Family Photos

I am once again grateful for my talented friend Danica who took some great family photos of us a few weeks ago. It was so easy to smile at someone that is your friend and is really making you laugh :)

Miles loves Danica and she can always get a good grin out of him.

Miles and Dad.

Miles and Mom.

The whole fam.....we did the photo shoot at the park that we always go to. The trees were so beautiful, and we got a lovely warm day just out of the blue, perfect. Thank you so much Danica for helping us capture these memories.

A Texas Thanksgiving.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday we headed out to Texas to visit James' family. We didn't tell anyone but Christi that we were coming and James surprised the rest of his family on Sunday morning. It was so fun to give them such a happy surprise.

Here Miles is with Grandpa and Grandma Dayley. He had a lot of fun with them while we were there. I wish we had taken more pictures of everyone else in the family. Miles had so much fun with his cousins. Especially Natalie who was such a great help while we were there. He loves his Aunt Christi and the fact that she let him jump on her bed whenever he wanted (and fed him marshmallows) :)

OK, so we finally got to see some baby pictures of James during this trip, and its been confirmed that he looks a lot like James.......BUT he also must look like me because there were some definite differences......so Hooray! I am in there somewhere.

Miles had a fantastic time staying at Christi's house. She has two dogs and two cats. Nicole has a dog that she would bring over and Grandma has a dog that she would bring over, so you can only imagine how excited Miles was the whole time with all the animals running around.

By the end you can see that he got a little too comfortable with the animals.....poor Percy. He got his tail pulled more times than I would like to admit. And yes, what you see there is a hot pink Christmas tree. We got to help decorate Christi's tree the day after Thanksgiving. It has been almost 7 years since I helped decorate for Christmas (I am usually traveling home and it is done before I get there) so it was really fun to get to do that with them. Not your traditional tree, but it is pretty fabulous.

Thanksgiving!

Since I am not home with my family today to share thanks, I figured I would use my blog to express what I am thankful for this year. I am so thankful today for my family. For James and the love that he continues to show me, his patience, sense of humor, and faith. I am so grateful for Miles and the joy and laughter that he brings into my life everyday. I am grateful for my brothers and sisters who inspire me in all different ways. Joey is so laid back and finds humor in everything. Christopher is secure with himself and always the peacemaker. Amanda is able to find magic in everything, and is so adventurous and genuine. Jen is incredibly generous and independent. Amy shows patience in all things, is meticulous, and authentic. I am so grateful for my parents. They continue to be great examples of love in my life. I strive to become the person they hope I can be. I love my family so much, and feel so blessed to have each of them in my life.

Art Project.

 
I know that this looks terrible. All this paint and my beautiful wood floors....two things that you wouldn't think went together very well. :) But James and I really love to paint. We are both pretty awful at it....as you can see. But it's something that we have done since we were first dating. And you can always paint over old projects ;)

Bambuzzbe

That is what Miles calls his new bumblebee.....bambuzzbe. Its so funny. He loves it! He was chasing me around with it tonight and every once in a while he would run through my legs with it. It is so fun for him to control, and it wears him out....which is great for me :)He loves it, he even tried to bring it up the stairs tonight for bedtime. A great big "thank you" goes out to my parents for the fabulous early Christmas present. We love you and wish you were here to watch him enjoy his gift. oxoxox

Please Touch Museum

Today James took the day off of school, and we spent our rainy Friday afternoon at the Please Touch Museum. Miles had so much fun exploring, climbing on, and touching EVERYTHING.

Here he his training to be an astronaut. He is obviously an excellent candidate.

The area we spent the most time in was the car pit stop. He was hopping in and out of the trucks and cars, getting on the bus, trying to change tires, and saying his version of the word CAR over and over again.

Our little speed racer.

We rode the carousel since our package included some free rides. Miles was not in love with the ride and wouldn't sit still, so we got no pictures of his smiling....we are in this pic if you look really close in the left lower corner. :)

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Today is my Mom's birthday. And if any of you know her, I am fully aware of how jealous you are that she is my mom and not yours. She is incredible. She is so generous, thoughtful, nurturing, supportive, faithful, and loving. I feel so blessed to have her in my life. She has forgiven me for my faults, encouraged me through my trails, and comforted me through my heartbreaks. She encompasses so many of the qualities that I strive to have. Most people work to be the kind of person that she is naturally, effortlessly. I admire her so very much and wish that she was able to know the great and positive affect that she has had on my life and the others around her. I am so grateful to her for the sacrifices that she has made in honor of me, for the love that she has freely given, and for the support she continues to be in my life. I love you Mom. Happy Birthday

Getting to know you!

