoli casserole, white and sweet potatoes au gratin and crescent rolls with herbed cheese filling. Then, gosh, we hadn't eaten enough so we had deep dish apple pie with ice cream and pumpkin pie. My God I'm going on a diet(well, as soon as I polish off the leftovers)!


I guess we ladies saw the flash coming and closed our eyes for the pictures.


The above picture contains a rare sighting of the mysterious cat of the house Apple! She's rarely where the action is.

Gabriella got some cool bath toys that she is going to have a blast with as much as she loves her bath!



Of course, Bing had to get in on the action.


This Christmas has certainly been magical. Everything was really low-key since we have such a small family here. But, I have every gift I will ever wish for in having my daughter here.

To all my blog buddies who still don't have their babies home with them, I am thinking of you. I hope and pray they will all be home very soon. Next year, the blogs are going to be exciting !!

Merry Christmas All!

Merry Christmas to all of our friends and family and to everyone out there in blogland! We are having the most awesome Christmas ever of course thanks to the best gift of all!!

Enjoy pics of this morning opening presents. We're missing one member of the family, but there's no way the 3rd cat would come near this much activity!

We're having my mom and a couple of friends over for the Christmas feast and I'll post pics later.

Christmas Eve

We went to church tonight with Gabriella. The evening is the time when she is least content to be still. Tonight was no exception and she wiggled and writhed the entire time. Boy is mommy tired after that workout holding her!

Here's a pic of us at church.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

The Newest Member of the Family

Gabriella has a cousin!!!! Ferdy's sister had a little boy they named Piero yesterday. He was born in Germany(daddy's in the Army) 8 days late!! We were all wondering if he was going to make his appearance before Christmas or not.

We're all so excited and can't wait to see pictures.

Has Bing been teaching Kera his bad habits???

I think they are consipiring here. Either that or eyeing a lizard on the patio!


I had someone ask me to take a pic of myself and Bing so they could get perspective on just how big he is. He's definitely a big boy!! Very looooong.

Are you Lookin' at Me?

I think the look she is giving in this pic is hilarious!!


Hey, I see you!

Standing Tall and a Dose of Bing

Gabriella will finally stand and hold on to something for a bit. She still doesn't pull up on her own, but at least she's standing some now. She didn't want to put much weight on her legs until recently. She's certainly not going to be walking at 10 months like Holly's Gia, but she's making progress.

She is starting to crawl now too. Still not full-on crawling, but getting pretty close. She can certainly get across the room in no time. I can't turn my back for even a minute now, that's for sure!

So, once again, at dinner time Bing is like a shark circling under the high chair.

Back off buddy, it's my dinner!

Here he is trying to get up in my lap while I'm feeding her. He actually did jump up in my lap while I was turned away.

Oh, please can I have some of what's on the table???

Well then, I'll just try from the other side. He's persistent, I'll give him that.

OK, OK! An Update

Before my bloggerfriends kill me.. Here's an update.

First, thank you to my Secret Blog Pal!! She sent a tin of Peppermint Bark in an adorable Penguin tin!! I tore into it already.Can I just say, OMG YUMMMMY!

Here's a pic of Gabriella playing today. I promise to try to get more later, but she's napping for now.


Don't you just love these??? I had to do it!


I took Gabriella to a pediatric pulmonologist this morning. She's had chest congestion(or at least what seems to sound like that) since she's come home and I'm trying to get to the bottom of why. She had a chest X-Ray last week which was clear. Her pediatrician isn't really concerned, but gave me the referral anyway. The specialist thinks that if it were some kind of structural defect(which was mentioned as a possiblity by the ped.) that it would be present with every breath and it isn't. There are moments during the day(and of course while we were at the dr!) where she's fine. And then, next thing you know she's Darth Vader again. It's there at some point every day though. She's not wheezing, so it isn't thought to be asthma. I've tried running a humidifier and that doesn't make any difference. So, he thinks it may be some reflux that she has. She spits up a little, but not much. But, he said it may be just enough coming up in her throat that it makes it sound like that. He said because their bodies are so little, anything in their throat or airway will rattle around and be felt in their chest. So, I have a prescription for Zantac to give her for a month and then go back in for a recheck then. Anyone out there have any experience with this?

Mommy, Does This Star Make My Butt Look Big?

Moments after this picture was taken... much bigger issues on those pants than the star. I guess the prunes I've been feeding Gabriella to fix a certain "issue" worked. Too well.... Of course, this had to happen while I was holding her. So, I stripped her of her pants which resulted in her legs and feet being covered. Used copious amounts of wipes to try to get the majority of it off of her so as to not have her spread more around as I tried to figure out how to hold her hands, get said diaper off and not end up covered in any more of it than I already was. All the while I was thinking there must be a technique to this(suggestions veterans?). By the time I was done, she went into the tub, I stripped my clothes off and practically took a bath myself.

I put my clothes in the washing machine and came back to this....

Happy 9 Months! This one's for you Sarah

Happy 9 months today to Gabriella. Time sure is flying. It seems weird to already be looking ahead to her 1st birthday not so far in the future.

Sarah said I must post some new pics today as she needed a fix and pick-me-up. So, this ones for you Sares...

Today, Gabriella, grandma and I went to lunch with Jeri and her mom Sandy. Sarah asked me to give some Christmas hugs to all of them and take pics!

Daddy's little Steeler fan getting some lunch.

Jeri took pics of the shoes since we all know how much we girls love

shoes!


Sandy and Gabriella.

Jeri and Gabriella.


Hey, I like her bling!!!


What more could a girl ask for???? Surrounded by Brighton purses - heaven. I should have put her Brighton diaper bag and mommy's Brighton purse up there and we could have stayed all day!