all about Christmas post!

Quite a few nights before Christmas, Santa asked Mom and Dad what Gabe would like for Christmas. We told him 'anything pirate'. So, Santa enlisted Dad's help in making this pirate's treasure chest for Gabe. (This is how we explained how it ended up fitting through the chimney and so Gabe would know his Dad made it for him). Greg and I had so much fun setting it up! As soon as Greg said he wanted to build Gabe a treasure chest, I started thinking about the necklaces, gold coins, and ring pops we could use to make it 'real' on Christmas morning. I think it turned out pretty well. Gabe was so surprised! In order to find the treasure chest, he and Dad had to follow the map, while I waited downstairs with the video camera right next to the treasure.

Greg made the map to start at the tree, go through the hallway, around our kitchen table, and down to the basement. He used coffee and matches to age it.


Ssshhh... It's a secret... His pirate chest has a false bottom where we hid the Lego pirate guys he so badly wanted for Christmas. He still thinks that compartment is pretty sweet. One of the things I love about Gabe's Dad so much is that he thinks of so many creative things that I know he would've dreamed of when he was little. His Dad, PawPaw, was really great about making little Greggie's dreams come true too. If Greggie liked pirates, his Dad totally would've made sure he had a treasure chest on Christmas morning.

And these two presents! The diver helmet and the pirate sword! To understand the diver helmet, first you must understand the thought behind the pirate sword. My Aunt Connie, whom we affectionately refer to as 'Aunt Buck', gave us all the gifts our parents didn't want us to have when we were little: noisy toys that took 8 D batteries, silly string (cans and cans of it), playdoh, and nerf guns. So, it was no surprise when Gabe got this sword from her! She let us sleep in the livingroom, rearrange furniture, and stay up as late as we wanted when my parents were gone. It was nothing to move the Super Nintendo into the livingroom, make a tent, and stay up til 10:00 (we thought we were rebels!). She was and is THE best Aunt. Aunt Lindsey is like that. She loves having Gabe come to stay the night. She and Mom both boast that there are no rules at their homes. I'm so glad he'll have a fun aunt that will let him call the shots while Mom and Dad are gone. :) And, I know if Aunt Jenny lived closer she'd remember Aunt Buck and do the same! Aunt Lindsey knew he liked diver guys, so somehow she found this diver helmet online somewhere! How awesome.

My sweet boy on Christmas before opening his presents. He was so great in receiving his gifts. He never reacted like he was disappointed or anything - even when he got some clothes!

And, here he is with his pirate ship from Abba & PawPaw H! Oh my goodness. The kid LOVES this. He even asks to take it in the tub. He took it to his other Abba & Papa's the other night so he could show it to Papa Doug and so he could take it in their big spa tub. Whenever my parents watch him, he HAS to take a bath there. He loves their big tub!

Here he is playing with the Transformer garage-thingy I got him for Christmas. Greg and I like to do a gift that's just from mom or just from dad. So, I picked these. They were a pretty big hit. Greg got Gabe a slot car set. It wasn't this exact one, but it WAS a big hit as well!

Uncle Grant stopped by with his jolly Santa bag slung over his shoulder as well! His gift for Gabe was a bacon buddy, bacon flavored toothpaste, bacon bandaids, bacon soap, and a huge bag of real bacon bits. My child loves bacon. This was a great gift! Uncle Grant brought me an owl bracelet and an owl mug and he brought Greg some caffeine mints and a pizza pi cutter! Here's a picture of my bracelet:



When we went up North for Anna's birthday, hosted by Rene's parents, Greg commented on how much he loved the soda .... Jarritos! So, Rene's parents decided to surprise Greg with some and unknowingly, Jenny & Rene had also bought Greg some! So, Greg's got a bag full of Jarritos to go through. I think he's made a pretty good dent by now!

Oh, and sweet Dougie! At Christmas, Dougie was almost 8 months old. He's sitting up really well, rolling over, spinning on his tummy, and definitely scooting if he wants something bad enough (like a cell phone!) He's such a little joy. It was great to see him on his first Christmas. Aunt Bri was really happy to have a lot of cuddle time with her two favorite little ones.

