Some of my favorite Christmas Pictures - more will be posted soon

One of my favorite presents

I have always wanted a pink bike and this year one showed up!! Thank you Santa for my favorite Christmas present!! I was shopping with ...... and saw this in the store and fell in love, what is not to love. Yes, it doesnt matter how old we get their is still a little child in all of us. Now all I need is a basket!

10 little indians sitting on a couch.....

Here's the Diekmann clan, first time we have been able to get a picture of all of them together, but not happy...oh well

Caught!

Gideon is learning new things everyday and is a fast little stinker. I was playing with him and handed him to my dad while I fixed a bottle, here is what happened to him in less than 2 minutes. He grabbed a chocolate covered pretzel and pretty much had all the chocolate off before we even realized he had it!! This little guy is going to keep me on my toes!

Gideon's Second Family

We stopped on the way home Christmas night at our "second" families home. Tim was able to come home before deploying to Iraq, I get pretty emotional knowing the little boy I use to play hide and seek with is now heading over there for a year. Tim - We are so proud of you !!

Is it bathtime yet ??

Gideon's First Christmas

I am a very sentimental person - I admit it! I keep things that most people would throw away, but I am not a pack rack. I waited a long time to be a mom and so I do somethings that people I am sure roll their eyes at.

I grew up a very blessed person, yes I had bad things happen to me as a child but who didn't - my philospy is that the if you had no control over it - let it go. Ok enough of my soap box- back to the great childhood memories.

One of my favorite memories was spending Christmas Eve with both sets of grandparents at the Diamonds Inn. My grandparents rented it every year for all of us to get together (Smart grandma - no one had to decorate, set up or clean up and we had tons of room to run wild) so this year I wanted to do something special for Gideon to remember so I did....

Look close you might recognize the Santas!

My First Christmas!

You have to admit he is adorable...more pictures will be posted after cards have been mailed.

Me Rambling

I love Christmas, I love any holiday. Our tree is up and the house is decorated and I am happy to say that most of our Christmas shopping is done. Tomorrow is my girls night and I am so looking forward to being out in the rush. I love a crowded mall and people rushing to get things done. I have Josh and baby completely bought for, I can't wait for Josh to open all his presents. This year I didn't ask him what he wanted, I just listened to things he mentioned he wanted/needed the past couple of months and made a list of them so I wouldnt forget when it was time to start shopping. I didn't go overboard on Gideon, I bought him just a couple of things since I knew this year he would enjoy the paper more than the present. I am trying to "smart shop" even during the Holidays. One great thing that I have noticed this year is I have recieved a ton of coupons in the mail, Target even sent me several $10 off coupons.

I just finished reading this blog and thought about deleting it because it is just me rambling, but then again isnt that what blogging is really :-) so I am going to post it. Gotta run, I havent had a chance to catch up on everyones blogs in weeks so I blogsurfing here I come!!

Happy 6 Months

Our little guy celebrated his six month birthday over the weekend. We took him Target and let him pick out a toy with his gift card from Uncle John & Stacey and of course he loved the loudest toy we showed him. He is getting more adorable every day. I always knew I wanted to be a mom, but this little guy makes me so proud. I tell Josh on an almost daily basis that I am so glad he is ours. I love that he smiles when he wakes up, I love that he gives hugs and kisses and I love that he lights up when Josh or I walk into the room. It has been a really great six months and I am looking forward to his future.

My little Charlie Brown

We kept up with my tradition to watch Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving. Gideon liked it as much as his mommy does.

Thanksgiving 2008

We headed to Texas this year to spend Thanksgiving with Dandy and GranDawn. Gideon did wonderfully on the plane and we had a wonderful visit. Thanksgiving dinner was awesome and it was nice to get to spend time with Dandy & GranDawn.

GranDawn rcvd bad news before we landed that her mother had a stroke, our visit was cut short with her since she headed to Memphis, to be with her mom. Sadly her mother passed away before she made it.

My Birthday!!

