hello, little one!

On December 8, 2010 we welcomed our little boy into the world.

He decided to make his entrance a little early :) This was fine by me for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, he came at 38 weeks on the dot. This means that he was considered a full term baby which was great news! Secondly, I am so pleased that he will not have to deal with a Christmas birthday for his entire life!



As you can imagine, we are overjoyed and totally enamored with the little guy. We all seem to be coping with the sleep deprivation fairly well although I am definitely looking forward to a time when I can sleep more than 2 hours at a time! And the thought of sleeping through the night? Well, that is too much for me to even fathom right now! The excitement would be too much!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving to all!!
We have so much to be thankful for and it is important that we not forget our blessings.




We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year... for the first time. I am typically very involved in the cooking process, but we've never hosted before.



Especially since I just hit the 9 month mark... I definitely could not have done it without the help of the hubs and my mom. They were unbelievably instrumental in helping getting the house rearranged and tables set up for dinner.


"Please drop something....Please drop something!!"






The "adult" table... (ha! It's my house so I made the cut!!)



The table for the kiddos.



We always have a buffet line of sorts. So, here is the table before it has been loaded down with the delicious Thanksgiving feast!



Amazingly, DM actually picked up the camera. He was kind enough to grab a few action shots.



Of course, he snagged one of the rapidly expanding belly.... I'm not even sure if this picture really does it justice!



Thanksgiving Creme Brulee.... YUM YUM YUM!


My beautiful sister (and mother) helping out making some appetizers for the youngsters.



Speaking of youngsters... here they are lined up for dinner!



An attempt at a smile... no such luck....





I hope your Thanksgiving was as wonderful as ours!

Fabulous Fall

For as much as I whined and complained about the cold weather the other day (sorry... thanks for listening!) I must admit.... it is a beautiful autumn day today.

I'm loving the warmer weather and the fall foliage :) If the weather could stay warm I would be in heaven!

And I know what you are thinking and the answer is no. I have not been diagnosed with multiple personalities. Key word: Diagnosed.

Relax!

During football season (especially once cold weather hits) a lot of our weekend afternoons are spent curled up in the den watching game after game on TV.




Whereas it used to bother me tremendously (and, on really nice days it still does)...on chilly days I've learned (or, am learning) to appreciate it. Because it means snuggling up with puppies and taking advantage of whatever relaxation we can find. And I'm all about relaxation...

Holiday Idea

I just thought I would share this.

A couple of days ago, we received a very sweet baby gift from some friends in Texas. It came wrapped in Christmas decor (yikes...it is just around the corner!) and I must admit, there was something about the wrapping that I loved.

This little guy! The little felt Santa that you can turn into an ornament. I've used ornaments as wrapping accouterments many times before so perhaps I am a little biased... but nevertheless I thought it was very cute!

And, it can be something you try out this holiday season!

Amusement

While in the mountains... we went to a little amusement park- to be discussed further at some random time in the future when I finally get around to it.



The boys (well, most of them) decided to hop on a ride or two.



This one was called "The Tornado" and it was basically a cross between the teacup ride and the giant swing ride you see at amusement parks.



You hop inside this little round pod which has a wheel in the middle. That wheel controls how fast your specific pod will spin. Meanwhile, the entire pod is swung around in a circle along the perimeter of the ride.



Did I explain that well? No? Sorry, I haven't had much sleep and, ummm, also I don't know how to explain it.



The boys loved it...



And it looked pretty fun too! As long as you don't think about whether or not the maintenance on a machine like this is up to date, whether your pod will unhinge itself and go flying over the edge of the mountain, etc. You know, things like that.



I'm pretty sure they weren't thinking about that.



They probably weren't either

Madeline

It's been a while since I've bombarded you with animals... so, there is no time like the present!



And before some of you start freaking out... she is not our dog!!



But she is quite precious, and she allowed me to snap a few photos of her before running off to find something better to do.



Not that I can blame her! I'm really not very interesting at all...



So, if you're having a bad day at work, take a look at Miss Madeline and hopefully her precious face will cheer you up!



Or eat an Oreo. Whatever works for you.

Roaring Gap :: Kiddos

I tried to grab some shots of the niece/nephews... but seriously, how am I supposed to work with this mangy group of whippersnappers??



This is probably my favorite of the boys.





And this one? Well, it was sweet that they were sitting like that. I'm not so sure about that facial expression though :)