A Family Thanksgiving in Dallas

November 2011

As I was somewhere in the middle of my second trimester and exhausted, I was so excited that my family made the decision to join us in Dallas for Thanksgiving.  Thankfully, that meant no long, uncomfortable pregnant drives and my sister and her family would finally get to see our house in Frisco for the first time since we moved in!

I was so thankful to be surrounded by my family who didn't mind helping out the tired pregnant lady and cooking virtually all of our delicious Thanksgiving dinner, even though they were guests in my house.  We had traditional turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, mashed sweet potato with bacon and blue cheese, dad's onions, homemade noodles, and crescent rolls.

Head chef carves the turkey

We attempted to make noodles that live up to Grandma Rose's.  No one can make them exactly like she does, but these were pretty good!



The feast!

 

 

 

The delicious meal was followed by yummy pies for dessert - pumpkin, pecan, chocolate and peanut butter (not normally on the menu, but a specific pregnancy craving request that was honored by my amazing Mom!).  I'm not sure you can tell how much the boys loved their pie

 

 

Grandma and Grandpa took advantage of having their grandkids all together and stole lots of hugs, kisses and snuggles:

 

It was so wonderful that everyone made the trip to celebrate Thanksgiving with us.  It was great seeing the boys have fun together.  I wish they lived closer, but I know the times when they do get together will be even more special!

Birthday Party: Cars Style

November 2011

The weekend before Jack's actual birthday, we celebrated with friends and family.  I came to the realization that planning a two-year old's birthday party when he can't tell you who he wants to invite, all of his friends are from daycare, and you don't know their parents is not easy.  I stressed that not enough people would come to the party and Jack wouldn't have had fun, but I shouldn't have worried, he had a great time and in the end, that is all that matters.

This year, his birthday party had a Disney Cars theme. 

 

Nana and Papa drove in from Houston and Grandma and Grandpa came from Boerne.  Aunt Brandi, Uncle Ryan and cousin Lincoln drove over from Fort Worth for the afternoon.  One of Jack's closest friends from daycare, Jacob and his parents came over and Mommy and Daddy's friends Uncle Greg and Esther and Jen even stopped by to celebrate!  Jack is a lucky boy to have so many people who love him!

Mommy and the Birthday Boy!

Grandma with Jacob's parents

Mommy and Grandpa

Aunt Brandi and Mommy

Papa, Uncle Greg, Esther and Jen

We didn't plan any structured activities for a group of 2 year-olds.  The boys spent quite a bit of time playing with play-doh:

 They all particularly loved the balloons:

 

 

 Daddy barbequed some delicious hot dogs and hamburgers:

 

 Instead of a cake, this year I decided a cupcake tower would be more fun.  The boys really enjoyed decorating their own:

 

 

 After cupcakes, we spent some time in the backyard playing with balloons and sidewalk chalk:

 

I think he had a pretty good birthday, what do you think??

Welcome to the Terrible Twos

November 16, 2011

Well, we officially have a toddler  At two years old, we definitely see the occasional tantrum, but most of the time, we still have our sweet baby boy.  He's fiercely independent and wants to do everything himself, all day long, from unwrapping his Nutri Grain bar in the morning to turning off his light at night.  He's a sucker for routine and will adamantly correct us if we deviate from this routine, all the way down to the songs we sing him at night, and the order in which we sing them (Kenny Rogers The Gambler is one of Daddy's favorites!).  He loves spaghetti, burritos ("beans and tilla"), and milk.  He's excited to watch Sesame Street (he has a favorite episode with the Itsy Bitsy Spider that we've watched seemingly a thousand times), the Disney Cars Movies, and Toy Story.  He doesn't understand yet exactly what it means when we say he is going to be a big brother, but likes to talk about the baby in Mommy's tummy (and sometimes the baby in his tummy, too!). 

I love seeing the look of excitement in his eyes when he discovers something new, hearing his belly laugh when he gets tickled and hearing him say "I love you, Mommy."  I hope he never stops saying that.  It makes me sad to see my little baby boy growing up so quickly, but so excited to see what awaits.

At his 2 year appointment, his measurements continued to be consistent:

Height: 31 inches - 50th percentile
Weight: 23.1 pounds - 30th percentile
Head: 18.75 inches - 75th percentile

Like we did last year, we had Allison Duckworth of eleven thirty-six images take family photos again for his second birthday.  She got some wonderful shots - not an easy feat with our crazy two-year old running around everywhere.  These are a few of my favorites:

And my absolute favorite:

It's hard to believe that  next year's family photos will have another member.  I know Jack will be the best big brother.  Love you little boy!

A Very Elmo Halloween

October 2011

After our company left on Sunday, we turned our attention to carving the pumpkins we had picked out at the pumpkin patch. Last year, Jack absolutely hated pumpkin carving (mostly, he hated pumpkin guts, I think), and he still wasn't a fan of being dirty, so I was afraid this year might be more of the same. Fortunately, I was wrong. He loved it! From helping Mommy clean out the pumpkin to helping Daddy carve it, he thought it was all pretty awesome, even the pumpkin guts.

 Of course, our pumpkin was Elmo!!

So our pumpkin was Elmo, and so was our little boy :) A few days earlier, we had been to a Halloween party at daycare and Jack refused to wear his Elmo head, so I figured trick-or-treating would be the same, but he decided that, if it meant getting candy, wearing the Elmo head wasn't so bad after all. After I barely made it home in time because of horrible rush hour traffic (I guess everyone was coming home to trick-or-treat at the same time), Tommy went with us to the first few houses, then returned to our house to hand out candy, while Jack and I went on to cover a few more blocks. Everyone thought he was the cutest trick-or-treater ever, and I must say I agree with them. He even learned to say trick-or-treat by the end and was so proud after anyone put candy in his pumpkin!

"Trick-or-treat!"

Look Daddy, I got some candy!