Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving always looks different for us from year to year.  Sometimes we go to Chris' family's ranch, sometimes we go to my parents' house, but this year we hosted at our house on Friday!  We hosted Thanksgiving our very first year of being married and haven't since then.  My mom did most of the cooking, so I had the easy part!  Alli's husband's family all came down this week from Wisconsin.  Alli's husband John went to LSU and his brother is there now.  Chris and I, as well as Alli and John and John's family all went to the A&M/LSU game on Thursday.  My parents watched the kids for us while we went!  We decided to do Thanksgiving Friday so it wouldn't be rushed.  Chris' parents we are the ranch and we missed them, but we really enjoyed spending time with John's family!

A little selfie in front of the "old" Kyle Field! It won't look like this next year.      

 Hosting is not my gift, but it was still fun!  We used our china for the second time ever, so I was happy about that!  I thought I had 12 place settings, but apparently I have 10, so I had to ask my mom to bring over one of her plates.  The table cloths are also wrinkled.  It was all so pinterest-worthy! ;)

Reid loves getting on Uncle T's shoulders because it makes him about 7 feet tall! 

 Twins

 I really wanted to get a good picture of the kids, but they were more interested in having a tickle fight!  I love love love seeing them have fun together, so I love this picture so much more than I would have loved a perfectly posed one.

 When I see a picture of the four of us, I can't help but think, "One of these things is not like the other!" I mean, I don't even look related to these people! ;)

 Reid had a blast getting attention from Uncle T, Uncle John (who he now calls Johnny), and both of John's brothers!  

I'm so thankful for my family!

 The whole group!  

It was a great day!  We have so much to be thankful for.  Now we are ready to kick off the Christmas season!

Reid is 3.5

Reid officially turned three and a half years old on Sunday and because I feel like he's changed so much in the last 6 months, I wanted to do a little update!  I will say that three has been challenging for me as a mom, but I think we may be starting to turn a corner.  Challenging moments or not, I just adore this boy of ours.

I feel like I've looked at him lately and thought so many times, "He just seems so grown up."  He often prefers to take showers instead of baths and is basically done with naps.  Those are two very grown up things! :)

He is starting to say to us some of the things we say to him.  That's pretty humbling! ;)  The two we hear most often are, "Mommy, I have a job for you!" and "Daddy, I'm trying to ask you a question!"

When Chris was out of town the last couple of times, Reid really took on the job of our caretaker.  It was so sweet!  He was all of sudden very interested in helping with things that he usually isn't interested in helping with and he kept saying, "Mommy I will take care of that!"

He still loves school, which I am so thankful for, but he's going through a little phase of not wanting to be separated from me.  I hate seeing him cry, but I know it's just a phase.

He definitely has some quirks (don't we all?)!  One of these quirks is that he is OBSESSED with left and right, which is so random.  He's constantly asking, "Is that the left one?" or saying, "I want the one on the right!"  He is also very protective of his favorites.  His favorite animal is an elephant and nobody else is allowed to like elephants.  The same goes for firetrucks and the color purple.

His favorite show is Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.  It's really the only show that he ever wants to watch or will sit through.

He loves to joke with me and make me laugh!  I love it too. :)

Although the sibling rivalry is in full swing, I often catch Reid watching Georgia Kate in such an adoring way.  It's precious.  He may not admit it, but I'm pretty sure he thinks she's adorable and funny!

Reid's love for music continues to grow.  We've started listening to Christmas music in the car.  On certain songs he will listen and start shouting out when he hears a certain instrument or the instrument changes.  It's actually quite impressive!

One of the things that I love most about Reid is that he is such a joyful child.  It's something that others notice and comment on a lot and I have to agree with them.  It's such a blessing to be around someone that is (usually) so happy!

I am so proud to be Reid's mommy!

A few unrelated tid-bits...

Oh how I love school pictures. They are just so adorably awkward.

Georgia Kate really loves her baby dolls.  Her new favorite book is Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes because it's full of babies.  

She thought her friend Penny was a baby doll too.  

 This series of pictures cracks me up because it really summarizes Georgia Kate's personality.  

"Look Mommy!  It's a tuba!"

 We had these sweet friends over for dinner last week.  LeeLee bought these precious matching outfits for Clara and Georgia Kate, so naturally Ashlee and I needed the boys to match too.  

 Last week was Chloie's birthday and I casually mentioned it to Reid before school.  Well, he was really concerned that I hadn't decorated the house for her birthday and insisted that we decorate before we left the house.  I had this banner and some crepe paper in the closet, so he spent a few minutes decorating.  He was so proud and loved showing it to Chloie.  We were a little late to school, but it was worth it.

I love this picture of my sweet boy.

This cracks me up.  Chris and his dad went on a trip last weekend to Notre Dame and then to a Packers game.  They brought this back for the kids and it's been a hit!  

Just what the doctor ordered.

We have had a week of sickness at our house.  It started on Saturday morning when Reid woke up with  a fever and major coughing attacks and it all snowballed from there.  Between Saturday and today we've been to the doctor 3 times.  Both kids have ear infections and are just fighting off general viruses.    We've been so lucky up until now that our kids have stayed pretty healthy.  I knew once he started preschool that we would deal with more sickness.  It just comes with the territory.  Although I hate to see my babies sick, I've really enjoyed a week at home.  I was just telling Chris that I feel we've gotten way too busy.  I had been craving time at home with my kids and that's what I got.

We've been doing a lot of snuggling...

breathing treatments...

going to the doctor...

more breathing treatments...

stickers...

playing in the playroom...

having some meltdowns because we don't feel good and sometimes you just need to cry...

and more breathing treatments.

I am always so thankful for my children's health, but when they do get sick, it makes me even more thankful that they are generally healthy.  It is such a privilege and blessing to get to take care of these sweeties.

Halloween 2014

Halloween has never been my favorite holiday, but it sure is fun to put the kids in cute costumes and take a million pictures!  Reid's school had Nursery Rhyme Day on Thursday so I decided we would just do the same costume on Thursday and for Halloween on Friday.  He was going to be Farmer in the Dell because it was cute, simple, and easy.  Well, on Thursday morning before school, Reid told me that he didn't like costumes and wasn't going to wear it.  I was not at all surprised so I decided not to force the issue and just let him go to school in regular clothes.  Parents were invited to spend time with the classes while they did their nursery rhyme day activities.  I LOVED it!  It was fun to get to know some of the kids in his class and see how he acted in a school setting.  I was hoping he would dress up to trick or treat on Friday, but it wasn't going to happen.  The funny thing is that according to my mom, I was exactly like this at his age.  I see so much of my personality in him.

Georgia Kate on the other hand, loved wearing her poodle costume and she looked absolutely adorable!

Reid finally decided to come outside and he was wearing these red sunglasses that light up.  He was so proud!  Chris brought them back for him from Vegas Thursday night.  So the boy who didn't want to draw attention to himself by wearing a costume decided to trick or treat in light up sunglasses.  Whatever! :) 

We went to about 5 houses and they were happy!  Reid thought it was SO fun and Georgia Kate caught on to the whole concept pretty quickly!  

Checking out her loot…

We have a tradition that our families come over and see the kids in their costumes and have pizza.  We all had a great time!  

This picture is actually from Saturday morning, but I just thought our little Peach looked so cute!  

Despite being completely fine on Friday, Reid woke up Saturday morning with a fever and has been pretty miserable all weekend.  He's mostly stayed in our bed and watched TV and slept.  Poor baby! :(  

I'm hoping everyone gets and stays healthy so we can enjoy the beautiful November weather this week!