Thanksgiving Videos

Thankful

Thanksgiving is upon us so I have thought a lot about all I am thankful for over the last couple of weeks. In all the hustle and bustle of this time of year, I think it is so important to reflect on our many blessings. A couple of weeks ago I had an ugly looking mole removed from the back of my leg by my ankle. The doctor wanted to make sure they got it all so I had some additional skin removed. When all of this came about I wasn't originally worried. Then when the doctor called back and said we had to get more skin taken off the "what ifs" set in. All I could think is my babies need me. I need them! As I lay in bed one night, I thought of the verse, In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18. So I thanked God that I got the spot checked out and it is ok. Then I just thanked him for my health and I know there is no point in worrying because God is in control. If I worry I feel like I am not putting my complete trust in him. The "what ifs" have still crept back in as they did when I was getting the procedure done but I just prayed. Above all I am THANKFUL that I know and follow God/Jesus! My human mind can't fully comprehend how big, powerful and how magnificent HE is. Be Still and Know that I am God. Psalms 46:10 Isn't that enough to be thankful for?!

THANKSGIVINGS:

Zack: Love is an amazing thing. Zack and I have almost been married 7 years. I think about how our love has grown, become stronger, and changed (in a good way)! I depend so much on him and appreciate all he does for my kids and me. One of my biggest dreams has been to stay home with my kids. Zack has helped that dream come true and I probably don't thank him enough for it. He works so hard and I appreciate that we are his top priority. I am so thankful we are sharing our lives together.
Macie and Weston: LOVE IS AMAZING (a repeat) but this kind of love is like no other. I always tell my friends that are becoming moms for the first time that it can't be explained until you are a mom. Wow, I love Macie and Weston! Each day with them is a blessing. I love talking to Macie, playing with her, and sharing in her huge imagination. I honestly could talk for hours about all the sweet things I love and am thankful for about Macie! The one thing that came to mind about what she says often is "Mom, it's a great day!" I love her happy heart and excitement for life! My sweet baby boy has captured my heart as well! I love his sweet smile and the way his eyes just seem to shine when I talk to him. I am thankful for "the moments" and there are so many of them. I think of all the things we do together and I say "these are my moments. God gave me these moments with them."


Dad and Mom: I am a family person or I tend to think of myself that way! I am so so thankful for my parents. "You will understand when you are a parent" or "This is hurting me more than it is you (when spanking)" are the phrases I now understand. I am thankful that my parents raised us in the very best way they could. I am thankful they taught values and morals. My mom is my best friend and we talk on the phone daily. What fun we have together! My dad is my DAD...he has always put all of us first. I am thankful for their love and support. What I am most thankful for is their love for my kids. That is enough!

Last Thanksgiving: We have added two and have another on the way!

My BROTHERS: Sheldon and Josh make me smile. I am so proud to be called their sister. I have always admired them. I loved our childhood because we had a lot of fun playing COPS, jets, and sometimes a little dress up. I love that our kids are the same age and will grow up playing together like we did with our cousins. We are probably going to have some wild gatherings but oh what fun/memories! I am thankful that both of my brothers' wives. I am thankful for their friendships.


MY IN-LAWS: I am so thankful for Paul and Janet. Like my parents they have been married 30 plus years and that alone is a great example! I am thankful that we get to enjoy our time with them when we see them. I also love watching them being such a great Grammy and Papaw! Again I am thankful they love our kids! That means more than anything.


The Rest of the FAM: I am so thankful for Matt and Lori, Chris and Amy, and their kids! What fun we have already had together watching our kids play. I love that we have Jackson and Jillian to be such great examples to Macie, Weston, Finley and Kylan! And I LOVE that Macie and Finley have such a sweet bond even though they don't get to see each other enough. I am thankful for each time we get to spend together even though it is not as often as I would like! I married into a GREAT family!

The kids have grown and we have added two to the bunch!

