Thanksgiving, 2012.

Emmy Doe celebrated her very first Thanksgiving by spending time with friends and family at Aunt Sally's house.

We had quite the spread for lunch, but I'm certain Doe's favorite food item was the sugar cookie we gave her.  She gobbled that thing up!

Because we were out and about and hanging with loved ones we don't often get to see, we let Emmy skip her afternoon nap.  That sweet baby was exhuasted!  Ben was a troooper at keeping her entertained and (eventually) helping her fall asleep.  She is an awesome sleeper at home, but tends to struggle in unfamiliar areas...especially when there's not a quiet place for her to simply lay down. 

We made it through the afternoon, though (and had a fabulous time!) and then headed over to Granti's to meet up with Harry and Babe.  We hung out with Cody for a little bit, playing video games and listening to music, before heading over to the square for the annual Lighting of the Tree.

The weather was perfect!  We were able to meet Auntie and DB and have a great time exploring the light displays and singing along with the Christmas carols before watching the tree light up for the first time and waving to Santa as he rode in on the back of a tow truck!

After the festivities on the square, Granti and Daddy headed over to look through the antique stores while the rest of us got a table at McCray's for a quick bite to eat.  We then headed home, put on our new Christmas pajamas for the first time this season, and (after putting Emmy in bed) snuggled up to watch "The Charlie Brown Mayflower" show before calling it a night.

I am so, so thankful for my family!

Uncontainable.

Doe is on the move and can no longer be contained.  She is over the exersaucer, over the jumpy seat, and over this bouncer.  Consider her done, done, done with any and all restraints.

I found her attempting to escape after finishing her bottle this morning.  Good thing I remembered to buckle her in!

She's going to love the Christmas tree!!!!

Nights of Lights.

We rang in the Christmas season last night with our annual trip to Lake Lanier Islands.  Granti, Auntie, DB, CoCo, Raven, and Sam joined us for the evening, and we had a ton of fun!

Granti rode with our family while everyone else followed behind in Green Dean (Cassidy's car).  There was lots of squealing and excited wiggling from Emmy (I think she was more excited about riding in Granti's lap than she was about the actual lights) and LOTS of commentary from Harris.  The kid talks ALL the time. 

Babe's favorite lights were "The Wizard of Oz" themed decorations, and Harris most enjoyed "The Twelve Days of Christmas."  We're working hard to explain to him that the partridge is actually found in a "pear tree" rather than a "pantry," but secretly I don't want him to make the change!

At the end of the light display, we all climbed out to play in the "snow" (read: soap bubbles), check out all the tree displays and ornaments, visit with Santa, and ride a couple of the "holiday carnival" rides.

I didn't take too many pictures, but this one is one of my favorites (she kissed him on the cheek seconds before I snapped it):

Hadley didn't want to be in any pictures, but Raven made sure I had my camera before we even left the house.  She wanted me to take LOTS of pictures of her. :)

This baby girl is so sweet to tolerate our crazy family.  Bless her heart; she still doesn't fully understand what she's been born into! 

The Holiday Beaver (?!?!?) was a big hit, too!  Babe loved on him, of course, but still wasn't willing to have her picture taken.

In fact, the only picture she was willing to take was with Santa.  The pic below is awful quality (I tried to take a picture of the print Mom purchased with my camera) but makes me laugh every time I look at it.  Sam and Emmy FLIPPED out.  And Santa looks less than jolly.  Can't say I blame him.

But what a great way to ring in the Christmas season!  We finished up the evening at the carnival (Harris explored the fun house, Babe and Sam rode the carousel with Granti, and Raven picked to ride the swings) and then headed home and climbed into bed. 

I love school breaks!

Chapel Bell.

A couple of Harris' favorite parts of Georgia football games include the video screen.

He LOVES the video of Hairy Dawg tackling people who don't throw their trash away.  It plays during the 3rd quarter and is seriously one of the highlights of Harry's time inside Sanford Stadium.

He also loves seeing the video of all the students celebrating a UGA victory by ringing the chapel bell.  A couple of weeks ago, he and I had the opportunity to walk by the bell on our way to the stadium.  Even though we hadn't technically "won" the game yet, I stopped and let him ring it.  Coolest mom ever, folks.

We had Babe with us this past Saturday and decided to walk through campus (and pass the bell) again.  And, of course, passing the bell equates to ringing the bell. 

Hadley was a little unsure of pulling the rope (I think she thought she had to climb it?!?!?!), but with some help from Daddy did a great job.

I love football Saturdays with these guys.  Love them.

I just can't wait to enjoy a season without a baby inhabiting my belly!  It's been quite a while since I've attended a game and NOT been pregnant...

And seriously.  My due date is in January.  Bring on the bigness, I guess.

Thankful. :)

I have so much for which to be thankful.  Even if I were to list everything that came to mind, I know I'd still overlook/leave out/take for granted/etc. hundreds of blessings in my life.  But I won't let that stop me from naming just a few of the obvious.

I am so, so thankful for my family.  I'm thankful for the education my children are receiving and for the schools they attend.  And I'm thankful for my job:  thankful that I enjoy it, thankful that it is close to home and close to my kids' schools, and thankful that I can take time to participate in some of the "stay-at-home mom" stuff that happens with my awesome kiddos.

Last week, I had the awesome opportunity to attend Thanksgiving celebrations for both Harris and Hadley.  On Wednesday morning, I made it over to Freeman's Mill for the "Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast." 

The entire Kindergarten population paraded into the cafeteria on Wednesday morning to find a feast waiting for them!  I guess celebrating Thanksgiving with turkey, corn, rolls, applesauce, popcorn (?), and brownies at 9:30 in the morning is as good a way to celebrate as any! 

