Christmas Tree and Baking

Well, we originally weren't going to get a Christmas tree this year since we will be at my parents' for Christmas and all of our ornaments are (still) packed away, but then I felt a little guilty about not getting one and the boys REALLY wanted one. So we loaded up for the Home Depot parking lot one evening to pick out a tree.  We ended up getting the one that several people held up and then put back... saying, "Nope, this one's too fat."  I felt like that was my kindred spirit tree, so we took him home.  Lol.

We bought a few strings of colored lights and then the boys and I made some of that construction paper ring garland to string on it.  It actually looked really cute like that, but then I decided to have the boys make some salt dough ornaments so I could keep their handprints from this year.  And also so I we could check off the "handmade Christmas ornament from school" box, since our house is the only "school" this year.  It was actually really easy to do and my "anti-craft-project" boys loved it.  

 

They were so happy with the finished tree.  

Then a few days later we made gingerbread cookies.  Also a favorite activity, especially because of the flour on the counter.

And then there's this video.  I laugh every time I see it.  Lately Emmett has had a habit of sticking out his tongue when he's really concentrating on something (often resulting in licking his lips and causing really chapped lips in cold weather... but I digress).  Here he was cutting some red strips of paper for our tree garland and was obviously concentrating VERY hard on his cutting.  (And yes, he is holding the scissors incorrectly... I helped him with his hand placement a few times and every time I walked away he would put them down and pick them up again the wrong way.  Lol!  We will keep working
on it.  :)

IMG 3759 from Heather G on Vimeo.

Thanksgiving

Another wonderful family holiday on the books!  The boys had been counting down the days for a month until we left to go to my parents'.  They are in heaven there and spend every possible moment outside.

My aunt, uncle, and cousin (and cousin-in-law)  :) from Jacksonville came down on Thanksgiving to celebrate with us.  My cousin just had a baby boy a few months ago and this was my first time to meet him.  He is the sweetest, most easy-going baby and just perfectly adorable.  You can see how everyone in the living room there just could not resist crowding around to coo at him!  He is precious.  

I just love being with my family.  We just laugh and laugh and have such a good time.  I didn't get too many pictures, but here are a few...

I was so happy that my Mimi was there to celebrate with us, too!  And Davis was happy to meet his newest cousin.  

On Saturday we decorated my parents' tree.  We will be there again for Christmas because our house won't be ready.  (*sigh*) (that sigh was because of the house not being ready... not because of going to my parents' for Christmas, of course... lol)

You can kind of see here how the tree is only decorated on the bottom.  Haha!

Cousins!  The boys always have so much fun with their cousins and grandparents!  We can't WAIT for Christmas!

9 Month Davis

Also back in November, Davis turned 9 months.  I am going to have to figure something else out for pictures from here on out because this "session" lasted about 30 seconds did not go well.  Haha!  Someone is all OVER the place these days!  :)

Those are the best ones.  Most of the others were something like this...

LOL!  I could NOT keep him sitting still and on the couch!  He is just exploring all over the place lately!  Still mostly just crawling and pulling up on things, but in the last few days he has started cruising on furniture and letting go to stand for a few seconds on his own. He's also started crawling on his hands and feet with his little booty up in the air.  He will eat almost anything we put on his tray, but loves to throw a piece off onto the floor every bite or two.  He also loves to chuck his sippy cup onto the floor after taking a drink.  I was just telling my sister today that he is probably the snuggliest baby out of the four.  He still loves to be held and snuggled with.  I love it and soak it up as much as I can.

Back in November...

Continuing with the trend of posting pictures the month after they happen... here are some things that happened in November...

First, I lost my mind temporarily and decided to strip the paint off of this old chippy "shabby chic" dresser from Reid's room and repaint it with a clean, glossy finish.  I thought it would be an easy two-day project and instead it ended up dragging out for about three weeks.  And it was not easy.  Ugh.  But it's done now, thankfully.  On a brighter note I did use this orange-y paint stripper stuff that worked pretty well and wasn't stinky at all.  And it was kinda fun to see the paint bubble up and peel some of it off.  

But then I didn't realize that there was this veneer layer over the real wood part of the dresser that I could NOT get off, so I just had to patch it with wood filler as best as I could.

And then sanding, sanding, sanding.  Oh, why didn't I just give this dresser away and get one from Ikea?!?  Hindsight is 20/20!  And I totally know now why "shabby chic" was/is so popular... because no one wants to take four weeks to fix their chipped, peeling furniture!  Haha!

Aaaaaaanyway... I got to take a much-needed break from life in the middle of November and go visit my sister in Iowa for a few days!  Kid FREE!  We were supposed to go see John Mayer in concert in her town, but he cancelled at the last minute.  Didn't matter... we still had a wonderful time!  When we first planned this trip I was going to bring Davis with me, but as it got closer to my departure date my amazing, AMAZING husband suggested that I leave him here.  He said he could handle everyone by himself for a few days to give me a break.  Amazing, I tell you.  Davis still doesn't take a bottle very well and won't drink formula, but he does drink water from a sippy cup well and is eating everything in sight, so we figured he would be okay for a few days without milk.  And he was!

Becky and I had such a fun time... we spent the whole first day in Omaha shopping, shopping, shopping, and shopping.  Oh, it was so great.  Then the next few days we basically just sat on the couch and watched TV and talked.  That's all I wanted to do and it was wonderful.  We did venture out a few times to eat dinner and run by the mall and Target, though.  She and Ryan have such a cute, cozy, welcoming home and it was so fun to be a guest at her place this time!  I love you, Beck!!  Thank you so much for having me!

I just love these two!!

It was 12 degrees on the morning that I left and the day before that it snowed!

This was my lunch in Omaha (along with a yummy Chardonnay)... that's ham, bacon, and sweet potato fries wrapped in a tortilla.  Wow.  So good.

On the day it was snowing we stayed in and ordered Vietnamese food. Again, this pho was so good!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, everyone was doing great!  Phil texted me that Davis was a "pure joy" while I was gone.  :)

Camping out before bedtime to watch "Turbo"...

Milk?  Boobies?  What's that?  I don't remember!

A big thanks to my hubby for letting me have such a wonderful vacation!  I love you, Phil!!!

Then when I got home, it was this many days until we went to Grandy and Popeye's for Thanksgiving...

And both Mommy and Davis were super happy to get back to nursing and snuggling...

And Daddy was probably super happy to get back to work!  Haha!  It's always nice to get away, but even nicer to come home.  :)