Thursday's Thoughts

Hearing: The Curious George theme song and then Arabella asking me to "Help her dance". She is so sweet, I love you Little Bean!

Tasting: Fresh brewed coffee, (thanks to Uncle Mike) with Italian Sweet Cream Coffeemate, so yummy first thing in the morning!

Seeing: The beautiful orange Florida sunshine rising in the sky - I sure hope it warms us up nice today. I want to wear my flip flops more than once on this vacation!

Smelling: Not too much - I have had a beauty of a cold and my nose is still stuffy. I hate colds and most of all when you are on vacation.

Feeling: Thankful for my family and the time that we have been able to spend with them this Christmas. And also very happy and excited for Uncle Mike and Uncle Jeff and their upcoming move to Boston - now they will be only 6 hours away for a visit!

(Photo taken from http://www.iaes.org/conferences/future/boston_68/city_info/index.htm)

Christmas Morning

It was so magical to watch Arabella on Christmas morning. I now understand how my parents felt when they watched Mike and I opening the presents that "Santa" brought to us. You could just see how amazed and in awe she was that Santa actually came when she saw all the presents. It was the sweetest thing.


She then had the most fun opening her presents and helping everyone else open theirs as well. She loved her dress up clothes and even had to try them on. She also got her first doll, named Olivia. She was so gentle with it, thank you Grandma Kay. Arabella also received some books, playdoh ice cream set, lots of art supplies, a very special pink and green butterfly back pack and a lot more! It was much more than one little girl could open...we even put some items away for her birthday and other holidays since she was overwhelmed with what she had opened. Santa was very, very good to all of us this year. Thank you!









Once the excitement died down, we enjoyed a relaxing and beautiful Christmas day. Grandma Kay came over and spent the day with us and it was very nice. Uncle Jeff cooked a great meal. We are so very blessed and thankful for our family, health and the ability to be together during Christmas.

Merry Christmas - Part 1

Merry Christmas...just a few days late. We have been having so much fun in Florida that I haven't had too much time to blog. The weather has not been the greatest, it has been cold, in the 20s at night and a few days only got up into the 30s, we even had SNOW! It didn't stick, but it still snowed, in FLORIDA, how crazy is that?? Anyway, we have enjoying our time with family and the holiday. One of the first things we did was take a walk through the neighborhood to enjoy the holiday lights. Arabella had the best ride - she rode in my wagon that Grammie still uses. She had a lot of fun checking out all the lights.




Then on Christmas Eve, it was off to Town Center for some last minute shopping with Uncle Mike. It was so cold out, I actually had to go and buy Arabella a blanket to cover her in her stroller. And then we couldn't tear her away from the toys in Pottery Barn Kids, but it was still a fun shopping trip.


Jack, Arabella's elf who watched her all Christmas for Santa left her a special present and letter on his last night. He was very lucky to be chose by her and is looking forward to coming back again next year. We sure do miss Jack!



We had a great dinner on Christmas Eve - everyone helped to make a delicious meal. Once dinner was over, you could see how excited Arabella was for Santa's arrival. She put out cookies and milk for Santa. She also put out Reindeer dust, so the reindeer could find Uncle Mike and Uncle Jeff's house and also carrots for the reindeer.




Once Arabella was asleep, the elves got to work...

Ready To Go

Last Tuesday, we loaded up the car and headed to the airport to make our much anticipated trip to Florida for Christmas! It has been 3 years since I have spent Christmas with my mom and brother so I was very excited to get on the plane. So excited in fact, that while I was standing in line to get Arabella a muffin from Starbucks, I lost track of time and almost missed the plane. I wasn't paying attention and I heard them making boarding announcements so when I heard them page me (that was a first) and then saw Jay calling my cell phone to tell me that he and Arabella were on the plane, I knew I had better run! It was like a commercial where you see the person running and dodging people in the terminal! Good thing I have been running on the treadmill because if I was a minute later, the gate would have been closed and they would have been gone without me! But I did get Arabella her muffin!

We the had to wait for deicing in Montreal, which Arabella loved to watch and then we were off! Arabella was great on the plane, she is such an awesome traveler and before we knew it, we were in sunny and warm Jacksonville! Yippee!!

Christmas - Round 1

Since we spent Christmas in Florida this year, last Sunday, we got to open presents from Grampy & Heather, Auntie Lori and Aunt Margo and Uncle Bill. Arabella had a fun time and was so cute. When she opened a present, she had to play with it and try it out before moving onto the next one. When she came down in the morning, she was so excited to see all the presents and was very excited to see the wagon that Auntie Lori sent to her. She also got a pillow pet from Grampy & Heather and right away, she named it Buzzy! Grampy & Heather sent her her first Barbie and a Barbie lap top that she loves! Aunt Margo and Uncle Bill spoiled her as well with lots of Play Dough, art supplies and a Curious George stuffed animal! We had a great day and Arabella loved all of her gifts and has enjoyed playing with them. So even before Christmas and Santa arrived, she was officially spoiled! Arabella was also a great help when Jay and I unwrapped our gifts. Thank you to my wonderful family for all the wonderful gifts you sent to Arabella. She is one lucky little girl!