Thanksgiving Goodies

We've got fun Thanksgiving stuff planned this week. I'm doing a little cooking, but not the whole meal or anything. I know I'm not ready for all that responsibility yet. :)

But I am making The Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls, chex-mix and a broccoli salad. Thanksgiving just calls for chex-mix. Mom always made a batch of it to snack on in the car on the way to Nana and Pop's house. I don't think we ever had a batch make it through the full four hour drive. Yum.

So we had this beautiful fall-like weather all last week and then it got warmer on Saturday and today it was 82 degrees. What? This drives me crazy about Dallas weather, but I guess we should be used to it.

Here are some shots from last week when it was still chilly enough to wear a sweater:





These mums are on our back patio. I've really been enjoying the color back there. Do mums make it through the winter or just the fall in Dallas?





Andrew loves his wagon. He begs to go for a ride in the front yard, but then he tries to jump out so he can run away and look at stuff in people's yards. He's sneaky like that.

Anyway, it's supposed to cool off again here later this week and I'm glad. It should feel like fall on Thanksgiving Day I think.

I hope you all have a chance to relax, refresh and enjoy every bit of your holiday week!

Wheee...

Andrew and I are so thankful for this beautiful, crisp fall weather.

I hope you're all getting a chance to get out and enjoy it!

20 Months

Y'all, my baby is 20 months old! How did that happen??



I was telling a mom friend of mine today that I love this age so much. Andrew is talking more and more, making it much easier for us to figure out what he wants or needs, and he's very sure of what it is he wants these days.

He's getting more independent, walking in to the pantry to pick out his snack when he's hungry, saying "sleepy" when he's ready for a nap. And saying "outside" about 30 times a day to tell us he's ready to go out to play.



I let him watch Mickey's Clubhouse for the first time last week, and he's now obsessed with Mickey Mouse. "Mickey, Mickey?" all day long. Sorry Gabba, I think you've been replaced.

(But we have tickets to see Yo Gabba Gabba Live next month so hopefully he still has some love for them.)

He's still an awesome sleeper. The time change didn't even affect him too much. He usually sleeps from about 8:30 to 7:30 or 8:00. Awesome. And he naps about two hours in the afternoon.

His favorite toys are his blocks and books. He loves to build tall towers with his blocks and he likes to point out everything in his books. He also still likes anything with buttons like his Elmo remote.



He loves an audience. Matt and Kelsey and baby Reid came over to watch the Cowboys win(!!) on Sunday and Andrew was in heaven! All those people ready to watch him cheer and dance. He's quite the performer.

At Gymboree he's the kid dancing on top of the tallest activity center and looking around to make sure people are watching him. I think he's a people person. :)



I want to remember absolutely everything about him at this age, but he's growing up so fast. Slow down just a little bit, okay Andrew?
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I'm linking up to Sweet Shot Tuesdays at My3Boybarians.com. I know I've mentioned this before but Darcy's site is full of awesome photography tips and tutorials. And she's super nice, too! Check out her site for more Sweet Shots.

Sweet, Sweet baby Reid

I'm finally sharing some of the photos from my newborn shoot with my nephew Reid!

We took these when he was six days old. He's 22 days old now, so he already seems much bigger. I'm so glad we were able to do these when he was still really little and super sleepy.





Kelsey found all his adorable hats and the little sack on Etsy.



This one makes me want to pick him up and squeeze him.



I had so much fun doing these. I learned a ton, and I'm glad my first newborn shoot was of Kelsey's baby. It kind of took the pressure off, knowing that if they were terrible I could always re-do them.

I'm really happy with the whole set. :)

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So, remember when I said I was going to post about thankfulness on every post in November? Well, I failed on only my second November post. I'll try to make up for it here:

3. I'm thankful for my flexible work schedule. I've been working for my family since I left my old job back in the summer of 2008. I love that I'm able to work part-time doing work I enjoy while also being able to spend tons of quality time with Andrew. It's a good balance for me and our family.

4. I'm thankful for convenience foods at the grocery store. I love that I can buy cantaloupe all chopped and ready to eat. I love that cheese comes in little bite-size, individually wrapped packages. I love buying a whole roasted chicken for $4. It's these little things that make my life that much easier.

