WhAT juSt HapPENed?

OH WOW!!!! I don't even know where to start, it's been almost 2 months since i've posted anything....it's been absolutely crazy lately to say the least. I guess i'll just start from October 22nd, when Laura arrived for her 3 week visit!! We did a lot of beaches, and had a day free of Gemma and went to a local spot for all the tourists to go, kind of like a Senor Frogs type place, we had a great time petting monkeys and riding horses on the beach, jumping off rope swings and laying in cabanas. The weather was perfect most of the time she was here so that was great because last time she was here, it was kinda cloudy and rainy the whole time. Having Gem now, makes for very interesting adjustments when having people visit. Working around her naps and melt downs gets tricky. She did pretty well for the most part but every few days we just needed to stay home and adjust back before going again for a few more days doing stuff. One of the fun things Laura got to be a part of was Halloween (lol)...that seems so long ago now. Gemma's first Halloween was a success! The girl wore what I wore on my first Halloween, the only difference is I had a full snow suit on under it so the space was mostly taken up, Gemma doesn't need all the cold padding so it looked more like a pumpkin gown than an actual plump pumpkin hahaha. We went to a friends neighborhood where all of us met up with our kiddos to trick or treat along with the neighborhood kids...saying 50 kids is probably low balling it. My first experience with kids on Halloween, it was absolute chaos lol, but they had so much fun and once everyone started to spread out, walking around was nice. The following night we had a sitter and Laura along with me and two other friends were superheros in tutus for a Halloween party! The next day we had Alan come in town which started the trickle of friends coming in daily for Alan and Jenny's wedding the next weekend. We had a crazy busy week with at least 5 people and a baby in the house at anytime that week, for 4 of the nights there were 7 people and a baby here. We had a great week exploring with everyone and got some great photos!

Alan and Jenny's festivities started with rehearsal at Sea Cat, a fantastic restaurant here. I had told Alan i'd decorate everything at the restaurant that night and for him not to worry about it....I did it as a surprise to Jenny (and everyone else) and i'm pretty sure she loved it! Us girls went to stay at The Crane Resort that night and had hair and makeup done there the next morning before headed to the wedding at Lone Star Restaurant. I was super stressed out for days since I helped plan a large part of the wedding, but it paid off and everything went great, I was glad it was over and I felt more like me almost instantly. I can't wait to see pictures from the photographer, Jenny was absolutely stunning and the little twists and turns of detail made it special and more memorable. They set off for their honeymoon sailing in the BVI's and the rest of the group (as well as Gem and I) headed back to Orlando.

Darin came up 5 days later and we did a family/holiday day with each of our families which consisted of good food and watching Gem open her first Christmas presents! We also had planned on going to Disney with Drey, Shane and the girls as well as Grammie and Poppie (Mark and Marcie, Darin's parents)....it was for Jordis's 7th birthday and it was Gem's first disney trip. I got the super stinking cute mini mouse ears for her that she wore and didn't care for a good part of the day. She got to ride Dumbo, It's a Small World and Peter Pan, just the most cutest thing ever was having her at Disney, even though she won't remember it, but I will :) We also brought Gem to see Santa!! Oh my gosh was that so freaking cute too....I just love her so much at this stage, the 9-10 months has been my absolute favorite age so far. She's just the coolest, cutest kid....she's got this personality and smile that kills me every time I look at her. Her hair is getting so long with these curls at the ends and her eyes changed to this really cool green with a super dark blue ring around the outside, they're gorgeous!!

We had also planned a surprise party for the Doty's 40th anniversary. Drey got a good group of people from close and far, old friends and new to come out and celebrate and boy were they surprised!! Great night for sure!!

Since our visit, we've just been getting back into our daily routine and enjoying lots of holiday parties here and looking forward to a few friends that are visiting for the holidays. We're also looking forward to January when my brother gets married!! I hope to not go 2 months again with out posting, enjoy all the pics...I know I do ;)