Aaaaaaand, Banana! This girl - She totally cracks me up! She is at juuuuuust the right age where it is near impossible to get a picture of her! Jenny got this dress set from my in laws when Anna was tiny and wanted to get a nice picture of her in it. Do you think we got it? Nope. This is the only picture out of several that was in focus! Ha! We kept teasing her dad about it. She is definitely developing a little personality all her own. She's a little fiesty, very sweet, and completely adorable.

Well, I'd say overall, it was a very wonderful Christmas. It was an absolute delight to experience Christmas morning with a near 5 year old. And, I was so proud of him - how gracious he was, how well-behaved, and how sweet he was with his little cousins. He is a wonderful kid. I'm so happy and blessed to be his mom. Speaking of 5 years old, we've got a pirate birthday coming up. So, this momma better get busy. I hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas. God is so good in all He has given us.

Off work & working

Today, I'm off work due to the rain we got this weekend. So, I thought it'd be a great day for me and Gabe to work on Christmas decorations. I know, I know, it's a little early. However, we're hosting Thanksgiving this year and I thought it'd be really nice to have the house all festive and bright. I love Christmas. I love how cozy my traditional-style house feels. I love the twinkling lights and I love the colors of red and green, silver and gold. I realize people like me get a lot of eye rolls, but it's a wonderful season and I want to enjoy it as long as I can!

Gabe and I have stayed in our jam-jams today and I have worked on dusting, moving furniture, and laundry so I can hopefully have the house nice and neat when Greg gets home. I love days off in the middle of working full time because you really appreciate all those hours during the day and really make the most of them! I feel like I'm jamming as much as possible into one day today.

Gabe really loved decorating his tree too. He did a great job! Love the pj's on the kiddo by the way... He looks so cute in his new Old Navy jam jams.

I just got these trees when I went shopping with my friends. I love them! Home Goods is an awesome store! I wish we had one closer to us.

These little cardinals have become one of my favorite Christmas decorations. I got them last year on clearance at Hobby Lobby after Christmas. The silver containers in the center were given to me by my brother.

I'm really sad this year because I can't put up my Christmas village. I have a beautiful Dept 56 village and we just don't have any large, flat space to put it up. It's probably a good year to skip it any way. I have a small Halloween/Fall village of just 3 houses that I put on a table in the hall. Gabe thinks its for his guys to play and hide in. I got that set several years ago at Kmart on clearance. I'm glad I tested that out with him this year instead of putting up my expensive village. I can just see Batman running through the snowy streets and it makes me cringe just thinking about it! Between now and next year, Greg and I are going to have to come up with some way to display it. I definitely don't want it just stored in my Christmas closet.

I definitely do not ignore Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving. So, here are a few things I am thankful for this holiday season:

1. My family - I am blessed beyond measure with a wonderful husband and son, an amazing extended family, and probably the best in laws a girl could ask for.


2. My friends - I truly love my friends. I feel like the luckiest in the friendship department. What a treasure to be able to completely be yourself without fear of rejection or judgement.


3. My home - the safety and comfort of a warm house, good food, and people to share it with.


4. My work - it's been a good harvest and a beautiful fall.


5. My salvation - Most importantly, I have been saved from my sin. I'm so thankful for the birth of a Savior, born in a manger.

Happy Thanksgiving and holiday season to you and yours!

Resolution

Ok, so my husband told me that my New Year's Resolution should be to blog more. I am such a bad blogger!! I get home and I have so much to do... I've just totally neglected this blog. I'm not even sure if anyone checks it anymore! My son is going to be 4 years old this Friday. Time has FLOWN. I can't believe my sweet boy is going to be 4. Four years old.

For his birthday present from us, we took him up to Legoland as a total surprise. I'll do another post about that soon - there are a ton of pictures and I just don't have the energy to do that tonight! Another gift for him is new bedding for his room. After looking at Pottery Barn, Land of Nod, etc... I just couldn't do it. I couldn't spend that much money for a room that will never look like the ones they put in their catalogs! And, with me losing my job in March (a whole nother blog post in itself!), I feel like it's completely senseless to not look for a bargain. I knew I wanted a robot theme... You'd think robot bedding would be more popular right now! Robots are making a comeback! I did find this from Land of Nod, but I was hoping for a robot quilt... not a duvet cover. And, I really didn't want to spend $150 on an orange blanket.

