My Massive Painting Project Recap...

New post on Love of Family & Home...Inspired by The Nester!

And get this girls....The Nester actually commented on my post!!!!!

OMG!!!

 Just a little excited about that!!!

http://loveoffamilyandhome.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-massive-painting-project-recap.html

Check it out!!

My 30th Birthday

So we actually were gonna do something fun to celebrate my 30th birthday, but unfortunatelty things didn't go the way we had planned...

My birthday fell on Monday this year, so we were just going to celebrate the weekend before. Earlier that week on Wednesday, Parker came down with the stomach flu (I know, I know, boyfriend has had one illness after another...gotta love pre-K!) Bobby & I were supposed to be leaving on Friday to go to Nashville, TN to celebrate my birthday. We were going to spend the night there, go out to dinner, go out downtown, & do some Christmas shopping on Saturday. Friday morning I woke up feeling horrible (think I had a touch of Parker's stomach flu) and Parker still wasn't 100%, so our little trip got cancelled :(

Cue Plan B....

The next set of plans just involved us all going over to my parents house for dinner, cake & ice cream on Monday night. My mom was making my great grandma's recipe for homemade spaghetti sauce...its to die for and I was really looking forward to going over there & just spending time with some of my favorite people. 

Monday morning, my mom called me and told me that she now had the stomach flu and didn't think that she would be able to have everyone over :(  Good news was, she had already made the spaghetti sauce & garlic bread! So, my dad brought it over that morning & we had it for lunch instead.

So as you can see, my birthday wasn't  going quite as I had planned...

Cue Plan C

We went to dinner as a family to Chili's in Carbondale!

I know, not super exciting for a 30th birthday celebration, but what were we supposed to do! Had no idea there was going to be a stomach flu epidemic! We were able to eat dinner with Bobby's sister, Chrissy & her husband James before they left to go back to Texas, so that was nice at least!

So here is our family pic from that night!

Thanks to picnik, I was able to do some editing to this pic! For a small fee, you can upgrade your account & have access to some touch-up options. They have everything from make-up, to teeth whitening, air brushing to wrinkle removal (helped to make me look not quite as old, LOL!)

So that is my 30th birthday in a nutshell...
What do you think....do I deserve a do-over?

My little Owl...

My Aunt Debbie got the boys these knitted animal hats for Christmas....

Seriously, how cute is this?!?

I just love this little owl hat she got for Griffin......sooo cute! Parker got a bear hat, it is also ADORABLE, but I have yet to get a picture of him in it! Since he has been sick, he has been a little less than cooperative! As soon as I can manage to get a shot of him with it on, I will be sure to post it!

Its About Time....

We are so HAPPY....

 that FINALLY....

 after EIGHT years of dating.....

these two have ACTUALLY decided to tie the knot!

Today is my cousin Keri's 26th birthday and she has been waiting PATIENTLY for this day!

Her boyfriend of 8 years, Casey Bloodworth, finally popped the question! We all went out for dinner tonight to celebrate Keri's birthday and their engagement!

Tentatively, a June 25th wedding is planned!

Save the Date! 

Casey & Keri,

Just wanted to say that we are so happy for both of you and looking forward to your wedding! Happy Birthday Cuz! Congratulations Again!

Love,

The Diehl Family

Griffin is 4 Months Old

So here I am trying to get some cute pics of my little one for his

 4 month blog post. Maybe I waited until it was a bit too late....

I'm  happy

I'm still pretty happy...

I'm getting annoyed...

"Mom...seriously, how many of those are you going to take?"



"That's it...I'm over it!"



Lol! This is how my little one works...happy one minute, mad at the world the next!

So the months just continue to fly by...Griffin is now 4 months old! And with that, he had to go back to see Dr. Korte last week for his 4 month well-check & his second set of immunizations. He weighed in at 14lb. 9oz. and was 26 inches long. Dr. Korte said he was looking great, but that she did have one concern....

His Neck!

