Thanksgiving Pictures

We had Thanksgiving lunch at my in-laws this year. They invited my parents to come over too! It was a great time.

Mary-Kate and her Cousins on her Daddy's side

Daddy and MK playing with dominoes

Not a great picture of me, but I love her face in it!

Too funny!

Mary-Kate and Claire

Thankful

I love this time of year! I love spending time with family and friends! I have been reading other blogs about being thankful. I thought I would make a list too.

1. I am so thankful for my relationship with Jesus. It has grown so much in the passed year. I have been a Christian for many years. ( I was baptized at 13. Most important decision I have ever made.) It is amazing to me that God isn't to big to handle the small stuff in my life right now.

2. I am so thankful for my parents. They loved me and adored me. If you watch the news much these days, it is pretty scary to see what parents are doing do their children. I see so much being in the school system. My parents didn't buy me something every time we went to the store. My brother and I had to take turns getting new shoes. We both couldn't get a pair at the same time. I learned patience growing up in a house with one bathroom. (My parents built a new house when I was 14. It had lots more room and bathrooms. I didn't have to rough it too long.) I learned about how to treat older people. My Dad's mother was in the nursing home and I went to see her on a regular basis. They took me to church. I have posted before about how I went to every Bible school in the summers too. It didn't matter the denomination. I learned to love all of God's people, even if we didn't see eye to eye on everything. My parents made education so important. They are good people, folks.

3. I married a prince! Some people marry toads. I dated a few myself. I am so glad my mom encouraged me to go to grad school because that is where I met Thara. Talk about a man who loves his family. He is a great provider. He works so hard for us. He is an awesome cook and griller. Much better than me. He is honest, fair, and loyal. He is my best friend. He loves the Lord. He is the best Daddy in the whole world.

4. Mary-Kate. What can you say about the one who made me a mother. She is a doll. We just enjoy her so much. When we found out that I was pregnant with her, we were overjoyed. We had wanted to have children, but were afraid we couldn't have any. She is well mannered. She has fun no matter where she is. She doesn't have trouble making new friends. She won't leave anyone out. She really cares about her family. She loves to play. MK loves to help us cook. She loves to make messes. She doesn't love cleaning them up though. I don't mind. I wanted to really give her a good start before we had another child. She is well on her way.

5. I can't tell you how much I love this baby that is growing by leaps and bounds everyday. I wonder what he/she will be like. I am so thankful that I was able to get pregnant again. I can't wait to hold this precious little one in my arms.

I could go on and on, but I won't. I am very thankful and blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Elf on the Shelf

This year we are starting a new tradition at our house, the elf on a shelf. We spend a lot of time reading to Mary-Kate about the birth of Jesus. We usually make a birthday cake for Jesus, since MK is really into birthdays with cake. It is something she can relate to. I want her to understand the true meaning of Christmas. She helps us decorate the tree. She has a tree in her room and she has a nativity. She loves this.

This is not to say that she doesn't get many presents at Christmas. It almost shameful. The grands are something else. We don't get her many presents through out the year due to this.

Everyone has a different take on Santa. We go and visit Santa at the mall, but it normally turns out bad. Her first Christmas, she took her picture with him. The 2nd year she was scared to death. Last year I had to be in the picture with her. She was practically crawling up my neck. I wasn't impressed with the Santa either. (It was a woman. Mary-Kate didn't know, but I did. I was in a long line and didn't realize until we got in the picture. That's just wrong.) It will be interesting to see what she does this year.

I do like the tradition of the Elf on a Shelf. You can bring your elf out around Thanksgiving. The kids aren't aloud to touch him, but they can talk to him. You just have to remember to put him in a different place everyday. He goes back and tells Santa how they have acted that day. I think it is cute. Sometimes children act the worst around the holidays, so this helps keep behavior in check. My mom got us this last year and we decided to give it a try this year. I think MK understands a little more this year.

Do you have any neat traditions?

Okay I am Early

I know. I know. I am early on Christmas. With all of the sickness in my family right now, thinking about the holidays makes me happy. I hope you don't mind my jump start on the season with my music selection. It helps to start listening to the true meaning of Christmas before all of the commercialism enters.

Flu of Some Kind

I am not sure what has hit my house, but oh man is it something else. Mary-Kate woke up Sunday morning with a headache. I took her temp. It was 100. I gave her something for it. I thought I had it broken. When the medicine wore off, it was 102. She didn't wanted to play. She slept a lot. Her little eyes were so red. She didn't want to eat. She was having muscle spasms in her legs. I was beside myself. I am glad we have doctor in the family. Kids are notorious for getting sick on weekends when no clinic is open. My husband's dad came over and helped me. You guessed it. Thara has it too. He says he doesn't have the flu. We got meds to help fight this off. I am not sure what this is exactly. It has characteristics of H1N1, but I am not sure. I am watching them both like a hawk. Mary-Kate and I stayed home today. Her fever was pretty high again when she woke up. She didn't do much from 7Am until 2:30PM. She either stayed in my bed or laid down on the floor. She said she was dizzy. Finally she decided she was ready to play a little. So far she seems to be feeling a little better. I think getting the medicine in time helped. It is not something to mess with.

We were scheduled to get her the H1N1 shot today. Can't get it with fever.

I haven't mentioned anything about my husband's feelings about the baby. He is really excited! He is always so supportive and really helps out. I married a prince you guys, I really did.

