My Christmas Story

Christmas was quite AWESOME this year!  Two days of family and the stuffing of faces.  My stomach was so bloated at one point… yeah, no more of that!  The great thing about my family is, I get two Christmas’.  A Spanish Christmas on Christmas Eve… and the Christmas I’ve spent every year with the family on Christmas Day. J

Christmas Eve is of course spent with the Garcia family.  You can always expect AMAZING food when spending time with them!  This year there was ham, pork, shepherd’s pie, tortellini, ETC.  Steve’s dad makes his traditional Clericot which is basically Sangria.  We don’t open presents til midnight so there’s always a game of Telefunque(sp?) being played to pass the time…  Once midnight hits there’s the passing out of the presents! 

Steve said he wasn't going to get me anything from Coach this year...

LIES!!

Made of real glass from Lucky Clover.  He bought the whole set with matching earrings and a bracelet.  Thanks honey!  Just wanting to share a couple of favorites that I LOVE.

During this exact time last Christmas Eve, Steve proposed to me!  I was oblivious to what was going on with so many people in the room and trying to get Briana to open her gifts.  There was a present made out to me from Briana with a large baby doll inside that said…

What?? I don’t get it! GAH… what a DUH moment for me!  Steve asked his cousin Jonathan to record his engagement plan beforehand since he's pretty capable of keeping his mouth shut...

Last year goes down in the record books for BEST Christmas EVERRRR!

Back to the Present… Christmas morning we went to my mom and sisters house to open gifts.  I do have to say, Briana made out with some good stuff this year!

I did pretty well too!  Thanks Jenny!

In the afternoon we had brunch at my Aunt Linda & Uncle Jun’s house.  I love hanging out with the family.  I wish I could see them more often than I do now.

Anywho, that wraps up our Christmas Holiday.  I hope my family and friends had an amazing time!  Looking forward to the New Year and the first two weeks off of work in January!  5 days to go until the 3 month countdown to the Wedding. Oh em gee!

KIDS' LAND = PARENT'S BEST FRIEND

www.kidslandinfo.com

I would like to meet the owner of Kids’ Land!  Why do you ask?  Because she (I’m guessing it’s a she) is a fricken’ Genius!  Kids’ Land is located at Potomac Mills Outlets.  It’s a child care center that lets you drop off your children so you can be stress free while you shop.  A nice lady from there also told me that it’s not just for the mall shoppers.  Let’s say Steve and I wanted to go out for a date night… movie, dinner, whatever.  No one wants to babysit my little angel?  Fine then! We can totally drop her off at Kids’ Land.  A W E S O M E.

Tuesday night was the first time we tried it out since we hadn’t even started our Christmas shopping yet HAH!  In order to register Briana, Steve filled out some paperwork and we had to show our ID’s.  There’s a registration fee of $4.00 and that last’s for a whole year.  It costs $8.00 an hour for them to watch her.  I was worried because Bri is normally shy with adults she doesn’t know.  But as soon as she saw all of the toys, slides and moon bounce (“Boon bounce!” As she calls it)  she was practically trying to bust down the door!  And yes if anyone was wondering, there is no way kids can get out and take a run for it lol.    If you have more than one child here’s the price sheet…

And here’s a teaser of Kids’ Land Heaven:

Let me tell you… I didn’t even worry about her while we were gone.  The care givers are wonderful people.  They are very nice and very attentive to the kids.  They are even stocked up with diapers just in case parents forget or if they need to be changed more than once.

Steve and I were gone for two hours on Tuesday and another two hours on Wednesday.  Finally got all my shopping done Yay!  Each time we came back to pick her up the care givers always gave us a great report.  Briana never whined and just played around the whole time.  This shows that they weren’t lying one bit!

Oh and of course as they walk out they get a lollipop (Briana’s language: “Mommy, ahpop!”)

The only bad thing about this place is their location.  It’s in a part of the mall that no one really goes shopping down.  I don't have very good sense of direction... all I can tell you is that it's past the Marshalls on the right hand side and across from the Toyzam.  I feel like most people don’t see it and don’t know about it.  I will continue to go back for sure!  Before I started this blog I was thinking… am I a bad mom to want to leave my child there while I go shopping for fun in the future?  The thing is my child is much happier there than being strapped down in the stroller.  Lord knows if I let her out of the stroller she will raise hell and go nuts!  I hope this reaches out to a lot of my mommy friends.  Check it out.  You will not be disappointed!

I Am One Lazy Blogger!