We have noticed that Griffin tends to favor his right side, always wanting to turn his head that direction & also when trying to hold his head up, it always wants to tilt to the right. Dr. Korte noticed these symptoms while examing him in her office the day of his well-check. She said he has a mild case of torticollis. She said when a baby has torticollis, they display symptoms very much like Griffin's. The neck muscles are contracted and cause the neck to tilt to one side. She said that more than likely this was the way his head was positioned in the womb and he is just accustomed to holding it this way. Apparently,  it is a fairly common problem seen in newborns...

Although he does favor his right side, he IS able to turn his head to the left. If you sit on his left side and talk to him, he will turn his head to look at you. He also follows sounds by looking either direction. In some severe cases, babies with torticollis are not able to do this. Due to the fact that they favor one side over the other, it can also affect the shape of their head. In some cases, the baby will have to wear a MOLDING HELMET to insure that the head forms properly.  Upon examing Griffin's head, Dr. Korte said that the shape is looking just fine....THANK GOD!

I'm not gonna lie...the idea of him having to wear a molding helmet kinda definitely freaked me out! I was relieved when she said that his head was looking good! Fingers crossed it stays that way!

So how do we fix it? Dr. Korte said that this condition is very much treatable with physical therapy. Her office is supposed to be setting up a physical therapy consult for him & calling us to schedule it. She said that our insurance may pay for him to have therapy for up to 6 weeks, but in a lot of cases the therapist will just come to our home, show us some daily stretching exercises to do with Griffin on our own, and then come back a few weeks later to see how he is doing.

I will keep you up-to-date on how things are going with this & when he starts therapy! Just so thankful that its a problem that can be easily fixed!  

Christmas 2010

     Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! We had a wonderful Christmas this year in the Diehl house! This was the first year I think Parker really understood the whole Santa concept, but unfortunately he spiked a fever Christmas Eve night which contributed to a little lack of excitement on his part... :( All in all, he still had a great Christmas, and he got everything he asked for & more (imagine that!) Along with his fever, he has had just your typical cold symptoms, which seem to be improving (fingers crossed), so I think he is on the mend!
     Griffin remained healthy despite the fact that he had is four month well-check (more to come on this later) 2 days before & got his second set of immunizations. He was quite cranky the first 24 hours after his appointment, but by Christmas Eve he was a happy little boy!
     To top off our wonderful holiday we woke up to snow Christmas Eve morning which made for a beautiful White Christmas! I wanted to share with you some pictures of our Christmas festivities ....

 Parker helping me make cookies Christmas Eve day...

 As much as he wanted to help, he only made it thru the first batch & then he was bored...

 Teddy Bear

 My happy little elf...

 Love his little reindeer hat that Grandma Claudia bought him...

 Cheese!!!

 I had to go outside and get a picture of the house all lit up with the snow....

 Just BEAUTIFUL...

 Winter Wonderland

 My reindeer were a new addition to our lights this year...I just love them!

 Presents around the tree

 Parker man POST motrin...that stuff is AMAZING!!!

 The highlight of his Christmas...Big Buck Hunter from Aunt Cee Cee!

 This 3 year old is a pro @ deer hunting! I was amazed how well he could play it!

 Everyone watching my little hunter!

 Daddy had to get in on the action!

 Christmas morning...

 Stinky the Garbage Truck...this was one of his MUST haves!

 Buzz Lightyear!

 Iron Man! Another must have! Thank you to Aunt Nancy for picking it up for us! 

 Daddy helping Baby G open his gifts...

 Think he liked the bright colors of the paper!

 LOL! Love this expression...sometimes I wish I knew what they were thinking!

 Parker bowling on Daddy's new Wii...again I was amazed how he just quickly figured out how to play!

 Train table from Maw-maw Tashey (Grandma Kathy) & Paw-paw Mark

 Eating breakfast...

 Looking out the window at all of the snow...

Lol...he loves bacon!

How we got through this holiday without one family photo is beyond me...I can't believe I didn't get a pic of all of us in front of the tree....Ugggh! Tree is still up....guess we could pretend it was Christmas again...LOL!

