More Holiday Fun

Uncle Chris and Aunt Carrie had to leave this morning to head back to Dallas. We enjoyed getting to spend time with them. Harper was in such a good mood this morning as she ate her breakfast.
Then it was bath time and nap time. Harper LOVES her bath. She likes to splash and play with bath toys. I think she would stay in the bath all day if I would let her. Baths got so much easier once she could sit up in the big tub. She has been doing that since August when we went to the beach.
This afternoon we went and ate at Chili's with my parents and then came home and hung out for a while. Harper just loves spending time with her daddy.

I think she likes me too

Tonight my dad performed a wedding for his secretary (Jacquie)'s son Kale. Scott kept Harper so I could go. I felt VERY old during the wedding because I babysat Kale and his brother Tyler when they were babies. I used to change his diaper! ha! It was a very nice wedding. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures.

Now we are home eating pizza and cheering on the HOGS! Sorry Louisiana readers but the team I love to beat the most is LSU. So hopefully I can update later with a WIN! Harper was wearing her game shirt tonight!

(yes - we lost our SECOND horrible loss this year. Does anyone know ANYONE who can kick???) I'm too sad to speak about it.

On another subject - last night we worked to get Skype set up on all of our computers. Do you Skype? We are SO excited about it. When we went to El Salvador - pretty much everyone would talk to their families each night and I thought it was so cool! And it's free when you go between computers. So now Harper's grandparents can see and talk to her live!!

Show Us Your Life - Christmas Traditions

Oh my goodness - Y'ALL - I totally forgot our Show us your life tour this week! Sorry - being out of town for a week and on holiday - I didn't even realize it was FRIDAY!

I'm going to leave my post blank but I would LOVE to hear your family Christmas traditions. I want a lot of great ideas for us to do with Harper.

I have a regular post below this one I just posted also!

What a difference a year makes

We have had a fun and busy day today. It took a while for us to all get up and ready but once we finally did - we headed out to eat lunch in town.

After lunch - we headed over to visit two of my lifelong friends who were also home for Thanksgiving. We hardly ever end up home at the same time so it was fun to see them. Jamie and Micaela have 5 kids between them and two dogs so it was a busy and fun house to visit! This is sweet Jaiden and her new puppy Esther!

Crosby is 2 months younger than Harper. Last time she met him in July - she was all over him but this time she was playing hard to get. They never even looked at each other.

Jamie is one of the sweetest people you will ever meet.

Jamie, Micaela, Chris and I spent so much time together growing up. Our families were good friends and we went out to eat a lot, spent a lot of weekends together and traveled to a lot of concerts and other fun things. And now here we are - all grown up with our spouses and 2 out of 6 of our kids.
These are two of probably my most favorite girls in the world. They are both so beautiful inside and out and they are also hilarious! I could just spend hours and hours with them! I'm so glad we got to see each other today!
Later this afternoon - our family headed out to try and take family pictures. But Harper was in full meltdown mode so we didn't get many good ones. It has been nice to be home with all my family.

My brother and sweet sister-in-law

Our family

And this is last thanksgiving when I was huge with Harper in my stomach.......wondering all the time what she would be like! :-) What a difference a year makes! I had NO IDEA how much my life would change from one year to the next.
Tonight my mom made my favorite - poppyseed chicken and the best brownies and ice cream. I REALLY have to go on a diet. And here we all are - hanging out on our iPhones. We are a family of geeks. Except for my mom - who is shunning the iPhone. I think she should give in - don't you? We are all 6 on facebook, twitter, and blog. At least we are sure to communicate somehow.

We did not shop today. I have never shopped on Black Friday and I'm thinking I may never. I feel like they would be having to give away free stuff for me to get up early in the cold. Did you shop today?

I HEART Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving might very well be my favorite holiday. What is there not to love: family, LOTS and LOTS of food, and football! (all my favorite "F"'s!)
We got up early this morning and drove to my parents. My brother Chris and SIL Carrie got here last night. I was so glad for Harper to get to see her aunt and uncle!

