3rd Anniversary

January 13th Brad and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary. We have known each other since we were 18 years old, time has gone by so fast! This was the fourth layer on our cake. Well not this one exactly, but its the exact same cake and everything. Each year Brad has gone back to the European Bakery in Lake Forest and has them make our cake over and over again. They have changed the top every year since. I seem to always be surprised and so excited, the cake tastes amazing. This year we spent the weekend down at the W on Lake Shore. It was wonderful and so relaxing:) Here is to another wonderful and exciting year!

Olivia's First Visit With Santa:)

Can you believe she is smiling? I feel like every child i have ever seen with Santa is crying. Olivia loved it:) We are very excited for Christmas because my dad is dressing up as Santa, it will be so cute:) Hope everyone is having a wonderful Holiday so far:)

Olivia's First Christmas Tree & House Decorating

Christmas decorating was so much fun this year because it was Olivias first. We got out Starbucks Apple Cider, put on Christmas music and go all of our new and old christmas decorations out! Olivia was in awe when Brad brought in this big tree. She immediately went to the tree and just stared at it. We have collected a lot of Christmas things in the last 5 years. Everything from ornaments to Christmas decorations. Some from family, some from trips and some from our wedding. Below are the pictures of our tree, decorations & the house once it was done. We are so excited for Christmas! Its the greatest time of year:)

               

These are from Grammy & Grandad!

From Aunt Barb My Favorite Part of Christmas!

Grammy Made This!

I think it looks cooler in person!

Thanksgiving Weekend

 We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! We celebrated in the morning with Liv and watched the Macy's Day parade. She loved all the floats & music. We let her eat her breakfast while watching.

While getting dressed we decided to have a little photo shoot. Olivia is now 10 months:) She is just a doll and very feisty!

Next we were off to Aunt Barb & Uncle Scotts. It was so much fun and the food was outstanding like always. It was fun seeing all the cousins and just being able to hang out.

After our yummy Gierke Turkey dinner we headed back to Northbrook to Mimi & Papas house. It was so much fun and was also amazing food.

We had such a fun Thanksgiving! We are so thankful for our wonder family. Hanging with everyone all day was a lot of fun & i can't wait for Christmas:)

Two Quotes I Like

So much of what is best in us is bound up in our love of family, that it remains the measure of our stability because it measures our sense of loyalty. (Haniel Long, 1888–1956)

The family you come from isn't as important as the family you're going to have. (Ring Lardner, 1885–1933) 

Family

I have been thinking about the meaning of family lately with the holiday season approaching. WIth the economy the way it is it almost seems like people are going back to there roots and connecting with family. Just being together seems to be more important these days then actual "things". Isn't that the way it should always be? Don't get me wrong it is always nice to have nice things, but i think people are realizing through these hard economic times that your health and your family is much more important then your wealth. I feel thankful to have such an amazing husband, daughter and baby on the way. To have our amazing family support us through it all and to support them is what it is all about. 

This Christmas will be a sadder one for us because Grandad (Brads Grandfather)  passed away and he wont be with us this year. I wish everyone could have known him. He made the world a better place for anyone who knew him. He was an all American kind of man, he respected and loved his wife, kids & grandkids unconditionally, he was Brads roll model growing up and still is today. He was a hard worker and more generous then most people ever would be. Brad says he is the man he is today because of him. I'm so thankful for Grandad and all the happiness he brought into our lives, he will be missed by us here on earth, but i know he is looking out for us and he will always be with us. 

I am so excited for this holiday season! It will be the first Christmas with Olivia and i cant wait to see her face on Christmas morning. After we open presents we go down to my parents house to open more and eat breakfast, then its off to Aunt Kathryn & Uncle Todds for Brads side of the family Christmas. Its a full day, but its full of the most important people in our lives. Family is what life is all about. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and an even better Christmas, full of family, love & joy! 

YEAH Baby Gierke #2

So our life feels like it is on a very exciting roller coaster ride right now. We are expecting baby #2 on       6-26-2010! We were not planning on having them this close together, but i am sure excited that it worked out this way:) At this rate by the time i'm 33 we should have our whole family of 4 or 5:) Who knows, we will take it one baby at a time.
We went in for the ultra sound a few weeks ago and the baby has a strong heart beat and everything looked perfect. This week the baby has finished making the placenta so that means that it is no longer draining me of all my life. The baby is already a 1.5 inches long. I know that doesn't seem like a lot but i feel like it is going by a lot faster then Olivia did. Maybe because i am busy with Olivia.
I am finally starting to feel a lot better. I am starting to regain my energy and my hormones seems to be settling down a little bit, thank the Lord! I can feel a little baby bump, it defiantly popped out faster then Olivia did. I wasn't even showing till 16 weeks last time. I wonder how weird it will be to hold Olivia with a huge belly:) I cant wait!
I can't really describe how i feel right now, i guess all i can say is BLESSED.