Christmas Parades!

I have always loved Christmas time, but experiencing it with your child is simply amazing beyond words! Hayes is just enjoying all the Christmas festivities so much this year and I am trying to squeeze in every little thing possible. Seriously, I even have a calendar that I have written every event that sounds somewhat Christmas-y within a 30-mile radius of us. One of the fun things we did this past weekends was attend the Capital City Christmas Parade in Montgomery Friday night and the Prattville Christmas Parade Saturday evening. The sad part was that the Prattville parade was at 4:00 and the Auburn game started at 3:00, and you know it must a pretty special event if I am missing part of an Auburn game! But after seeing how much Hayes loved the parade on Friday, I knew I had to take him again on Saturday, even if it meant missing seeing my beloved Tigers for a few quarters. Of course, Daddy stayed home to pull them through for us!

Anyway, I cannot put into words the look of wonder on Hayes' face during the parade on Friday night. He was simply in awe. I am blaming it on the pregnancy hormones, but I actually teared up watching his little face light up! He was just so amazed by all the floats, the lights, and of course the firetrucks!! He also loved all of the bands and he was shaking his little booty the entire time. Not to mention, that I know his little hand probably was sore the next morning, because he NEVER stopped waving the entire two hours we were there!

They had lots of characters dressed up and Hayes got so excited, until he saw the firetruck behind them, and the characters didn't have a chance. Cinderella came over to Hayes and he looked at her and told her, "There's a firetruck!!"  He is definately all boy! Here are some pics from the Montgomery parade.

Then on Saturday night, Hayes and I went to the Prattville parade with my great friends, Shawna and Brittany, and their boys. Hayes always has a great time with his buddies, Reece and Sage, and loved catching candy with them at the parade! I think the little guy screamed "Merryyy Cwittmas" atleast 150 times. So sweet! Since Daddy didn't attend this parade with us, I spent most of my time trying to keep Hayes from getting run over by a float, so I didn't get many pictures, but here are a couple before the parade.

We did, however, make it home from the parade in time to watch our Tigers become SEC CHAMPS!! I couldn't think of a better ending to an awesome day! WAR EAGLE!!!

Monday Morning Fun!

Well, we were up and at 'em bright and early this morning, so we decided to make the most of it. When I asked Hayes what he would like for breakfast his reply was "cooookies." So, I figured that it's the holidays, so why not have cookies for breakfast?! This answer made for one happy little boy!

Before we started baking, we had to find Bubba, our elf. Hayes finally spotted that crazy elf getting a piggyback ride from one of the Nutcrackers.

Now the baking can begin. Ok, we call it baking around our house, but I guess most would call it "opening the package and placing the already pre-measured cookie dough onto the pan." Before we got started, Hayes said that Bubba  had to help. "The Elf on the Shelf" book says that if you touch the elf he will lose his magic. If that is the case, then we have one very un-magical elf named Bubba. Let me add that hearing a two-year-old say "Bubba" is simply the cutest thing ever. Makes me smile everytime! Anyway, Hayes insists that Bubba is involved in every activity around the house. Maybe next Christmas Bubba will get his magic back, but for now there is some cookie baking to be done!

Then, Hayes heard the garbage truck, so we had to take a quick break to watch the garbage action.

Then back to putting the cookies in the oven and waiting on our delicious breakfast :)

And it was YUMMY!

After "breakfast", we decided to do a little water painting.

But, of course, that got a little too boring, so Hayes had to try to spice it up a little...by trying to drink the water and paint the dog.

Finally our masterpiece was complete. What a fun Monday morning!!

Oh how I LOVE Shutterfly!!

Ok, so we all know how obsessed I am with photography. David is concerned that Hayes will be blind by the time he turns three, due to the constant flash in his eyes. :) With all the picture taking that goes on around here, there is one thing that I cannot live without....SHUTTERFLY!!

I use Shutterfly for everything! First of all, their free and unlimited photo storage, gives me the peace of mind that all of my photos and memories of my family, will be kept safe. No more worrying about keeping up with lots of flash drives or the feared computer crash. Your photos are kept safe on Shutterfly and will never be deleted. All you have to do is upload your pics to http://www.shutterfly.com/upload-pictures. Perfection.

