Thanksgiving 2010

Matt and I were both off of work starting on Saturday, November 20th. I had been fighting a cold since Thursday, November 18th and needed to just rest...so the weekend was pretty uneventful. However, once I started feeling better, we got a lot accomplished. We cleaned out the linen closet and the desk. We cleaned, dusted and vacuumed everything. ...and of course...we finally finished the letters in the nursery.

We decided on velcro and it actually worked out really well. Once it was stuck to the wall, it was stuck but I could still unvelcro it and move it around so it was very forgiving. The plan to apply the letters was very mathematical. I had to measure each wall and add them together. Then I put all of the letters side by side and measured them together. I subtracted the total length of the letters by the length of the walls and then divided by 27 which was the number of spaces between each letter. It worked out pretty well. I did make a couple of mistakes. Take a look at the letters and see if you can find my mistake. :)

Matt's mom and dad arrived on Wednesday morning after driving all night. They had quick naps and we headed out to shop. We shopped, had lunch, shopped, stopped in to see the Larsen's, shopped, had dinner, shopped and came back home.

Thursday was a cold and rainy day...it was perfect to be inside. My parents came over, we ate and watched football. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving. Here are some pictures of the Thanksgiving table.

We had a lot of food for just six people but it was great!

Matt's mom and I rolled out of the drive way at 3:00 am! We arrived at Kohl's shortly after 3:30 and began to shop! Deb waited in line while I shopped and brought things back. Slowly but surely, I found everything on my list! From Kohl's we headed to Academy and Best Buy where we found and bought everything on our lists! After Best Buy we headed to Fort Worth to meet my parents and Matt and his dad for breakfast at MiMi's. After breakfast we headed to Kirkland's and Bed Bath and Beyond...and then it was nap time!

We spent the rest of our vacation shopping and visiting. Matt's parents left after church on Sunday afternoon. Matt and I were so glad that they got to come spend Thanksgiving with us!

Matt and I took Sunday afternoon to put up our outside Christmas lights. We bought this lovely contraption that you plug all of your lights into and it makes them blink with the beat of the music. It is pretty cool!

Matt and I received a video camera for Christmas from his parents. Let's see if I can figure out how to upload videos and y'all can see our cool Christmas lights! (The volume may be really low because we didn't turn up the volume too loud...and it was super windy.)

Okay...I can't get the video to process. I'll have to look into and try again later!

Have a great week!

Week 25

Today, we are 6 months pregnant.

24 weeks down and 16 to go!

We are beginning our 25th week and loving every second of it! Our little boy should be measuring about 9 inches from crown to rump weighing in at about a pound and a half. His soft little skin is finally beginning to turn pink because those small little blood vessels called capillaries are forming under his skin and filling with blood.

Blood vessels will also begin to form in his tiny little lungs this week bringing them one step closer to taking that first breath of fresh air. Although, his lungs are developing they are still far from where they need to be. His lungs must continue to mature so they can send oxygen to the bloodstream and release carbon dioxide when exhaling.

His little nostrils will begin to unplug this week. This will allow him to practice breathing. He will be breathing in amniotic fluid, but still...practice makes perfect!

I can feel him moving and kicking all the time! Although, Matt hasn't been in the right place at the right time...yet...he keeps trying and keeps talking to him.

I'm super busy this week and next week is Thanksgiving so I'll see y'all in a couple of weeks! Happy Holidays!

Happy Birthday, Matt!

Happy 29th Birthday Matt! I was really hoping our son would cooperate and kick a little for his Daddy today but no luck so far! (Matt, I promise, he doesn't hate you!)

Matt got off of work at one yesterday afternoon and took his cute little sports car to get the tint redone on the front two windows. Texas' law states that the tint cannot be lower than 25% and it was down to 11%. Unfortunately, no one would pass the inspection without the proper tint and then we found out that it is a $1,000 fine if we were to get pulled over. So...Matt got the tint redone and got his car inspected.

When Matt got home, he finished putting the dresser together and I cooked (put in the oven) lasagna. We had a very nice and relaxing evening. Hopefully, we will get a chance to start arranging the letters and putting them in place.

Matt finished the dresser! We love it! I think a cute little lamp will go beautifully on top! We will probably put the glider between the dresser and the changing table. The room is filling up quickly!

I cleaned the room a bit...so I thought I would take a picture!

It is so exciting to get his room ready!

Week 24

Today we are 23 weeks pregnant and entering our 24th week! Our baby weighs about a pound and a half and is gaining about six ounces per week. He is about eight and a half inches long from crown to rump.

His face is almost fully formed and except for the chubbiness that he will now begin to gain, he looks like what he will look like at birth. He can hear all kinds of sounds from my breathing, digestion, my voice and Matt's voice to dogs barking and honking horns.

He has been moving a lot lately and I love it! Matt has not been able to feel him yet, but I'm sure that moment is around the corner. My next doctor's appointment is next Wednesday, November 17th!

I picked up the dresser yesterday and Matt couldn't help but start to put it together! After unpacking the box and looking at all the pieces, I tried to convince him to wait but he put the frame together. I am sure he will get the drawers finished tonight!

Matt starting to build the dresser. He didn't want me to take his picture so I made sure that I couldn't see his face in the picture on purpose.

The frame started.

The frame finished. On to the drawers!

