Three days of Thanksgiving

We had some quality family time this Thanksgiving that extended on through the entire weekend. We ate a heaping helping of turkey and fixins on Thanksgiving day starting at Nanny and Papa's house with Kylie, Michael, Katie, Luke, Carmen and Grandma Ida. The littlest ladies were fun to dress in matching outfits again this year and we are definitely still taking advantage of these young years of willingness to twinkie up.....

The weather was perfect for some time in the backyard chasing the girls around trying to get some decent pictures....

Enid was our next stop that day where we visited Lisa and David's house and saw Meme Donna, Lana, Danny, Dara and some of Lisa's family. The weather was still mild and sunny so naturally Hal had to check out her treehouse....

Back inside she tried her very best to scare people by popping out from behind chairs....

She showed off some of her gymnastics skills....

And just owned the place....

Laughed with Meme....

Skyped with Garrett...

Cousin time is necessary....

We moved our crew over to Gman's house where he and Meg had a bonified feast prepared and a beautiful table set up for dinner that evening. Aunt B, Uncle Spencer, David, Alta and Kara rounded out the group. The meal was absolutely amazing....and Meg made every single bit of it...

After dinner Hallie played with her toy box that she hunted down in Gman's closet while the adults played a hilarious and very loud game of Catchphrase.....

Riley headed home that night but us girls spent the night. The next morning we chowed down on cinnamon rolls that Alta had brought but Hal had something else in mind. Momma ran down the street to fulfill her pink donut and pink milk request. She slept so good that I probably would've traveled across the country for her. The bed-headed gal snoozed until 10:00! Unheard of.

We played with Gman's puppies a bit...

Then we sorted through some of Grammy's things in the shed and helped G fill the bird house....

We stopped by Lisa and David's to play around....

Trying out Dara's boots

Our family time continued over at Lana's house where Hallie chased around her gang of fur babies....

Learning all of their names

She just loves doggies and they all got Hallie hugs....

Hal and Meme ate ice cream cones on the way over to Gman's house and we spent some time just eating, playing and catching up over there. We reluctantly headed home around 7:00 even though I'd thoroughly enjoyed lounging and eating leftovers all day and didn't want the lounging and eating to end. However it did help knowing that the very next day we'd get to do Thanksgiving all over again with another giant feast. Justin and TeNeil hosted the Spaeth fam at their house where Hallie Grace dined on candy turkeys alone. Ten of them in fact....

Jasper was on the go but stopped for a moment to chat with Gman.....

I spy a little girl eyeing another candy turkey instead of eating her plate of food....

Peyton and Hal hit it off like they did last Christmas and were soon playing hide and seek outside and writing "notes" in Eve's bedroom with Jasper photobombing in the background....

We had a great afternoon inside while the kiddos played outside in the beautiful weather. This little elf was on a sugar high that evening which seemed to outweigh the exhaustion she must've felt from all of the playing....

With Thanksgiving in the books it was time to set my sights on Christmas and all of the joy and excitement it was about to bring. It was also time to buy maternity pants to fit my growing belly which consisted of baby AND lots and lots of food.

A Perfect 10

 I couldn't be any happier with my decision to start this tiny tot in gymnastics shortly after her third birthday. She has learned a heap of new things, has gained strength and lets be honest, it's a fantastic way to let her burn some of that endless supply of steam. Gymnastics day is a GOOD day in our house....a happy morning....no fighting about putting on her leotard or putting her "piggies" in because she knows she will get to tumble on those days. I've been spying from behind the glass since September and finally got to feed my curiosity this week on parent day. Us mommas had an up-close look at all the kiddos have learned thus far this year. I think I probably created a few extra crows feet and smile wrinkles after watching her 45 minute session. A permanent smile on my face and a happy heart. It's amazing how something as simple as my child doing a back somersault or walking on a mini balance beam can make me so incredibly proud.

Here's the girl in action.....

