The After Thanksgiving Post

Well, we are all 5 pounds heavier and had fun celebrating our 1st Thanksgiving with Leighton!

Thanksgiving Day family pic that was accomplished in TWO takes!

First up my grandparents house where my grandpa got up at 2am to start smoking a turkey. Crazy!
This may be our last Thanksgiving with my great grandma so it was nice to spend a little extra time with her.
Not sure why we wait until the end of people's lives to spend that extra time...
Leighton is in love with Thanksgiving food. (Not her momma's daughter...I could totally skip the holiday and be fine! HA!) She beat her tray and cried when her plate was empty. It was really funny. Can't wait until Christmas!




Next up Grandma Rachel's.
We had ham.
Leighton had just as much fun at this meal too! This girl loves her food! HA!

Bring on the food~ I am ready!

This is the FIRST bottle I have ever been able to personally give Lo!
A Kodak moment for sure!

Overall, a fun a festive holiday.
Babies make it so much more fun!
Bring on Christmas!!

A little preview.

Ps. 100

¹ Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

² Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.

³ Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

⁵ For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalms 100

While Thanksgiving is not my favorite holiday (not a fan of the food really), the concept is not lost on me. Taking time out from our hectic lives to stop and remember and enjoy all the things we are thankful for is truly what it is all about.

I/we have many blessings to be thankful for and give God the praise. Here are just a few on my short list this year.

• Our families being close and such an amazing support system.

• My husband, the list is ennumerable, but I am truly thankful for him working so hard so I can be home with our daughter.

• My beautiful daughter. I had waited for her for a long time. I can not begin to imagine our lives without her. She is my biggest blessing this year.

• 

• Our Church and church family and friends.
• Our pups they bring such joy to our home and family.

• And the basics like a warm home, cars, food on the table, and our health.

Again this is just my short list. God is and continues to be so good to our family!

What are you thankful for this year?

~Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!~

Show Us Your Life: Pet Edition

This week at Kelly's Korner it is all about the pets!

I love dogs!
When I went away to college my heart was so sad because I couldn't take my poodle, Buddy, with me.

Then I got married and DESPERATELY wanted a dog, but all the dumb apartments had a NO PETS ALLOWED rule. (I think it is dumb...I am sure it is proven that college kids are more responsible and do better in school if they have a pet! :) ).

Anyway, Chad promised me that when we moved back home we would get an apartment that DID allow pets...and we did!

I was then able to bring my beloved Buddy to come live with us. Those of you who know Buddy know he was a very mean and aggressive dog most days of the week. We tried so hard to break him of his aggressiveness, but after 7 years nothing was changing. Where was Cesar Milan when I needed him!! Sadly, we had to put him down. This was and still is a gut wrenching decision for me. I am tearing up just thinking about it. Matter of fact I hardly EVER think of Buddy because it can still bring on uncontrollable tears. The decision had to be made because we wanted to start having babies and Buddy and a small baby would not mix.

In Loving Memory
Buddy James
March 1999-April 2006

A few days later we got Tuck! Another poodle! He is loving (well towards balls) and a great companion. Tuck is under the impression he is part human and really wants nothing to do with other dogs per say. HA!
He was our baby forever. We had no idea it would take us so long to get pregnant. Then when we did we feared Tuck would be overcome with loneliness. (Stupid perhaps, but we truly believed it!)

Our 1st "family" photo

Tuck with his "Mini-Me"

So when I was 8 weeks pregnant we picked up another phantom poodle, Toby! (they are actually 1/2 brothers).

Toby is night and day different than Tuck. Toby is the dog I always wanted. He is my lap puppy and snuggle bunny! (Not even Lo let's me snuggle her...a mommy needs snuggles.) Toby is also THE BEST pup with Leighton, he lets her pull his ears and "pet" him all she wants and never "complains!"

Meeting Tobias he fell asleep on my shoulder and it was LOVE!

Toby LOVES the outside even when it is SNOWING!

While there are plenty of moments I question where my hormone levels were at when I made the choice to get another puppy, I have never ever regretted it! We are all one big happy family!

Tuck even secretly loves his baby brother!

Now if you are an animal lover then hop on over to Kelly's Korner and check out others pet stories!