The room hasn't changed much but I thought I'd take a picture. I think this is the best picture that actually captures the color of the room.

The other side of the room.

I finished painting the letters that will act as a border around the top of the room. Since we (Matt) was assembling the dresser, we moved the letters to the spare bedroom. We have been having a hard time trying to figure out how to attach the letters to the walls but I think we are going to try Velcro and see how that works out. If it doesn't, I'm not sure what to do. Any ideas?

The letters!

I will post pictures of the room and the dresser once it is all cleaned and pretty again! Y'all have a great week!

Week 23

This week I am really feeling pregnant. The clothes I have been wearing are getting much tighter and I have lost my mind. I cannot remember where I have been or what I have done. Apparently, this is 'baby on the brain' normal but it is making me crazy! (Especially at school!) Thankfully, I am organized enough (and I keep reminder post its everywhere) that only the people really close to me have noticed. :)

This is our 23rd week so I am 22 weeks pregnant or 5 1/2 months! Only 18 more weeks to go! Normally our "What to expect when expecting" app tells us a fruit or vegtable that resembles our child's height and weight. However, this week, they are comparing our baby to a small doll! (Last week was spaghetti squash!) Right now, he is still about 8 inches long and a little more than a pound but in the next four weeks, our little boy's weight will double.

Our son's skin is reddish in color because of the developing blood vessels (remember his skin is still very thin). His skin grows much faster than fat at this point so his skin is hanging from his body right now. He is ready to put on some weight!

I went by Hobby Lobby last night and they had our letters on sale for 40% off! Yay! They had every letter except for Y but I plan to go back tonight to see if their shipment included a Y. Matt and I took off all of the tags, stickers and staples and then I started painting!

All of our letters!

I am painting all of the brown colors first, then I'll do green, organge, blue and then red. They are looking pretty good so far!

We also bought the dresser for the nursery this past week. We still need some shelves to hang on the wall and a small bookshelf for all of his books and then we will be ready!

The dresser! I can't wait to get it!

Y'all have a great week! :)

Happy November!

I love Halloween! I love everything about Halloween! So...last Friday night we had a pumpkin carving party. We set up in the kitchen (so we could watch the Rangers stomp the Yankees) and carved our pumpkins. We had a great turn out and a wonderful time!

This is my pirate pumpkin! By the time I took the picture, it had been in the garage for a week and had a lot of mold inside. It is still pretty put together for being a week old.

This past Friday, Matt and I had our own little pumpkin carving party with Wayne, Allison and Emily. Wayne and Allison bought an 87 pound pumpkin to carve. Matt and I carved our small pumpkins while Allison worked on their giant pumpkin.

Here is the size difference. For real, the pumpkin on the left side is a regular sized pumpkin. The pumpkin on the right is the giant 87 pound pumpkin!

This is Wayne and Allison's 87 pound pumpkin. It is beautiful!

This is Matt's regular sized pumpkin! He did an excellent job!

I took the pumpkin's to our house to light and take pictures. When I came back we were looking at the pictures and this one totally freaked me out! I couldn't figure out why there looked like a man standing in our door way. (I think it must have been a darker picture on my phone.) Once I figured out what it was, I showed Matt and he freaked out too! It was just the stem. We are dorks!

This was my pumpkin. By the next day was was almost completely shrivelled up and caved in!

On Saturday, Matt and I decided to join Wayne and Allison on their trip to the nursery to find more big pumpkins. Matt and I bought a 60 pound pumpkin and Wayne and Allison got a 55ish pound pumpkin. I don't have any pre-carved pictures of the pumpkins. Oh well!

This was Allison's big pumpkin! This was my big pumpkin. I think we need more lights in it!

On Halloween, Matt and I got up and went to church. We are on a section that the church is calling Guardrails. It is about setting boundaries in your life. The introduction to Guardrails was last week and after church Matt and I had a discussion about where we think we need boundaries in our life. We had a hard time figuring that out...I guess because we feel like our boundaries are already set. However, this week, they talked about friendships and I think a light bulb went on for both of us. Mostly they talked about being around people who are not on the same path as you are and how that can affect who you are as a person. Being core friends with people that are pushing you in a direction you do not wish to go or make you feel like you cannot be yourself around them is something that needs to be changed. Matt and I had a conversation about those friends in our lives who we are so blessed to have. The people in our lives that treat us like friends, who truly care about our well being, who not only talk the talk but walk the walk of being our friends. We are so lucky to have so many true friends in our lives!

We got home around 2 and my parents arrived shortly after. We watched the rest of the Cowboys' game (if you could call it a game) and made carmel apples!

This is my first time making carmel apples. We added pecans to some and walnuts to others. YUM!

After Isaiah and Audra had nap time, Dennise brought them over to trick or treat. Matt and I set up our men that we built and arranged our pumpkins. We got a lot of compliments and a lot of people took pictures with our men and with our giant pumpkin. This Halloween was pretty simple in the decorating department but I think if we work up slowly, we can expand each year. (Matt and Wayne are already talking about making a haunted house in a garage next year!) In my eyes, it is a successful Halloween if you have at least one little child who is too scared to come up to the door to ask for candy...let's just say, this was a VERY successful Halloween. I cannot wait to start planning for next year.

Here are our pumpkins!

Here are our men!

I can't believe we will have our own little trick or treater next year! I can't wait! Y'all have a great week!