Welcome to the 2008 edition of getting to know your Friends. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little things about your friends that you might not have known!


1. What time did you get up this morning?
5:30 Miles is an early riser.... just like his mama :)


2. Diamonds or pearls?
absolutely diamonds. I wore my grandma's pearls to my wedding though.


3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Batman. that's how long its been

4. What is your favorite TV show?
Mad Men (but it would be Arrested Development if it were still on)

5. What do you usually have for breakfast?
I am really into steal cut oatmeal, (which I had to buy in TX) but have to admit that I don't love eating breakfast.

6. What is your middle name?
Ann.


7. What food do you dislike?
Brussels sprouts. But I do love cabbage, isn't that strange.

8. What is your favorite CD at the moment?
Duffy

9. What kind of car do you drive?
Subaru forester

10. Favorite sandwich?
Pressed panini's with Gruyere or goat cheese...yum

11. What characteristic do you despise?
making fun of others (I was made fun of a lot in High School, it kind of ruined me)

12. Favorite item of clothing?
My new cozy Uggs!!!

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go?
Thailand

14. Favorite brand of clothing?
Seven jeans, nothing else fits like they do.


15. Where would you retire to?
Santa Barbara!!!

16. What was your most recent memorable birthday?
My 21st. not that I remember a lot of it, not the proudest time of my life. But it was the last time I celebrated my birthday.

17. Favorite sport to watch?
Gymnastics


18. When is your birthday?
April 23, 1981

19. Are you a morning person or a night person?
Morning for sure.

20. What is your shoe size?
from 7 -8.5 I swear it depends on the brand.


21. Pets?
Nope

22. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us?
Nope

23. What did you want to be when you were little?
a psychiatrist

24. How are you today?
A little under the weather.


25. What is your favorite candy?
Right now its hot tamales.

26. What is your favorite flower?
Cymbidium Orchids, and Calla lilies

27. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to?
Tomorrow. James has the day off.


28. What is your full name?
Elizabeth Ann Checchio. (yep no Dayley)

29. What are you listening to right now?
The ocean from Miles' sound machine as he naps.


30. What was the last thing you ate?
Homemade buttermilk biscuits. Last night with dinner.

31. Do you wish on stars?
Absolutely


32. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Aqua

33. How is the weather right now?
About to rain, in the 40's...yuck

34. The first person you spoke to on the phone today?
No one yet, its only 830 am

35. Favorite soft drink?
Diet coke

36. Favorite restaurant?
Chad's in Santa Barbara


37. Real hair color?
Dark dark brown (not black) with streaks of gray

38. What was your favorite toy as a child?
Rollerskates: I had navy blue PacMan ones. They were awesome!

39. Summer or winter?
Summer!!!

40. Hugs or kisses?
Both

41. Chocolate or Vanilla?
chocolate


42. Coffee or tea?
neither

43.When was the last time you cried?
The other day at church. It was the primary program where all the kids sing the songs they had learned throughout the year. It is so sweet, and gets me every time.

44. What is under your bed?
Built in storage with extra bedding and some photo albums


45. What are you afraid of ?
Being left behind.

46. Salty or sweet?
Both, but maybe sweet right now.

47. How many keys on your key ring?
4: house, car, bakery, mail


48.How many years at your current job?
3 years

49.Favorite day of the week?
Saturday


50. How many towns have you lived in?
5- Novato, SLC, Santa Barbara, Siena, Philadelphia

51. Do you make friends easily?
I do, but not GREAT friends. Those are rare.


Ok, so if you learned something new about me, than maybe you should do this too, so I can learn something new about you!

Dance Party!

Miles' new favorite thing is having dance parties. We have our Ipod docked up in the kitchen and Miles demands almost every morning that we turn it on and have a dance party. Because of his new love of dancing, and his plethora of jump suits, we thought a perfect costume for him would be a break dancer. Unfortunately Miles had a doctors appointment the day of Halloween, and had to get shots, so he wasn't up for the Halloween festivities. So instead of seeing pictures of Miles in costume, you get to enjoy a very bumpy video clip of one of his dance parties! Hope it doesn't make you sick.

Sorry it took so long...

So here are our pumpkins carved. We did it the night before Halloween, and had a lot of fun. I did the one with the big eyes, and the little guy, and James made the one with the teeth. :)

I know I look awful in this pic with no makeup and unwashed hair, but I think James looks so cute, so I couldn't resist showing of my man.