They brought their new pug Coco Chanel. Harper is pretty enamored with her.

My Aunt Linda gave me and Carrie new Buddha Bag purses. We loved them. She gave me a Python one last year and I have carried it all year. My Aunt Linda has great style.

Harper with my Aunt Linda and Uncle Bob

Chris and I - do you think we look alike? I'm 2 years older.

Coco sporting the new scarf we bought her!

What I'm most thankful for this year

I have been waiting for MONTHS for Harper to wear this turkey dress!!!

Harper got a lot of attention from her Poppa

My mom worked so hard and cooked an INCREDIBLE meal. She made SO much food and we all ate until we were just stuffed. I'm so thankful for my mom. She even made some roasted brussel sprouts - something I have never eaten or wanted to eat and they were so yummy! I think that I might become obsessed with brussel sprouts.

My little turkey

We are settled in watching the A&M/Texas game. My brother and SIL are UT grads. So the rest of us are choosing to cheer for the aggies. Just for kicks. My mom just made us all homemade Caramel Apple Spice drinks.

If you want to make them - just heat up apple cider and get a bottle of Cinnamon Dolce flavoring from Starbucks (a large bottle will last you a while) and add a few tablespoons. Top with whip cream and caramel ice cream topping. SO YUM!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!

Family

My parents Westie, Kramer, had to be put to sleep this morning. He was 13. This is him and his brother Buddy. I feel bad for my parents - they love their dogs so much.
I'm hoping this little girl will cheer them up. We are headed to their house tomorrow along with my brother and his wife. I'm excited to spend time with my family.
We've had a nice day at home today. Scott is home so he helped take care of Harper while I did a bunch of laundry and cleaned the house. I wanted to have a clean house to come home to after our trip so I can jump right in next week to decorating for Christmas. I feel so behind - it seems like everyone else is already done. We are pretty much the only house on our street without out lights on our house and ON.
I just want this Christmas to be special because it's Harper's first. I know she won't remember it but I look forward to the traditions we will begin with our family. I don't want Harper to remember Christmas for the gifts she got but for the simple, magical time she spent with her family. I know I always remember Thanksgiving and Christmas as a time we spent with my grandparents and I can clearly remember those days at either one of their houses while the women cooked dinner - we watched parades on TV or football.

I hope you all have a good Thanksgiving - whatever you are doing!

And if you haven't read this post by Angie..........well - what are you waiting for?????

Thankful

We left scott's family today and are headed home to unpack and repack to go see my family!

Harper is having a great time! She has learned two new words this week: "uh oh" and "thank you". Good timing, huh?

I'm so thankful for two sets of grandparents who are just crazy about Harper. I'm so thankful my family is healthy. I'm thankful for my husband and daughter (soooooooo thankful). I'm thankful Scott has a job and we have a home and plenty to eat. I'm thankful for friends and a church family.
But most of all, this year - I'm actually very thankful for the hard years of singleness, for the horrible pain of infertility, for the horror of almost losing a child and for the chance to stare REAL poverty in the face. Because all of things have opened my heart to love and be burdened for others. It has given me the bravery not to just look away (or down) when someone is hurting but to hold their hand and cry with them. It has made me say "I'll pray for you" and then actually do it. And it has made me closer to my wonderful Saviour than I ever dreamed I could be!

Thanksgiving Week

We've been at Scott's hometown the last few days so Scott and Steve can hunt with his dad.

Beauty and the beasts

Harper was wondering why her daddy and pap-pa had those bright orange hats on. Don't worry Harper- we have NOT turned into Tennessee fans!

