Thanksgiving

Well, another Thanksgiving came and went.  There is so much to be thankful for this year.  We really enjoyed the time spent with our family.  It's always a whirlwind when we go visit, but always worth it.

Nora's first Thanksgiving!  Hangin' at Grandpa's.

We spent time with Doug's side of the family in the morning.  His dad makes the best Turkey!  We got to see his tree all decorated.  I always love his Christmas tree.  He has the big, colorful lights that just glow.  We tried to do the same, but could only find LEDs, which don't have that glow.  Ah, well.  He also always strings popcorn and puts it on the tree, but not until December 11, so we didn't get to see that.

In front of Grandpa's tree.  With only one sparkly shoe on.

His brother, Ronnie, and sisters DeDe, Emily, and Virginia were there.  Beth still lives in PA, and Melissa was out of town, so we missed them.  We should get to see them at Christmas though!

Nora fell asleep on her Aunt DeDe.  She rarely does that.  Must love her Auntie a lot!

It was also Virginia and Beth's birthdays on Thanksgiving.  We improvised with a candle on a sweet potato. Yum?

Nora hanging out with her Aunt Virginia and her cousin Mikey. 

In the afternoon/evening, we hung out with my side of the family at my Aunt Vonda's house.  It was a big shindig, and there was way more food than anyone could even eat!  Granny Bernice had her famous peanut butter balls.  They were delish, as always!  We got all of the little girls together and got a picture.  It's wild how quickly they are growing!  Time flies...

Nora got to spend some time with her great-grandmother, Marj.

This picture cracks me up.  Nora is blowing raspberries because she is teething. 

My sister and I decided to be dorks and do weird poses. 

Had to get one of all of us girls!  Nora and Edie are unimpressed.

A silly picture with the little ones.  Marquel's Abigail, Michele's Edie and Judy, Jimmy's Rachel, and Marquel's Aubrey. 

We have a tradition in my family.  When my grandmother passed away 20 years ago, we planted a tree in her honor near City Hall.  Every year since, we have decorated it for Christmas.  At one point, they took out the tree we had planted.  So now we decorate some random tree in the park.  But it still holds the same sentimental value to us.  And it's a good time for us all to get together and do something as a family.  Nora was asleep in the car the whole time, so we didn't get any pictures of her.  It was cold though, so I'm glad she stayed in the car!

Jason and Judy helping.  Judy is actually named after my grandmother for whom we planted the tree.

It's hard to get the whole tree in the picture.

Aztec put up a new nerdy sign, and we like it!  Our grandpa is probably one of the soreheads they are talking about.  He tried to have a cat leash law passed.  People were not happy about that!

Brandon, Ed, Abby, Aubrey, Gabe, Marquel, Judy, Greg, Edie, Jimmy, Rachel, Michele, Jason, Melody, Amanda, Doug.  The group changes each year, but we all try to make it when we can! 

 After decorating the tree, we went to A&W to warm up and have some lunch.  It is a must to eat there when we visit Aztec.  I've never seen an A&W anywhere else, except for in gas stations.  And those are way different and don't count!

Uncle Jim ordering hot chocolate.  I love how you use phones to order.

Yup.

Dad getting serious about ordering the food.  Rolled tacos for me.  Steak finger dinner for him. Root beers all around.

And hot chocolate.

  We went home after this, but had to drive back and stay for a couple of hours because there was an accident involving two semis that closed the road for 6 hours.  1 person lost their life in that wreck.  Sometimes it's hard to stay thankful, with all of the stresses of every day life.  But we can always be thankful for life, and for the lives of our loved ones.  We are thankful that God had His hand of protection on us.  We could have been involved in the accident had we left earlier.  Let's stay thankful this year.

Happy Halloween!

Today was Nora's first Halloween!  Unfortunately, she was at home sick all day.  Doug had to pick her up early from daycare yesterday due to fever.  We were hoping it would break last night, but she's still been feverish all day today.  We found a new tooth in her mouth this morning, so we think it's just teething.  But either way, she's miserable.  I hate seeing my sweetie-pie so uncomfortable.

Needless to say, we skipped trick-or-treating and stayed in.  We put Nora in her little mouse costume for a bit.  She looked so adorable!  Don't take my word for it; look at the cuteness!

 Not to be outdone, Charlie begged us to take a picture of him in his costume.  Isn't he dashing? 

Drawer Revamp!

I am a bit of a nut.  I really really like to organize.  This isn't to say that I am super organized, but the idea of it all just calls to me.  When I was little, my parents would tell me to clean my room, and I would always start by emptying out my toybox and organizing it.  It drove them NUTS, but I couldn't stand having the floor and whatnot clean if the toybox was just going to be a mess.  Anyone else like that?

