Thanksgiving Break

We've had a good 5 days off and I don't think any of us are looking forward to returning to our schedule tomorrow. We've had some nice downtime with no plans in particular.

Luke had off school on Wednesday so I took the day with him and we hung around the house, cleaned a little bit, baked cookies and took lunch to my mom and dad. He was anxious for Dillon to return home, though, because it's always the 3 of us. He didn't realize that Dillon was working a full day.

Thursday we celebrated Thanksgiving with my mom and dad. My mom spent all morning cooking in the kitchen and I didn't have to cook a thing. She made everything from the appetizers to the pie and it was much appreciated. Dad's still having some pain with his knee, but is doing so well. Tomorrow he gets his staples out and then Tuesday is his follow up appointment. He's down to walking with a cane now and we are so pleased with his progress.

Friday, Dillon and I dropped off Luke for a few hours with my mom and dad so we could do the rest of our Christmas shopping. We picked up a few more things and I think I can say now that we are completely done. Or at least I am. No more shopping, no malls, probably no Target or Wal-Mart until after Christmas.

Saturday morning we all woke up early and met my mom and dad at the Moose Cafe. This was dad's first outing since his surgery so it was a pretty big deal! We had a HUGE breakfast and then afterwards, Dillon, Luke and I drove down to the Farmer's Market to pick out our tree. We let Luke decide which tree we got (with limitations. He did want the 15 foot tree, but we had to explain it wouldn't fit in our house). When we got in the car, Luke exclaimed that we had picked out the perfect tree! We spent the majority of the morning cleaning and decorating and after that I was exhausted. Luke has really enjoyed "looking" at the ornaments and all of Dillon's old Star Wars ornaments. Today was catch up with groceries and errands and just getting ready for the week ahead.

So all in all, nothing too exciting. A relaxing few days that we all needed, I think. The downtime does make me a little more anxious. I haven't really had a chance to think about all of the stuff to come in the next few weeks with the baby coming. I think we have everything ready so now the countdown begins. I'm highly uncomfortable which makes me doubly dread going back to work. Honestly, I'm to the point where I just want to sleep all day if I could be comfortable. HA! Tuesday marks 36 weeks so 3 weeks until induction and 2 weeks until the point when Luke came. :-\ Ready or not, it's coming.

The "Before" Spread

Intriguing online shopping...

And, yes, this is how Luke ate Thanksgiving dinner. :|

I was having some issues with the camera...

And then figured it out!

HAHA! Such a ham!

First attempt at hanging the star...

Our tree isn't fancy, but I sure do love it. The nostalgic ornaments and Luke's handmade ones always make me happy.

Just about the cutest kid ever. Rotten, but cute. :)

Brunchin' for Baby

Yesterday our friends, the Creggers, had a brunch to celebrate Baby Charlie. A few of our friends came over and we had a great time catching up and letting all of our little ones play together. Everyone was so sweet, too, and stocked us up on diapers and some cute little baby outfits. Laurie had some delicious food like mini chicken and waffles, quiche bites, fruit kabobs, and little hashbrown bites. We all ate until we couldn't and enjoyed the company. After the shower we came home and unpacked all of our goodies and started washing baby clothes. We relaxed the rest of the evening and today I was in clean mode.

I went Thanksgiving grocery shopping with my mom and when I got home we sanitized bottles, made Chex mix and some dinner. I've put up all of the new clothes for the baby and gotten everything ready in our bags. I'm thoroughly exhausted.

This week marks 35 weeks pregnant so we're almost there. Tomorrow starts my weekly appointments and I'll no longer be traveling long distances for work. I think we're all ready to meet the baby and get this show on the road. Today when I was working on cleaning bottles, Luke asked me if we were going to the doctor today (meaning that the baby was coming). I told him not today, but it won't be too much longer.

This week as we celebrate Thanksgiving, we are so thankful for our immediate and extended family, our friends, all of our blessings and the generosity of others. We're excited for some time off this week and starting the holiday celebrations. Next week, we look to get our Christmas tree!

Super moon over Candler

For Christmas Eve... :) after the baby is here!

Time to sanitize!

And make Chex mix... I'm like a little old lady. I can't stand up to cook.

Yeehaw

Early November

Well... we survived the elections. I'm glad that there are no more candidate t.v. commercials on and while it wasn't the outcome I expected, it is what it is and we continue on.

This weekend, we went and visited with Dillon's family. I turn 34 weeks pregnant tomorrow and my doctor told me that at 35 weeks I need to stay close to home and no more traveling (that includes for work). That put us directly on the week of Thanksgiving. We decided to head up the mountain to celebrate a combined Thanksgiving and Christmas (as on Christmas we will have a fresh newborn).   We took our Christmas gifts for everyone and enjoyed a good meal with Dillon's mom and Russ. Pappaw Eddie let Luke go ahead and open his Christmas now instead of waiting until December and Luke was VERY excited to get his Batman/Superman play set that he has wanted for months now. We came back around lunchtime yesterday and tried to get some things organized around the house. The laundry is just uncontrollable at our house now and I don't know if it's because we have more or we're just ignoring it. HA!

Today, my dad had knee replacement surgery and will be in the hospital until Wednesday or Thursday. He started his physical therapy today, less than 8 hours after surgery, and will go to the gym at the hospital tomorrow to continue rehab. It's probably going to be a rough go of it for a few weeks for him (and my mom) so we're trying to help out as much as we can.

I am slowing down tremendously, too. At almost 8 months pregnant, my stomach is pretty huge. Dillon took a picture of me on Saturday and I said, I think that shirt makes me look really big and Dillon said "I don't think it's the shirt" :-| It really is all belly, but I'm having trouble finding shirts to fit over it. Medium shirts aren't even coming over the belly, so the people at work may be surprised to see me in Dillon's tee shirts soon. Like I said, tomorrow marks 34 weeks so if she comes at 38 weeks like Luke did, we've got a short 4 weeks ahead of us. If we have to wait to be induced it will be right at 5 more weeks. Wooo... For now, I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving and maybe trying to score some Black Friday deals and getting our tree up. A few more things to complete before the baby is here!

Dillon's mom cooks a delicious meal!

This is the one I was talking about. Whoa there... 

Luke opening up his Christmas gift from Pappaw. He was so excited.

And after all that, Luke plays with the box. Ha! 

Puzzles with Glen on a quick stop by.

We had fun with Gran! 

Action shot!