Late tag post, I know....

Shirley from The Scrapbook Stand tagged the whole team to do this a little while back and I just now realized it. So here goes:

2 names you go by:
-Mom
-Branny

2 parts of your heritage:
-How sad is this, I really have no clue :(

2 things that scare you:
-being in a dark house at night by myself
-heights

2 everyday essentials:
-Coca-Cola
-Internet

2 fave bands/artists
-BON JOVI-all the way!!!
-Gwen Stefani or Kelly Clarkson

2 fave songs
-Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars (Bon Jovi)
-I really like Mr. Brightside (The Killers)

2 things you want in a relationship (other than true love)
-trust
-forgiveness

2 fave hobbies
-Do I really need to answer that??? Duh, scrapbooking :)
-cooking

2 things you want really badly
-A Merry Maid, lol
-A real vacation, possibly a cruise without kids or Disney World with the kiddos

2 places you want to go on vacation
-the Cayman Islands (we have been there once during our honeymoon and it was fabulous!)
-Disney World (the cruise would be optimal)
-I am going to add a third one just because I am dying to go to Cedar Point one year to ride all the cool roller coasters ;)

2 things you want to do before you die
-be a surrogate mother (which I am about to become in January!)
-see my kids grow up and enjoy life

2 ways in which you are a true girl
-I cry very easily.
-I LOVE the color pink.

2 things you are thinking about right now
-When is Clayton going to get home?
-What cool projects am I going to make with my new TSS kit?

2 stores you shop at
-Target
-Pottery Barn

2 people guaranteed to make you laugh
-Clayton
-my friend Adrienne

BIG E-little e

Look at how sweet this photo is (even though it has the horrible Wiggles in it-blech). Big E looks so tiny compared to the TV. He was really getting into it, LOL.

Whirlwind Holiday Vacation

I swear, these past few days have been nothing but hustle and bustle for us. It will be so good to return to normal this week!

Thanksgiving went really well. I spent the day before cooking and cleaning in preparation for our guests. My parents and my Dad's parents join us almost every year for the feast. It's funny, even when it was just C and me in college, we would but the biggest turkey we could get our grubby paws on. We are huge left-over turkey fanatics. At least now we have a better reason to buy such a large bird, LOL. Anyway, they all got here around lunchtime and we had a fantastic visit. My grandparents haven't seen Emerson in a long time. They couldn't believe how big he has grown. They also couldn't believe how much food he could pack in that little belly of his. The kid eats more than I do! See the photo of him reaching onto someone's plate? That would be mine. He couldn't wait for me to sit down so he started to help himself. Man, I hate to know how much it will cost to feed these boys when they are teenagers. Yikes!

In case you are wondering why my Mom has her fingers in what looks like peace signs, just know that there is a good explanation. Everytime you pick up both of the boys, Hayden will say "You got 2 boys" because that is what Clayton and I both say when we carry the two of them together. Cute, huh?

This weekend, Clayton turned the big *29*, heh heh. I keep telling him that he is almost 30. I don't think that he likes the sound of that. We celebrated by going out and having some fun in honor of his day. Mom took Hayden back to High Point with her on Thursday, so it was just us two and E. We were supposed to have a sitter for E, but it didn't work out. That night, Clayton pulled out all the Christmas stuff and totally decorated our house. I admit it, I didn't do a dang thing. It was all him. He is so into the Christmas thing. He was listening to Christmas music and dancing around as he put up the tree. I enjoyed watching him while sitting on the couch, LOL.

Today, we went to the Flat Rock Playhouse and saw "The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever". It was really cute and we had a good time. It was our first time going to the FRP and I can say that we will go back. I highly recommend it :)

Family Portrait

 

Bad Stuff Happens to Good People

On Monday, I bought a shoebox full of goodies for a child through Samaritan's Purse. All you do is fill a shoebox up, leave a small donation in it, and then drop it off. A deserving child will receive it for Christmas. It's really bad to think that the shoebox may be all that the child may get from Santa. So, I loaded mine up-a bit too much. I ended up having to get a bigger shoebox from a friend. Heck if the little girl that gets it doesn't get the Barbie that I bought! LOL. It was a lot of fun and I really hope that the child enjoys receiving it as much as I did buying it. Next year, I am going to involve my kids in helping me select the goodies for it. This will become a holiday tradition for us.

This is where the bad crap happens. Yesterday, I got $120 fee on my checking account and it caused me to get a $90 overdraft fee today. The big fee that caused all of this was a mistake. They refunded it today, but then the $90 overdraft fee showed up because of it. Now mind you, I never keep a lot of money in this account because it is my grocery money. I usually spend it down to $0 every month, so I keep up with it pretty well. Since I was so low and then that big charge hit, I overdrew and had a balance of -$140. Ugh!!! I sure hope that they fix this today. I am happy that they took care of the big fee when they did. At least I have a positive balance now, LOL.