So, I kept looking... I decided to go to the tried and true... Target. I love Target. I could seriously and very easily spend an entire paycheck in that place! I happened to ask Gabe before he went to bed tonight if he'd like an astronaut room or a robot room. He wants an astronaut room. Awesome, because guess what I found?

And, then I found this on Etsy! Yes, I need that too. I haven't ordered this yet or the sheets that go with the bedspread. I don't know if I'll even get the sheets since we have several sets of full sheets. I do really want to get the decal though!

I can't wait to decorate my big boy's room! I'll be putting pictures up. It may be a slow process as we "space out" (no pun intended!) the expenses. I think he'll really love it. We told him once he starts staying dry during the night without a pull-up that we would make his room a big boy one. He has done so well! And, I'm glad we kinda deterred him away from the Pottery Barn Batman stuff!

I am not afraid to garage sale.

I love to garage sale. It's one of my favorite activities with my BFF, Tami. Here are some of my recent finds!

I plan on cutting the front of this pillow off and framing it for my scrapbook room. I loved, loved, loved the embroidery, but even with washing it, the thought of laying on someone else's pillow creeped me out. Ok, only one of these is from a garage sale. The top middle one is what started my collection. It is one of the only items I have from my Grandma Smith and I have always cherished it. I love the design and I love how sweet it is. The one on the bottom right, I got from a garage sale for $2.50. I was so excited to find it!! The one on the left is from eBay. I think I paid $7.00 for it. Periodically, I'll get on eBay and etsy and check for them. I just think they are precious. I'd like to have a collection on my kitchen wall.

And THIS. Oh, it just makes my heart melt! It's in near perfect condition, an antique, and best of all, I found it for $12.00. I got this at the Pantagraph's garage sale. I am thrilled about this one. This will be great for newborn pictures. I'm toying with the idea of spray-painting it white, but after photographing it, I think I may leave it alone. I've got a couple baby sessions coming up, I'll just have to try it out.

And this. This was too sad not to buy. My mom and I collect recipes and always put together our own recipe books. This was a recipe book belonging to someone in Washburn and it was being sold for $1.00. All of the recipes inside were either hand-written or collected from the 1950's-1970's from newspapers or magazines. I thought of the time, thought, and care that was put into this. I thought of the mom/wife sitting and planning out meals for her family. I thought this was a treasure.
AND, we can't forget about Gabers! My most exciting finds are when I find vintage Fisher Price toys. I love the little people like I had when I was little. And, Gabe loves them too. He loves getting to "give them a bath" when we get home - which consists of him pulling a chair up to the kitchen sink and me helping him wash all the guys. Ok, so Mommy washes and Gabe splashes and makes a mess, but he loves it. I think I paid $20 for the above set, but it was worth it. It had all the pieces, plus a few extra. And, it went great with the family house we got him on eBay for Christmas last year.

And, I got this one yesterday at the Pantagraph's garage sale. It was only $4.00 and it had all the pieces (except for the side door, but that's ok!). And, Gabe loved it. He's been playing with it non-stop since I brought it home.

I thought I'd be doing better at blogging this time around, but we are so busy right now. Our last month consisted of the following:

• a minor car accident and dealing with a rental car, insurance, repairs, repairs messed up, etc...
• Greg in the hospital for 4 days with a minor surgery & MRSA
• a kitchen flood
• mid-remodel projects
• a messy house
• wedding invites & shower invites to design and prepare
• shopping and planning for a shower (I love preparing for showers!)
• a busy preschooler
• Greg travelling

I'm so excited for this coming week. We're going to St. Louis with Greg while he travels for work. We'll be going to Gabe's first Cardinals game and Gabe and I are going to head to the zoo while Greg's working. (Sorry Greg!). It'll be a well-enjoyed break and mini-vacation for the Herrman family! I'm sure I'll have a ton of pictures!

Daddy's Home!

