thanksgiving 2009 - georgia

We spent a week in Georgia for Thanksgiving visiting Wes' cute family. We always enjoy seeing them - especially when all of us are able to be there! It was great having the entire clan together. This year the family consists of 10 adults, 2 kids, 4 toddlers & 2 newborns with 2 babies on the way in 2010!

The week consisted of: a lot of chatting and catching up, cooking and more cooking, baking, what seemed like endless sinks of dishes, laughter, toddlers laughing & fighting, playing games, college football, Zoo Atlanta, dinner at Spencer & Leigh’s, black Friday shopping, Lassiter football game, the Jefferson Township park, a visit to Melissa & Robert, seeing April & Gareth, family pictures, and more!

ZOO ATLANTA



I was determined to take Nate to Zoo Atlanta since we don’t have one here in Vegas and he is obsessed with animals. The weather cooperated so off we went! Nate was in h e a v e n not only because of the animals but because he got to go with a few of his cousins. He absolutely loves them. Bayley and Kendal held his hand and took him all over the zoo. Olivia joined up with them as soon as she got there!




One funny thing about Nate at the zoo – he’d get right up the front and yell “come over here” to the animals. He wanted them as close as possible. So of course, when they didn’t listen, he’d turn around to us and say “ears not working!” I always ask him if his ears work when he isn’t listening so apparently he gets the concept since the animals were ignoring him!



We ended the trip to the zoo with the playground, a carousel ride & the train.




DINNER AT SPENCER & LEIGH’S IN ELLIJAY, GEORGIA

A few weeks ago, my sis-in-law Leigh left me a message asking what my favorite dinner and dessert was. I didn’t think much of it but come to find out she was planning a dinner at her house to celebrate the birth of our little boy in February!

She went all out on my favorites - tacos and ice cream and much more. Her home was beautiful as always, decorated with Christmas, and she made a delicious dinner for all of us with an amazing presentation. There were so many yummy things to choose from! It was a wonderful night in their home . . . thanks again for thinking of us and putting so much time in to such a nice evening! Wes and I appreciate your thoughtfulness.


FAMILY PICTURES



Since we had everyone together – we all decided that an updated family photo was a must. Leigh found a great photographer who met us at a park on Wednesday afternoon for some photos. I brought my camera and got a few – I’ll post the professional ones once I get my disk.

{However, I think I'm going to instigate a new rule that a 7 month pregnant person should not be in family photos! It's not pretty. Notice you won't see me in a single photo - I prefer to stay behind the lens these days.}

our two newest additions - both born in September - Addison & Jaidyn

the thornton kiddos [wes' sister's kids]


nate enjoying the outdoors


kids playing




leigh and baby jaidyn



THANKSGIVING DAY

We had a pretty relaxing Turkey Day. Lots of cooking going on in the morning while the cousins played. Alyssa and I found these rice krispie turkeys online so we got everything ready for the kiddos to make them. They had a great time - these are their masterpieces.



Wes, Nate & I ran out to see a good friend of his, Melissa and her husband Robert that morning but the rest of the day was spent at home. We had a delicious thanksgiving meal that we all pitched in on. Many hands definitely made for light work that day! The best part? We all opted to eat at 2:30 so all kids were asleep except for the older Thornton girlies – Bayley & Kendal. It was nice to enjoy a meal without toddlers!

BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING
Somehow I never knew about this day until I became a Griffeth. And now it’s a tradition – as crazy as it is sometimes! After 3 hours of sleep, I got up at 4am to join the girls for a morning of shopping. While I wasn’t absolutely thrilled with the sale selection – I did manage to get all of our Griffeth Christmas shopping done which was a big accomplishment for me! Leigh and I were out the longest – finally returning home at 1pm. That’s a good 8 hours of shopping and the day was only half over!

A FEW NATE THINGS TO REMEMBER . . . .

HIS FEELINGS ABOUT ALABAMA
He’s been talking about going to Alabama for a month now. {we fly in to Birmingham, Alabama to cash in on our southwest RR points and then we drive to Atlanta}. We got to Alabama about 8pm on Saturday and we’re on our drive to Atlanta and Nate is still asking to go to Alabama. We explain that we are in Alabama but he wasn’t feeling it. I’m not sure what he was expecting. Then we get to Chic-fil-A to get some dinner and we ask him if he wants French fries and of course he says yes. Well, they have waffle fries so I hand him one and he says, “I don’t like Alabama fries.”