Fun Weekend

Daddy took Macie to the Great Wolf Lodge on Friday while I stayed home with Weston. I had been sick for a good week and it was nice to rest on Friday. BUT I wanted to be there so badly. Zack said they had a blast with Josh and Blake. Macie loved the slide and the wave pool! I am so glad Macie got to spend the day with her Daddy! Oh, when we told her she was going she ran and got her swimsuit. She pretty much talked nonstop until she left the house. She didn't know exactly where she was going but she was thrilled to swim. Zack did say that when they saw a wolf at the Great Wolf Lodge she informed him that it was only a decoration!
Friday night our friend, WeiWei, went into labor! So we were lucky to have Jacob cover over and stay! He and Macie had a fun time. They had a great time in the bath! Jacob is rarely away from his mom so he had a hard time falling asleep but we were just glad that he was comfortable with us. Jacob's brother, Colton, was born around 10 that night. We went and saw him yesterday. I couldn't believe how big Weston looked compared to him. When I held Colton, I just kept thinking that this was only Weston 3 months ago.

My happy baby stayed the night at Nonnie and Pappy's while we went to a party on Saturday night. I had major anxiety about leaving my kids....not because they were at my parents' because they have a wonderful time there. I just get a fear of the what ifs when driving at night. I know this is silly...PRAY is what I must do when I get all worked up! Anyway, Weston had a great time watching Macie and Blake play and he went to sleep perfectly!

Josh and Weston
Josh better start practicing holding babies again because his daughter will be here soon!

We were fixing to go see our friends, Kelley and Jonas. Jonas turned 30 so it was fun to celebrate! I found it very interesting that almost all of us at the party have one to two kids and I noticed most of us started getting the tired look a little earlier than we would have before kids!!

GREAT WOLF LODGE

Nonnie Making Weston laugh!

This is one happy boy! Macie was a little bit more serious but Weston will laugh when you tickle him. It is just precious!

Macie and Blake Getting Married!

First of November

We lit a fire to take the chill of the house! Macie loved it.
13 weeks

Weston is just growing so fast. He has recently dropped his 9:30 feeding which is just crazy to me because time flies! He now goes to bed for the night around 7:30 and wakes up around 7:30! Sleeping must run in both Macie and Weston's genes because he is sleeping like Macie did when she was a baby! Weston hasn't rolled over yet. We keep working on that tummy time but it usually leads to major spit up.

I know that I sure have loved my time with Macie and Weston. I still haven't gone back to the gym yet and now that he is old enough I can. With sickness, feedings, and all I am going to have to see how I can manage it eventually! It often seems easier to just stay at the house instead of getting out to run errands or go to the gym. Luckily it has cooled off and I have been able to run on the treadmill in the garage.

Macie's hair is either in pigtails or in her face. We are trying to grow her bangs out which is a long process. I like to keep her bangs out of her face; however, she is pulling and tugging on her rubber bands constantly. Maybe I should just trim them and keep bangs for now....what to do...


Here's my happy little fella!

This little brother loves his Macie. When she talks to him or is playing beside him he just watches her and smiles!

Sebastian and Weston get along just fine. We have to watch Sebastian like crazy because he tries to lick Weston just like he did Macie. Weston smiles now when Sebastian gets close to him.

Happy Halloween

What a beautiful day and evening for Trick-or-Treating! The weather was perfect and we had a wonderful time. Halloween afternoon Macie and I made a spider and played outside. As we were playing I told her that we would trick-or-treat as soon as it got dark. She said, "I am just going to sit out here and wait." We started the night off with all the neighborhood kids but they were a little too fast for Macie to keep up with. It worked out because once we got to the street one over from ours we were amazed at the amount of children trick-or-treating! Macie hit up about two or three streets of houses. She was very good at saying, "Trick-or-Treat." She also kept saying that she had to watch out for ghost. Who knows why she said it. Zack and I kept reminding her that ghost were just pretend. It was so much fun to see all the different costumes. I also liked seeing all the people out in their driveways passing out candy. Several people were having cook-outs and just hanging out together and what a perfect night for it! After about an hour, Macie sat down in someone's driveway and decided she needed to eat some candy that she had worked so hard to get. Then she said, "I'm tired of walking." So I picked her up and carried her home. As soon as we were home her words were, "I want to go trick-or-treating." We unloaded her candy and inspected it. I was pretty impressed with all her candy. Bedtime was a little rough because she didn't want to take her dress off. We got it off finally with the promise that she could put it on first thing in the morning (which she did put on as soon as we got back from Target and then it was a battle getting it off for naptime! She danced around and wanted me to help Weston dance with her.) Macie loves dressing up in her princess dress. Oh and when I first gave it to her she put it on and twirled around for a long time and smiled at herself in the mirror...ALL GIRL!!!

