Photo Books, Holiday Cards, & Calendars...Oh My!

It's that time of year again!  Time for me to start working on our annual photo books, picking out holiday cards, and ordering our 2013 calendar.  Are you doing the same things at your house??

My go-to every year is Shutterfly.  I love their selection, their prices, and their quality.  I'm not sure how I'll choose our holiday cards this year.  There are SO many adorable choices!!

Our families always love getting their annual photo book, too.  Being so far from our children, they really rely on staying connected through photos, and by giving them a book every year, they're able to take a year's worth of memories with them wherever they go and show off their precious little ones.

And have you looked at the Special Offers?

http://www.shutterfly.com/special-offers

Want more ideas from Shutterfly?  Check out these links:

• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/shutterfly

• Twitter: http://twitter.com/Shutterfly

• Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/shutterfly/

• Instagram: Shutterfly

• Google +: https://plus.google.com/+shutterfly

• Blog: http://blog.shutterfly.com/

Time to browse and start ordering!

**Please note this post is sponsored by Shutterfly**

Comments

I love reading your comments!  I also reply to pretty much every single one.  And, it wasn't until recently that I realized they weren't going through anymore!  I get an email notification with every comment, and I just hit reply to that.  I can remember having long conversations back and forth via email...but now, it seems that when I hit 'reply' it's going to noreply-comment@blogger.com.  So, first of all....if you've asked me a question in a comment and it seemed I was ignoring you, I wasn't!  I replied!  Second of all, who knows how I can fix this???

Stomach Bug and Grandma

Oh, what a weekend we've had.  Riley woke up Friday morning covered in puke.  We have no idea how long she laid in it, because she never woke up through the night.  Jarrod just went in to get her when she woke up for the day and found her.  We got her in the bath and started her laundry and she was acting totally fine.  I load the kids into the car to get Gavin to school and half way there she throws up again.  It was disgusting.  I realize I'm pretty lucky that I've been a mom for 4.5 years and I'm just now having my first experience with cleaning vomit from a car seat.  Yuck.  I hope I never have to do that again!

So we stayed home the rest of the day and she seemed to be doing ok.  Saturday was filled with nasty diapers, though.  Still...we didn't think much of it.  Then around 1am, I was awakened by Jarrod jumping out of bed.  He heard Gavin scream before I did and went rushing into him and found him covered in vomit.  Oh, joy!  We were up from 1-2:30 cleaning Gavin's room, giving him a bath, and comforting him while he was continuously threw up.  He was up again at 3:30 and then, thanks to the time change, Riley woke up at 5.  Fun times.  I am so thankful for a husband that heads out at 5am to get necessities and Pedialyte at 5 in the morning!

Both kids were back to sleep by 9 so we made ourselves some breakfast.  Jarrod had to go into work to get some last minute things done before his trip to Puerto Rico.  By the time he got home, I wasn't feeling well and got hit with the lovely stomach bug.  Sadly, Gavin had to miss his best buddy's birthday party, too.  :( Gavin was asleep for the night by 5, Riley was in bed at 7, and Jarrod and I both crawled into bed right after.  He definitely isn't as sick as the rest of us, but didn't exactly leave for Puerto Rico feeling great today. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed it doesn't hit him on the plane or once he's there.

So far, things look to be on the upswing.  Riley's diapers are still gross.  Gavin and I both ate some toast this morning and are so far keeping it down.  He's enjoying watching Cinderella for the second time since Daddy brought it home for him yesterday.  Jarrod always knows how to make him feel better!  Luckily, Riley's starting to enjoy Sesame Street, so we've watched a lot of Sesame Street On Demand. The kids are getting spoiled with tv, but as long as I get to lay down, I'm ok with that right now!

It's funny to me how certain things will spark a memory that seem so random.  All this sickness going through the house brings back so many memories of my grandma.  As I laid next to Gavin Saturday night rubbing his belly, I remembered how she used to do the same thing for me and it always made me feel so much better.  Memories of how she used to make me lay on my belly on top of a pillow with my knees pulled up came back to me and I had Gavin do the same thing.  Then I started remembering how she would make me toast with melted cheese on it...so random but I can recall how much I loved it.  And tea!  Grandma was a huge tea fanatic, and she would make me tea when I wasn't feeling well.  In fact, last night I randomly remembered the little microwavable tea pot I had so that I could make my own tea through the summer when my parents were at work without having to use the stove.  All these random memories that all came back to me thanks to this pest of a stomach bug.

 

Halloween Dump

Here come all the pictures!

The last Friday of the month is always 'trick or treating' at Jarrod's office, so of course we had to go visit Daddy at work!  Both kids were so excited to see all the costumes and decorations...

 Gavin got his fair share of 'fist bumps'!

I absolutely ADORE these two together...

More 'hulk' fun...

  

Then, Halloween morning we spent time at Gavin's preschool for a fun party.  Jarrod couldn't sneak away from work, so I was trying to entertain Riley and get pictures...not too successful!

Gavin's 'best sister' Riley and his 'best school friend' Rylee

Let the sugar intake begin...

I didn't get many pictures of the games, but he loved this one.  They had to try to get the donut hole in their mouth without using their hands.  So funny! 

Then, after coming home for lunch and an unsuccessful attempt at a nap, we headed to the Faminis for trick or treating.  We didn't get to go together last year because Gavin was sick, but we had a lot of fun hanging out this year.  I think pizza and wine should be a prerequisite for all Halloween festivities, right?

I love these boys together.  While we were eating pizza, we overheard this conversation at the kids' table.

Lucas: Do you wish we were brothers?

Gavin: Why?

Lucas: Because we love each other.  

Seriously, could they get any cuter?

Caleb and Riley didn't let the fact that they can't yet say Trick or Treat! stand in the way of getting their fair share of candy!

The kids were troopers!  We walked around for a little over and hour and had so much fun.

 

 Love these memories made with friends!

 

Painting Pumpkins

We attempted to add painting pumpkins to our Halloween fun this year.  Gavin LOVED it...which is funny because he's usually not into the art projects I try.  Riley, on the other hand, wasn't a fan of painting at all!

She did, however, enjoy making a big mess in the 5 minutes or so that she had 

paint on her tray...

 Later in the week, we carved one of our pumpkins.  We waited til the last minute to get them done this year, and so I didn't carve both.  :(  Slacker mom!