SO EXCITED THAT HE COULDN'T SLEEP.
He had the week of his life with his cousins. He had such a hard time going to sleep because he was afraid he was missing a party with his cousins. He laid in bed repeating “play toys” and as soon as we’d go in there to get him he’d say “where is everybody?” The room he was sleeping overlooked the main area of the house downstairs so it got a little noisy at times. One night he would not go to sleep so I went in there and told him it was bedtime and he looked at me with his innocent little face and said, "but everybody talking!" I couldn't trick him.

COUSIN LOVE.


Nate loved all of his cousins but he especially bonded with Kendal on this trip. Kendal is our adorable five-year-old niece who absolutely loves little kids and being a mommy. So Nate not only loved her but she enjoyed playing with him, too! He c o n s t a n t l y asked for Kendal – wanting to know where she was at all times! She was absolutely adorable with Nate. Alisha, I wasn’t kidding about shipping her out to me for a few weeks this summer!



BABY LOVE.
Nate also loved the two babies in the house. I was curious to see how this would go - he loved them! I know part of it was due to the fact that there were so many other people for him to play with but he was very aware of where the babies were and wanted them by him a lot of the time. He’d say “little baby. Be soft with baby. Kiss baby. Baby eat.” Etc. It was a good preview for him, I think!

Thanks Griffeth clan for a great week. A special thanks to Robert & Doreen for hosting all of us and making it such a memorable holiday.

a {glimpse} in to our week

We had a busy / productive / fun week getting ready to go out of town tomorrow. Here's a little bit of what we've been up to:

• First off - it's Abbie's 4th birthday on Sunday. Ali {abbie's mama/my sister} is not a fan of the mall. But Abbie totally is - she loves the Galleria Mall which she calls the Sunshine Mall. Sam & I love any mall so we asked Abbie if she'd like to come with us to the mall for her birthday to pick out a present. So today was the big outing. We went in to a number of stores letting her decide which one was her favorite. Claire's was by far the winner. She found a princess section in the back and was in 4-year-old-little-girl-heaven. She fell in LOVE with a giant pink princess backpack and a few accessories. We finished the trip to the mall with a trip to the candy store where she picked out this giant lollipop. I think she had a good time with her aunties. I'm glad I have a little girl that will go shopping with me because I'm pretty sure my boys won't be too enthused!

• Wes spent a good chunk of the week in Burbank, Fresno & Ontario, California.
• I put all of our fall and Thanksgiving stuff away so we can come home and put Christmas up! I'm still hoping we'll have time to at least get the tree up tomorrow before we leave.
• I went on a scrapbooking mission to finish Nate's scrapbook SOON. So while Wes was gone, I scrapbooked many nights in to the early hours of the morning.
• We cleaned alot. I love coming home to a clean house.
• Work was crazy busy.
• Got my hair done and my eyebrows waxed.
• Ordered our Christmas cards.
• Did a little Christmas shopping.
• Nate did Thanksgiving crafts with Grandma at library storytime and at Hadley's house.
• Went on our 3 mile walk with friends a few times this week.
• Made treats for the girls I visit teach.
• Went to a holiday party.
• LAUNDRY.
• Packing. Packing. and more Packing. Leaving for 8 days is a lot harder to pack for than a weekend getaway. And trying to come up with activities for Nate for our almost 12 hour {YES, I said 12 hours} adventure door-to-door has been a treat. But WELL worth a trip to Georgia to see Wes' family. Everyone will be there this year so we're just a little excited to get there!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING. We'll be back in a week!

visit with santa

On Saturday, Wes went to help Tripp lay sod in the morning so I took Nate to his favorite place: The Bass Pro Shop! We looked at the fishies, animals, rode cabin cars and boats . . . and saw SANTA! Nate has been talking about Santa and was really excited to see him. Even walking up the path to his house was exciting. Then came the sitting on the lap and the excitement vanished and fear entered in! Hence me holding his hand for the quick {and free} photo!