Our little country family

One of Scott's favorite things about deer hunting - Chick-a-dilly fried chicken

Daddy's girl

We went to church with Scott's parents today. I took Harper into "big church" for the first time since she was a tiny baby. We didn't last long. We ALMOST made it to the sermon. Man I am thankful for our church nursery! :-)

Last night I was watching a show on the food network - it was a competition between four families who were cooking their version of Thanksgiving dinner. There was middle eastern version, a traditional version, a southern version and a vegetarian version. The middle east family won which was a little questionable - since it was NOTHING anyone normally eats on this holiday. But each family had to cook a turkey, a second protein, five side dishes and a dessert (and not one family made a pie - strange). I was trying to decide what I would cook if I was in the contest.
I think I would make cornbread dressing, green bean bundles (or green bean casserole), potato casserole, sweet potato casserole and a 7 layer salad and for dessert chocolate pecan pie. And I was a little stumped on the second meat because we already have a turkey but Paula Deen makes these great little bacon chicken bite appetizers that might be a good addition.

WHAT WOULD YOU MAKE IF YOU WERE IN THE CONTEST???? I'm curious since there are readers from all over.

TGIF

We have had a busy day today. We went to MOPS this morning. I had to take a few pictures of Harper before we left because I thought she looked so cute. If I don't do it before - forget it. She is always a mess later on. ha!
I took this picture with my phone so it's terrible quality but we made cute necklaces today. You just take a square piece of glass (not sure where they come from) and glue a piece of scrapbook paper on the back. Then we glued a hook on the back and they had these cords for us.
After MOPS - I met my friend/neighbor Melissa for lunch at Mimi's. One of my favorite places. We ran into a lot of friends there including my cousin Mike. He held Harper for a while and she really liked him. I think she knew they were related. ha!
I was a little scattered so I totally forgot to take a picture of Melissa. Meals out are so crazy these days with Harper. I can barely eat because I'm so busy keeping Harper occupied and feeding her one thing after another. Melissa recently announced she is pregnant. I'm SO thrilled. They have been trying for a while and had a failed IVF this summer. I have prayed and prayed for her and God gave her a miracle. You can go to her blog and read about it!

I put together a little pregnancy survival kit for her - including tums, "What to Expect when you are Expecting", stretch mark cream, bra extenders and toilet seat covers. ha! A sweet friend sent me one when I announced and I wanted to do something fun for her. She is always such a giving person.
We are going to busy all week celebrating Thanksgiving. We have SO MUCH to be thankful for this year. I'm pretty sure you can all guess what I'm MOST thankful for! :-)

I will probably be a little absent this week but I'll hopefully pop in a few times with some updates! In the mean time - have a wonderful holiday and I hope you are counting your blessings today. No matter what storm you are going through - there is ALWAYS something to be thankful for!!!

Also - KAREN MILLER - you are the winner of the Christmas shirt! I drew #842 and that was you!

P.S. I have FOUR AMAZING (did I mention AMAZING) giveaways coming up in the next couple of weeks!! Get excited! I'm not going to be doing any more giveaways besides those four I already committed to until at least the first of the year. It's just too crazy this time of the year but I'm excited about the ones coming up!!! Stay tuned.......................

Show Us Your Life - PETS

Today is all about Show us your Pets! Most of you know that this is my dog Dawson. Scott gave him to me for Christmas in 2002. A year before we got married. We had gone to Barnes and Noble one day in November or December and someone was outside selling little Bichon puppies. I had never seen a Bichon before but I held one and loved it so much. And then right before Christmas one cold night - Scott rang my doorbell and when I opened it - he pulled this little white ball of fur out of his coat. And it was love at first sight.
I put him in my bathroom right off my bedroom that night with a baby gate. He bounced and cried all night. I tried it again the next night. Same thing. So the third night I gave in and put him in bed with me. Seven years later and he still sleeps with me. Only now it's right between me and Scott.
Bichons are great dogs because they have sweet personalities and they don't shed! They are great for people with allergies.
But in these two pictures - you can see how life has changed this year. Dawson used to be the grand dog. He used to be #1 around here.
And someone has stolen his place. (Don't worry - my dad wasn't driving the 4 wheeler in either of these pictures. They just sat on it for pictures).

But Dawson will always be my first baby and I dread the day he ever goes to doggie heaven. He is my little shadow. He follows me constantly. He loves Scott but he is a momma's baby.

Tell us about your pets!?!?!

P.S. I'd also love it if you would go read Shaun's post and Patricia's post. They are worth a few minutes of your time!