Thanksgiving 2011

We had such a wonderful thanksgiving. We traveled with Andrew's family to Blue Ridge, GA again this year and spent 4 nights in a cabin together.

Thanksgiving day we went over to "uncle" Doug and "Aunt" Breda's house for a huge meal. There were close to 40 people there and we ate and ate and ate some more.

Friday morning, we went on the Santa Express again. Michael kinda knew what was going on, but still wasn't too excited. We saw Santa, Rudolph, and frosty the snowman. After the train ride, we ate lunch and then headed back to the cabin so Michael could take a nap. After his nap, we headed back over to spend time with the family at Doug and Brenda's.

Saturday we had an unexpected trip to get some new tires on the van. We knew we would need two new tires on the front, but didn't expect it would be so soon. So after we dropped off the van at Walmart, we went to lunch and than some shopping. After a couple hours, we went to pick up the van and headed back to spend some more time with the family.

Then we headed home on Sunday morning. It was a nice weekend spent with family and we are looking forward to doing it again next year.

Here are a ton of pictures from the weekend.

House Guest

For the past 5 days, my friend from college was here visiting. Kathleen and I have stayed in touch since college, but really haven't seen each other in almost 8 years.

It was so great to have her here and we had so much fun. We didn't do anything exciting, just hung out and kept doing life like normal. Michael loved her! Every time she was in the room, he was right next to her and trying to get her to hold him, or play with him. She did great with him, and I know he loved having her here. She also fell in love with Toby. Every time she would sit on the couch, both dogs would jump up to sit with her, but Toby stayed especially close.

We love you Kathleen, and you can come back anytime!

I have some more pictures, but these are the ones from my phone.

My New Ride...

Yep, we did it. We joined the mini van club. We've been looking for a new car for a while and finally decided to get a van. After looking, we found this one and got a killer deal on it. It's a 2003 Honda Odyssey. Yes, a little older but, it's a Honda and should last another 150k miles, at least. It has a DVD player and leather seats. It also has power doors, which will be great when I have my hands full with Michael. Looking forward to our first road trip in it next week.

Handprint Turkey Shirt

I wanted to make Michael a cute shirt for Thanksgiving so I started looking around and found this:
http://morganmoore.typepad.com/one_more_moore/2008/11/a-turkey-for-me-and-a-turkey-for-you.html
(sorry, blogging from my phone and I can't add link.)
I wanted to do it a little different so I searched how to appliqué, and found this great post. www.Girlythingsbows.com/applique_shirt.html
I knew I could do it, so I went to Joanne's to buy all of the needed supplies. I'm not going to write down all of the steps, since she did a good job of that already.

The hardest part of this project was getting a good handprint from Michael. It required help from Andrew to hold Michael still and his hand flat, while I traced it.

I love how it turned out and I can't wait for him to wear it on Thanksgiving day.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

This past weekend, my friends and I spent a weekend in Charlotte, NC, away from our kids and husbands . We went to the southern Christmas show on Saturday and then to Ikea on Sunday.

It was such a nice relaxing time away with friends. We went to bed early and slept late. We went out to eat and didn't have to worry about entertaining a child or deal with feeding a little mouth. One of the best parts? We were able to go 48 hours without changing a single diaper. I love michael more than life itself, but sometimes it is just nice to get away with the girls and be able to relax.

Thanks so much to my wonderful husband, who stepped up and took wonderful care of Michael all weekend long. I know he was in wonderful hands, and I know they both enjoyed the time together. I love you and appreciate you so very much, Andrew.

I am so blessed to have these ladies in my life, and I love them all dearly.

Flat Feet and Bare feet

That is the diagnosis that we got this
morning at Shriner's Hospital.
What can we do about it? Let Michael go barefoot as much as possible.
The outlook is very good that this will correct itself over time. And if not, it is something that will be dealt with when he is around 7 or 8! The Doctor said that most likely he would NOT need surgery!
Praise God for a good report!!

And in the waiting room, they had a huge curious George. Michael loved looking at it and making monkey noises at him, but he wouldn't get too close. Here are the best pictures I could get.

Thrift Store Friday

Wow did I get some great deals today!
You will see a lot of little girl stuff this week. That is because my friend Jessica asked me to look for some items for her little girl Lydia. I also found some stuff for Jessica's new baby that is due in March.

