Blessed.

We woke up in our new-old home. It was perfect. There weren't a whole lot of presents under the tree. In fact, Audrey only opened one from us. She opened pretend food to go with a wooden kitchen set we got her. I had been storing this kitchen set since July. I bought it on craigslist for a really good deal. I can't wait to watch Audrey's imagination grow while playing with it.


We then headed to my dad's house to spend time with the family since my brother just returned. It was our typical family gathering. Food. Laughter. And lots of noise. That's what you get when you are from a family of six kids that just keeps getting bigger with babies and spouses. At this point my dad has 12 sets of pajamas to buy (our Christmas Eve tradition), 12 stockings to fill (I still get a filled stocking, which is quite exciting and totally brings out the kid in me), and numerous gifts to wrap. I have always been so impressed that he does it all since my mom passed almost 4 years ago.

Today I did a lot of the baking, cooking, and cleaning. But while doing it I just felt so blessed. I felt blessed that I was in a warm home with home-cooked food. I had brothers and sisters loving on Audrey. A dad with a great sense of humor and a heart for others. A place to relax and play games. I could grab a glass of wine or a cup of coffee or some eggnog or just a classic Coke. Can you say, blessed, because I most certainly am. Now, we may not have an abundant bank account or the fanciest car. But I have way more than I ever deserve. Of course, my most prized possession, which is priceless, is my darling Audrey Rose.

Audrey enjoyed Christmas dinner. She doesn't really let me feed her much anymore, she has to be holding a spoon. Don't let the picture fool you, half the time her spoon is upside down and the food is everywhere. Oh, and yes, she is sporting a lovely dish towel as a bib because her always organized and prepared mama forgot a bib.

I hope you all had a blessed Christmas Day.

Born in a stable. Kind of crazy and amazing.

Tomorrow we will be celebrating Jesus' birth and remembering the gift He gave us. It's truly amazing if you really think about it.

Merry Christmas my blogging friends!

He's Baaaaaaack.

It has been a year, with a short break in between. He has been protecting our country. Helping the Iraqi people. He has missed Valentine's Day, Easter, Father and Mother's Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving.

BUT he will be here for Christmas. He arrived yesterday morning at 5:30. We waited for him with much anticipation. It didn't matter that we had to get up at 1:30am and wait and wait and wait. It didn't matter that we only saw him for one hour before he had to leave to debrief before coming home on Christmas Eve. It didn't matter because he is safe and home for good now.

Thank you, Specialist Merriman, for your service. We are so happy you are home.

We made some rad signs for Caleb. Here is my sister holding hers. And in case she looks famous to you, she is. She was on Channel 8 News along with me, my other sister, and my brother. THANK GOODNESS they only got the back of me. Because let me tell you, 5:00 in the morning is not my best hour.

I felt kind of special because I got to hold a flag while the soldiers entered. The downfall of volunteering to do it? I stood there and held it for two hours. And now I have this awesome back pain today from it.

Gramps and Jonathan.

All of the AMAZING, DEDICATED Soldiers arriving TOGETHER (they made a choice to enter together, even though some arrived on a plane earlier). You could feel the love in the air.

This was quite the moment, when my dad got to see him and touch him and hug him. It was emotional to say the least.

Seeing his nephew for the first time in a long time. Caleb's face was priceless when he first saw him. (He hasn't seen Audrey yet, she stayed home and slept since she was sick.)

It is amazing to think that my brother is just one of the many, many stories out there. I saw soldiers who met their baby for the very first time. I saw soldiers that greeted their very pregnant wives. I saw sons being greeted by their grandmas. I saw dads being hug by their three kids.

I felt a lot of love in that place. And I am so thankful they are all home safe.

It doesn't have to be perfect.

It's a Monday and it definitely feels that way. It's cold and overcast outside. Audrey is going on day five of being sick. And we have plans to do absolutely nothing today.

But I am so thankful I can be home with her and stay in our pajamas all day if we want. (And that is pretty much what we are going to do.)

We were suppose to be seeing my brother return from Iraq at 10:30 this morning. Unfortunately he has had plane delays and won't return till tomorrow morning at 6am. So we get to get up super duper early tomorrow and see him before he goes to debrief for a couple of days.

But I am thankful he will be home with us before Christmas.

We are having Christmas at our home this year. I love hosting things and I volunteered to do it at our new-old home about a month ago in anticipation our kitchen would be finished. It's not finished. We still don't have countertops, a floor, or a kitchen sink.

But I am thankful for our home. And thankful that I have a family to host. This home will be filled with so much love despite it's imperfections.

We still are dealing with our car accident from last week. Andrew is driving around without a side mirror and damage on the car. We were told it can't be fixed till after Christmas.

But I am thankful that we have two working cars. Two. Wow we are so blessed.



This is my life. It isn't perfect. But it is so right and all in His plans.

14 Months.

My sweet Audrey Rose, you are 14 months today. It is sort of hard to believe. You are such a little person. Each day you learn new words. You know, reallly important useful ones like mermaid, donkey, and football. One of your favorite words is baby. If there is a baby (real or fake) around you must touch her. You love to rock, pat, hug, and kiss your baby.

You know what I love most about your love for babies? It tells me you are going to be a wonderful mama one day. [Not too soon of course, I mean, like when you're 30. You are not allowed to grow up really fast like you have been doing. Slow down, would ya?] And it tells me you are going to be a very loving big sister one day. [No, this is not a hint that you are going to be one soon. Just sayin'.]

You received an early Christmas present from you Great-Granny and Popaw the other day. It was a baby, of course. You couldn't wait for me to get her out of the package.

Happy 14 months, my dear Audrey Rose.

If Only I Could Change the Ending.

It wasn't our typical Wednesday. That's for sure.

In the evening we met some of Andrew's family up in Indianapolis to go to Christmas at the Zoo and then the Old Spaghetti Factory.

And so it began. We saw wonderful lights. A great dolphin show. Santa. Bears cuddling together. A seal LOVING the cold all spread out on a rock. Sting rays. Sea horses. And even touched sharks.

I really enjoyed wearing Audrey throughout the zoo. The really bonus, she kept me warm!

After a late evening at the Old Spaghetti Factory we headed home. Audrey was immediately asleep in the car. What should have been an easy hour drive, turned into two.

Because this happened.

Dear Hit and Run,

Thank you for spoiling what was a lovely night. Thank you for side swiping us and taking off, leaving us to deal with the problem. Did I mention you hit us with a little 14 month old in the car? I hope your happy. Be glad she stayed asleep the entire time. Thank you for the $500 we now have to pay for our deductible. It was just what we wanted for Christmas.

And that is how our night ended. We were fast asleep in our beds at 12:30am. Now if only I could change that ending.

Afternoon Project.

For some reason I decided to wait till the last minute to find something for Audrey to wear to church for "Christmas Sunday." Stores pretty much seem to be out of all the pretty dresses already, swimsuits are even coming out. Geesh. If I was smart and well-prepared I would have found a great dress online like this one. But since it won't ship in time, I settled for shopping at the mall. (Which I am becoming more and more less fond of doing. Especially with my Etsy addiction). I came up with an okay outfit from Old Navy. But the shirt needed a special something to it. And my new found love? Flowers and ruffles made from lovely material like silk and chaffon.

Here is what I came up with...

This was super easy to do and I LOVE how it turned out. Time to do more fun projects like this.