Christmas with the Duggans.

I absolutely love looking back at Christmas pictures that we've taken with Tony's family throughout the years... so without further ado...

Sean (my BIL), Selena (my MIL), me, Tony (hubby, then boyfriend), Granny (Tony's grandmother) & Mike (my FIL) - Christmas 2006

Cousin picture - Sean, me, Tony, Lexi & Bobby (Tony's cousins) - Christmas 2006

Mike, Sean &  Tony - Selena, Granny & Daisy - Christmas 2007

Sean, me & Tony - Christmas 2007

Sean, Tony, Mike & Selena, & me - Christmas 2008

Cousin picture - Sean, me & Bobby, Tony - & Lexi - Christmas 2008

Cousin picture - Me, Tony, Lexi & Bobby - Christmas 2009

Me, Selena, Tony, & Mike - Christmas 2010

Me & Bobby - Christmas 2010

Sean, Selena, Mike, Tony, & Me (pregnant with Presley) - Christmas 2011

Sean, me (Presley in my belly!), & Tony - Christmas 2011

And I am SO excited to see everyone this year and to add pictures from Christmas 2012 to these wonderful memories above!

Merry Christmas!

Here is our Christmas Card from this year - ordered from cardstore.com and they were fabulous to work with as usual.  I super duper highly recommend them because their prices are fantastic, the website is very user-friendly and easy to navigate, and they really do offer some great stuff.  This will probably be my last entry for a while since we'll be out of town, so have a Merry Christmas, everybody, and enjoy all the people who mean most to you.  See you later 2012 - very excited for 2013 and looking forward to all the great memories to be made next year!

Happy 10 month birthday, Presley girl!

Showing off her bottom teeth!

 Alright, so, there have been a TON of changes this past month!

• We've got a big, bad CRAWLER on our hands!  And I'm talking, belly OFF the floor kinda crawling.  One day last week she just decided that she was gonna get a move on and the rest was history.

In addition to your 4 beautiful bottom teeth, you will be getting both top teeth in no time, it seems.  One of your top teeth has cut through all the way and the other is not far behind.  Hopefully this won't be too painful of an experience for you - so far you are totally handling it like the champ that you are!

Child of mine, you have some SMELLY feet!!!!!  Looks like we're going to have to up the amount of baths you have a week!

Your favorite words are "baby" and "dada" and you sure do wear them out!  Sometimes you get too excited and put both words together by saying "bay-da" - very cute!  "Mama" isn't on your radar these days... when and if you do say it, you are often shouting it.

You just love your puffs!

Just this week you started clapping.  So darn sweet!

 

• I believe we will be moving to your bigger car seat pretty soon!  You still fit in your baby one, but you sure are pushing its limits.  I think you will be more comfortable but it will be tough for me... just another indication that you are growing up!

So, I would be lying if I didn't mention that I am a bit bummed we won't be starting any Christmas traditions for our little family of 3 this year.  Because when I think about how nice a relaxing Christmas at home would be, it sounds pretty darn wonderful.  Plus, babies are just not made for traveling, if you ask me!  Though, I know if we stayed home for Christmas we would end up being pretty damn sad and just wishing we were with my in-laws and sisters the entire time.

Plus, like my sister and I talked about, our kids are so small now that it won't matter a ton in the big scheme of things... it's not like they will have any true memories about this first Christmas!  So, I am just telling myself that we will have another year to prepare for any and all family Christmas traditions we look forward to sharing together.

With that said, any sacrifice is worth the reward we'll be gaining because we will be spending time with our family whom we only get to see a few times a year.  That includes traveling to Memphis, Nashville, and possibly Chattanooga (gotta iron out those plans).  We'll be having another big "first" along with Presley's FIRST Christmas and that will be first plane ride!  I'm just a wee bit anxious about how it will go, especially since Presley hates to sit still now that she has started crawling... but she really is such an easy-going kid.  Now, any tips/tricks/advice for flying with a baby in tow - send them my way and don't be shy!  I really would like to take our Boppy with because I can't imagine being without it, but I'm just not sure we'll have room since the plan is (for now) to not check any bags.  We are flying with Delta, which I am super pumped about because they still serve in-flight snacks (SWEET!) and have no problem with us bringing our car seat and stroller (not sure if we'll bring that or not) and neither of those things count towards our carry ons! Woo!

In other news, we just had our first big snow of the year.  This resulted in Presley and I being home bound all day.  Which resulted in these silly pictures.

Happy ten months, Presley Rose.  Ten down and only two to go until we're all celebrating your super special first birthday!  Very hard to believe but even more exciting. 

Today.

I just can't even handle what happened today.

