Anniversary

Today Jeff and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. I love my husband more than anything and can't wait to celebrate many many more years together.One great thing about our anniversary is that Jeff will always have it off from work which is great! We started off the day with a giant yummy breakfast. My Mom sent us a pancake kit that came with buttermilk pancake mix, maple syrup, bacon, ham, and coffee. It turned out really great, thanks Mom!After breakfast we got to spend the day playing with Johanna.When we got to Jeff's parents house, there was a picture frame sitting on their dining room table. Jeff had made me a collage of pictures from our wedding with out me even knowing. He did such a great job on it, I absolutely love it!We left Johanna with her Grandparents and headed downtown to a restaurant called Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian steakhouse.The gaucho chefs prepare 15 different styles of meat and come to your table side to carve you off slices. It was very delicious, luckily we both came very hungry!Jeff surprised me again with a beautiful Pandora bracelet. He chose all the beads himself; a bouquet that says love for my wedding bouquet, a pink glass bead and a pearl for the pearls I wore on our wedding day. I love my thoughtful husband. Thank you for the best year of my life Jeff, I can't wait for many many more to come.

100 years

Today was Maxine Dugger's 100th birthday. Maxine has been a resident of the building that I managed since December 09 and it has been a pleasure getting to know her and her family. Her son's threw her a beautiful party at a golf course and invited staff to attend. There was a live band, open bar and prime rib buffet...better than a wedding! Jeff came along to check out the golf course and watch Johanna (and wish Maxine a Happy Birthday and eat some tasty food of course...)Johanna did a fantastic job and took her bottle well. This made me very happy since Jeff and I will be going out on a date tomorrow for our anniversary and I have been nervous about leaving her alone for 4 hours. At least now I know she is capable of eating with out me there...phew!On each table there was a chart of Maxine's family tree. Her and her husband had 3 children which then lead to 9 grandchildren, 31 great grandchildren and 20 great great grandchildren- wow!There were bottles of champagne on each table with a beautiful picture of Maxine from her younger days. I love looking at olden day pictures, they are always so classy looking.Her family compiled some poster boards loaded with pictures of Maxine's life. It was so neat looking back at her and her husband's life...their Model T, the cafe they owned together for 50 years, and all of their family past and present.We love you, Maxine!This is not a picture from Maxine's party but of my friends Brooke and Brad. We went to see Trabsiberian Orchestra together last week and Brooke was finally able to meet little bean. It was so great to see them!

Christmas Day

This Christmas was quite the eventful day. We woke bright and early to give ourselves plenty of time to get ready for Christmas Mass. Johanna thought her Christmas princess dress was so cool, she couldn't stop smiling!She's been making so many squeals and squawks lately it's so funny to watch. She gets so excited when she hears those noises coming from her own mouth, I know we will have a big talker on our hands soon.We had everyone over to our house after Mass. Lori and I got busy with making Christmas brunch for everyone. I borrowed my Dad's recipe for the yummy quiche that he had made for my baby shower.They turned out really great, almost as good as my Dad's. We made a cheddar, green pepper, ham and broccoli and a swiss, mushroom and spinach. Yum!Fiona was entertained for a long time with her new toy that she found in her stocking. You stick the treats in the bottle, then they have to figure out how to get the treats out. Kept her busy for hours!As the day went on, Johanna started feeling a little icky so we took her out of her dress and put her into something a little more comfy.Our friends Lisa and Joe got her this adorable bib.I could tell something wasn't quite right with my little peanut all day, but her temperature was relatively fine. Around 8 o'clock her temperature started to skyrocket so we decided to take her over to the hospital. When we got there it was up to 103! I am not sure what is considered too high for little ones, but it sure was high enough for her Momma to be worried. They had to start an IV, draw blood, and collect urine through a catheter. I couldn't watch with out causing a scene (I am such a cry baby!) so I left the room. Johanna hadn't cried any tears yet, but that night Jeff said he saw big tears coming out of her eyes. My poor baby :(Johanna has been on her antibiotics for 3 days now and is feeling much better. I am so happy to have my happy baby back. Recently she has discovered her hands and she entertains herself by putting as much of them in her mouth that she can!

Christmas Eve

What an eventful holiday! This year I got a wonderful present from my loving husband, a new car to drive myself and the baby around in. Jeff and I had talked in the past about getting something a little safer to drive in Colorado but I had no idea he had actually been looking! The day before Christmas Eve Jeff took my car to work and told me it was because he'd heard there was bad weather coming for the day. I thought nothing of it. That night he came home and gave me the keys, boy was I surprised!Johanna got two beautiful dresses for Christmas. One from my Mom and one from her Aunt Cheryl and Cousin Monica. For Christmas Eve Johanna wore her Mrs. Clause dress from my Mom and Christmas Day she wore her gorgeous princess dress from Cheryl and Monica. What a cutie pie!"All this picture taking makes a girl sleepy!"I got an awesome present from the Overmans, a gorilla tripod and remote control. It is so much fun to play with! (I need to do a better job with hiding the remote though....oops)This picture cracks me up!! I don't think any of us will be starting a modeling career any time soon ;)"What'chu talkin' 'bout, Willis? "More kisses? Come on Mom and Dad!"Jeff smoked some fabulous appetizers, jalapenos filled with cream cheese and cheddar cheese wrapped in bacon.Even though Johanna had no idea what was going on, we had fun opening her presents for her. Thanks for the touch and feel books Kara and Russ, Johanna loves them!My two gifts...Best Christmas gift I ever got :)

Johanna's Baptism

Although I've posted these pictures on Facebook already, nothing is officially documented until it's reached the blog! We celebrated Johanna's baptism yesterday at St. Thomas More. Our Pastor did the ceremony which was meaningful because he had also married us and confirmed me this past Easter. It was a beautiful service and Johanna did so great, she was so content the entire time. She was like a little cabbage patch doll! Since I know these rituals may be a little confusing to some, I'll try to explain a little of what went on! Here Father Andrew is anointing her with oil on her heart representing Christ's salvation...it was part of the exorcism. No head spinning or puking split pea soup involved.. ;) Father Andrew poured the consecrated water over Johanna's head three times; the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. At first she gave a little jump and threw her hands in the air, but she didn't seem to mind at all. Must be all those bathes she's been getting that she loves!
After being anointed with chrism (which smells heavenly!) Father Andrew passed out a white linen for her to wear symbolising her pure soul cleansed from original sin.Our Godparent's then lit a candle symbolising the light of the world (Jesus.) The candle is to remind us to raise her in our faith. Leave it to the Catholics to cram in as much symbolism as possible in a half hour ceremony!
For the baptism Johanna wore the same gown that I had worn as a child at my baptism. She was also able to wear her Great-Great Grandpa's baptismal gown. Jeff's Great-Grandpa wore it when he was 10 years old, which is why it is so big! It was very special that she was able to wear it as well.Here are our God Parents, Brian and Kristi. I have known Kristi since the 5th grade. After we sat next to each other on the first day of class we became best friends. I even moved out to Colorado 3 year after she had. It is so nice having her live here with me, it's like I have family here too even though mine is 1200 miles away!Jeff on his baptism day.Me on my baptism day.Our little peanut on her baptism day!And of course I had to add the picture of her little tiny princess shoes... they are just too cute!