16 years ago today at 8:58am, my second daughter was born. We expected a boy since that pregnancy was so different than my first one a year earlier, but I was thrilled when the dr. said "It's a girl"! :) I got to the hospital at 8:12am and she was born at 8:58am after only two pushes.

Ashley has grown into such a beautiful young woman and I am so proud of her! :)

Christmas.... the day after

Isn't it amazing how you spend what seems like months to get ready for Christmas and then it's gone in a flash? That is how I'm feeling this year. Days of cooking for dinner to be eaten in 20 minutes time. Months of shopping for everything to be a memory already. Oh well, guess that's all normal.

Anyway, we had a good Christmas here. Everyone was at my house as usual. Everyone loved their gifts, especially Pat. This year, I got him a 1968 T-Bird for Christmas. He has wanted a classic car for so long now and I'm so glad that this year we were able to do it! :) He got me a new laptop. One of the best you can get on the market. I'm very happy with it. He got my old laptop, which was only about a year old to begin with. LOL We are giving his old computer to a friend. The girls had a good Christmas too. Broadway tickets were a big hit. :) After dinner, everyone played Rockband on the Wii which was a lot of fun!

Now we are busy getting ready for Ashley's Sweet 16 on Monday. It never seems to end. I am enjoying the sleeping in though. LOL

Mid December Ramblings

I haven't written in awhile, so figured I should at least post an update of sorts.

Santa Breakfast is finally over and I am breathing again. Stress has been lifted. Yay!! It was a huge success. Biggest one to date. I am very relieved it went as well as it did! Christmas parade was the same night, so that was a very busy, exhausting day!

I have basically finished my Christmas shopping now, thankfully. I actually finished wrapping this morning too. Spent several hours doing it, but at least it's done! WooHoo!!!!

Next on my agenda is writing out my food list for Christmas dinner. Will pick up everything this weekend. We will have a full house as usual for Christmas! I don't mind though. I prefer staying home for Christmas. Christmas is not the same without Mom, but I am doing my best this year to make it better than it has been the last couple of years. I even decorated more than I have been again. Of course, the outside isn't decorated as much as usual though and I'm bummed about that. Pat handles the outside and he put up all he felt like putting up. I wanted more, but what can ya do?!? There are a couple of houses down the street that are sooooo lit up. I love the look of them and wish we would do the same. Maybe some year coming up we will go overboard once Gian & Branden are a bit older and really can enjoy Christmas! :)

I have to find time to get over to my grandmom's to put her tree up. We put it up every year for her but things are soooo hectic that we have not had time to do it. I wish someone else would step in once in awhile with it. I live the furthest away and have very active kids, but still I am the one to find the time to do it for her. Sigh.... Anyway, probably will get over there either tomorrow or Friday evening to do it.

Ashley had her HOP last weekend. She looked beautiful! Britney did her hair and makeup for her and it turned out really nice! They are both growing up so fast. We are in the process of getting things together for Ashley's Sweet 16 on the 29th! So glad that Cheryl is helping me with Ashley's, like she did with Britney's last year. It really helps! :)

Well, I guess I'm off again. I should do some baking, but have to see what I have in the kitchen for it all. LOL I admit that I am not in the baking mood at all, so we shall see!

Thanksgiving and beyond

Thanksgiving was pretty nice. Hectic, but nice. Britney was in the parade in Philadelphia, so we got her to the school by 7:30 so they could head to that. We made breakfast at the house after that. Chrissy, Jon & Branden came over as well as my Dad. Pat's dad was supposed to come as well, but called and said he was in bed sick. We also watched the parade on tv. I was disappointed that this year they didn't do any close-ups of the chorus singing?!? So, didn't really get to see Britney. She has decided this would be the last year she does the parade. It was her 2nd year and the experience was fun, but she is done with it. LOL
After all of that, we went to Kevin's for dinner. It was nice. On our way home we stopped at Howard's for dessert. Then had to get home, pack and get some sleep so we could head to NC around 3am (Pat's idea, not mine to go that early). LOL

We had a very nice weekend with Tony, Jen & Gian! Gian is such a wonderful little boy! Such a good baby and I am proud of Tony & Jen for how well they are raising him. Their house is very nice and perfect for them. We had a good time and miss them a lot!

The drive home was hell though! It rained the entire way. What was supposed to be about a 6 hour ride turned into a 10 1/2 hour one. We were exhausted by the time we got home last night! LOL

Now back to reality.... have to finish organizing the Santa Breakfast stuff. I have a few calls to make about it to make sure everyone is on board and on track. I can not wait until it's over!! Next year, I am not organizing it. Help, maybe, but run it... no way! LOL Also have to work on holiday stuff and Ashley's Sweet 16. Can't I just stay on vacation forever? LOL