Christmas survey

I should probably blog this after Thanksgiving...eh.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Paper if I'm being nice. Bags if I'm being lazy.

2. Real tree or Artificial? After Pauls "allergy" mysteriously disappeared we went from fake to real.

3. When do you put up the tree? I'd say 2 weeks before Christmas.

4. When do you take the tree down? When our floor is covered w/dead needles.

5. Do you like eggnog? Ew no.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? I remember singing "I've got the power!" after opening my TMNT Nintendo video game.

7. Hardest person to buy for? So far this year I'd have to say my Uncle Paul & Nino.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Myself.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Nope.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Lol I'd rather not say.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I will stop dead in my tracks when The Christmas Story is playing.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? When I get that "oh shit" moment & realize Christmas is right around the corner.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? That's so evil. I should have. Hee hee

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Aw man. I'm going to miss being home. L

16. Lights on the tree? Yup.

17. Favorite Christmas song? I like a lot of them.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yup.

20. Angel on the treetop, star or…? Star.

21. Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning? Well usually it goes Christmas Eve-Eve for Paul & I to open gifts. Christmas Eve w/brothers & Christmas w/family.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Trying to find the "perfect" gift.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Our tree is red with silver but I don't really have a favorite. My aunt collects santa claus ornaments. It looks nice but that would freak me out.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? :( Paul is stuck w/my cooking this year. Poor Paul.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A glider w/ottoman.

26. Most favorite Christmas Tradition? Opening presents on Christmas eve-eve & eve. I really like baking & going to see the lights. But I don't know if those are traditions.

Shy?

How can my child be shy?

So far his personality has resembled more of his daddy. First with my weird meat cravings (where I come close to slapping anyone who questions them) & super sweet tooth (I could go months with out a sweet & now I substitute meals with a huge bowl of ice cream) so why, why my dear sweet child do you take on a characteristic that is the complete opposite of your daddy?

Shy? Oh no. He's stubborn.

Stubborn just like his mother. Greeeeeeat...

On Friday we had another appt. with our new Dr. Jarem. She's a sweetheart. Answered all our questions even if the answers weren't what I wanted to hear (no driving home for Christmas boo!) & informed us that Cameron is healthy with a new due date of January 14th.

We were pleasantly surprised when the ultra sound tech told us we would be able to view Cameron via 3D. Unfortunately 99% of the time he was covering his face. :(

This is his profile....hidden w/his hands.

But for that 1% we were able to see his gorgeous face. :)

If you're a bit lost. No worries. :) Here's a little map that might help you out.

In the picture he's sucking but we were able to see his lips later on. They're really full just like mommy & daddys! It was so much fun seeing a part of us already visibly a part of Cameron.

Even though we won't be able to go "home" for Christmas I can already see that he's worth it.

I'm alive!

& have been reborn as an Arizonian.

We're still settling in our new place. Most boxes are unpacked it's all about the organizing & decorating now.


Since we arrived we've:


*Found a fab new place to eat Carrabba's. It's Italian & the tomato soup (which is not the name off the menu) is to die for.


**Had our first appt. w/our new OBGYN. The staff was very inviting, informative & they even gave us a gift diaper bag full of pamplets regarding care for the baby, ourselves & the hospital we've chosen, prenatal pills, formula & coupons. It was really sweet.



***Took & have been taking the poops to Cosmo Park every Friday. So far it's been a hit! Oscar loves running up the obstacle course & Sadie loves finding people who are willing to play catch w/her. We recently found out that Cosmo park is named for Gilbert's first police dog, Cosmo van Blitsaerd.



****I had my first melt down on Friday. It was bound to happen. :p



*****The day after our Internet was up & running I decided to do this to our laptop. :(



******With all the extra time I have w/out being on the Internet I made this sweet find. :)

But at the end of the day.......I'm a California girl at heart. :)

Tick, tick, tick goes the clock

When I found out that I was pregnant there were enough questions, concerns, emotions to figure out. Then came the doozy....I had to find a new Dr.

I cried over finding a new Dr. I've had the same Dr. since before I met Paul & now I had to start fresh. Then to top if off I only had two Drs to chose from....after I stopped crying on the phone w/my provider I finally decided on Dr. Samudio.