Cute doesn't begin to cover how I feel about this

....and this one too.

Supposed to be stretching but more worried about her fellow gymnasts

....still worried.

Check out that arm strength

The cuteness is still too much

A little distracted by me at this point

Stopping for a hug

Waiting patiently for her turn on the "vault"

As fast as her little legs would carry her...

 And last but not least my favorite part based solely on her facial expressions.....

......and her scrumptious thighs.....

 .....and those arms....can't forget the precious little arms....

There ya have it. I'm an obsessed gymnastics momma. I told her I was proud so many times on the way home that she said "I know mom." Well looks like my job is done then. ;)

12 Week Bumpdate

I'm so close to the blissful second trimester I can almost taste it....praying for more sleep, less bathroom stops as the baby moves upward a bit and much much more energy. It's been mentioned that my diminished pregnancy energy level is equivalent to a normal person's energy level....I'm not sure how to take that but I know I'd like my abnormal energy level back ASAP. Please and thank you. After all, I do have to keep up with a child who inherited the same energy level. Overall I really can't complain about how things have played out so far. Baby is healthy with a strong heartbeat, I've yet to actually get sick sick and no nose bleeds in my car yet (a very surprising and messy side effect last pregnancy). Here's my new accessory that made an early appearance this week....

Hello Mr. Bump

I've been spending a startling amount of time trying to decide whether or not I was going to take monthly belly photos. If this is my bump at only three months...well....I can pretty much guarantee that my maternity clothes from last go 'round will not be sufficient for this momma. I think I might just be carrying a sumo wrestler in my belly. No weight gain at this point (oh thank you, thank you Jesus) but it's evident that my hips are expanding at the speed of light. If I keep growing at this rate I may entertain Hallie's prediction that I'm having twins...one boy (named Baby Abe) and one girl (named Princess Lady). You can't make this stuff up folks. There is no convincing her otherwise...she tells everyone she sees. Truth be told I think it's the cutest thing ever.

Now to the fun part....cravings, weird dreams, side effects and hormones. My patience has slowly returned and I now have a bit of it. Chicken and I just don't see eye to eye. I cry at commercials....especially jewelry commercials. Just don't even get me started on the new Walmart commercial with the song "Never Grow Up" playing. Gets me everytime. I can just read a movie title on the tv guide and tear up if it's a sad one. Most of my weird dreams include Riley picking up a variety of strange new hobbies....he's been painting our cars, hanging even more deer on the wall and has taken up gymnastics. In between these dreams you can find me getting up to pee and then I follow that up with about an hour of just lying in bed desperately wishing I could fall back asleep instead of thinking about what color of stripes to paint on the nursery walls or how I'll ever be able to take two children to Walmart alone. While at work I can be found gagging numerous times a day at certain not-so-pleasant smells. On Thursday I work with children in the school system and this is most certainly when most of the gagging occurs....snot, boogers, farts, stinky feet and slobber....that about sums up a Thursday with the kiddos. And last but not least I must mention that I'm keeping Sonic going with my purchases of root beer. I have always hated root beer until now.

The excitement of gender, names, nursery colors, carseat covers, itty bitty baby clothes and Boppy patterns has snuck up on me quickly. What makes all of this baby business even MORE exciting is the fact that five of my close friends are also expecting! 2014 will be full of brand new babies. Here's a glimpse at our growing sweet little lime who is measuring right on track for a June 28th due date....

Might I add that lime looked like he/she was having a pretty good time in there....doing flips, somersaults, kicking, waving....as crazy as his/her big sister! I'm feeling a bit spoiled having already seen baby twice. We probably won't see him/her again until week 20 so for now I will use this sweet image to try and convince Hallie that I am NOT having twins.

Until next time....I'm off to go play a fun game of "let's please take a nap" with Hal.

All Girl....All Goof

Pictures! PICTURES! Pictures! 

No words. 

Just pictures. 

After all they are worth a billion words in my eyes.