Focused on gluing!
Macie and I worked on a spooky spider after nap time! We were trying to get in all our Halloween crafts. I love that Macie and I are able to do things like this together! It is fun for me to watch her having fun doing these little things. Macie is also preparing for Halloween night festivities with curlers in her hair.

Showing off her spider

It's almost time!

Macie's first house to trick-or-treat at was one of our new neighbors! We are excited because she is also expecting a baby this spring. We will have lots babies on the block once our other neighbor, WeiWei, has Colton in a few weeks. One thing I love about our street we live on is there are lots of kids and everyone is outside playing all the time. We are all out once or twice a week together which is just something that a lot of people miss out on because they don't know their neighbors.

Puppy for Sale!

NO WAY! Just kidding! He is mine! Weston was dressed for bed and sporting his puppy swaddle blanket that he got from his Aunt Lyndsie and Uncle Josh when he was born.

Neighborhood girls!

Here's a picture of most of the neighborhood kids from our street and the street behind us. I should point out that the girls are in sweet princess type dresses and the boys are all scary and in black!

Trick or Treat!

Macie has the hang of trick-or-treating!

Even with Daddy beside her, Macie took a long time to get the nerve to get candy from the scary witch. We kept reminding Macie that all of the people were in costume and that the Halloween decorations were just decorations!

It's tough trick-or-treating. This puppy is worn out.

Macie's friend stopped by for a little more candy.

Macie and Daddy checking out the stash of candy. Macie's bag was weighing her down as we went from house to house so we had to empty it into the stroller basket. Daddy let her have one piece of candy before bed. As she was eating it she said, "Princesses like chocolate."

Trunk or Treat

Happy Halloween!

Macie ate breakfast to the light of her Jack-o-Lantern! She liked it! She was up bright and early (5:45) ready for this big day! Her hair was rolled...the price you pay when you are dressing up as a princess. She actually sat still and didn't take a single roller out that morning because she was so excited!

Macie is dressed and ready to go to preschool.

Here is one of many "SCARY" and "SPOOKY" pictures I took of Macie. After each picture she would look at herself and laugh.

Waiting on Sister's Trunk or Treat

Macie's class
I was waiting outside Macie's room to go with her to Trunk or Treat. When she saw me she was so excited! It may my heart smile!

There were about 8 cars decorated for the kids to stop by and get candy.

"The Busy Bess"-Macie's class and two teachers.

I would say jumping in the bounce house was Macie's favorite thing to do. She jumped the entire time while some of her classmates got tired of it and sat on the grass to watch. Oops...Macie is showing a little too much skin!

Carving a Pumpkin with Daddy

Macie and Daddy carved a pumpkin together. I heard them in the kitchen talking and discovered that they took Macie's painted pumpkin from school and got to work on the jack-o-lantern Macie said his mouth was scary. This morning during breakfast I left the lights off and she ate to the glow of her jack-o-lantern.

Daddy told Macie he was getting the "guts outs." I am not to sure I like those words but oh well.

Daddy doing the work! Macie supervising!
The Finished Jack-O-Lantern

Macie and Daddy went into the dark garage to see the Jack-O-Lantern all lit up. Macie obviously was impressed!

Hotdog Mummies

I made the mistake of saying the mummy got hurt and Macie wasn't too impressed on eating him at first since he was hurt.