Merry Christmas to you & yours!

Love,

The Diehl Family

More Christmas Decorating...

Check out Love of Family & Home blog to see the newest additions to my newly remodeled kitchen & my latest adventures in holiday decorating....

http://loveoffamilyandhome.blogspot.com/2010/12/prepping-for-christmas-guests.html

I've been tagged....

Katie at "Jackson Dallas Parrish" tagged me for the game of fours, so here are my lists...

Four Shows that you watch:
1. Dancing with the Stars
2. American Idol
3. Giuliana & Bill
4. Ellen

Four Things you are passionate about:
1. God
2. My family
3. Decorating
4. Blogging

Four Phrases that you say a lot:
1. Really!?!
2. Are you freakin' kidding me?
3. I'm freezing!
4. Parker...Quit!!!

Four Things that you've learned from the past:
1. Everything happens for a reason
2. God will never give you more than you can handle
3. When you think you have it bad, there is always someone out there that has it worse.
4. Life is short, enjoy and live every moment to the fullest!

Four Places you would like to go:
1. Travel East Coast
2. Hawaii
3. Puerto Rico
4. Alaska

Four Things you did yesterday:
1. Went Christmas Shopping
2. Ate at O'Charley's for lunch
3. Went to Church
4. Watched UFC fights at my in-laws

Four Things you are looking forward to:
1. Christmas
2. Going to Cancun in January with my hubby
3. Going to Disney World in February with the boys
4. My new flooring... :)

Four Things you love about winter:
1. Christmas
2. Christmas decorations
3. Winter clothes
4. Pumpkin Spice Cappuccino

Four Bloggers who should share their list of fours:
1. Brittany (Cha Cha Chronicles)
2. Donna (Unconventional Tales of a Princess & a Pirate)
3. Heidi ( The Estel Family)
4. Bethany (A Perfect Mess)

Momma's got a brand new toy!!!

So my 30th birthday is this coming Monday, and my awesome hubby got me the BEST GIFT EVER!!!! And it just so happened to arrive a few days early...and because he is so awesome, he let me have a few days early!!!

He got me the Canon Rebel T1I camera WITH the extra lens!!! Now I can take FABULOUS pictures of my boys to share with all of you!!!!

Of course when it showed up this afternoon, I had to get the battery charged up and had to start taking pics ASAP!!! I decided to take some pics of the boys (naturally) and some of my christmas decor as well.....


Really can't get over the difference in picture quality...its so much clearer! Having a snack while watching a movie....

Christmas Tree in our Living RoomI really love this tree, its big, full, & just beautiful when decorated... I decorate with colors which coordinate with my living room decor...That means, blue, chocolate brown, & cream...I also have some gold accents throughout for a little sparkle....

Top of my armoire...inspired by Thrifty Decor Chick
http://www.thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2010/12/dining-room-christmas-vignette.html

I decided to tackle this project after seeing Thrifty Decor Chick's version on her site. Check out the link above to see her gorgeous Christmas Vignette. The glass globes in the picture were collected from home, goodwill, & one was purchased @ hobby lobby for $5. All of the ornaments in the glass containers and throughout the display were purchased at Walmart. The bare spaces were then filled in with greenery, pine cones, & tea light candles. I really love the way it turned out!

My little photographer....

As soon as I got my new camera out, Parker had to get my other

camera & take some pics of his own!

Gotta love that scrunched up face...LOL!Look at that sweet profile....love the tree in the background.

Parker's tree in his room

Parker's room is done in sports, so its only fitting that he has a sports tree...

Love his "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" Ribbon

Purchased the ribbon at hobby lobby and glued it with fabric glue to a wider ribbon for a bigger impact.

Christmas tree in Master Bedroom



The tree in our master bedroom again matches the decor in that room. Our bedroom is a soft gold color with cream accents & so is our Christmas tree..... Love my little high heel...too cute!

Hope everyone is enjoying this Holiday Season! Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year from our family to yours!