Christmas tree

Thanks to my mom and Katie Glisson, I have a full tree up in my living room. Yay! My mom suggested the placement of the tree. It is where little hands can admire, but not touch. Katie told me about the shatterproof ornaments that now adorn the tree. We have our own ornaments up as well, but most are not breakable.

Sydney was watching me put it up last night. She would walk up to it wide-eyed, point, and say "ooh ohh!" In that moment, all the fuss was worth it. She has loved lights ever since she was tiny. I have given her a few ornaments to play with hoping that would satisfy her. For the time being, it has. Hopefully it will last!!

I am happy to have my tree up. To me, it is one of the best things about Christmas. I guess Sydney comes by it naturally. I love lights, too! One of my favorite things at Christmas time is to sit with the house lights out, a cup of hot chocolate or wassail in hand, Christmas music playing softly, and admire the tree. I've always figured it was my reward for the time spent putting it up. Plus, what's the point of putting one up if you don't pay any attention to it!!

So, thanks Mom & Katie for helping me make this Christmas special, too!!

Heading home

After a full week of visits with family, we are heading back to E-town today. I have really enjoyed our visits!! We have packed each day full of things to do & wonderful friends and family to see. Today has been my first day to catch up and do laundry. Feels weird for a stay-at-home-mom! It has been such a refreshing time with family.

Yesterday I got more of my shopping done with my grandmother. We got all of her shopping done except for 2 people!! She knows what she's getting them. So, all she has to do is go get it. How awesome would that be? It's not even December yet!! Mine is coming along, but not quite as well as hers.

I think I've decided to put up our Christmas tree. I had convinced myself that I wasn't going to do it. Little hands will be all over it & will make things much more complicated on my day-to-day chores. But I have seen her face light up at the stores when she looks at their tree. I LOVE Christmas trees, so I guess I'll give in & put it up. I am compromising though, I'm going to put the tree up with the lights & garland but no ornaments. I don't think she could handle staying away from all the pretty ornaments. Next year we'll have a whole tree...maybe.

Ryan has been in Memphis the past few days & I have missed him like crazy!! We've obviously done much longer separations before, but I still miss him...whether 2 days or 9 months with out him, I'm still sad. So, I'll be happy to have us all together again!

Thanksgiving & Santa

This Thanksgiving has been a good one...and it's not over yet!! We found out after getting to Paducah that Ryan has to be in Memphis, TN Monday-Wednesday. So, Sydney and I are staying in Paducah while he heads to Memphis. That just means more family time for us.

On Thanksgiving Day, we were able to visit with family on my mother's side that we rarely get to see. It was a fun-filled day & we ate WAY too much!! Sydney got to play with 5 of her cousins! She was exhausted by the end of the day!! We also got to visit with Ryan's aunt & cousins that we don't get to see very often. It was a good day!

Friday, we went shopping!! If you know anything about me you will know this had me in heaven. What could be better than shopping?! Seeing Bret & Summer!!!! Summer called that morning to see if we could get together. I didn't get the message until after noon. It turns out that we were both at the mall at the same time! Weird! Anyway, we were able to visit with them for an hour or so. It was nice to see them! I miss them so much!

Today, we went shopping again! Yay! I have now crossed off 2 people on my list! Many more to go, but at least 2 are done! We also got to see Santa. He has a little house downtown. He was such a sweet Santa! Below is Sydney's reaction. I just hope he doesn't cross her off his good list because of this reaction. :-/

Tomorrow afternoon we will head to my parents' house where we will yet again stuff our faces! I'm going to have to starve myself until Christmas!!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!! Love to all...

Date weekend recap

This weekend has been awesome!! I drove Sydney to Beaver Dam, where I met my parents. Then I headed to Louisville where I met Ryan. We hung out & lazied (Is that a word?) in the room before getting ready. I took a LONG hot shower that ended up setting off the smoke alarm in our room...oops. I said a prayer asking God to make it stop. The second I ended my prayer, it went of! How awesome is that?! I finished getting ready without incident, thank goodness. Here are a few pics of the Navy party. It was a ton of fun!! I won a $50 gift certificate to Victoria's Secret!! I never win anything!! I was stoked!
Today, I woke up, came home & cleaned a little, took a nap, & went shopping all before Ryan got home from the Reserves!! What you can do without a little one around! Once Ryan got home, we dressed up in our "date" clothes & headed to Fergie's (one of our favorite without the little one restaurants). We went from there to Barnes & Noble for a Starbucks fix. Yum! After that, we came home to veg on the couch.

Tomorrow morning I head back to Beaver Dam to pick up the kiddo. I'm looking forward to having her home, but have enjoyed my time with my hubby!!! I love days when it's just the two of us.

Thanksgiving weekend

Last night, Ryan turned to me and said, "How much do you love me?" That is always a tell that he did something good that he wants credit for. ;-) He ended up telling me that he is getting Wednesday-Friday off next week!!!!! Whoohoo! Yes, Baby, I love you...and not just 'cause of that.

