2009...

was a great year. we were given the most precious gift back on june 19th that will continue to be our most precious gift from here on out.

my new year's resolution is to strive to be the best example of love for this little girl, to always try to live in the moment with her, to count my blessings every single day, and to be the best wife and mother one could ever dream of.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!

my christmas present...

from dusty was perfect!

it is for my classroom! itsn't it cool?! the story behind it is pretty sweet, i think.

upon returning to work from maternity leave back in september, i noticed on my classroom door that my name was not listed as the teacher. in fact, one of our aides was. my name was nowhere to be found. all of the other rooms in the building were correct. accident? i'm sure it was innocent. anyways...dusty listened to me gripe about it when i came home that day. in fact, he has listened to me gripe about this sort of thing multiple times over the years--5 to be exact! it is not that huge of a deal, but it does frustrate me. *soapbox time* i know i teach something funkier than most, but i am part of that school and have been for some time now. my kids are also part of that school and i am still having to fight for them to be remembered year after year. it is hugely frustrating that we are so easliy overlooked.

so apparently, it ticked dusty off that once again someone forgot his wife! he took my griping to heart and decided to make me a sign for my classroom. his exact words when he gave it to me was "maybe no one will forget about you now....you have the biggest, baddest, loudest name sign in the building."

i LOVE it! i think it is so cool and it will go up somewhere in the room. you can't really see it in this picture, but in the apple, he added the autism puzzle pieces as a hologram affect. again, something he knows means a huge deal to me. i think it might just be the most special gift he has given to me, right up there with the engagement ring he gave me 3 years ago. totally came from his heart!!!!

L.O.V.E. my amazing artist of a husband!! he is so talented, it is ridiculous!!

**because i am so very proud of him, here is a link to a little online portfolio of some of his work.* http://www.pinheadlounge.com/12595045485232/

snow!

since i was terrible and didn't get any pictures of addy and our christmas snow, i thought i would try and make up for that today!

her first christmas

i can't believe it already came and went...how fast this most precious christmas flew by. we had a wonderful time spending it with addy and her close family. this year, addy's grandma from california came in town and spent the week with us. she left us this morning and we were all sad to see her go. addy and i were watching a video this morning that had grandma toni's voice on it and i am almost certain she recognized it and looked around to see if she could find her! so i know addy is missing her grandma. : ) this christmas was spent very differently than years past. we spent christmas eve here at our house where we have always spent it at my parents' home. we always go to muenster on christmas day to spend it with great grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins...more people than you can count but are all ridiculously close! we weren't able to make that trip this year due to the weather and icy roads. so we went to my parents' house instead.

addy cleaned up this year with all sorts of fun toys and new clothes. how wonderful it was that her first christmas was a white one!! she caught on pretty quick as to how to open up all of her presents. unfortunately, she was way more interested in the wrapping paper than the toy inside. dusty and i had a wonderful time watching her open her very first presents on her very first christmas.

i probably should have taken more pictures, but i got so caught up in all the fun! i'm pretty sure my dad took more than me, so maybe when i steal them from him, i can add them to the ole blog!

all in all we had the best time spending christmas with our daughter. makes my heart smile to think about it all!

almost crawling!

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christmas posts to come!

day one.

today is my first day of christmas break! woo hoo!! never gets old! addy and i have been busy getting the house ready for grandma toni's arrival tomorrow. she is on the road as we speak driving to see us all the way from california...we can't wait to see her!

we spent a little time outside in our backyard enjoying this B-E-Autiful day. nothing like texas to give you clear skies and temps in the upper 60s on the first official day of winter.

i think this picture is super cool!

here are a few more...

total sap :)

let me start off by saying that i have become a total sap since having addy. while picking her up from school today (aka daycare), i was given a present for dusty and myself created by addy. i don't think i have been that excited to open a present in quite some time. i opened it up at the red light and found her first hand-made christmas ornament! it was her handprint on one side and a beautiful poem on the back about her tiny precious hand. i totally teared up and cried the rest of the ride home. i was overcome with emotion. i think a lot of it was that i was so appreciative of addy's teacher, rachael, for taking the time to help addy make it when we all know that is not something in addy's repertoire yet. it is also because now i have something that i will forever look back on from addy's first christmas. i was overjoyed.



thank you, rachael. :)

busy weekend

we had one busy weekend...can't believe its over already! yesterday, we drove out to aledo to visit our good friends, shea and kyle plus their two kids, carson and brooklyn. shea is one of dusty's best friends from california. she happened to marry a texan and got stuck here just like dusty! this was addy and brooklyn's first playdate--they met when addy was about a week old and brooklyn was 3 months old but that doesn't count! shea and i were pretty excited to see what they would do when they saw each other. at this age, 3 months of age difference is pretty signficant, but we are both excited that as they get older it won't be such a big deal. they had fun staring at each other and trying to touch the other one. it was pretty cute!.

today was also busy for us. we went over to grandma and grandpa's house for an all day baking extravaganza! actually, my mom and i have baked pumpkin bread together every year at christmas time for friends and family for the past 3 or 4 years. (my mom has been doing it for much longer than that on her own!) so we baked 14 batches of pumpkin bread while the men watched the baby and football. my mom did most of the work, its her recipe and she is the pro! i'm more of the utility player--tell me where ya need me and i'll get to work!

Blowing bubbles

Ok, so I have totally turned into that Mom who posts every single video and picture I have of my baby girl. But I don't care!!

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all i need to know...

i learned from santa. this was in our school newsletter today and i thought it was too cute!


All I Need to Know I Learned from Santa

1. Encourage people to believe in you.
2. Always remember who’s naughty and nice.
3. Don’t pout.
4. It’s as much fun to give as it is to receive.
5. Some days it’s okay to feel chubby.
6. Make your presents known.
7. Always ask for a little bit more than what
you really want.
8. Bright red can make anyone look good.
9. Wear a wide belt and no one will notice
how many pounds you’ve gained.
10. Whenever you’re at loss of words, say “Ho,
Ho, Ho!”

Bouncin' away!

like is said, addy is playing so much more--it is so much fun! she has really taken a liking to her bouncer--love it!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

lately

so i haven't written much lately...maybe should say a little sumthin' in addition to all the videos! let's see...miss addy is 5 1/2 months old. she is becoming more and more active everyday, and she has gotten SO much fun to play with. i must say that i do believe i have the coolest baby around--what a mellow little chick she is turning out to be. ;) she started solids this week at only once a day, but will be beginning them at breakfast and lunch at daycare on monday. she has suddenly started playing with everything around her--really becoming interested in EVERYTHING. she rolls all over the place and acts like she is getting ready to crawl any day now. tonite was her first big girl bath in the big tub--finally graduated out of the kitchen sink/ infant tub combo. here are some recent pictures of her.

we are also (obviously) getting into the christmas spirit! christmas is so much more fun and exciting when you have a little one to share it with. it is all about her. i suddenly find it way more important to have some christmas time family traditions. here are some pictures of our decorated house. (disclaimer--i know the tree is sparse and ghetto, but it was the first tree dusty and i bought when we moved in together! this its 5th christmas with us!) **this ornament says "baby's 1st--thought it was too cute to pass up!

Yea...so I couldn't help myself...

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Notice Abe Lincoln in the video? Well I needed a 5th face...thought it was just random enough to be funny!

Who knew the Dominies could get down like this?!

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Christmas Spirit!

I made a new little playlist full of some of my Christmas favorites and changed our backgroud to a more festive look! Enjoy!