I know it's pretty terrible.  It's been two weeks since I've updated my blog.  Though lots of exciting things have been happening! (Well to me anyway.)

The weekend after our engagement photos were taken I got my bridesmaids measured and was able to order all of the dresses.  The dresses will be arriving in mid March.  Just enough time to get alterations done if needed and  just in time for the wedding of course!  I think the girls had a great time in the bridal boutique... I know I always do when I'm there!  Not only is it a beautiful store but the customer service is AMAZING.  Ellalyne and the other ladies always make you feel so welcome and relaxed... and BEAUTIFUL!

Here is what my ladies will be wearing...

This is not the exact color.  My colors for the wedding are a little darker like "watermelon."  It also comes with straps and I'm also thinking of pairing it with a shawl for the ceremony.

Here is my sister aka Maid of Honor...

And my cutiepatootie cousin Sydney aka bridesmaid...

My soon-to-be sister in law Jasmin couldn't make it but has tried on the dress before.  She will also be one of my bridesmaids!

Yay for wedding planning and getting things done!

A couple days after, I went back to try on my wedding dress again.  I was on cloud 9!  I didn't want to take it off!  If anything bad had happened at that moment it wouldn't have phased me. Which here comes my point.  

My daughter was there with me that day and no one had seen her try to climb up onto a chair.  Briana face plants to the ground and starts whaling!  So I go to pick her up (with my dress still on) and she gets blood on me... on the dress.  I was more worried about her condition than of the dresses condition HAH.  We get it off quickly and it's saved without it staining. :) 

As much as I would love to show the world this second, my dress remains to be a surprise for Steve on our special day.  I wonder what his first reaction will be... Cry? Nah, probably not.  But I hope I get him good!

SANTA!!

Last Wednesday we went to Fair Oaks Mall to have Briana take pictures with Santa.  She has been talking about Santa for weeks... no joke.  So daddy and I figured ok she will be fine.  I should have thought about the fact that my little lady doesn't like men she doesn't know.  

It was finally our turn and as soon as daddy tries to sit her down... Briana freaks out and has the death grip/clinging for her dear life and will NOT let go.

Santa then says:

"You have two options. 1. You can force her to sit down and have a picture for black mail years down the road or 2. You can sit next to me and take a family photo."

We chose the family photo route!

Steve does not look pleased with Briana's actions but I'm as happy as a little kid! :D

And so finally we are all caught up.  I, as usual am going crazy and doing last minute shopping!

It will definitely be a lot more fun for my kiddo this year.. she is so much more involved.  Can't wait for the festivities this weekend!  

Stephanie & Steve's Photo Session- December, 2011

PhotographyByKaryn.smugmug.com

Thankfully, Monday was a gorgeous day out for pictures!  I got my makeup done professionally for the first time ever.  It was Steve’s idea!  I was very happy with the result.  Steve says I’m spoiled but it’s his fault… you wouldn’t catch me doing anything like that before he came around!  I’m doing it again for my wedding day.  Totally worth it! J

I’ve known my wedding photographer since I was 10 years old.  Karyn’s daughter Ashleigh and I are around the same age.  We played softball together for years, went to the same schools, had a lot of the same friends.  Karyn and my mother are also very close.  So she’s basically family! 

Karyn invited us to her home first to snap some photos in her backyard.

Of course Briana was in our pictures!  The engagement photos would not have been the same without her... she's already apart of our lives.  I've seen plenty of photo shoots where couples bring their own pets, etc.  I think she's a much better prop!  Oh, and don't you love how we match? <3

Next we headed off to Occoquan Regional Park.  What a beautiful place it was.  I can't believe I've never been there! We started at the pier...

Once that was over I was glad to move on to a different part of the park.  My heels were so skinny, they kept getting caught in the cracks!  Karyn would have paid for me to fall in but I was able to walk off without any accidents!

Notice how Briana isn't in all of the pictures.  What has she been up to?

She's dragging Nana around and playing.  Thanks Mommy!

By this time,  my heels are KILLING my feet.  As much as I love shoes, I start to die a little if I'm in them too long.  The things I do to please my man!

Last but not least we head to this awesome looking building!

What an amazing day it ended up being.  Who knew such a fun day could be so exhausting!  Karyn ended up taking over 600 pictures and really out did herself.  Thank you so much for everything!  We love you.  Hope everyone enjoyed this as much as I have. 

This is a next step to our big day.  Less than 4 months to go!  Once Holiday season is over it's GO time and once January & February are over, the festivities begin.  I can't believe it's finally almost here!