What a week it's been for the Herrmans! Greg just got home today after being in the hospital for four days. Last Thursday, he had a hair follicle inside his nose that became infected. It caused him a lot of pain, so Friday, he went to the doc in a box to get it looked at. The doctor put him on a couple of antibiotics thinking it would help calm it down. By Monday, Greg still hadn't gotten better and was feeling weaker and more achy my the minute. So, we went to see our primary physician. The doctor was going to send Greg home with a heavy dose of antibiotics, but after hearing there'd been no improvement since Friday, he ordered us to go to the hospital.

Upon arriving there, Greg was seen by another doctor who determined Greg needed to go to the hospital in Bloomington so he could see an ENT. The doctor also ordered a cat scan so it could be determined how far up into the nasal cavity the infection went. Greg went by ambulance and I stopped by home to pack a bag for Gabe. Thankfully, we already had care set up for Gabe since Greg and I were supposed to be going on vacation with Steve & Tami. We didn't get to go on vacation, but that's ok by me. I'm just glad Greg's on the road to recovery!

Greg was diagnosed with MRSA at the hospital and an ENT performed a surgery to drain the infection and get the area cleaned out. In surgery preparation, they couldn't get a tube down his throat, so to relax the throat muscles, they gave him some medicine. That medicine caused his potassium levels to drop and when he woke up from surgery, his entire body was cramping. He was in so much pain! They were able to kind of get the cramping to stop, but his head and neck remained in pain - severe pain. I'd never seen it that bad before.

So, Greg was referred to a neurologist. The neurologist (who was awesome!) ordered an MRI and discovered Greg had 3 ruptured discs in his neck, one of which was very severe. The neurologist seemed to think that's been the reason for his chronic neck pain. It must have flared up because of the muscle cramping after surgery. He advised that surgery could be done to fix this. I felt nothing but hope after hearing this! Greg's suffered with neck pain for so long! So, we waited until he was safe to be off of the IV antibiotics and now he's home! We'll be following up with the neurologist in a couple of weeks to talk about treatment for the ruptured discs.

Craziness, isn't it? I couldn't believe that he had MRSA from an infected hair follicle and that we were finally able to find out about his neck problems! He's doing pretty well today. We both got a nap, I went and picked up Gabe, and we just did pizza delivery for supper. I'm so thankful that Greg is ok. I'm also thankful for all of our friends and family that stopped by, prayed for us, and helped with the Gabers. We love you all and are so thankful for you.

just like me

He likes crackers in his ice cream. Just like me.

We have a birthmark of nearly the same size and color. In exactly the same spot.

He has a little temper, and MAY tend to over-react... just a little. Just like me.

He has the love of a generous, intelligent, kind man. Just like me.

Do you know how many people I've introduced crackers and ice cream to? A lot. Because, no one can believe me that it is amazing. When I was a kid, my Grandma Smith would always serve us saltine crackers with our ice cream. Schwan's ice cream, Hershey's chocolate syrup, and saltine crackers. We LOVED it. We always mixed our ice cream so that it was smooth and we sat around the kitchen table as a family and enjoyed our creation.

When I asked Gabe to try it, he tried it right away, which really surprised me since he never wants to try stuff. He loved it.

Just like me.

Top 10 Reasons Why I Love the Laundromat.

Ahem...
10. It reminds me of college apartment days.
9. When you go by yourself, (and you're the only one there) it is SO relaxing!
8. You can take a book.
7. Big washers, Big dryers.
6. BIG laundry tables, great for sorting.
5. You can meet interesting people.
4. For the organizer, you can take a huge mess of clothes and transform it into perfect piles!
3. It's relaxing. (Yes, I already mentioned this, and NO I will not do your laundry!)
2. It's quiet (again, if you're the only one there)
1. All laundry. All done. All at the same time!

We had 2 weeks worth of laundry piled up and a washer and dryer that wasn't hooked up. So, last night, I loaded up the car, grabbed my book (The Time Traveler's Wife) and headed to The Paso to get it done. 2 hours later, 7 loads of laundry, and five neatly stacked baskets, and I was all done. Thankfully, Greg helped me load and unload the car. And, Gabe helped me put the clothes away! (kind of).

