Very Merry Christmas

We had a very busy but Merry Christmas this year. I ended up having to work Christmas Eve after being told I would be called off work because of low census. I had to work on another floor and was not happy about it. I had to miss dinner at Nanny and Granddaddy's. I did get off about 15 minutes early and rushed to their house for our dirty Santa gift swap. I got to eat my yummy steak while we played the game. Everyone played dirty which made it a lot of fun. I ended up with a Home Depot gift card and a California Pizza Kitchen gift card. I was happy.

Christmas morning and afternoon was spent at my parents house. We had a yummy brunch and then opened presents.

Ben, me, Leslie, Clay, & Kyle (yes they have on matching jackets)

Phoebe really wishing we would hurry up

Ben got two hunting games and a cross bow for the Wii. He was pumped.

Mom and Kyle playing tennis on the Wii.

While opening presents, there was quite a big surprise. All the kids had gone in together to get mom and dad a digital frame. I thought it would be neat to go ahead and put some pics on it for them since there was no telling when they would get around to it. I had mom and dad look through the pics because I told them there were a couple on there that I didn't think they had seen. In the middle of the pics was a picture of a Clear Blue Easy positive pregnancy test! Yep, we're preggers!!! Everyone was very surprised. Mom screamed then balled. Dad was clapping. The boys and Leslie were a little confused at first because they couldn't see the picture and mom was crying and dad was clapping. Ben had to tell them "we're having a baby!" Everyone was thrilled and we immediately started calling the family. It's been over a year of trying, and we're so excited and grateful to have this wonderful gift. I'll be due August 26th, 2009, or thereabouts.

Mom and me with her favorite picture ever!

I went to the doctor today for my 6 week ultrasound. Everything looks great! The baby is the teeny, tiny dot at the top of the round black space. And there is only ONE! I really had a feeling there would be two. While that would have been great, I am excited to have the experience of only one.

I've been feeling ok so far. Nausea started this week, but no vomiting so far. I'm really tired and hungry. I can totally see why women gain so much weight while pregnant! I am literally starving after an hour or two. It was great news when my doctor told me today that I can eat cooked sushi. I was going to be really upset at not having any for 9 months, but I could have done it. I've also given up coffee! Only one decaf Starbucks a week for me now. Please keep us in your prayers that everything goes well, and we have a healthy baby. I'll be keeping everyone posted. I go back to the doctor in 2 weeks for another check up.

My Girls

I have been keeping Becca and Jenna now for almost 10 years. I feel like they are my own. I've helped raise these two and am extremely proud of them. They are "the girls" when I talk about them. Becca is now 12 and Jenna is 10. My babies are all grown up. You know they are getting old when you can have a meaningful conversation with a 12 year old about Coach purses and their Xmas lists have nothing under $100 on them!
This weekend, I got to spend two days with them. Friday night I kept Jenna and her friend Trevey after work while John and Vanessa went to a Christmas party. Today, I kept both the girls for the Titans game. I took them to eat at the Cheesecake Factory for a Christmas treat. It was so much fun. Jenna was texting Ben on my phone and knew how to use it better than I did. Becca wants a Coach purse for Christmas, so I was instructing her about how to pick one with a "timeless" pattern and color. I can't believe they are so old which makes me even older! Jenna can't sit still and dances and cheers all over the place. She can move her body in ways that should be illegal. Becca is the smartest kid I know. She's so intellectual and athletic. She plays travel soccer on an Olympic development team. We will see her on TV someday for soccer. I love these two so much! They will always be my babies no matter how old they get.

Jenna being goofy. She loves the camera.

Very talented! Becca's salad was as big as her, and it was the lunch portion.

We had to get cheesecake.

Ready to eat it up.

Merry Christmas from the Millers

From our family to yours....we wish you a Merry Christmas!! We were actually able to get a pretty decent family shot this year. I expected the worst with the three dogs, but they did pretty well. Bless Leslie and her patience of taking multiple shots to make sure we had all the dogs looking. Poor Buster can't hear much anymore, so he wouldn't even look at Leslie when she called his name. Ben and I just kept smiling and Leslie kept snapping. Turned out pretty well. Those who haven't received cards yet will get them on Monday...CVS ran out of envelopes when I picked up our cards so I had to mail them in two batches.

You know it's the Holiday season when your refrigerator is full of party invitations. We had our dinner group from church over last night (Huffards, Rosenblums, and Walkers) and had a blast as usual. We ate, told stories, played Dirty Santa, and finished with Rock Band. We never wind down before midnight. This morning I went to Drennon's first wedding shower! It was a Christmas shower out at the Baker's farm. It was so nice and Drennon is going to have to have a party next year for Christmas after all the decorations she received. Ben would say "it looks like it vomited Christmas!" Bah humbug. Tonight we are going to another Christmas party at Stewart and Angie Bronson's. Tomorrow afternoon is my annual high schools girls and moms ornament swap. This year it's at Lu's. And finally, Monday is my Belmont party for the teachers of the Intro to Nursing class. Five parties in four days is a lot. Did I mention I have a project due Monday for school? We are blessed to have so many great friends who fill our fridge up with invitations!! Wouldn't have it any other way. Merry Christmas y'all!

Fun Party

Last night I attended a Lingerie shower/Bachelorette party for Megan Cook, soon to be Megan Daniel. Drennon and Rach Heff hosted the event at Drennon's house. It was a lot of fun. The party was Christmas themed, so everyone was decked out in hilarious Christmas sweaters and dresses. There were a few elves present too. Drennon had on a HO HO HO dickie under her sweater. Priceless! Megan was the cutest elf ever. I was festive with my reindeer antlers Drennon and I bought at Walgreens. After the shower, we went down to Decades and had a blast dancing to 80's and 90's music. I'm definitely not as young as I used to be! My feet were hurting, and I am very tired today. It was a fun night, and I can't wait to celebrate with Megan and Barry on the 20th! Congrats!

Me, Drennon, Megan, & Rach Heff

Drennon and me in our antlers

Megan was a dancing elf at Decades. Her hat lit up, jingled, and sang HOHOHO, and had a veil attached. Her cute striped socks had "faux" fur on the top.

Meet Ralph

I do so much writing about my dogs that I've never mentioned that I have a fish too! I got Ralph when I bought my first house almost 4 years ago! He's a very healthy fish. He lives in a vase with a peace lily plant and never complains about the lack of attention. Ben says Ralph would die if something happened to me since he always forgets we have a fish. If you want to know how Ralph got his name, you'll have to ask my dad.

Hard to see him in this pic b/c of the black rocks on the bottom. You can see his tail below the long plant roots. He appreciates it when I change his water. He swims a lot more.

Ralph getting his water changed.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Well, in the spirit of Christmas it is snowing today on December 1st! I tried to get a pic of it, but it wasn't snowing hard enough to see the snow. I did get some pug pics in front of the Christmas tree. Hoover doesn't like to sit for pics so I didn't even try. I'm just not sure there is anything cuter than two pugs in front of the Christmas tree! We're going to try and get a family pic this year with all the dogs but we haven't found time yet for someone to come and take the pic. Hopefully this weekend sometime.

It's hard to get two pugs to look at the camera at the same time! Buster is used to posing for the camera. Belle's attention span is pretty short.

Finally, success! Notice Belle's tongue sticking out. It's too long for her mouth.
This weekend Ben and I went to see the movie Twilight. It was awesome! Ben has been reading the books which I think is so funny since I've only heard of women reading the books. He said it's a love story but there's a lot of action. Since he was so sad that there were no more Harry Potter books, he had to start reading another series. I will definitely be reading the books now since the movie was so good. I highly recommend it.