With the holidays approaching, you can depend on Shutterfly to be a one-stop shop for all of your gifts! What grandparent does not love pictures of their sweet grandbaby? Last year MiMi was beyond excited to get one of Shutterfly's photo calendars. They are the perfect inexpensive gift and there are so many designs to chose from! Check them out at http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars.

While MiMi received the calendar, Maw Maw received the canvas wall art. This is truly an extra special gift that will last a lifetime! Check out the wall art at http://www.shutterfly.com/home-decor/canvas-wall-art. And for all of the grandparents....photo mugs! These were a huge hit and what grandparent wouldn't love to see the smiling faces of those grandbabies every morning as they drink their coffee?! I guarantee you that all your friends and family will love all the perfect photo gifts from Shutterfly...and guess what..so does Shutterfly. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed, and if you are not happy, they will replace your order or give you a full refund! Did I mention that you can't beat their prices anywhere? Well, you can't!

In addition to all the perfect gifts, who doesn't love to receive holiday photo cards from their friends and family?! With so many gorgeous designs to chose from, we will certainly be ordering our Christmas cards from Shutterfly. I absolutely love their holiday story cards such as this one: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/merry-duo-story-christmas-card-5x7-flat?sortType=1&storeNode=93478. You can check out their great selection of Christmas cards at http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards, their holiday photo cards at http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery, or their Hanukkah cards at http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/hanukkah-cards. As for the card we chose this year....check your mailbox :)

So check out all of the awesome services and products that Shutterfly has to offer. I know your family will love it as much as ours!! Happy picture taking, photo storing, card ordering and gift buying!

So very thankful...

Wow, what amazing time Thanksgiving is to really sit down and reflect on all of the blessings God has given us this year! Of course, I try to pray more prayers of "thanks" than prayers of "need", but I know I do not give God the glory nearly as much as I should. Psalms 118:1 says "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever." This Thanksgiving, I was overcome with joy thinking about what an awesome God we serve!

Our family has had a year filled with emotional ups and downs, and even though I wasn't so thankful for the "downs" at the moment, it amazes me now to look back upon the great lessons and blessing that were hidden inside those times of grief. I won't even begin to discuss the ups or the downs, or even all the blessing my family has been given this year, because there is simply not enough words or blogspace to adequately discuss all of them. However, I would like to mention one thing that I am incredibly thankful for this year.

Our baby girl...Ella Bailey. In the days leading up to the moment we found out I was pregnant, I had went back to work and loved every second of working for the Johnson for Governor campaign. Hayes was doing great at the sitter's and I realized that I was happiest when I was working out of the home and of course our financial situation was healthier, which helped a great deal. So, when on primary night I was out of a job again, I was so determined and excited about finding a job and getting back in the groove of my career. I was finally getting over the severe post-partum depression and David and I had decided that I was going to get my career back on track and we would wait several years before having another child. Then came the news of a very unplanned pregnancy. I admit all of my feelings in this moment involved selfishness and sadness. The timing was awful. I wasnt ready. I couldn't deal of the possibilty of post-partum depression so soon. Nobody is going to hire me pregnant.  I am just not ready for a newborn again, etc.

It took me several weeks of feeling sorry for myself and being upset to realize the beauty of God's plan for us and really embrace it. It took me waking up one morning absolutely certain that I had lost this baby and rushing to the doctor hysterical only to hear the ultrasound tech say "Wow, there is a heartbeat. This baby is holding on for you, mama. What a little miracle." And it certainly was that...a miracle. In a few short hours I had gone from being devestated by being pregnant to wanting nothing more in this world than to be able to hold this little being inside me in 9 months. Then, of course God began placing people in my life that were having difficulties getting pregnant and I really began to understand the true miracle every little baby is.

Then, a couple of months later we got the most amazing news....IT'S A GIRL!! I have always dreamed of having a little girl. For some reason, maybe it was the fact that David's family is all boys, but I just never thought I would get my wish of having that girl. Anybody that knows me understand this, because I am definately a pink-loving, frilly, girlie girl! Dont get me wrong, little boys are the sweetest things in the whole world, but knowing I would have one of each just made me feel....complete. When the lady told us we were having a girl, it literally took my breath away, because I just kept thinking about God's plan for us...and how perfect it was.

