Pre-Thanksgiving Fun!

We had a busy week last week!  We had our small group Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday night, I hosted a girls night at our house Monday night, Tuesday night we went to ChickfilA's turkey night and then I went to a going away dinner for my boss, and on Friday we had a Thanksgiving party at school and Thanksgiving parent lunch!  Whew! 

Tuesday night CFA had a turkey night.  They had live turkeys, a blue grass band, and turkey crafts!  Ellington loooves the CFA cow!

Gobble gobble!

Sweet Finley is just always along for the ride!

This is Mrs. Jenna.  We loooove her!  She does Mini Moo time on Thursday mornings.  Ellington thinks Mrs. Jenna is her own personal best friend. :)  I know CFA usually has great employees but I think that our CFA has the BEST EVER.  The are all amazing (especially Mrs. Jenna!) :)

After CFA I had to go to a going away party for my boss.  The director I have had since I was a college student working at FUMC is leaving and taking a job somewhere else.  The dinner started at 6:00 but the waiter was really slow and I don't think everyone even had a drink by 6:30.  Needless to say the whole process took awhile.  Robert had to call me at 7:30 to see if I could come on home because Finley was pretty upset.  I had to get a to-go box and leave a little early!  I am having to remind myself a lot lately that this season with Finley will be short and before long I will be a little more flexible!

Friday morning we had a little party in our classroom.  I keep our parties pretty low key.  Because goodness, they are energetic enough without a party! :)

Friday was also the parent Thanksgiving lunch at school.  Ellington was SO happy to have Robert come!

So much Thanksgiving fun!

Small Group Thanksgiving

Last Sunday our small group got together for a Thanksgiving feast!  We were suppose to bring the turkey. Robert was attempting frying a turkey for the first time in preparation for frying one on Thanksgiving day. This is what we ended up taking...

Oops!!!  Apparently BIG turkeys take a really long time to thaw.  Robert bought the turkey on a Thursday night and he had it thawing in the fridge until Sunday.  It was still frozen on the inside.  After several attempts to speed up the process we realized it was a lost cause.  Robert was really disappointed but the KFC was delicious! :)

These are our biggest kids!  Once the babies of the group but now the "big ones"!  Ellington was the oldest there with nine kids in all!  It was BUSY!

All the Mamas!

Henry, Ellington, Thomas, and Wade ended up in Wade's bed by the end of the night.  They were having a great time together!!!  I didn't get a picture of Vivi, Jack, or Parker.  I'll have to make up for that at our Christmas party.

We are thankful for these sweet friends!

Ellington and Emerson at the Farm

A couple of weeks ago Bryant and Emerson were in Philadelphia with my parents and they invited Ellington to come too.  On Saturday morning Pop and Emerson came to our house to pick up Ellington.  They were both sooooo excited!  It was sweet seeing them leave together with my Dad...off to fun adventures!

Pop, Uncle Bryant, Ellington, and Emerson had a blast at the farm and a stop by the fair grounds.  

Ellington is still telling me about things that she learned and saw at the farm.  I was so thankful that my Dad and my brother were willing to spend time with Ellington.  She LOVED every second of it!

When Ellington got home on Sunday she had dirt under her nails, scrapes on her arms, and "nature debris" in her hair!  Haha!  I think it was safe to say that she had a blast.

(And thanks Bryant for emailing me theses pictures!)

Just a Few Photos

Several weeks ago when Reagan was here, Ellington got a special treat!  Reagan and Ellington went on an outing all by themselves!  Reagan took Ellington to the bookstore downtown.  They read books together and had icecream!  Ellington loved being with Reagan.  I think it's important for our kids to get to know their family members in special ways like this!  I love that she is making sweet memories!

We loved having Reagan with us so much and we were sad to see her go!

I decided to take the picture below to capture a very real moment of this season of my life.  We're all in pajamas and I haven't had a shower or put on make up.  Life with two! :)

After LOTS of crying from about 5 weeks old until about 3 months old, Finley is just the sweetest baby ever!  She smiles easily and we are all LOVING this stage!