We celebrated my birhthday on Sunday once we got back from Texas. Josh took me to brunch at the Chase Park Plaza, thanks to a very good friend of ours discount!! Let me just say brunch at the Plaza is heaven!! I mean total heaven. They serve prime rib, tons of fresh seafood and about 30 different types of dessert!!!! We then went to see CATS at the Fox, which was really good, but not what I expected. I love the theater, but this is one play I am not sure I would recommend, but it is off my "want to see" list.

Thanks Hubby for a great b-day!!

Gideon meets Uncle Brad & Auriel

Gideon finally met his Uncle Brad, as you can see from the pictures they got along rather well :-)

Happy Thanksgiving ( Early )

Cousins playing

Alyssa & Gideon

We celebrated Thanksgiving with my family this weekend, since we are heading to Dallas on Thanksgiving to be with Dandy & GranDawn. Here are some cute pictures, Alyssa (Joey's daughter) held Gideon most of the day and you can tell by the pictures that he adores her!

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~Elizabeth Stone

Who knew my heart had blonde hair and blue eyes.

An early learner!!

Josh worked from home today so he could watch Gideon while I went to the doctors office, here is the picture he took while I was away. I think we are going to have a smart little one on our hands.

I miss .....

We all headed to Indiana on Sunday for my Uncle's visitation. I loved seeing everyone and of course loved showing off Gideon. The trip brought back tons of memories and made me miss my grandparents. I was very lucky to have grandparents that where very involved in our lives and usually always went on vacation with us.

When I was picking out his clothes for the trip, I picked clothes my grandma would approve of, looking back she was so vocal on how babies should be dressed. I recently sent my sister pictures of Gideon and she texted me the day that she received them and said Grandma would of approved of his outfit, I guess I am not the only one that thinks of her often.

On the road again....

So the weekend is over and we are home.

This was a busy weekend for us, I went to the lake with the girls for our annual shopping trip and I can honestly say we shopped till we dropped or should I say till we couldn't put anymore into the car. I had so much fun, Josh has been working non-stop and I haven't really had any "me" time and so it was nice to be able to have adult conversations the whole time. I was very good and stuck to the " Not shopping for Gideon" rule. I was able to actually try on the clothes instead of bringing them home and then having to return them because I didn't like how they looked. The only drawback to the whole trip was it soooo cold, which is another reason I was glad the little one was nice and warm at the grandparents house.

"Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and heart to this vote." -- Daniel Webster, Eulogy on Adams and Jefferson

Super-Tammy

So, really, while I have done a lot of work recently to help finish up
the office, and I do my best to help with taking care of Gideon when I can, my work has recently taken an interesting turn... and is requiring much more of my time. In theory, I'm working right now, but I thought I'd take a break to post in here about how great Tammy has been with taking care of everything so I can do this work.

I've been trying to help watch Gideon when I can, just to make sure Tammy gets a break every now and then. The truth is she still takes on the lion's share of the responsibilities lately, and a lot of the time when I am watching him she uses the time to go run errands and get other things done that need doing...

I know I'm not telling anyone anything new when I say she's amazing, but it certainly bears saying anyway.

Hopefully this overtime and traveling stuff calms down next week, at which time I think I might make a few dinners, do some laundry, clean the house, help more with Gideon, and hopefully give her a chance to truly relax and unwind for an evening.

-Josh

A light at the end of the tunnel

We are almost done with our house projects and when I say almost done, I mean we have more done than we need to do. Josh and I decided instead of buying a newer house right away that we would fix up this one since we love the location and our back yard. We have in the past 18 months pretty much totally updated the whole house, we have painted every room, new doors, trim, carpet, hardwood, siding, air conditioner, windows, etc.... and now all we have left to do is less than 10 things. I can say that I am very glad that I married someone very handy since we have been able to do alot of the projects ourselves.

We just finished the office which is really nice since I work virtual two days of the week, the only problem is that since Josh has been working some evenings we are fighting over who gets to work in there :-) Pictures will be posted soon!

Happy Halloween from the Knight, Princess and Dragon aka the Daltons

Our little big boy

I think we are going to have a tall little boy. He was 21.5 inches tall when he was born, at his 2 month appointment he was 26 inches tall and at 4 months was 27.5. Watch out Uncle Brad, this one could pass you up!