I will admit that I do feel a little ashamed that I have the thoughts and feelings I had when I found out I was pregnant, but I am only human and we all question God's plan from time to time. I just got out of the hospital yesterday after three days, and my fourth time being hospitalized this pregnancy. I struggle with understanding why I have to deal with these kidney stones during two pregnancies. But, come March, every moment of sickness and every ounce of pain, will be only a memory when I look into the eyes of this little miracle that God has blessed me with. Thank you, God.

And some pictures of our other little blessing this Thanksgiving...

Waaarrrr Eagle, Hayes!!

With all the controversy, hoopla and criticism that Auburn has faced this year, I can honestly say that I have never been more excited to be part of the Auburn family! I will never forget all of the awesome memories I have of my college days at Auburn and I literally tear up every time I see the AU players run onto the field. By the way, just in case you didn't hear Cam is officially eligible :)

So with that being said, we had so much fun watching the Iron Bowl this year!!We were at my mom's house in Fort Payne just eating some yummy food, enjoying each other's company and cheering for the Tigers. What a great game it was! Although, I will admit that I threated to turn off the game at halftime and I know my blood pressure was through the roof! Thankfully, the second half went a little more in my favor. Both Alabama and Auburn played a great game and it was one of those that makes you really LOVE college football!

As you can imagine, there was a lot of screaming and yelling at the t.v. going on, and Hayes jumped right in! He LOVED it! I love that he walks around the house saying "Warrr Eagle, Hayes!" The little guy really thinks they are saying his name in the chant. Too cute!

Also, whenever Auburn scores I have to say "Touchdown Auburn" so he can do the touchdown signal!

But, my absolute favorite is that whenever we start yelling or getting excited, Hayes runs to the t.v. holding up two fingers. What can I say...the boy loves him some Cam! The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree :)

We are counting down the hours until the big game this weekend!! Waaaarrrr Eagle, Hayes!!! :)

Long time no see

Long time no see, yeah yeah, I know. I just realized that it has been three weeks since I have made a post (excluding voicing my love for Cam Newton). Three weeks! I should be shot. Put down the guns, though, because I do have an excuse. My life has been quite boring.

Actually, it is still quite boring, which means this post will be quite boring, but I feel like I need to atleast give a couple of updates. Well, a few weeks ago I was hospitalized again for four nights due to the kidney stones. As it did during my pregnancy with Hayes, the pain gets much worse the larger I get (and baby I am LARGE) due to the baby pushing against my bladder and kidneys. When the pain gets to a certain level of intensity, I simply cannot keep my medicine or any fluids down, and that is when I have to be admitted. When I was finally released, I was put on complete bedrest for a week. I have never been on bedrest before with the stones and several people have asked me about it, so I am about to explain with the warning that it might be a little too much detail for some.

So, while I was in the hospital I started bleeding. That was one of the scariest moments of my life. I had a threatened miscarriage during my first trimester with this pregnancy, so immediately that is what I thought was happening, even though I was 19 weeks. Thank goodness for my sweet nurse, because I was hysterical and poor David ran to get her at the desk and basically carried her to our room. She reassured me that it just happens sometimes, but before she went to call the doctor, she immediately grabbed the doppler so I could hear the baby's heartbeat, and it was just a beating, so I felt better.

Anyway, I was put on complete bedrest for a week to see if the bleeding would stop and it did. Complete bedrest means only getting up to go to the bathroom, and I would normally cheat on something such as this, but I was determined to follow the doctor's orders for the health of the baby. With that said, I truly feel for people who are on bedrest for long periods of time, because it is pure misery! Sure lying around, watching t.v. sounds great, but au contraire! Of course, having a two-year-old didn't make it any easier. He would come home from the babysitter's and try to pull me out of bed, but eventually he just gave up and started avoiding me, which absolutely broke my heart. Between that and not being able to see the sunshine, I was getting pretty depressed and praying that I would be released from bedrest. Thankfully, after a week, I went back to have an ultrasound, the bleeding had stopped and she looked perfect. Finally off bedrest..yay!!

Speaking of that baby girl....she finally has a name!! Woohoo! Her name will be Ella Bailey Gardner, and we will call her Ella Bailey. I feel like we went through a trillion names and found a lot we liked, but in the end I just couldn't let go of Ella Bailey. It is just such a sentimental name for me, because my great-grandmother's name was Ella and obviously, Bailey is my maiden name. My only concern was it being too much of a mouthfull, but we will just make it work.