The kiddos were dressed as Pilgrims and Indians and performed a funny Thanksgiving song for the parents.  And then they chowed down while all the adults watched.  It's such a hoot to watch Harris at school:  he has TONS of friends and smiles and waves and talks to everyone.  I have no idea what happened to my shy little guy, but I am so thankful he feels so comfortable at school.

Every student had a particular place setting at their lunch table.  Below is Harris'.  I'm pretty sure he's the only one who wrote his last name. :)

He's a mess.

I had to head back to work before his class left the cafeteria, but it seems like a good time was had by all.

And Wednesday morning wasn't the only day the Kindergarteners spent in celebration!  On Thursday, Ben (and me-briefly!) got to join Harris for the "Thanksgiving Lunch" prepared in the school cafeteria.  It's been a long time since I've eaten in an elementary school cafeteria.  What a rite of passage that is!

On Friday, I was able to head over to Primrose to enjoy a Thanksgiving lunch with Babe.

Her class also performed a couple of songs for us parents.  Hadley's favorite Pre-K song, by far, is "A-Toodie-Ta," and she was stoked for me to watch her sing it with her class.  So stoked, in fact, that she told her teacher earlier in the week that I was going to get up and sing with her!!  God bless Ms. Audra for allowing me to sit that one out. :)

Watching Babe interact at school is crazy fun, too.  She is the epitome of the word "silly."  She LOVES to laugh and loves to make other people laugh.  And she certainly doesn't shy away from attention.  She, too, is quite a hot mess.

The Primrose "feast" included food for everyone.  Primrose, as always, provided turkey and dressing for the class and us parents filled in the rest.  There was quite a spread!  Babe chose to contribute green beans and was very proud of my effort in preparing them.  I'm thankful that she is easy to please. :)

Her place setting included a list of things for which she was thankful, including:  having food, being with my momma, playing with my momma, tickles, and salsaltio turkey." 

Guess I need to buy the girl some salsalito turkey.

Thank you, Ms. Audra, for making Babe's first school experience fantastic!

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

Tooth!!!!

He lost his first tooth tonight.

It's been loose forever...at least a month.  He was willing to let us touch it every once in a while, but really hadn't shown much interest in messing with it or pulling it out. 

Tonight, though, he didn't have a choice.

He was acting like a kangagroo on his way from the shower to his bedroom.  Evidently, he had his towel in his mouth.  He took a "kangaroo" hop and tripped on the bottom part of the towel.  When he landed, he knew right away that the tooth was ready to come out.  He yelled to us and we came running.  Ben volunteered to pull it for him, but Harris said he'd do it himself.  And he did.

And then he saw the blood.  And then he saw his bleeding gum in the mirror.  And then he freaked out.

But just for a second.  We convinced him the blood was because he fell, he let us wash out his mouth, and then he had a BLAST squirting water through his gaping hole. :)

He is highly anticipating his visit from the tooth fairy.  I wrote her a note to ask if she'd let me keep his tooth.

I'm pretty sure she will.

Big Girl.

We gave this girl her first cup of cow's milk yesterday.  I can't believe she'll be ONE in less than a month!!!!!!

While I wouldn't say she loved the cow's milk (she's a big fan of the WARM bottle), she didn't exactly hate it, either...and, in fact, did a great job drinking it today.

Part of me knows I need her to be as independent as possible when Thatcher is born, and the other part of me isn't ready for her to grow up yet. 

Oh, my heart.

LegoLand.

To celebrate Election Day this year, we decided to head down to Phipps Plaza to check out the LegoLand Discovery Center.

The kids had an absolute blast!!!

Ben and I both left with a headache.

Because Election Day is a school holiday around these parts (the schools are used as polling places), I find that it's a GREAT time to check out some of the major attractions around the city.  Places that typically draw large crowds are rather slow on Election Day, and LegoLand helped prove my theory.

Even with the light(er) crowd, though, I still wasn't impressed.  The kids and Ben rode both the "rides," we watched the 4D movie and took a quick trip through the model city, and then the kids played in play area and built a couple of lego structures.  Babe actually enjoyed the toddler area the best.

In my opinion, the website was a little deceiving.  And I am so, so thankful we scored tickets through our My Coke Rewards points...I can't imagine paying full price to visit.

At least the kids had a good time.  They've already asked when we're going back.  So, if anyone out there is looking for a couple of kids to take down to LegoLand, I'll gladly volunteer mine. :)

At least I scored a visit to The Cheesecake Factory out of the day.

And had absolutely no wait to vote.

It really is the little things...

Glasses.

He chose those.  Picked them out and paid for them.  And wears them with pride.

And So It Begins...

My favorite part is that he wrote her sign for her.  And helped her tape it on her door. :)

Hoedown!

About a week ago, the PTA at Harris' school hosted their fall fundraiser, which happened to be a hoedown.  It was awesome!!!

Kids could purchase cowboy hats and bandanas, a DJ played tons of great music in the decorated gym, Papa Jack's catered BBQ and a decent dessert table, and they even had pony rides! 

The kids had so much fun running around and yelling, "howdy, pardner" and calling Ben, "boss."  Speaking of Ben, he was asked to host the scarecrow auction (his auctioneer skills are becoming well known!) and did an awesome job.

All the money raised is going toward the purchase of new playground equipment, so it was a pretty exciting night.

Hadley TORE IT UP on the dance floor and can't wait to participate in the "Kindergarten dance" next year.  Harris was a bit shy about dancing but loved running after his friends and playing pin-the-tail on the horse.

The pony rides were a big hit, too. 

Sweet Emmy enjoyed the view from her stroller.  She really is such a laid back baby!

It was such a fun evening...and far exceeded our expectations!  We're already counting down the days until next year!