The Giddings: December 2009

Mr. and Mrs Clause

The other night my bff was over with baby James and we decided to take pictures of he and Maylee. My dad was laughing so hard saying we were playing dolls..reminded him of when Steph and I were little, only now these babies were really ours.

Who knows...maybe one day these two will have some sparks fly. Wouldn't that be something. And in case that happens Mike and Steph warned us when we were picking out a name that it needs to go well with Lamoureux!

Our Two Girls

I was sitting in bed last night, watching TV while I nursed Maylee and Paul and Brooklynn were asleep next to me- my whole family in the same bed and tears came to my eyes and my heart filled with so much love for these three in my life. I feel so incredibly blessed and so happy! Life is not always easy but its moments like that which enable me to endure through those tough times. I am excited about my new adventures as a mom and I know it will be filled with both joyful and sorrowful times, but I wouldn't want it any other way. This is what I have always wanted in my life. I love my family so much- Paul, Brooklynn and now Maylee.

Just some random pictures over the last few days:

Taking a nap with my little Brooklynn just today!

Playing away as usual.

Brooklynn has never fallen asleep in her highchair...this shows how incredibly exhausted she has been over the last few days. It also was the start of a bad night for her and an emotional one for me. We got through it though!

This was Brooklynn snuggling daddy after he had to give her a time-out! Poor daddy felt so bad.

Brooklynn loves drinking out of my hospital cup.

Brooklynn's HUGE doll from Great Grandpa Giddings. She loves it!

Being such a great big sister...checking on Maylee.

Getting ready for church on Sunday.

Pretty red Christmas dress. She went to church just her and daddy!

Hanging out...at least her eyes are open...usually she is asleep!

Love her!

Being silly.

Sister love.

Seriously, does it get any better than this?

Brooklynn just adores Maylee and is already such a great big sister...hopefully she keeps it up!

I could eat her... I love her so much!

Meeting Maylee

Maylee has been surrounded by so many family members who already love her so much. Here are some pictures capturing their first meetings!

Auntie Shayna

Adam and Crazy Grandma.

Love that Brooklynn snuck into this picture and Paul had to be so goofy as usual.

Uncle Ryan. Both sound asleep.

Uncle Cody.

Auntie Shayna again.

Grandpa.

Crazy Grandma.

Christmas with the Giddings

Christmas afternoon, we were able to take the girls up to Logan to celebrate Christmas and have dinner with the Giddings. It was the first time all of us were together for a holiday, so we couldn't miss it! Maylee kept her distance for most of the evening as we were a little nervous to expose her to too much too soon! Brooklynn was once again spoiled beyond belief. And Mom and Dad also gave us the best gift...they published my blog (this blog) into a book for us to have! I was so excited! Dinner was delicious as usual and it was so fun to see everyone! By the end of the night Brooklynn was exhausted and it shows in the family pictures we tried to take! She was having way too much fun playing with all her new toys (especially her blocks from Aunt Joanna) and WAS NOT interested in taking a break for some pictures!

Thanks to the Giddings for being understanding in us rearranging the original plans for Christmas! Still happy we were able to spend some part of the day with everyone!

Mama and Papa with all the grand kids and great grand kids.

All the Grand kids and Great Grand Kids.

The entire Giddings clan.

Paul, Krista and Joshie

Photo Op with "The Twins".

Joshie, Adam and Paul.

The boys thought they were stronger than their dad. He showed them!

Matching PJ's.

Paul trying to get Brooklynn to behave for family pictures.

Loving her blocks from Aunt Joanna.

Uncle Paul and Violet.

Sleeping beauty... Miss Maylee Kate.

Opening her many gifts.

Loves her new Elmo from Gramps and Gran.

Christmas with the Ridley's

Every year, Paul and I switch off holidays with our families. This year was the Giddings' year but due to Maylee coming two weeks early, our schedule and plans got thrown off quite a bit. My family (including my mom) was originally planning on coming the day after Christmas so that they would be here in time for my scheduled induction on the 30th (today actually...too funny, also still a week before my due date), but when I started progressing so quickly my mom and I decided she needed to be here, so she came the Friday before Christmas. And since Maylee came a few days before Christmas, we only made it up to Logan with the Giddings for a few days Christmas afternoon/evening. Therefore, Christmas Eve and Christmas morning were spent at our home with our little family, my mom, and my family via Skype. It was a unique Christmas but thanks to technology everyone was kind of able to be together. We were also able to talk with my brother Skyler, who is on a mission in England. We three-wayed the phone call and also were on Skype with my family in California.

The rest of my family arrived on the 26th and the 28th to spend the week here with us, and we exchanged gifts once everyone was here. So we had quite a few Christmas celebrations.

Christmas morning started off with our phone call with Skyler. We threw a blanket over Santa's gifts so that Brooklynn couldn't see them just yet and then once our call with Skyler was over, we reinacted the morning and had her come down the stairs again. Unfortunately the video camera battery wasn't charged (even though my mom had reminded Paul to do it earlier that morning) and our camera memory became full right as she saw her Santa gifts and gave THE BEST reaction! We were so bummed not to get it on tape! Santa brought her a "little mommy" set with a baby, a high chair, a stroller, and a crib so that she can take care of her new baby while mommy is taking care of her new baby too (Maylee). After that she could care less about all the other gifts...she was content with just that! In fact we actually put away some of her Christmas gifts for her birthday next month because she got WAAAYYY too many gifts! She was spoiled from both sides!