Thank you Aunt Steph!!!

Aunt Steph always sends the best gifts. Last weekend, Emerson got his first Carebear from her and he fell instantly in love! He was squealing with delight when he saw it. It was so funny, LOL. He never refuses food, but he was too preoccupied with his bear to eat his dinner. That NEVER happens. This kid eats like a horse! We have had a hard time keeping it out of Hayden's hands though. He likes it too. Hayden got one from Aunt Steph a year or two ago and he still drags it everywhere we go.

 

Oh, what a horrible day...

My kids are driving me absolutely bonkers lately. Hayden won't shut up and Emerson gets upset wayyyy too easily. Ugh! I never knew that parenthood would be like this. If people knew ahead of time, there would likely be less kids in this world, LOL.

Another bad thing about today is that I just learned that Bon Jovi is going to be doing another Atlanta show, but the tickets go on presale tomorrow. We have no money to go :( We haven't missed a single concert since his come-back. Sigh.....

On a good note, I have sold a bunch of scrapbooking supplies lately. I really needed to get rid of some of my things and make room for the new ;)

Sharing cake with Daddy 

You think he likes it? 

Emerson finally tore his birthday cake all to heck. Needless to say, he liked it, LOL.

Happy 1st Birthday Big E!!!

I cannot believe that my sweet baby is one year old now. Man, time sure does fly. We were supposed to have cake with my parents this past weekend, but we ended up moving it to this coming weekend. Hayden called from my Mom's house and wished him a happy birthday. That was so sweet! The outfit he is wearing came from Grandma and Grandpa Jacobsen. It has trains on the front of the sweater vest and his pants are adorable tan corduroys. As soon as I pulled it out of the box, I knew he was going to wear it for this photo shoot. 

Getting Groomed

Squiggy's New 'Do and Passing Out

Emerson's hair has been totally out-of-control for quite some time now. I have been putting a little hair clip in it to keep it out of his eyes, lol. He looked like a little girl with all that wispy hair. We waited until just before his first birthday because that is what we did with Hayden. He did really well! He sat on Daddy's lap while getting his trim. Unfortunately, she was scared to really cut his hair, so it isn't really all that much different. Heck, I probably could have done it myself. Oh well, at least it isn't in his eyes any more. Right afterwards, we took him over to the Picture People so that we could get his 1 year photo taken. Only 2 of the shots turned out, but one of them was really great.

In case you are wondering where Hayden is, he decided to go back home with my Mom this past Friday. She came up with my Aunt this past Thursday. Aunt Judy stayed with the kiddos while me and Mom drove to Atlanta at 5:30am. I had a doctor's appointment at 9:30am(bloodwork) and 11:15am(saline ultrasound). I had to starve myself because I was getting blood drawn for the 2 hour glucose test like they give you when you are preggo. I about died! I got so nauseous after the first blood draw. They took me back for my ultrasound shortly after and I was sick. I laid back on the table and they performed the ultrasound while I had to keep my mind off of my sick stomach. It wasn't easy. After the doctor was done, she helped me sit up and then it hit me like a brick. I was going to throw my brains up. I told her I needed a bucket and she couldn't find anything. I walked over to her sink and told her that I was feeling really bad. She called the nurse in and then she escorted me to the bathroom. Mind you, I had no pants on and had to walk out of the exam room wearing nothing but my shirt and a piece of paper around my waist, LOL. As I walked out, I couldn't see anything. It was like looking through a peephole. Everything else was black. I barely made it to the toilet before I fell. It took me a little while, but I eventually felt good enough to walk out of there. After that second blood draw, I quickly gobbled up the Butterfinger Crisp that I had stowed in my pocket book.

FYI-Just so you know, the ultrasound went great and I am perfectly healthy. My body is ready to be a surrogate!

After the doctor, we went to Perimeter Mall to meet my old high school friend Sabrina. She brought her adorable daughter, Madison, to eat lunch with us at the Cheesecake Factory. Gosh I miss that place! Anyway, Sabrina is just as cool as ever. We had a nice time re-visiting with one another.

Autumn Splendor

I just love Fall here in the mountains. The trees are so pretty every year. Unfortunately, they only stayed pretty for about 2 days once they turned. I guess the weather is getting too hot during the day time and it is killing them quickly. Ahhhh, I wish they would stay these pretty colors year round. 

Threesome

Isn't this hilarious?! Hayden was scared of his plastic sandbox lid, so I had to investigate. It was the craziest thing-3 grasshoppers doing the humpty dance, LOL. I have never seen anything so weird! I shook them around, but they refused to separate. Talk about public display of affection ;)