That is a lie.  I can handle what happened today because you know what?  The people directly effected by the shootings today in Connecticut had to handle it... and if they could do it, then I certainly can as well.  But what I cannot do is wrap my mind around all the details.  I can not accept that there is this much evil dwelling very directly in our midst; someone so tortured that they would take lives of the youngest school-aged children as well as adults who are doing wonderful things for our community and for the next generation.  Someone who would kill their own mother; shoot her in the face at point-blank range.  Someone so filled with hopelessness that they would then take their own life, just at twenty years of age.

After learning this was such a horrific shooting at an elementary school, I immediately reflected back on my experience in elementary school and those were easily some of the best days of my young life.  I had such amazing, kind, and patient teachers who encouraged us.  I had my two sisters - one who was always a few steps ahead of me and another who was just a few steps behind me - both who loved me and kept every day at home and at school interesting.  I had both of my parents in my life who made frequent trips to see me at school for various reasons - sometimes just for the sole purpose to make my day special and have lunch on the stage with me in the cafeteria.

Elementary school was a time to test the waters and find things that interested you.  For me, it was environmental club, APEX, and taking part in student council.  Sometimes you realized you had both strengths (won many-a-foot-race in my day on Field Day) AND weaknesses (losing two years in a row when running for student council).  Despite some setbacks and typical childhood drama, I loved my elementary school and was so proud to be a Seahawk at Southwind Elementary School in Memphis, TN - and I'm still proud. 

That's what filled my mind this morning.

How DARE some deranged fool take that away from ALL those students at Sandy Hook Elementary School.  He blemished their experience from here on out - and that is to say that they survived the day.

Before my husband went to bed tonight, he shared that how different it is to hear about today's events as a parent now.  Mid-way through the day, after not having shed a single tear yet, I was on my way to change my daughter's smelly, poopy diaper and I burst into tears thinking, "Thank God for this poopy diaper!"  because it meant that she was very much here with me right now.  I just hugged her and sobbed into her tiny, little shoulder and begged her to never take someone else's joy or to take their life... I also asked her to please never leave me in such a traumatic way.  (As if she could control that.)  As I changed her diaper, I thought about how much I've assumed that Presley will make it through her childhood and well into adulthood and I came to the crippling realization that that may not happen; all of the children gunned down today were babies at one point who likely have parents who changed many diapers a day just as I do for my daughter - parents who had the same hopes, dreams, and assumptions that their family would never be struck by such violence and grief.

It.  Sucks.

It sucks that you can't control what happens to your family in bad situations and that you can't always save them.  My dad was shot and killed when I was twelve and there wasn't a day that went by that I wasn't trying to come up with ways to go back in time and some how save him from the horrible choices that someone else was making.  And that was my mindset as a child.  Can you imagine what the parents of the children who were taken from the world are thinking?  You just don't expect to send your child off to school in the morning and instead of picking them up from school, you're picking them up from the morgue.  That sucks.  It sucks that not everyone is good out there.  It sucks that not everyone cares enough to realize how many people they will be hurting through their actions.  It absolutely sucks! 

I talk with my Gramma frequently through e-mail and just a month ago she wrote me saying, "the way the country is going is not the America I was born into and raised to love."  And how true is that.  It has changed so much since I was a young kid - and that was less than twenty years ago.  I thought for the first time today that maybe it would be a disservice to any future children of mine to bring them into the world - what a sad thought that was!  And so many parents are thinking that in order to keep their children safe they must home school them now.  I can't blame anyone for feeling that way!  For me personally, as I said before, I had a wonderful childhood in public schools and I would hate to take away so many beautiful opportunities from my child.  But I would do it - IN A HEARTBEAT - if that meant keeping my child alive.  I just can't believe that's what it may come down to five years from now.

It's going to take a lot of love and investment in one another to combat things such as what happened today in Newtown, Connecticut.

I know this isn't the most uplifting entry, so I will leave you with what has cheered me up throughout the day in hopes that it will lift your mood as well.  A video of Miss Presley from today:


We have every day to make better decisions than we made the day before and I just hope that we can continue to live our lives without fear of the worst happening.  I pray that we can all try our best to make our communities as safe, happy, and healthy as possible.

Pregnancy with Presley!

So after reading Megan's (fabulous blogging mama to one heavenly angel and her twin earthly angels) post about how she documented both of her pregnancies, I decided to put together a collage of a bunch of my belly pictures and ultrasounds and various pre-Presley pictures... all leading up to one of our most recent pictures of me and her at 9 months post partum.

After having a painful, drawn-out birthing experience, becoming a new mom, and going through the newborn phase - I swore to Tony we were not having any more kids.  I never would have imagined the joy I could have and how complete our family feels now that Presley is here in our family.  I think I could go through it all again in the future, but we are truly happy with life right now.  Who knows how we will feel down the road from now.  If another pregnancy and baby is in the cards for our future that's wonderful but if it it is just the three of us from here on out then I would be just as ecstatic.