So, here is what I got:

Talbots sweater (NWT) for me: $4.50
Old Navy Sweater for me: $3.50
Salty Dog T-Shirt for me: $1.50
Hawaiian Shirt for Michael: $.50
Mickey Mouse Swim Trunks for Michael: $.50
Dress for Lydia: $.50
Osh Kosh pants for Lydia: $1.00
Onesie for Jessica's new baby: $.50
Layette Set (NWT) for Jessica's new baby: $4.50
New born outfit for Jessica's new baby: $1.00

Sleepy Boy

I must have a growing boy on my hands. Michael went to bed early last night at 7:00 and then slept through the night without a peep until 10:00 this morning! Then he took a 2 1/2 hour nap this afternoon! He was either really tired or is going through a growth spurt! Either way, he got a lot of sleep.

And here are just some cute pictures of him playing outside this afternoon. Don't you just love his sweatshirt? That would be one of my thrift store finds from a long time ago. Total cost: $1!

15 Months!!!

I cannot believe Michael is 15 months old already! Here is what's new with him:

- He now has 13 teeth with 3 more almost through.
- He has mastered climbing down the stairs! That is a big relief for this Mama. Now I don't worry about him falling down them.
- He has almost figured out how to climb up onto the couch. He still needs a little assistance, but it won't be long till he is doing it by himself.
- He has finally figured out that I am "Mama" and it has turned into one of his favorite words. Which is music to my ears! It took him long enough, but I knew he would get it eventually.
- He loves playing outside. He just loves to walk around the back yard picking up leaves. He also loves playing on the screened in porch, I think it's because he can open and close the screen door by himself. We go out every afternoon for at least an hour, sometimes more. I'm not sure what we are going to do when it gets too cold to go out.
- He has become very attached to his blanket he sleeps with. I knew he liked it a lot and would cuddle it while he slept. But a few weeks ago, it was in the wash during nap time, and he had the hardest time falling asleep. Once the blanket was back in his crib, he went right to sleep. So now I have to schedule laundry around his nap time, just to make sure the blanket is in his crib.
- He will be going to Shriner's hospital this Friday for a consultation about his feet/ankles. We are praying it is something that can be fixed with special shoes or braces and not require surgery.

I will end with some pictures that we took this afternoon outside.

Scrapbooking... I am way behind

So I started scrapbooking all of my pictures from last Christmas. Yeah, I am way behind. But I figure better late than never. I have a Christmas scrapbook that I add to each year. Except it was getting pretty full, so I decided to start a new one beginning with Michael's first Christmas. Hopefully I will be able to get all of last year scrapbooked before this Christmas.

I know it is hard to read in the picture, but it says Michael's first Christmas.

Thrift Store Friday

I got some great deals this week at the Miracle Hill Thrift Store! Check out what I got:

Greg Norman pull over Jacket (for Andrew) $4.50
Ralph Lauren shirt (for Michael) $2.00
Children's Place Cargo Pants (for my nephew) $1.00
Justice capris (for my niece) $1.00
Total: $8.50

Michaels first piece of art

I know I will have tons of paintings and projects to hang on the refrigerator, but there is just something special about the first one.
I am trying to get a good hand print for a thanksgiving project, and while we had the paint out and paint all over his hands, I figured I would let him play. It didn't take long before he was trying to eat it though, so we quickly put an end to arts and craft time.
It's the little things that make me so grateful to be a mom. Like refrigerator art!

Halloween 2011



Michael 2011

We had so much fun celebrating Halloween this year!

 Michael was super cute in his Giraffe costume and he loved wearing it. He was so cute holding his little trick or treat bucket walking up to people's doors.

On Sunday night, we went to Trunk or Treat at my parents church. I was excited to show him off to a bunch of people who haven't seen him in a really long time. He had a very busy Sunday, and we had to wake him up to go to the church, so he isn't smiling in any of the pictures.

Michael and Papa

Michael and Grandma

My Little Family

After Trunk or Treat! So Happy to be home and in his car!

Halloween night was a blast!

Ready for some Trick or Treating

He was excited to have his costume on, and it was hard for me to get a picture of him standing still. We only went to our neighbor's house and Grandma and Papa's house.

At Grandma and Papa's House

With Grandma and Papa

I just love that little profile!

I think that was plenty for this year.

Cheerios

This is what happens when you eat Cheerios with a runny nose.

Fastest way

What is the fastest way to get a laundry basket full of clothes, a bag of dirty diapers, a sippy cup, a pair of slippers and a baby all down the stairs? Put them all in the basket of course!