We had a lot to be thankful for this year on Thanksgiving……
A precious daughter
Having fun with cousins
Our little family
The first Thanksgiving “kids” table
and an Uncle that knows how to roll around on the ground and have some fun!
Hoping you and your family had a Happy Thanksgiving!
that the Heard Museum has been invaded by Dinosaurs? One of Jonah’s favorite museum exhibits is the Dinosaurs Alive exhibit at the Heard Museum in McKinney. A perfect place close to home to get outside and see life-size animatronic Dinosaurs. We went with a group of friends and had a great time learning more (this is our third trip to visit the exhibit) about different Dinosaurs.
Sneezing, Coughing and Vomiting…no, I’m not talking about the Flu. I’m describing the Grossology exhibit at the Sci-Tech Discovery center in Frisco. It’s an exhibit that explores all the slimy, mushy, oozy, scaly, stinky and gross (yet scientific) things that occur everyday in the human body. Jonah loved checking out all the “gross” stuff. His favorite exhibit was shooting “boogers” in the giant nose! Welcome to the world of little boys!
A weekend of family, food and taking Jonah to see Walking with Dinosaurs in Austin.
We had our first Thanksgiving feast with Josh’s family over the weekend. The three and half hour drive down was uneventful. Two potty break stops and one stop for dinner. Tired and ready for bed after we arrived, I took the two little ones upstairs. Jonah fell asleep fairly fast but Miss M had other plans. I tried for five hours to get her to go to sleep but she was persistent. I finally got up out of bed at 3am and headed downstairs only to find Josh and Jon having a debate on arbitration. I was hoping that conversation would lull Miss Meredith to sleep as fast as it did me but apparently she found the discussion quite intriguing so we went back upstairs for round two of bedtime. I finally gave up at 6am after I thought I might jump from their second story window. I put Meredith in the car and headed out for some early morning shopping and sight seeing. If only Target was open at 6am. I could have done a lot of damage considering I was running on zero hours of sleep. But unfortunately they were closed. So we settled for shopping at CVS and trip to Starbucks.
We came back home as the rest of the crew was starting to stir. Later that day we took Jonah and Kayla to see Walking with Dinosaurs. One word. INCREDIBLE! I highly recommend it if your kids like Dinosaurs! Jonah loved it and Josh and I really enjoyed it too!
After the show we had our family Thanksgiving dinner with Opa, Oma, Jen and Uncle Bill! Ten adults, four children and seven dogs. Yes, you read that right! Seven dogs. We brought Riley. Jerod and Lauren brought Gizmo. Jon and Amy have Bo and Aspen and then Uncle Bill brought his three labs with him from Corpus!
That night, I went through Meredith’s normal bedtime routine and wouldn’t you know she fell asleep right away and slept all night and so did I! Thank. You. Jesus.
It was a little crazy but I was really thankful that we could all be together! And really what would Thanksgiving be without a little craziness?
I would love to sit down tonight and write a lengthy post about some interesting topic or funny little story that has happened this week but the truth is I’m tired and my mind feels like a bowl full of noodles. I’ve got a to do list that needs some major attention but it’s been one of those weeks where I’ve felt like staying in my pjs all day, I’ve missed a couple of appointments because they were not written down in my planner, and I’ve really been procrastinating packing for our trip out of town this weekend.
I’m hoping I’m more organized and more energized next week!
I will tell you one short story from tonight. As we were sitting down to eat dinner Jonah said “Oh my Gosh! Mommy, you are soooo crazy! Crazy, Crazy, Crazy!!” He wasn’t suppose to find that out until he was older! Heh!
Enjoy a few photos that I did manage to take this week as I lounged around in my pjs.
Jonah recently found a set of Josh’s Super Man sheets from when he was Jonah’s age. Just this week we have used one as a blanket for our indoor picnic, as a tent, and as his nap companion.
Jonah the Storm Trooper
This week she had another tooth come in, started sitting up on her own (I have a video but need some pictures) and starting getting up on all fours rocking back and fourth. My guess is in the next week or so she will be crawling!
Walked into Meredith’s room after hearing her wake up from her nap on the monitor and found Jonah had beat me to her room. This is not the first time I have found him in the crib with her.
Circling the gifts that he wants to ask Santa for in the Toys R Us catalog. I was expecting to see every toy circled but to my surprise only two things were marked – An Imaginex dinosaur and a dragon fortress!
Jonah and his friend Jordan during a recent play date.
Searching for “bugs” in the backyard
While watching Olivia on Nick Jr., Jonah kept telling Jordan he was “allergic” to pigs and then they would both crack up laughing. They have such an interesting sense of humor at this age! (BTW..Jonah is not allergic to pigs. I’m not sure where that came from!)
Seven months old today.
Has an infectious giggle
and her first tooth
LOVES
tasty toes
bath time
her big brother
and peas and pears
My dad carved his first pumpkin with his grandson, Jonah and Meredith were dressed and ready in their costumes by 6pm, the candy bowls were filled with popcorn balls, Halloween toys, and an assortment of miniature candy bars. My parents and my brother were instructed on answering the doorbell while we were out with our friends trick or treating around our neighborhood.
I had my zoom lens on my camera and everything was ready as we headed out the door and to our first house. For once I was prepared! Or so I thought!
Being the photo crazy moms that we are Shannon and I started our clicking frenzy but then Shannon realized that she had charged her battery but forgot to put it back in her camera. I confidently said, “Don’t worry. I’ve got it covered! I’ll just make you a copy of my pictures.” Right then as if the camera gods were saying “We’ll show her'” a message pops up on my camera screen that says “change battery pack” My battery was completely dead. Agh!