Anyway, I'm really excited. We were afraid that he would only get Thursday off. That would not be good. It would mean that we would have to visit 2 families in one day & drive 2 1/2 hours one way to get to there in the first place. I was not looking forward to that kind of day. Thankfully, we will have half of a week to visit both families!! Plus, it means that I get Ryan all weekend. He'll work 2 days. Then I'll have him again!! I know Sydney will be really excited to play with her daddy that many days in a row. Now, I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving!!

Only two more days until the Navy's Christmas Party! I can't wait for that either. Can you tell?

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On the Mend

Sydney, Ryan, and I are all on the mend!!! Yay! I thought this day would never come! It feels like we have been sick forever. If it wasn't one thing, it was something else. Although we aren't 100%, I feel we have definitely made the turn. We are over the worst! Thank goodness.

We went out & about some this weekend. We (Sydney & I) have been in the house for too many days & needed some fresh air. So, Saturday we headed to Half Price Books to sell a few books. We hoped to get some good finds, but came up empty handed & not much cash for our sells. Oh well. You win some, you lose some. Next, we headed to the mall to find Ryan a new shirt & tie for our date this coming weekend. There we had success!!

I can't wait for this week to go by so we can have our date night!!! Saturday night we're going to Ryan's Navy Christmas Party!! We get to dress up & have an evening to ourselves. My wonderful dad (heehee...there ya go, Dad) and mom are keeping Sydney overnight. So we will have 24 hours just the 2 of us!!! Whoohoo! Although I HATE being in groups & around new people, I am looking forward to the evening because I get to spend it with my hubby...and he's going to be dressed up to boot! You just can't get any better than that!

Thanks to my wonderful dad (That's twice in one post!!) & mom for agreeing to keep Sydney. I know you all will have fun. I'll apologize in advance for the lack of sleep you'll be getting! :-/

Kiddo still sickly

We went to the doctor today to get Sydney seen. Turns out she has a sinus infection. She's on some new meds now. We hope this will make her feel better soon. She's been sick for a week now. It is NO fun seeing your baby sick!! I hope for all our sakes that she gets better soooooon!

That's all that's new in the Hughes household.

Cold weather, happy home, sickly child

It is raining outside. That combined with the forecast over the next few days has me very anxious. I have been looking forward to a REAL fall & winter (meaning it actually gets down to the temperature it's supposed to during these months). Now that I am getting the REAL fall & winter, I'm not sure I'm happy about it!! :-/ We have been quite spoiled over the last 4 years in TX. Sure, we had cold days but we didn't have 4 months of cold weather. For instance, we wore short sleeves & even shorts sometimes during Thanksgiving. And I typically put up the Christmas tree in a t-shirt & jeans. This year will be much different. I'm happy about that. I can't wait to see pics of my little one playing in the snow with her daddy. I guess it is just the realization that I am getting a cold winter. Even if it's not that cold to others, it will be to us. I do have to say, though, I'm happy to be acclimating back to Kentucky weather. That means I'm back home.

It has taken a while (8 months to be exact) for Elizabethtown to feel like home. It is starting to. I think it is because we are meeting more people in church. The people we have met have really made us feel at home. I'm very thankful. Although it has been a HUGE adjustment, I am at peace & happy with where we're at...just in case you were wondering. ;-)

Well, the little one seems to be feeling better. She's still not well & able to socialize with others, but she seems to be drying up. As for Ryan and me, we're doing much better. We enjoyed our lazy weekend. Ryan was the only one that left all weekend. He ran to the grocery to get a few needed items. It was very nice for us to have a lazy weekend together. Even though none of us felt great, I think we were able to enjoy it a little anyway.

Sick, sick, sick...

It started out on Tuesday with Sydney having a stuffy nose & coughing a little bit & has spread to both of us. Ryan is still trucking along with only a little bit of a sore throat. I am however high on medication...no, not really. Any sinus, cold, or allergy medicine makes me drowsy. Even the "day" or "non-drowsy" stuff knocks me out. In order to function & take Benedryl for allergies, I have to take a fourth of a dose to not be sleepy. What good does that do?! None! Anyway, it is good that Ryan is feeling good. At least we have one person who is capable of looking after the kiddo. (After rereading this paragraph, I realized that I am rambling. I guess the small dose of sinus medicine I took is kicking in more than I thought!)

I thought Sydney was feeling better & was over the worst part, but she just woke up from a mini-nap a minute ago & is just as stuffy as she was last night. It is sad to see your baby sick. She and her daddy are hanging out on the couch right now...I think I might join them. Looks to be quite the lazy weekend...wish I wasn't feeling like this & could enjoy a good lazy weekend. Oh well. At least we're all together!! I hope all my blog friends are healthy & happy & have a GREAT weekend!! Happy November!