As soon as we were away from Santa he liked him again.

life at 27 weeks pregnant

You asked for a belly shot - so here you go. Yes, I know . . . it's big. But it's only going to get bigger and bigger!

Here's what's going on at almost s e v e n months pregnant:

. I still eat alot. I'm always hungry. Which explains the weight gain but I can't not eat when I'm that hungry!

. I pee all-day-and-all-night-long. Within two minutes after peeing I have to pee again. No joke.

. I'm entering in to the uncomfortable stage.

. I absolutely love feeling this little man moving around in there. I swear he is a master of karate and kickboxing already.

. Nate loves this baby. I know that will probably change when the baby is out of my belly but for now he's very aware that there's a baby in there. He always tells me to feed the baby or asks to kiss the baby or say hi.

. I haven't prepared at all (other than purchasing a few winter outfits) for this little guy. I don't really have to do much but it's been a different experience with #2 because my thoughts aren't consumed with baby things. They are consumed with keeping up with my toddler!

. My poor legs. This has been the biggest difference with this pregnancy. They are suffering! Especially my left leg. There are veins popping out everywhere and they are swollen from pressure. It's u g l y. I'm really hoping they look normal again one day.

. Speaking of legs, I get serious leg cramps these days. Usually in the middle of the night and I fly out of bed to get rid of it!

. My energy levels go in waves. One week I've got a ton of energy and the next week I have no motivation to do anything.

. A name for this baby? Nope. We're sticking with the same strategy this go-around. We each show up at the hospital with a list of names and once he's born, we pick one! There isn't much discussion (if any at all) about names going on in our house!

. I'm excited to have another little guy but s c a r e d to d e a t h at the same time. The newborn stage is a rough one for me.

. For records sake, there's been a scare of the H1N1 flu this year . . . especially for pregnant women. So, after much debate and researching, I got myself vaccinated a few weeks ago.

. I can't believe this little dude will be here in three months.

This second pregnancy of mine is definitely different than when I was pregnant with Nate but I still really enjoy being pregnant and overall feel really good!

my parent's little helper

Nate loves to help my parent's around their house. He mows their lawn with his little lawn mower, waters the plants and loves to clean the pool. Maybe when he's a little bigger they can hire him!

i heart these ladies

Since we moved in to the Serene Ward four years ago, I've pretty much been in the young womens program the entire time. I started with one Presidency and then for the last 3+ years I've been able to serve with these ladies. Most of us got released about a month ago! While I will miss the girls . . . I will really miss seeing these ladies on a regular basis. They are such an amazing group and I feel so lucky that I got to get to know them and see them so often for the last 3 years! Now we just have to make more of an effort to get together, that's all.

The photo above was taken a few weeks ago at Macayo's. We went out to dinner together and I'm hoping we keep that tradition alive because it was a great night out!

do you have a double-stroller recommendation?

I guess with only 3 months and week left of this pregnancy, I should probably start thinking about a few things. One being a double-stroller! So I need your help. I've gotten a few double-stroller recommendations but I thought I'd get a few more before I make a purchase.

Do you love your double-stroller or have one you've been eyeing? Please tell me about it! Here's what I'm looking to use it for:

• I don't run - but I do walk a decent amount so it can't be a cheapo.
• I will be taking it to the mall, etc. so it can't be too wide. I struggle enough with a single stroller sometimes!
• Any tall friends have one with a higher push bar? That's a must so my back doesn't break!

Thanks for your help.

wes, you're gonna be proud.

Nate usually watches a cartoon in the morning - it's either Elmo or Mickey these days. This morning's conversation went like this:

Me: "Nate, do you want to watch Elmo or Mickey?"

silence . . . as Nate is thinking about it.

Nate: "I watch football."

PBR

We had our annual trip to the PBR on Friday night. My parent's scored some tickets and invited us and our friends Kiley & Brandon to go with them. Wes is my cowboy-at-heart so this event is much anticipated all year. It's always fun to bring Kiley & Brandon . . . they are our rodeo buddies!



We had a yummy dinner at Bahama Breeze and spent the evening watching some good ol' bull riding. The night ended with YogurtLand at Town Square. It was a fun night out, that's for sure!