And Presley, if you do read my blogs someday (way, way, WAY down the road) our dreams are so complete with you here.  If God would have asked us to describe the baby that we thought we wanted, we would have gotten it all wrong because you, my dear, are ten times sweeter, smarter, funnier, & cuter than we could have EVER imagined.  We love you so much and no amount of time or anything else in this world could or will ever change that.  I can't even imagine how much our love will grow as you do throughout the years but I can tell you that I am so ready & so excited - just as your daddy is. xo

Dear this past week,

Thank you for being awesome, once again.  I really don't want to sound like a talking cliche, but in the last week it has really started to feel a lot like Christmas in our house.  We got a few of our decorations up - which includes our tree - and I can't wait to crank up my favorite Christmas albums (this, this, this, and this) while we decorate the rest of the way!  Some of the happenings of the past week...

We took family Christmas pictures!
And Presley did amazing, as always, with family pictures.  I think this is the 4th year in a row that Tony and I (and now this year, Presley, too!) have gone to Portrait Innovations to take pictures for Christmas!  They always have such a great staff who are friendly and take such great pictures - not to mention the awesome deal they have for the holidays.  Ideally, I'd like to have more relaxed family pictures taken outside of a studio sometime, but for now - this works!  I'll try not to overload you with too many of our pictures & post just a few of my favorites...

Presley's legwarmers at Sparkle in Pink for such a good price and they are such good quality!

Went to the mall with some of our favorite gals!
As if I need any motivation to go shopping as it is, Megan said her and the girls were going to do some shopping at the mall so Presley and I met them out there!  The girls were so well behaved - despite them taking turns throwing their toys out of the strollers every few minutes.  And on top of the fun outing, I ran into my best friend's sister, Hope!  For the first week in a long time, we didn't get to have our weekly play date with the girls... so no picture of the three of their adorableness!

Got our Christmas cards ready to send out!
Not much to say there... just happy to have them done!  Even if people get them super early in the holiday season - for once I won't be waiting until the last minute!

We bought Presley's first Christmas present!
We didn't go out and do any crazy Black Friday shopping - but we did go to Walmart that afternoon and found a few blu-ray movies as well as Presley's first gift!  Tony and I have always agreed we wouldn't be huge on buying Presley a ton of things and going overboard for birthdays and holidays - but when I saw this I felt like Presley would really like to play with something like this - plus we got a really great deal on it!

Playskool Explore and Grow Step Start Walk n Ride

Made our holiday plans!
This includes booking some flights for the three of us - which I am looking forward to.  We finally cashed in our credit card points so we didn't have to pay a dime for our transportation this Christmas!  Woo-Hoo!  It also means we will be bypassing the awfully long car ride!!!  However, this will be Presley's first time flying - so we aren't sure how she will react but I am feeling optimistic about it.  Have any of you moms flown with your little ones while they could still sit on your lap?  If so, how did it go and do you have any tips to make the trip smoother?  She will be 10 months when we leave and I've heard that breastfeeding during take off will make it easier on her ears - so I hope she can relax enough to do that.  (When there is noise around her she wants to be up and investigating everything!)  Anyways, I'm just really looking forward to the holidays this year.  We'd like to stay put as much as possible next Christmas because Presley will be a little older and we will want to start our own traditions with each other at that point!  But that is a whole year away - who knows what our life will be like twelve months from now!!!

Did some secret shopping for my main squeeze!
Like I said in a previous post, I am the worst at keeping gifts a secret, especially from Tony!  I just get so excited about it that I end up telling him right away.  Especially if it's something he'd really like.  For example, the first two stocking stuffers I bought him I ended up giving them to him right away - I am that awful!  In the last week or so I've found 3 gifts for his stocking that I know he'll enjoy and they are still a surprise... so far.  Too bad we have nearly a month to go!

So, that's about it, really.  Hasn't been a terribly eventful week - but it was another wonderful week in the Duggan household!  Now, I'm going to work on my cousin, Breanne, sharing her labor & delivery story and see how she would feel about doing a guest blog... I don't know about everybody else but I absolutely love hearing birthday stories.  Anyways, I will leave you guys with my Nine months in - Nine months out picture!  I got the idea from Megan! How fun!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Giving Thanks.

Like I did last year, I'd like to post 10 things that I am thankful for this year for Thanksgiving.  True to form, I am a little late in putting my blessings into writing - just like last year... but better late than never!  (Which is pretty much my life motto.)

Being a stay at home mom.  I know I am lucky to be able to stay home with Presley each day.  Though it's been something I have taken for granted from time to time, I can see that in hindsight it has given the two of us the chance to create an unbreakable bond.  I feel that this was especially important especially since I was experiencing the baby blues (if not post-partum depression) big time in the beginning - if we hadn't gotten this chance to work on our bond then I have no idea what our relationship would look like at this point.  Just solidifies my belief in everything happening for a reason.