Welcome to my life!
Luckily I had managed to take four pictures prior to our minor setback.
Jonah and I were playing around the other night with one of Meredith's photos and we decided to see what she would like look as a spooky zombie.
After a few laughs and adding a couple of more touches to our fun photo Jonah smiled at the picture and then said, "Okay, now make her beautiful again!"
He melts my heart!
Even as a spooky Halloween zombie, she's still boo-tiful! 
My parents and brother came up to help Jonah and Meredith celebrate Halloween. It was a day full of cookie baking, pumpkin carving and preparing for the evening’s main event - Trick or Treating.
When I saw this outfit online I had to have it for Meredith.
This is what makes having a daughter so expensive. It doesn’t matter if I’m in Neiman’s or at Target. There will always be cute girl clothes. I have my favorite stores/brands for Jonah’s clothes because it’s really hard to find cute boys clothes. I don’t like themes, especially sports themes and I’m not a huge fan of cutesy characters or animals. Unless it’s a vintage style shirt. Then, I guess it’s okay. But what I really like are for Jonah’s clothes to look like mini versions of Josh’s clothes. So, needless to say we are a little limited in the boys department. I used to ignore the girl’s section because it just frustrated me even more but now that I have a daughter I am submerged in a sea of wardrobe options for Meredith. And oh gawd don’t even get me started on the accessories…the bows, the hats, the tights, and the shoes. How I love the shoes!
Sorry I digress. Back to the point of this post. I found this adorable outfit at Stitched With Love.
Meredith was being such a good little model during this mini photo session so there are lots of pictures. Some of the lighting isn’t all that great but her smile is! And isn’t this outfit just precious??
Josh’s dad came down to spend the night with us and visit Jonah and Meredith. I’m starting to notice how our parents never come to see us anymore, just their grandchildren! Oh well, I love when Josh’s dad comes to visit because he cooks us a lot of food which we eat during the week the following week so it saves me a lot of time in the kitchen. He is also our handyman. So when he comes to visit, Josh tends to hand over the “honey do list” to his dad and they tackle it together in half the time. Jerod and Lauren also came over. It’s so nice when there is family around to help out when you need an extra pair of hands to hold Meredith or keep the Jonah entertained!
Yesterday it took me an entire day to pack the car and get everything ready for the two and half hour road trip to the tiny town of Hico this morning to visit Josh’s mom and grandmother. It also decided to rain cats and dogs today but we went anyway. Luckily we didn’t need to stop for any potty breaks and Meredith slept most of the way. Thank. You. Jesus. Quite frankly, I was a little nervous because when Meredith isn’t happy no one in the car is happy. Except Jonah, he seems to tune out her screaming but then again he is a guy.
Amy also drove up from Austin with Kayla and Christian and when Mimi mentioned that the Baptist Church had a pumpkin patch setup we loaded up and headed over to the church. We had the whole pumpkin patch to ourselves. You just gotta love small towns! A Great Grandmother, a Grandmother, four little ones, two Moms armed with their fancy cameras, pumpkins and you have a recipe for some great photo ops!
And yes we made it back home to Dallas in one piece with no major drama. Again, no one had to stop for a potty break which was a good thing because getting a baby and a toddler out of the car in the rain at night doesn't sound like much fun! So my first road trip alone with both of them was a huge success!
I’ve seen all the adorable videos on You Tube of preschoolers singing popular songs while in the car with their parents and their parents video taping the entire 3 minute song. Well, I am now officially one of those moms. Jonah has become quite the singer these days when we are in the car and I told myself “Self, you need to video tape him singing because these are the memories that you will want to remember and these are the video’s you will want to show all the girlfriends he brings home!”
So, the other day as we were backing out of the garage Jonah requested one of his favorite songs from my saved music on Sirius and I quickly grabbed the video camera and recorded my little singing sensation. And note when he points, it gets me every time!
Our first annual Halloween Bash. Twenty five kids and their parents. Apple bobbing (actually they tonged instead of bobbed thanks to the swine flu epidemic here in North Dallas), strawing for spiders, mummy wrap race, a piñata and Halloween themed food that included Witches Brew, Monster Dip, Spider Pretzels, Monster fingers and toes and Pumpkin Roll-ups. We had Super Hero’s, Police Officers, Princesses, Witches, Fairies, Pirates, Ladybugs, a Court Jester and even a Skunk.
Planning the party took a lot of work but it was totally worth it listening to the laughter that filled our house that night! After the party was over Jonah gave me a big hug and said “That was the best party ever! Can we do it again tomorrow?”
First fall photos at the Arboretum. There were pumpkins galore and for being so good while Mommy took 300+ photos (thanks to a candy bracelet bribe) I let Jonah end our visit with a couple of runs through the frog fountain which was obviously way cooler than the candy bracelet! Now that I look at the pictures...maybe an orange shirt wasn't the best choice for pictures at the pumpkin patch. Mommy lesson learned!
We’ve been trying out a variety of sports for Jonah to find out what he really likes - soccer, swimming, basketball and right now we are trying out golf. He like it and he hits the ball really well but so far soccer has been his favorite. We have to wait until he turns four to start tennis. Of course Josh and I both have visions of Wimbledon and the US Open dancing in our heads so hopefully he enjoys it. But if he doesn’t that’s okay because it’s all about finding something that he enjoys and wants to play.