She has been nothing but heaven sent. Not only does she answer all of our questions/concerns but when we talk to her it's more like spending time with a close friend or family then a Dr. Throughout my pregnancy Paul missed one appt. & she made it clear that was a no-no. ;) I think that made us closer to her. Just knowing that she cared enough to be honest with us & help us in any way she could. She even snuck us in for an extra ultrasound to see our Cameron & hugged us on each visit.

I'll miss a lot when we leave Cali but Dr. Samudio will always be in my top 5. She even requested that we keep in touch (as if she got rid of us that quickly!) & wanted to stay in the know about Cameron.

It's that time of year again...

We headed out to Petsmart last night for the pet costume contest.

I'm lame & didn't take pictures of the other contestants because:



1. We have a camcorder now.



2. Sadie would not stop whimpering for her ball.



3. Oscar would stop walking every 2 seconds because the sleeves on his costume were too long.



4. Let's be honest. The other animals weren't nearly as cute as our babies.



Enjoy the pics!

Happy Howl-o-ween from Sadie

And the rest of the Jackson crew

P.s. Yes that's a picture of a picture. Bite me.

Jeremy & Nikita

This past Wednesday Jeremy & Nikita renewed their vows. Last year after returning from his first tour to Iraq they eloped on May 31, 2007. Needless to say I wasn't too thrilled about missing my brothers own wedding (court or not). :(

I was beyond happy when they not only announced they would marry at The Flamingo in Las Vegas but I was asked to be a part of the bridal party as well. Over the past few years I've had a chance to get to know Nikita & we became closer after his second tour. It was fun helping & being a part of the planning. A dress was finally agreed on for the bridal party & I ordered it online 2 sizes bigger than what I normally wore pre-pregnancy. All I have to say is thank goodness the wedding was NOW. I thought I'd have to take it in.....nope my belly took up all the room it could.

You couldn't tell but she was nervous. :)

Thankfully we were able to convince her daddy to take off his darn blue tooth.

Gorgeous.

They did a great job picking the color blue.

Picture perfect.

Not only was it an honor to be asked but I had the best seat in the house. As my brother recited his vows I could see how much he truly loves Nikita.

They make a wonderful couple & compliment each other really well. It's fun to see people you're close to grow not only as individuals but as a couple.

First dance

The Power Of Love by Celine Dion

I bawled like a baby. Now when I hear this song I get teary eyed.

Paul was nice enough to step in as Galvan's girlfriend (who couldn't make it).

Cameron started moving around. He wanted all eyes on the belly.

Handsome

For fun, we gave them big balla' cups that said Bride & Groom in Rhinestones.

Aunt Rachel kept her cup up for about 5 mins after the toast. hee hee

The Army has made him too serious.

My beautiful grandma

Before

After.

They weren't very nice. ;)

Jeremy put in a special request for Paul & Ramirez to battle in a dance off.

I don't know what's more funnier (yes that's a word).

That they did it or that Jeremy requested it. Either way it got the party started!

It all happened to fast I didn't get a shot of Paul pretending to pee like a dog on Ramirez's leg.

After the wedding we headed to the strip. I've never watched the Bellagio water show. It's actually pretty nice. :)

We saw this......

But the store was closed & I couldn't get it for Cameron. :(
Next time...

My snuggler

If you know me, then you know that the word love doesn't begin to describe how I feel about my dogs.


So when they take over our social skills (it's horrible when you know the names of other dogs & refer to the owners as "Max's mom"), want a Kong or need their bellies rubbed it's no surprise that they go to their mommy.


Oscar was the first addition to our family & he took full advantage (still does). The first night with us Paul let him on the bed. Little did he know that Oscar would find himself right at home in the middle of us, under the covers, laying sideways & any other position that pleased him. :/


He's a great snuggler & when I bought my snoogle pillow I didn't realize I'd have to fight for it.

Kat these pics are for you.

Then a few hours later he found himself back comfortably......in my pillow. :/

Disclaimer: We were washing our sheets & pillow cases.....we don't go for the hospital look.