5. I'm thankful for our backyard. We had some landscaping done this summer and now we have a pretty, peaceful place to hang out outside. And there is nothing Andrew likes more than being outside.

Sunday Night

It's Sunday night on time change day, which means it's been dark for hours. I love the time change. I'm one of those strange birds who wishes we could just stay on standard time all year.

We wouldn't have to worry about changing all our clocks around, (which drives me crazy) and we wouldn't have to wake up in the dark nearly as much.

My Cowboys are playing the night game, and they're making me sad again. But I've gotten pretty numb to the bad play so it's not as bad as it was a few weeks ago. Now I'm just less hopeful. I miss Tony, but I bet he's really happy he doesn't have to play any more this season.

We had one of those awesome, stay-at home weekends that I wish we had more often. Brian's mom Janet, Andrew's G.J., came in to town on Thursday afternoon. We were playing out in the front yard when she pulled up to the house.

Andrew ran up to her with his arms out for a hug and said "Jay-Jay" as soon as he saw her. I'm pretty sure her heart melted right there.

He hadn't seen her since August so I was thrilled he was so excited to see her again. We heard lots of "Jay-Jay, Jay-Jay" this weekend!



Friday night I made Baked Bree's Spaghetti and Meatballs, but I used jarred sauce because I'm just not that motivated. They were still really yummy.

Saturday morning we went to a birthday party for our friend Cody who turned two. It was at the flight museum at Love Field and it was so fun. Andrew got to jump in his first bounce house! And there were lots of planes to climb in to and explore. And we got to see our friend Jeff. (Hi Jeff!)



You'd think we were on a Southwest flight, but no, we're just hanging out at a birthday party!



I love this. Andrew was inside the plane and the plane's windshield is apparently very reflective. So you can see the word Canon on Andrew's forehead. It's like a pseudo-self portrait.



(Seriously, girls pay lots of money for eye lashes like that.)



It was a great place for a birthday party and Andrew was worn out when we got home.

He took the longest nap ever that afternoon so I took that time to go see Kelsey and baby Reid. He is so sweet and so darling. Two week old babies are awesome.

Janet went home this morning and then we headed to church. Andrew loves the nursery now which makes me so happy. He's a very social toddler, and I think he just likes being in there with the other kiddos. And he's learned that we're coming back soon so he doesn't get upset when we leave him there.

We played outside a bit this afternoon.



I'm loving this jacket weather.

And now, the Cowboys have lost by an embarrassing amount, and I'm heading to bed.

Hope you all had fun weekends, too!

We Cook! (and Thankfulness)

It feels like fall in Dallas this week. Fall is my very favorite season, and I'm always so happy when it shows up.

It rained yesterday, which I really don't mind, but Andrew was a little sad that it meant we couldn't go outside to play.

So we got to "cook" instead.





He loves all my kitchen utensils. When I let him play with them he runs in to the den, dumps them all out and says "cooking!". Warning: always rinse off the spatula before using with real food.





Do you think this poor kid needs a haircut or what? I wanted to take him last week, but my mom and Brian encouraged me to wait just a little longer. And then yesterday he got rained on and looked like this for the rest of the afternoon.

He really reminded me of a picture I've seen of my dad from the 70's. I think as a teenager he had Andrew's same haircut.



Last week I took newborn photos of my new nephew Reid. I'm planning to share a few with you guys later this week. It's taking me longer to edit them than I thought it would. I think the hardest part has been trying to pick my favorite thirty photos or so.

How do the professionals do it? Maybe it helps to not be totally in love with your subject. :)

And finally, I've seen lots of bloggers commit to writing every day in November about something they're thankful for in honor of Thanksgiving. Well, I know better than to commit to writing every day, but I do think I'll add something I'm thankful for to every post in November.

So today I'm thankful for:

(These seems a little obvious, but are so true.)

1. Brian: He's a terrific dad, a wonderful provider, he makes me laugh every day and he loves me like crazy.
2. Andrew: He keeps me on my toes, fills our home with joy and makes me want to be the very best mom I can be.

Let me know if you're doing thankfulness posts in November. I'd love to visit!