Thanksgiving~2012

Our Thanksgiving this year was spent with our families, just like every year. We had our new addition, Mr. Gentry, this year, though. He wasn't feeling very good and we weren't sure we were going to be able to go to the three different places we needed to go to see all of our family. We actually found out on Friday after Thanksgiving that he has asthma. He's been taking breathing treatments every day since and will finally be finished with them tomorrow. My poor, sweet boy. He feels much better today, though, thankfully.

Anyway, back to Thanksgiving. We got up early to go to Larson's mama's house. She wasn't feeling well, either, but she had cooked an amazing meal for everyone. I absolutely love her dressing and gravy.  She had a turkey and a ham since she knows Larson prefers ham.  I contributed one of my yummy chocolate delights, per a request from Larson's 9 month pregnant sister, Heather. :)

We are anxious to meet her baby boy soon.  She is naming him Gabriel.  It looks like we're going to have a bunch of little boys running around next Thanksgiving.  Her original due date was early January, but it looks like he may come before Christmas or at least by then.  She's getting pretty miserable, bless her heart.

Next, we went on to Larson's daddy's house.  Maxine, Larson's step-mother, had a feast prepared.  I'm telling you she had so much food it was unreal.  I'm surprised at how much we all, including Jubal, ate again.  It's just so hard to resist some good cooking, though. ;)

After enjoying plenty of time outside since it was an absolutely beautiful day, we then went on to my mama's house.  This year we did it the untraditional way at her house.  She knew we would have eaten way too much turkey and/or ham by the time we made it to her house, so instead my sister cooked lasagna, with salad and garlic bread for dinner.  She also cooked some of her dressing, too, just because it was Thanksgiving.  I made another chocolate delight to take to her house.  We had so many goodies.  Jubal ate at every place we went.  Gentry ended up sleeping most of the day.

I love Thanksgiving so much.  It's a lot like Christmas to me, except there's no pressure of gift-giving that comes with it.  You just get to be with your family, eat some good ol' soul food, and watch football.  Now, I need to get myself motivated to put up our Christmas trees.  I usually do it the weekend after Thanksgiving.  Last year I even put them up the Sunday before Thanksgiving so we could enjoy them for awhile longer.  I just like doing it the weekend after Thanksgiving, though, because that's how my family did it my whole life and I think I want to continue that tradition.  Here it is, though, a week later and my trees are still waiting to be put up.

I will make sure to get them up this weekend, especially since Saturday is December 1st.  Just makes the holiday that much closer, which seems to be getting me more motivated.  I need me some good Christmas music and a cup of hot chocolate to get me in the mood.  Too bad it's supposed to be in the 70's this weekend.  Oh well, I'm still going to make myself get them up so my babies can enjoy them.  After all, it's the most wonderful time of the year. :)

Family Pics~2012

We had new family pictures taken November 18 and they turned out so good.
We've added a sweet blessing to our family since last year's pictures. 

Get ready for a picture overload because I'm even going to include some outtakes. :)

  It's hard to get both boys to look at the camera at the same time.  Even if they were both looking, there sometimes wasn't a smile, etc., but we got some cute ones.

The outtakes look pretty darn cute to me, too.

It's called real life & I love every minute of it!!! ;)

A special thanks to my friend, Darla Walker for capturing these memories for us.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.

I know I have so much to be thankful for.

Thank you, God!

1000 Words

I don't have much to tell today since it's been pretty quiet around here.  Daycare, work, home, supper, baths, and bedtimes. Same ol', same ol'. No matter how uneventful, I'm thankful. We are together, we are in good health, have everything we need, and life is good.  What more could a girl ask for?

I do have some pics on my phone I want to post.  They say pictures speak a thousand words, so for the absence of my own words, here are 1000. ;)

Looking pretty "gangsta" there, Jubal.

First time roasting marshmallows.

Jubal's teachers send me texts or pics during the day to let me know how he is doing.

This is him enjoying movie time from awhile back when the weather was still warmer.

Gentry loves this old hand-me-down bouncy.  Jubal loved it when he was little, too.

Stay Little

My heart yearns for my babies to stay little.  Jubal is at an age where everything is so much fun.  Watching him learn new things and hearing all of the new words he says, oh it just melts my heart.

Gentry is our baby, so if we could keep him a baby, we would.  I would like to see him grow up a little more so he's more independent, could talk to us and tell us what he wants or needs, could walk with us, etc.  Don't get me wrong, I love my babies at every age, but I'm sure every mom would agree, it gets easier when they are a little more independent.

I just love them being in my arms.  I look at their little hands and feet and I know they will be big boys sooner than I would like, and grown men one day that won't need their mama like they do now.  They will grow and I won't be able to rock them to sleep or sing them lullabies anymore. 

They'll outgrow sitting on the floor playing with Legos with me, or practicing learning colors, or rolling around on the floor with me tickling them.  Watching Disney movies or Dora or Team Umizoomi with them will become a memory.

I love the sounds of their laughter.  Even Gentry gets so tickled and laughs out loud when we play with him now.  It's things like this I want to bottle up and keep forever.  I don't want my boys to grow up. 

I love how Jubal comes in the kitchen when I'm cooking and says, "I wanna see, Mama."  I pick him up and he watches me cook asking, "What's that, Mama?" or the expression on his face when he exclaims, "Ohh, it's hot, Mama!" when he sees steam coming from a pot.

I know even though it seems like a chore now, that I'll miss straightening the covers on the bed a thousand times a day because Jubal likes to jump on it.  I actually can't wait for both of my boys to be able to jump on that bed together.  To hear their laughter fill our home like a sweet symphony.

I think about how lucky I am to have two healthy, happy boys.  I'm proud that soon enough Jubal will have his brother to run and play with and I hope they form the strongest, most unbreakable bond of any two brothers ever.

As tears roll down my cheeks because I know I can't really stop time, it doesn't make me wish any less that could.  I would keep them just like they are right now if the good Lord would allow, but since we all know it's not going to happen, I just hope that I can raise them to be good men. 

I will write down as many things as I can so that one day I can look back at this and remember these sweet moments with my boys.  If I can't keep them little, at least I can save these moments in time in my words, or in pictures.  Somehow, some way, I will keep these precious times tucked away.  My boys will always be my babies, no matter how old they get.

I just really, really, really wish they would stay little.