A couple of weeks ago Finley attended her first MSU basketball game.  This picture cracks me up because sweet Finley looks like a big football player!  She definitely isn't dainty!

Finley {4 Months}

Finley,

You turned 4 months old almost a month ago (oops!) on November 2nd.  I did however, take your picture on time.  I am just a bit late in posting about what you are up to.  :)

-You weight 16 lbs and are in the 95th percentile for weight

-You are 25 inches long and in the 75th percentile for length

-You wear size 6 months clothes and size 3 diaper

-You have started sleeping in your room!  Right after you turned 3 months old we moved you into your room.  Mommy stayed in the room with you the first few weeks, but you are on your own now!  

-You still sleep in your miracle blanket and nap nanny

-You go to school now!  The BIGGEST change since right after you turned 3 months is that you go to "school" 3 mornings a week now.  You do great and love your teachers!  

-You usually take 2 small morning naps and one long afternoon nap

-You nurse on demand.  I really don't keep up with when/how often/etc. at all.  We just go with the flow!

-You don't sleep well at night. :( You wake up lots and lots and lots throughout the night.  Right around the time you were 3 months old you were doing GREAT at night.  We have kind of gone down hill since then.  

-You are soooooo smiley!  As long as someone is talking to you, you are usually smiling!

-You are able to fall asleep without nursing now

-You can grasp toys and put them in your mouth

-You smile instantly at the sight of your Mama, your Daddy, and your sister.  We all think it's the best thing ever. :)

-You still refuse all bottles and have still never taken a single sip from one.  I guess at this point you probably won't ever start drinking from a bottle!  Oh well.  

-You still don't like stop lights at all!  

-You get lots of attention when we go places because you are so chubby! :)

-You love chewing on your fingers

Finley,

You are such a precious, sweet baby!  We all love you sooooo much and we are delighted that you are in our lives.  We can't imagine our family without you!  

Trick-or-Treating {Rain Delay}

Friday night we went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood!  Thursday (Halloween) was rainy all day long so our neighborhood decided that we would trick-or-treat on Friday night.  I am soooo glad that we were able to do that!  We had perfect weather and SO much fun with our friends!!!

I found out I was pregnant last year two days before Halloween.  I vividly remember taking a family picture in front of our house before trick-or-treating knowing that next year we would take the same picture with two little ones and wondering if we would have a boy or a girl.  I am so thankful little Finley is a part of our family this year! 

I love these two sweet best friends!

All of the "big" kids.  Haha.  It was a little hard to get a picture!

Mickey Mouse (Bennett), Minnie Mouse (Austin), Pumpkin (Ellington), and Kangaroo (Thomas)

And the two "little" kids...Parker and Finley!

When we started the big kids were FULL SPEED AHEAD.  They ran and squealed from house to house.  It was so much fun to watch!  They had the BEST time!

I love these sweet girls!  I am so thankful to have other Mamas in my life who are there for me!

Mary Beth, Ashia, & Me

Look who was here with us!!!!  Aunt Reagan!!!!

Reagan spent the weekend with us and because of the rain delayed trick-or-treating, she got to come along.

  

What a FUN night with all of these crazy kids!

Trick-or-Treating on Campus

We went to the sorority row trick-or-treating night on Tuesday of last week.  We hadn't ever been to this event before so we didn't really know what to expect, but it was fun!  There was also a Halloween carnival in the junction but we didn't go to that.  Finley was super tired and fussy because instead of napping until 4:30 or so in the afternoon like usual, she had woken up at 2:30!  So we made the best of the night as quickly as possible and then headed home. :)

What a precious pumpkin!

Ellington - 4 Years Old

All of the girls at the houses were so super sweet!

This big girl pumpkin wanted to take a picture with the little pumpkin so I snapped one too!

We had to bust Finley out of her costume because it was a hot afternoon!

We enjoyed a fun night on campus and Ellington got so much candy that she couldn't carry her pumpkin bag because it was too heavy! Success. :)