Santa Came

This year we spent Christmas with Colin's family. I usually like Christmas Eve better than Christmas day (minus the presents) because that is when my family has a big dinner and spends the whole day together. To me Christmas day was usually pretty boring after opening presents and eating a big breakfast. This year was different. Colin's family doesn't do too much on Christmas Eve, they do most of the celebrating on Christmas day. We woke up late, thanks to Hayden sleeping in until almost 8:00 (she is usually up by 6:00). I guess that was her gift to us, what a nice girl!!! Then we went upstairs and she got to open her presents first.

The whole present thing was a little bitter sweet for her. She loved each gift she got and just wanted to stop and play with it. We being the impatient parents that we are, would take away the toy and make her open the next present. She would whine and cry until the she saw what it was and then would want to play with that and then the whole process would start over again.
She got a lot of fun stuff: PJs, books, church bag & file folder games (that I made, thank you very much), the cutest tea set you've ever seen and a trike from her grandma and grandpa Gibbons.

Colin was very spoiled this year. He got a TON of tools, some new Vans, The Dark Knight & Batman Begins, new snowboarding boots and money to go snowboarding (all my hard work at the voting polls paid off :) I was also treated very well. I got a sewing machine which I am very excited about, a crock pot cookbook, a gift card to Target and Bath & Body Works whichI have already spent and my favorite gift was Season One of Prison Break!!!!
After opening presents we had a big Crepe breakfast, then we went and saw Valkeryie. It is a great movie and I really enjoyed it, but I must say it was a little depressing to watch on Christmas day. After the movie we came back and had a very delicious ham & turkey dinner and then we played a White Elephant game that we revamped, it was a lot of fun!!

Yet again Christmas was wonderful. Of course I love getting and giving gifts, but I really just love the closeness that this time of year brings. It really just makes people happy. I have loved going out shopping and being around people. I loved spending so much time with both my family and Colins family. I am sad it is going to be over, but we still have New Years to look forward to, so I wont be too sad yet!!
The loot!!
One of her faves... a $1 stroller I got at a yard sale.
Her first bike...so cute!!
Walking in to see what Santa brought.
She is such a poser. Right before this was taken she was whining and crying, when I held up the camera she immediately stopped and did this!!

Notice in two of the pictures she has her tongue out. She does that when she is concentrating, I think that is a Lyman thing.

Fun in the Snow

Like everyone else we have had a very busy last couple of weeks. We went to a fun Lyman family Christmas party at my Aunt and Uncles house in Woodland Hills (sorry no pictures, I am getting lazy when it comes to picture taking.) We ate delicious food, the kids got to perform the nativity(Hayden was an angel) and they got to beat Winnie the Pooh to a pulp (he was a pinatta.) The main event was Jolly Old Saint Nick himself and he came bearing gifts. Hayden got a book and stuffed monkey. She hated the gift because she was terrified of Santa and wanted nothing to do with him.
We also got to go up to see the Zoo lights at Hogle Zoo. It was fun, but FREEZING!!!!!!!!!! It was so cold, but we managed to see a lot of animals and a lot of pretty lights.
You can tell by the redness in my nose how cold it is!!Yesterday it snowed quite a bit here so the kids were able to play in the snow. Colin built a little hill for them to go sledding on. They had a lot of fun.
Oh, I love being out in the snow!! :)

Opinion Tees

My brother just started an online business called Opiniontees.com. Here's how it works...

If you like the idea of getting an awesome T-shirt delivered to you door step every month and you want a fun and social way of getting involved with the current issues. Then this is your chance to make a statement, and create a dialogue with people around you about important topics and issues.

You and thousands of others like you have the chance to send a united message every month. The third Saturday of every month, every OpinionTees member will wear their shirt. This is an easy way of organizing and sending a united message. This will get people talking all over the country about the most important subjects of our day. Whether our message is about the economy, politics or the environment, there is strength in numbers.

This is a great way to make an impact; nothing is more simple or visible than a tee-shirt. Let people know what you think, even if they don't agree with you hopefully you can expose them to a new point of view and inspire them to think about what they really believe.

So go to Opiniontees.com and check it out!!!