Our kitchen/laundry area should be finished up this weekend or early next week. I can't wait to post pictures as I'm really excited about how it's turned out!

terrific 3's?

When Gabe turned three, it was literally like a switch was flipped and these crazy temper tantrums started occuring... making me wonder if three was worse than two ('terrible two's'). But now, all of a sudden, it seems like the 'good boy' switch has been turned back on! :) Gabe has been such a joy the past couple of days! He's always a joy, don't get me wrong, but some days are tougher than others! He has been so cuddly the last few days and he's really only been cranky when he's been tired. The tantrums are down to maybe 1 a day, and we can definitely deal with that. They're also becoming shorter in duration.

Greg and I were having trouble with the tantrums and ended up spending one night watching an episode on Dr. Phil called "Controlling the Chaos". (Click on Controlling the Chaos to watch the episode) We learned so much from that! We saw ourselves in the parents that gave empty threats. We also saw ourselves in the parents that got emotional with the tantrums. We learned to basically become "deaf" when Gabe has been put in time out. When he's in time out, the goal should be for him to stay there... even if he's crying and yelling that he wants to get down. Only keep him there for the 2 minutes, and then take him out. This will show him that we're not taking him out because of his crying and screaming, we're taking him out because he listened and stayed for two minutes. It's hard to stay calm, deaf, and unemotional during a tantrum, but it really has helped in the duration and frequency of them. It really feels good to see something working. That Dr. Phil might know what he's talking about!

The kitchen is coming along very well. Greg has done an awesome job and has spent many hours working his tail off to get it done quickly. I'm very thankful to have a handy husband so we don't have to hire everything done. And, I'm thankful that he's willing to put in the extra work. I've watched him come home from a tiring day at work, only to get on his hands and knees and grout the new tile. Then, bracing himself for a toddler to jump up on his lap. I got a good one. I think I'll keep him! :) I'll take some pictures and get them posted tomorrow while the little dude is at preschool.

can't think of a post title!

Look at my big kid! He's letting us spike his new haircut, and he looks stinkin' adorable!!

We had Gabe's birth family up to our house last night and had the best time. They brought him some awesome Christmas & birthday presents and some Spidey cupcakes! We had a great time laughing and hanging out. We are too blessed. This little boy is going to grow up knowing that this family loves him so very much. I've said this before, as his mom, all I can ask for is his happiness and he was so happy last night! He and his birth mom played playdough and played with his new toys. We shared a great meal and a great time.

THIS is my new kitchen island!! I LOVE it. Greg basically revamped our old island (which was just the two cupboards on the lefthand side with a countertop over them). He put a beautiful walnut top on it. I just love how it turned out. He made me a bookshelf for cookbooks and knick knacks. AND, you can see the new floor too! I'm just thrilled with it.

Here's another picture:

That's all for now... gotta go pick up the boy from preschool! Oh, and his first book order came in today! I was actually going to take a picture of it, but refrained for fear of being made fun of mercilessly! :)

Progress

So, my extremely hard-working hubby worked his tail off today laying the tile in the kitchen. I'm SO happy with how it looks! After this sets for 24 hours (ish) we can walk on it and start the grout work. Greg worked from the time he got up this morning (which is always earlier than me) until probaby 8:00 tonight. I wanted to post some pictures of his progress since he worked so hard and did such a great job.

I was on Gaber duty today and most of the day went really well. We've discovered that he really loves board games, particularly Hi Ho Cheerio and Memory. We tried Old Maid today, but it was just a little too hard for him... the version we happened to have wasn't the most toddler-friendly. It was really awesome playing Hi Ho Cheerio and listening to him count. He loved counting on my turns too. Again, it was just another one of those little moments... One of my favorite things about being a parent is watching my child try or learn something new. Especially when it was something I did as a kid - like Hi Ho Cheerio. Oh, and lately he's been watching the movie The Sandlot. He thinks this movie is hilarious. After he heard L-7 weenie the first time, he had to go up to Greg and call him one... but he said this instead, "Dad, you're an L 5-7 WEENIE!" Not sure where he got the 5...