My husband's job.  If it wasn't for Tony's job and the fact that he is such a hardworking, dedicated man, I wouldn't have the opportunity to stay home with Presley full time.  He has gotten laid off from work in the past, but thank the Lord, that hasn't happened since becoming pregnant or bringing Presley home.  We. Are. So. Blessed.  He loves Presley so much, so I know what a sacrifice it is for him to wake up at the crack of dawn and leave his family each day, but we are so thankful for such an amazing man in our life.

Reliable transportation.  A few months ago I was having car trouble and it got progressively worse really quickly and because it is a 1992, we figured that maybe it was time to say goodbye to my car.  Thankfully, that was not the case!  All that needed to be replaced was the timing belt and thanks to our trusty mechanic, it was also fixable within our budget.  We had planned to buy a new family car in a year or so, but because my car was gone for a while (and Tony's civic is a two-door & not much of a family car), we decided to go ahead and buy our family car!  So now I drive our Honda Fit and Tony drives our '92 Corolla to work everyday.  The extra bills are a pain in the ass, but thankfully we are also making that work as well.

Presley.  She has the best laugh, the sweetest smile, and a personality that I'm in awe of.  She makes me want to be a better person every second.  God knew what he was doing when he sent Presley to us; she made our new, little family so solid - even though at any given moment we felt like we were on shaky grounds because we had absolutely no idea what we were doing!  When we first brought Presley home, I was almost mourning over the fact that it would never be just the two of us (Tony and I) ever again... mostly because it had been just us two for so many years through dating and our engagement.  We have a greater appreciation for our alone time as husband and wife so much more than before.  Presley has given us such a sense of purpose - whoever said threes a crowd was certainly not talking about our family!  She is the best baby we could have ever been given.

My husband.  I could never have asked for a more fun partner or a more loving father for our kids (assuming we will have more in the future).  Though we continue to have our ups and downs, we work through them and love each other more through each bump in the road.  Our life may not be full of glamor - usually it's full of diapers & drool, but it is full of huge smiles.  And I would marry him all over again in a heartbeat.

Weekly play dates.  I can NOT forget to mention the weekly play dates Megan and I have been having because they have really kept me sane and given me so much to look forward to every week!  We are so blessed to have friends with girls around the same age as Presley; not only are they going to be great friends to Presley over the years, but they have already helped Presley learn new things!  After each of our play dates, Presley comes home doing something new almost every time.  Alli and Molly have taught her how to wave, how to use her voice, and even how to army crawl.  I know she would have done these things eventually, but I kid you not, she watches these girls and imitates them like crazy!  And I am so lucky to have Megan as a friend!!!  I consider myself very lucky to know the Ebner/Darras family.

 Friends.  The friends who still want to be with me even though I've changed so much in the last year; who are truly understanding of my insatiable need to be with my family as much as I can since bringing Presley home; friends that have no problem picking up where we left off - whether it was a few days since we last talked or a few months.  I really have learned that it's quality, not quantity when it comes to friends - that has never been more true than now.  And dear lord, I cannot forget to mention my mom friends. I've gotten so much help along the way from various mom friends through encouraging words, listening ears, helpful advice, hand-me-downs, and unconditional support and love!  If it takes a village to raise a child, it certainly takes just as much if not more to condition a mama!  I'd be lost without everyone along the way - including all my fellow blog moms.

Health.  Enough said.  We are happy and healthy and that is something I will never, ever forget to give thanks for.

Family.  I know bragging is an unbecoming quality, but you guys, I have the best in-laws imaginable - I am SO in love with Tony's family!  Though I have known and loved them for quite some time now, they continue to surprise me with how much they care about one another and the amount of love and support they give freely.  I'm also so thankful for all our family members who have brought little ones into this crazy world this past year - Tony's cousin Danielle had baby boy John in May, my sister Amanda had baby girl Anne Marie in July, and my cousin Breanne had baby boy Emory this month!  Presley is going to be blessed with playmates and I've already been so blessed with having these three new moms to lean on!  Not to mention, my little sister Ashley has just been such a blessing in showing so much love and understanding and support to me throughout the last nine months - I can always turn to her and I am so thankful that will always stay the same.  I'm also thankful for having my mom live so close to us as well as the amazing time we had with my family (plus all the amazing Asians!!!!) for Thanksgiving!

Goals.  This might seem a little weird - but I am so thankful for the goals we've set for our family.  I know that our plans aren't always the plans God have for us - and BOY have we learned that over the last year!!! - but I am so hopeful and excited for our future... wherever that may lead us. 



What are you guys most thankful for this year?