I am staying home with her again tomorrow! It is a real treat to be with her during the day even if she is sick.

William Tell v. Pink Panther

Okay, I was so excited to hear my baby's heartbeat for the first time. It is the sweetest sound there is. They didn't tell me a number for the baby's heartbeat. But I remember Mary-Kate's heartbeat. It was like the William Tell Overture. This baby's was more like a slow version of the Pink Panther's theme song. It was a steady beat, but slower.

I have thought all along that the baby is a boy. The teachers at my school think so too. Yet, it really doesn't matter to me. (I thought Mary-Kate was a boy too.)

I am already showing, so my doctor checked to see if there were twins. (I seemed to be a little bigger than expected.) Nope just one baby. The 2nd time around I think you do show sooner. I do get sick in the mornings, now. But feel good the rest of the day. I get so tired in the afternoons. With a 3 and 1/2 year old, that makes it hard. Mary-Kate is so great to bring her toys where ever I am resting so that she can keep an eye on me. She has become a mother hen to me. It is the cutest thing evah.

I am excited about the baby. I do cherish the time that I have to spend right now with MK by herself to get her ready for the role of Big Sister. I talk to her all of the time about the little things. She thinks babies immediately are ready to play. I told her they aren't much fun at first because the sleep, cry, and eat a lot. She wasn't sure about all that. I remind her about not covering up the baby's face with blankets and toys. Babies have to breathe and want there space. Hopefully she is listening.

I can't tell you how much I love blogging and the friends I have made. When the world is so negative, it is great to come to a safe place to hear people lift you up. There are people that check on me with this blog more than some of my friends around here do. I appreciate you guys!

The Heartbeat is Loud and Clear

This has been an emotional week for me. My Dad has been back in the hospital. An ambulance had to come and get him and take him to the ER. He had a high fever and stopped communicating. That was Sunday night about 10:30PM. He is doing much better. He stayed in the hospital until Wednesday. He is now at home. They think he had a bacterial infection and a virus. To say we were worried sick is an understatement.

I had my doctor's appointment today! There is only 1 baby. I got to hear a heartbeat without an ultrasound. I was so relieved. Thanks for all of the prayers!

I will post more later...

What We Have Been Up To

I got this little dress from ETSY. It is a knot dress. As she gets taller, I take out the knot and move it. I thought that was clever sewing!

My little girl is growing up so fast! At her school they learn a letter, a number, and a color a week. They are also learning to write. She is a little sponge picking up so much. She got to hold the flag while reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. She was so proud. She also said a special prayer to Jesus this week, she said, "Jesus, thank you for MY BABY, that is growing in Mommy's tummy." We had to tell her about the baby. I couldn't keep it from her anymore. I go to the doctor on Thursday to hear a heartbeat. I am a little nervous about this. Last time around, I invited my mom (it was her birthday), of course my hubby, and my mother-in-law. They were all standing around waiting for the doctor to find the heartbeat. He couldn't find it. In one tiny second, my heart fell. I know I stopped breathing. He said that we would warm up the ultrasound machine and we would see what was going on. We got to see MK's heartbeat and her kicking around. She was just too small for it to be found with the machine he had. I was so relieved that she was okay. So pray on Thursday that if this happens again, my new doctor will be as encouraging and will warm up the ultrasound machine.

We took Mary-Kate to Senior night at my nephew Collin's last football game. We are so proud of Collin. He is such a Godly guy. He wants to do what is right when no one is looking. That's when it counts. The game was pretty sad. We were losing and they wouldn't let him play. Mary-Kate said to my dad, "PawPaw, the suspense is killing me." We all cracked up. She says some pretty funny things now days.

Today, she rode a four-wheeler for the first time with my brother, Jim. She told him it was awesome. He took her to the cow pasture to pet some cows and horses. She loved it. She adores Jim. She really thinks he is the coolest thing. He loves it too!

Oh, I got both the seasonal flu shot and H1N1 shot last week. The had them at my school. I have been praying really hard about this. There are some things that led me to make this decision that happened to other people in my home town. I have not had any ill effects. My arms were a little sore. The nurses got on either side of me and gave me shots one on each arm at the same time. The H1N1 arm was sore, but no big deal.

Hope you all have a great week!

Presenting Snow White

Mary-Kate drew this picture of me

Presenting Snow White

Back from Trick or Treating, Eating Candy

Mary-Kate and Katie

Hayley and Katie (The Twins)

Mary-Kate woke up at 6:30 the morning of Halloween wanting to trick or treat. We explain you do this at dark time. Well she couldn't believe it. Finally at 4 PM she had enough waiting and wanted her costume on. She played around for a while and waited by the door for "customers." Then at 6PM Mary-Kate fell asleep. We laughed so hard. She wanted to go trick or treating and to pass out candy so bad, but she couldn't stay awake. Her friends came over and woke her up and they finally went out trick or treating. The girls wanted MK to hold their hands so she had to get in the middle. After we finished going to a few houses, we came back to ours and the girls played. My mom brought over a delicious dip. I thought it was cheese dip. I tried it. It wasn't cheese dip. But now that I have had this, I may never eat cheese dip again. It was Pace Picante Sauce and plain yogurt. It doesn't sound good, but it really was. My parents always come over to pass out candy while we are out trick or treating. People bring kids on flat bed trailers in my neighborhood.