Anyways, I've been working through some residual nesting lately.  It's weird.  Maybe because I'm home all day, staring at the house, coming up with improvements that need to be made.  Or maybe it's because I return to work in less than a month, and I feel a sense of urgency to tie up any loose ends at home.  Regardless of the reason, it is causing me to spend way too much time on Pinterest. 

So here is one of the sights that has been staring me in the face.

Shriek!

Yup.  That's the drawer that holds all the spatulas and other kitchen what-nots.  Good luck finding anything in there. 

While I was still pregnant with Nora, around the time that "we" (ahem, Doug) redid her closet, I found this gem on Pinterest from www.bystephanielynn.com . We purchased the materials months ago, but never got around to it.

Until now.

Doug's so handy.  He made the insert so that it was removable.  Good idea, Doug!

"And I helped!" I put shelf liner in all the drawers this weekend.  I love the pop of color it adds! 

Squeeee! Lookit.  Lookit all the organizy-ness.

"A place for everything, and everything in its place." And then in that place, have more places for the things.

Hmm.  The store-bought attempt at organization.  Would slide all around the drawer.

Better than nothing, BUT...

For the win!!!

Maybe we should make one for this junk drawer? 

Well, there you have it.  I keep opening the drawers to see how pretty they are.  Maybe I'll just leave them open all the time now.  Oh, and last time we did a kitchen project, we were adding the hardware to the cabinets and drawers.  We were in the middle of the project when we got a phone call from the doctor saying we were pregnant!  Every time I touch a handle or knob in that kitchen, I'm reminded of that day.  (Ok, enough of the mushy stuff.  Go organize your drawers!)

2 Months!

Little Miss Eleanor turned 2 months old on June 5!  You wouldn't know it by looking at her.  The week of the 5th, someone asked me if she was 6 months old!  I'm not sure if she looks THAT old, but she definitely looks older than she is (to me, anyways!)  Here are the stats:

Weight: 12 lb. 4 oz (90th %)Height: 22.75 in. (70th %)
Head: 15 in. (50th)

Her development is right on track.  She smiles, coos, and wiggles.  She likes tummy time, and LOVES bath time!  She takes a binky, and loves to be swaddled for bedtime.  Nora loves to be held.  She would let us hold her 24/7 if we could! We use our Ergo carrier when she's fussing to be held and there are things to do, and also for family walks.  Speaking of family walks, she loves them!  Whether in her stroller or carrier, she loves the feel of the air and the sights and sounds of the outdoors.  When she is fussy in the evenings, this calms her down!

Some of her favorites:
Mornings.  She is so smiley in the morning.  It makes it a lot easier to get up with such a sunny face!

Milk.  You can see that she is a good eater.  Love chunky babies!

Daddy.  She loves her Daddy and is so excited when he comes home each day!

Fans.  She flirts with ceiling fans.

This is her impression of her looking at a ceiling fan.

Goodnight Moon.  Her favorite book.

Music.  

She is starting to be so much fun.  She smiles, and has started squealing.  I think she'll be laughing soon! 

Smiley!

Squirrel!

"Why do you guys keeping taking pictures of me next to this giant bug?"

1 Month!

Yesterday, Nora turned one month old!  We seriously can't believe how fast it's gone.  It seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital.  It's been a lot of work, but overall an amazing experience!

"First month of life: Nailed it!"

Eleanor is such a happy baby.  She mostly only cries if she is hungry, has a dirty diaper, or is tired.  Otherwise, she is very alert and strong.  She has been lifting her head for a couple of weeks now.  She loves tummy time and plays with the toys in her activity gym (mostly by just randomly hitting them and looking at them).  She can also follow objects and voices.  She has also been smiling, but we're still not sure if it's on purpose or not.  It is darling, either way! 

Crossing my eyes! 

Nora is a good little eater, and has grown out of most of her newborn clothes.  She is also a good sleeper (as far as newborns go).  She usually sleeps 3-4 hours at a time at night, but she has slept as much as 6 hours in a row!  It's so funny that that is a lot of sleep.  Before having a child, I would consider that a bad night of sleep, lol!

Charlie has done well with her.  He likes to lick her head, hands, and feet, but usually stays away from the face, and only licks her once or twice.  We had her on the ground for her one month pics, and he was quite concerned.  He kept barking at us to pick her up!  Too funny.

Charlie loves Nora.  Nora's not so sure.

Those toes!

You should see this guy with his little girl.  Doug gets the "Daddy of the Year" award. 

Diva is over this photoshoot.

I can lift my head up!

Beautiful girl.