All About Baby

All About Baby

1- Where were you when you first found out you were pregnant? At our apartment in Orem
2- Who was with you? Colin
3- How did you find out that you were pregnant? $3 home pregnancy test from Walmart. The cheap ones are just as good as the pricey ones.
4- What was your first reaction to finding out you were pregnant? Very excited! Like everyone else I didn't believe it. It took me going to the doctors to have a "real" test done to finally believe that I had gotten pregnant in about a week!!
5- Who was the first person you told? Colin
6-Did you plan to get pregnant? Yup!! After three whole months, the excitement of marriage wore off so we decided a baby would make things interesting :)
7- Did you tell everyone else right away? No, we didn't tell anyone until I was about 10 weeks.
8-Was everybody happy for you? Of course!
9- Did you go out and celebrate? I don't think so
10- Did you want to find out the sex? Yeah, those 20 weeks were very long.
11- What was the sex? Girl and I was so happy about that.
12-Did anyone throw you a baby shower? Yes
13- If yes, who? My two very thoughtful friends, Charami and Janice
14- Did you get any outfits at the baby shower that you just knew you weren't going to put on your baby? I will say no
15- How much weight did you gain? 27. Less than I though I would
16- Did you lose all of the weight that you gained? Yes, I hope the next time will be as easy, but I doubt it
17- Did you get a lot of stretch marks? Yes, I thought I was going to make it through without getting any on my stomach, but those last four weeks did me in!!
18- What did you crave the most? Not really. When I was sick and the thought of food made me ill, there was a time that any type of potatoes were the only thing that sounded good to me. One night we went to Golden Corral and I had about ten plates of mashed potatoes and gravy and thats all!!
19- Did you crave anything crazy?No
20- Who or what got on your nerves the most? I was way calmer and happier when I was pregnant. It had the opposite affect on me...Colin's ready for another baby!!
21- Were you married at the time? Yes
22- Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? No, I had a great pregnancy. It was the labor that was bad, but it could have been a lot worse.
23- Where were you when you went into labor? In my bed in Phoenix at four in the morning.
24- Did your water break? I like to say a little of my water squirted! ha ha
25- Who drove you to the hospital? Colin
26- Did you go early or late? One week early. Halleluja!!!!
27- Who was in the room with you when you gave birth? Colin and my Mom. My mom left Blanding about five hours after I went into labor, drove to Phoenix(7 hours a way) and still waited about 20 hours before Hayden was born.
28- How long were you in labor for? You can do the math from the previous answer...34 hours!!
29- Did you have any drugs for the pain? Yes, the most wonderful invention ever made. The epidural saved my life!! Girls if the nurses ever tell you its a good idea to turn down the epidural when you get ready to push tell them NO!!!!
30-Did you go Natural or have a c-section? Just regular, but I secretly wanted a c-section! Every appointment I had I wanted the doctor to say the baby was breach, but it never happened.
31- What was your first reaction after giving birth? Its funny because before I had her I would watch TLC's A Baby Story and bawl my eyes out when the baby finally came out and the mother saw her sweet little bundle of joy. I would then picture what it would be like to see my baby and cry even harder. So I expected my experience to be wonderful and emotional. Not the case, after 34 hours, INTENSE pain and A LOT of drugs later the first thing that came out of my mouth "I don't ever want to do that again."
32- How big was the baby(s)? 7 lbs. 11 oz.
33- Did your Husband cry? No, but if he did I wouldn't have known it.
34- What did you name the baby(s)? Hayden Gibbons
35- Does her name have any significant meaning? Nope, we first liked it as a boys name and then I read in the newspaper about Hayden Panettiere (girl from Heros) and loved it as a girls name.
36- Did you have any visitors? Just my mom because we lived in Phoenix, but to be honest I was a mess I was very happy nobody visited.
37- Did the baby(s) have any complications?
38- How old is your baby today? 13 months.
39- When is the next one(s) coming? Who knows???
40-If you could, would you do it all over again? Yes, but I think I would be happy with just Hayden!!
41- Tag: Haley A., Tiffany W., Shannon B., Melissa L, Nicole R