We are letting Hayes just call her Ella and that is his new favorite word! I know he doesn't really understand, but he is just precious kissing my belly and saying "I wuv you Elwa." If he accidently kicks my belly, he gets so worried and has to make sure she is ok, and of course he has to pray for her every night. So sweet! I am definately a little concerned how he will react when she actually gets here, but we will just take it one step at a time :)

Anyway, there are the updates and that is about as exciting as it has gotten around here lately. We have all been fighting stomach bugs and colds, so we have been hanging out indoors and watching a lot of movies. Besides a boring life and not blogging, I have also been severely lacking in the photography department lately, but that will all change next week. I have FINALLY ordered a Nikon D5000 and I seriously can't remember ever being so excited about a purchase. Needless to say, there will be a lot of picture taking going on in the Gardner house, which means lots of sharing and blogging, so get ready. Not to mention that we have all the family Thanksgiving and fun pre-Christmas festivities coming up! If I don't post again before going out of town for Thanksgiving, I hope you all have a wonderfully fun and safe Thanksgiving. I know that I will definately be counting all the amazing blessings that God has given me to be thankful for!!

Yes, I am blogging about Cam Newton

Remember me? Yes, I know it has been ages since I have blogged. I have been on complete bedrest for a week (details to follow in another post) and you would think that would mean that I would have had plenty of time to blog, but unfortunately I have been feeling pretty crappy. Well, today David is out of town on business, Hayes is at the babysitter's and I am feeling better...so brace yourselves, my friends, for plenty of posts today, because I am in "catch up mode."

I have lots of things to catch up on such as Halloween, the fact that our baby girl officially has a name, etc. However, first things first and I need to get a few things off my chest. I am pissed.

These allegations against Cam Newton are really driving me crazy. My days at Auburn were some of the best of my life and AU truly holds a special place in my heart. Ok, lets be honest...I bleed orange and blue. And while we are being honest, I will admit that winning football games feels good. Damn good. Yet, all of these allegations against Cam Newton and all the hoopla that is going on right now, goes way beyond the hopes of a winning record in my book.

I really haven't been able to figure out why this is all bothering me so much. When I read these allegations and all the media stories, my blood starts boiling and I get straight-up livid! As much as I love the AU family and love AU football, I haven't been able to figure out why all of this is upsetting me so much....until today.

Today, I was watching the video of Gene Chizik emotionally discussing the allegations and my mind drifted off to Hayes. Suddenly, I realized that the reason I am so emotionally charged about all of these allegations, is because I am looking at them through a mother's eyes. I then realized that a couple of hours before, while I had re-watched the youtube video of Cam mentoring the young boys in Auburn, I had also been viewing that through a mother's eyes.

Cam Newton has a God-given athletic ability that any mother would be proud of. However, if I had watched the youtube video of MY son truly changing the lives of young people in the way Cam is doing, I know that at that moment I would have truly felt that I had succeeded as a mother. As parents, we do the best we can to train up our children, and then sit back and watch (and pray) that they will rightly handle the situations that come their way.

Cam Newton has been thrust into the spotlight and has faced the highest of times and the lowest of times in a month, more than most 21-year-old kids have dealt with in their entire lifetime. I mean, seriously....do you remember what you were doing at 21?? Which brings me back to the youtube video. With all of this on top of the rigorous schedule of being a student and college quarterback, Cam has devoted himself to making a difference in these childrens' lives. As a mother, the first thing I noticed was the excitement and true amazement on the childrens' faces as they looked at Cam Newton. But, what touched me more than that was the look of pure joy on Cam's face when he looked at these children. I can't think of many things that would bring me more contentment as a mother, than knowing I had succeeded in raising my child to realize that the purest of inner joy we will ever have in life, is that which we feel when we are helping others.

Of course, I think about all the negativity going on right now and think about how I would feel if Hayes had succeeded already in the many ways that Cam has, and is now facing all of these accusations. Yet, I truly believe that there is no education like adversity and no matter what happens, Cam Newton has already proven his character and strength. I know that Cam is making his mama proud and I, personally, have never had more pride in being part of the AU family. War Eagle!!