New flooring in office...

So I spent Sunday afternoon replacing the old dirty carpet in our office. One more project off the list. Woot! -josh



Sent from my iPhone

A house divided......

Check out this article! If it wasn't on CNN, I don't think I would believe it!!

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/10/09/house.divided/

Halloween party tonight

We're taking Gideon to his second Halloween party tonight... He went as a bun last year. Wait til you see his costume this year... :)

-josh

Congrats! Tim & Chris

Our friends just found out that they are having a boy and Gideon is so excited!! He will now have a girlfriend and best friend all in the same household.

Congrats! Tim & Chris - Boys Rule.

Happy Feet!

Now that someone has figured out how to roll over, he attempts to do this in his swing when I do not strap him in. I thought the below event was blog worthy. Who needs hands when you can use your feet!!

NAKED BABY!!!

Okay not totally, but almost!! He has been so fascinated with his toes lately.

I LOVE FALL!!

Well this weekend we took advantage of the great weather and headed to Eckert's for apple picking with some friends and family and had so much fun!! Gideon was the star of the show, I dont think he sat in his stroller the whole day.

Let the games begin....

Dieting to me is such a bad word, I did great the whole pregnancy, I actually weighed less when I left the hospital than I did on my first ob visit that confirmed I was pregnant and actually managed to get more weight off the first 6 weeks. Then I am not sure what happened, call it post partum, busy lifestyle, birth control pills or going back to work but I have gained 15 pounds the past couple of months.

Anyone that knows me, knows there are two things I love - traveling and shopping. So Josh made a deal with me today that if I can loose the weight before Jan. 1st that we will go on a "Celebration Vacation" ( sounds like a cruise for old people) :-) to Mexico. So I am totally motivated, so let the games begin!!! Mexico here I come!!

Just a couple more cute pictures....

Gideon getting ready to go for a walk...


Alyce practicing for her soon -to-be sibling...

Mommy isn't the only one that has wild hair when they are sleeping...

Someone fighting going to bed.... with wild hair again :-)

85 days till Christmas

Just thought I would let everyone know. :-)

Uverse

Well its official we have it! Want details talk to Josh he is the technical person plus he gets referral points! I just like being able to watch tv while we are recording something else and we are also able to record 4 things at the same time!! How sweet is that!

Rolling, rolling, rolling

Well our little one has accomplished it!! He tried all weekend and finally suceed it yesterday. I woke Josh up early on Sunday because I was sure he was going to do it then, but no he decided to do it when no one was watching. Congrats, little one you have accomplished it, now if we can just get you to hold your own bottle :-)

HAPPY ALMOST 4 MONTHS OLD, LITTLE ONE

Sorry about the white lines, I am still trying to figure out our scanner!

CONGRATS MEGAN & DARREN

Megan and Darren where married this weekend at the Nineth Street Abbey, We had so much fun spending the day with friends and family. Megan was the prettiest bride!!! Congrats, you both deserve the best!! Enjoy Hawaii!

ONE HUGE PROJECT DONE!!

THE PROJECT IS DONE!!
The windows, doors and siding are done and they look great!! Thanks Mark for doing such a great job. Pictures will be posted once the dumpster has been removed :-) September has been a crazy month for us, Josh has been in late meetings every night or out of town. Last night was the first night he was able to be home at his normal time and I was able to have a "night off" and join my girls movie club for our bi-weekly movie and dinner. It was nice to have adult conversation in the evening.

Thanks to Grammy and Papa for helping out on Tuesdays and Wednesdays nights while I am working, you both have been a lifesaver.

Gideon is growing so fast, I can't believe how alert he has become just the past couple of weeks. He is now able to focus on something and actually try to grab it…. And he has started given kisses, there is nothing like feeling his little hands on my neck and him trying to kiss my cheek - totally melts my heart.

More pictures will be posted this weekend since all the nieces and nephews will be in town for Megan's wedding.

More pictures...