Surprise!

Oh my gosh! I haven't posted since January 10th. Ugh! That is slack and I am sorry.

We have been so super busy.

I have BIG news!

We were waiting to tell everyone until we were 100% sure...

so....

are...

you...

ready...

for...

the...

big...

news???

We bought a house! Yayyy! Most of you already know by now. I forgot all about my bloggy friends. What a shame. I am a terrible friend.

I did however tell our closest friends just the way I told you... "We weren't going to tell anyone until we were 100% sure but... WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!" I told one friend in the car and I swear I thought she was going to have a stroke and wreck because she thought I was preggo. Haha! Too funny!

We are super excited. Everything happened very quickly. Seriously.

We closed January 10th.

We painted the whole house and other things in one week.

We are still exhausted but oh so happy.

I will post pictures asap. I have the before pictures but I haven't taken the after pictures and I want to post them all at the same time.

In other news, during this hell of a week of moving I've lost 3 pounds without even trying.

Yayyy me!

So, my advice for today: Want to lose weight? Move. The stress will eat away those pounds every time. ;-)

Christmas Catch up

Christmas is a pretty serious situation in our family.

Our family... meaning all 15 people on my Mom's side of the family.

List? Yes, please.
1. Nana
2. Daddy George
3. Karen- My Mom
4. Jay- My Dad
5. Anna- Sister
6. Me
7. Ryan
8. Caroline
9. Emma
10. Lesley- Mom's sister aka my aunt
11. Keith- Lesley's husband aka my uncle
12. Carey- Child #1
13. Mary George- Child #2
14. Brandon- Mom's brother aka my uncle
15. Caitie- Brandon's wife

It is totally normal for us to congregate at least once a week and eat at Nana's.

Christmas just adds to the chaos.

We all spend the night together on Christmas Eve.

Thank goodness we now spend the night in a house that has more room.

Santa comes to Lesley's for everyone.

The children (Big, Bug, Carey, and Mary George) get the formal living room.

The adult children (Me, Ryan, and Anna) get the foyer.

The adults (Brandon, Caitie, Nana, Daddy George, Mom and Dad) get the formal dining room.

Lesley and Keith throw their gifts in their bedroom.

Talk about chaos.

But it is so fun and we wouldn't trade it for the world.

No pictures capture the true chaos of the situation. Maybe I'll try next year. Here is a small attempt...









Santa and everyone else were great to the girls. I always love to hear what everyone else got so I will make a little list of what the girls got...

Caroline got...
- MobiGo- This little thing is awesome. She sits in her room and plays it for hours. Seriously. Amazing!
- Dollhouse
- Princess tent and tunnel (Thanks Dad!)
- Portable DVD player with pink headphones
- Small talking Jessie doll
- Puzzles
- Books
- UNO Moo
- ZhuZhu pet with costume and ball
- Microphone
- Clothes
- Savings bonds (Yayyy!)
- Pinkalicious Madame Alexander doll
- Cash register
- Uggs
- Zebra Sanitas
- PJs
- Play-Doh sets
- Books... namely Presenting... Tallulah by Tori Spelling
- Cowboy boots

Emma got...

- Dollhouse- This was their big Santa gift together
- Princess tent and tunnel- Another together gift
- Portable DVD player with pink headphones (when you buy two of everything no one fights right? haha!)
- Big talking Jessie doll- This is the only thing Bug asked for. Let me just say, she LOVES that doll.
- Woody pillow doll with Woody Blanket
- Toy Story 3
- Boots toy- Ryan says she looks like Boots from Dora so Santa had to bring a Boots doll
- Uggs
- Swing for tree outside
- PJs
- Shopping cart
- Clothes
- Books
- Puzzles
- Toy Story Memory Game
- Big Wheel
- Eloise Madame Alexander with SkipperDee and Weenie
- Savings Bonds
- Glitter shoes
- Melissa and Doug animal farm (LOVE Melissa and Doug)
- Melissa and Doug cookie set
- Books... namely Birdie's Big-Girl Shoes by Sujean Rim (fabulous book!)

I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff but you get the idea. They got more than we know what to do with. My house is literally screaming.

I told Ryan that we were not exchanging this year. There wasn't a big discussion about it so I thought he agreed. Pshh! Nope.

Emma got me a Special Edition Keurig I've been wanting. Caroline got me the perfume I've been wanting. Ryan got me a pack of K-Cups.

So sweet! I was so excited. I guess I was so excited since I didn't expect it and it was such a surprise. On top of what the girls and Ryan got me, I got way more than I deserved.

PS- I got my boots! Yayyy! I totally rocked them Christmas Day and have rocked them like everyday since then. :-) Thanks, Mom and Dad!

PPS- I also got another special present that I will blog about later. It needs its own special post.