"As time goes by..."

Okay, so I know this is a song about two people in love but as I'm listening to Jimmy Durantes recording of this classic love song I can't help but think about this past year and all of the change it has brought. (And if you don't know which song I'm talking about go rent the movie "Sleepless in Seattle") Particularly our ten fingered, ten toed, tooth grinning, almost walking, brown haired, hazel eyed, chit chatter I'd like to call my son. He is one and that is crazy. It's hard to think that a year ago today Daniel and I were three days into being new parents. 

I have to give a big shout out to Daniel. For the first two weeks solid he was taking care of both of us and for that babe, you are the most amazing, patient, wonderful, husband EVER. He never complained once shuttling the baby back and forth to me seeing as I had an extremely hard time doing anything while I was healing from the surgery. I didn't change a single diaper for the first two weeks!! I couldn't use my stomach muscles to get out of bed in the middle of the night so I'd have to wake up Daniel just to use the bathroom. He was so natural at being a father it was ridiculous. It seemed he was never clueless about anything to do with the baby and if he was it never lasted. I will never forget how amazing it was to watch him in action those first couple weeks. 

And to see how far we've come as a little family is wonderful. I am so very thankful for everything in my life. I feel so blessed to have the men in my life that I do! Happy Birthday my son, I am so very proud of you. 

Gallagher Christmas Shoot!

Tis' the season to be jolly, fa lalalala, lalalala!!

Happy Hallow-thanks-mas.

That's what happens when you don't blog in the fall -- you end up having a funny title because so much happens this time of year. Well we've been enjoying all the firsts with baby Daniel, clearly as you can see here by his first Halloween. He was Rambo for part of the night and a bunny for the rest of it. I'm sure you can figure out which parent had their influence on costumes. :) 

Then there was Thanksgiving. We had three all together which was a lot of fun. And when I say "fun" I mean "turkey". But Thanksgiving has always been my absolutely favorite holiday, even more so than Christmas. It's a time to reflect on how much we are truly blessed in this life, a time give, a time to eat yummy food, a time before everyone starts to commercialize Christmas and definitely a time before people stomp walmart clerks to death to get a good deal on a flat screen. Makes me sick just thinking about it. Anyways, it was great to spend time with family and friends and that's exactly what we did. 

And now it's December. We just celebrated Daniel's 27th birthday (crazy) and we are loving our nice little twelve foot christmas tree we had plucked out of the Lassen National Forest yesterday with other friends. You just can't beat a ten dollar 12 foot Christmas tree!! And of course it's been fun to decorate the house with all the appropriate decor. We had the huge honor of our friends Lyn and Jesse hook us up with a photo shoot which I will soon post pictures of. Until then, hope you have a very merry christmas. 

-mg

How quickly summer days have come and gone. Well, actually in Redding it is more like summer days have come and are still coming. All I can really remember is trying not to breath in the smoke from the fires surrounding our quaint little town. Or wondering why Costco had to repave the whole parking lot in the hottest month of the year and watch as cars left turn marks and they drove off before their kirkland super premium vanilla ice cream melted. No doubt it was a classic Redding summer. But there were good things that came from this summer too. Like going to my little brothers swim meets, taking the baby to his first swimming lessons, working a few shifts at the MAC counter and being able to hang out with the girls, going to the lake with Daniel and having lots of bbq's with friends. Yes it has been a great summer indeed. 

Daniel's work schedule is much more consistent these days as well which is a huge relief. Baby Daniel is crawling like a champ and is ready to walk just as soon as his legs figure it out! I am branching out and starting to freelance on my own as a makeup artist and with the help of our friends, The Rostens, I am beginning to work on my makeup repertoire/portfolio. 

All in all, we are one happy family and we look forward to the next season and what it brings!

-mg