Thanksgiving 2011

I really, genuinely love Thanksgiving Day.  I love the fall, the cool crisp air, I love the food, and I love the people I get to spend time with on that day.  This year, we drove to Sacramento to have dinner at Aunt Pam's house.  Traffic was terrible- but the drive was worth it.  We had a great time visiting, relaxing, and eating delicious food.  Some of us ate so much we were up until 1:30am feeling full and uncomfortable (and no, it wasn't me).

Rob and Josh carving the turkey,

My little boo.  She kept laying down asking my Dad to "adjust" her (Aunt Pam is the chiropractor) and then she would have Granddad lay down, and she would adjust him.

 I have so many things to be thankful for in my life- these two are definitely at the top of the list.

 It's very rare that I have a nice picture of all three of us, so before we sat down to dinner I made my Mom snap a few shots.

 I love love love Scarlett's face.

 After the yummy feast, we played a few games of Catch Phrase and Guesstures.  I always feel bad for Scarlett when we are going to events with my family because she is the only child- but then she spends the day being spoiled by all my cousins, and her Grandma and Granddad, and my Aunts and Uncles, and then I realize she's just fine.

Being just like cousin Sasha.

 Dance Party!  "Arcelle (Marcelle), come on!  Dance with me!"

Scarlett has moves I sometimes can't even believe.

The tiny smudges of pumpkin on her face are the only proof she ate anything even remotely Thanksgiving related.  When we all sat down to dinner, I made her a plate of the things I thought she would eat- turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, salad and a roll.  I put the plate in front of her, she pushed it away and said "I want a hot dog, please".  Luckily, Aunt Pam had some in the fridge.  When everyone was eating pie, she asked for a slice of pumpkin, and actually ate a bite or two before saying she was done.  Picky, PICKY little eater.

I am so grateful for my beautiful family- my husband and daughter, and baby girl on the way; my parents and siblings, extended family, and each of my in-laws.  I have truly been blessed with wonderful people in my life to call my family.  I also realize how fortunate I am to have some friends I feel so close to, that they really are part of my family.  I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the knowledge and peace it brings to my mind every day.

I asked Scarlett a few times what she is thankful for- the first time, a few days before Thanksgiving, this was her response... "playing with puppy Lucy, and going to Aunt Deb's house, and Charelle".  On Thanksgiving I asked again, her response was "Jesus".  When I asked what else she was thankful for she yelled "JESUS!" so I stopped looking for more.  This morning, Friday, I asked one last time what she was thankful for, she again replied, "Jesus", I asked if she could tell me just one more thing, and she thought for a long while before saying "pee-pops!" (lollipops).  After some prodding, she also told me she is thankful for mommy, daddy, baby sister, Nama and Al.  What a sweet girl.

Friends-Giving

A few weekends ago, we hosted a Friends-Giving Pot luck.  It was A LOT of work (especially for a 29 week pregnant woman), but it was so worth it.  We had 23 people in attendance and everyone brought something to share.  I had fun decorating- and had thought about making this a yearly tradition... maybe by next year I will be ready to host again :)

 The (delicious) menu: turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, Arkansas Beans (bacon wrapped green beans), stuffing, baked potato soup, cranberry sauce, sour cream potatoes, and rolls.  For dessert we had a few pumpkin pies, mixed berry cream cheese bars, and I made my family's favorite chocolate pie.

 I did a horrible job documenting the evening- but tried to snap a few photos as people were leaving.  Though, I missed a few families, including my own- as usual.

The Moores: Kathy, Asher, Colin, Ira.

 Scarlett loving on Addesyn.

 Getting her boys together- Ira and Blake.

 The Durans: Marcos, Melody, Mason.

 The McClains: Gregg and Erin.

 The Rineharts: Addesyn, Patrick, Mikali.

We are thankful to have wonderful friends to share such fun nights with.  Thanks to all for contributing and making our first Friends-Giving a great success.



31 Weeks

{Don't mind the shadows}

This pregnancy has really gone by so fast.  I feel like every time I turn around, another week or two has gone by.  And I haven't done a single thing to get ready for this little girl to join our family.  Today, I am 31 weeks.  When I went in for my check-up last week, I was only measuring at 27 weeks, so I get to go back in a week for an ultrasound to check on baby girl's growth, my fluid levels and all that jazz.  She is active, especially at night and after I eat, and I still love feeling those kicks and jabs.  Along with being small, she has dropped quite a bit in the last week or so.  I feel her movements very low now, not up in my ribs like I used to. 

I haven't had to give up any foods I like this pregnancy- there isn't anything that makes me sick or gag (when I was carrying Scarlett there were several things I just couldn't stomach).  This time around I am loving spicy foods, yogurt and granola, salads (first trimester I ate a big salad every day, it tasted so good), I eat at least two eggs a day (seriously, every day this pregnancy), and I have discovered there really is a huge flavor difference between Mayonnaise, and Light Mayonnaise.  Regular, full-fat mayo just tastes SO much better.  I still love my sweets, but haven't craved them like I did when I was pregnant with Scarlett.  In fact, I don't think I have had more than one or two actual cravings this time around.  One night, Biggest Loser was coming on, and I just wanted mini Reese's peanut butter cups.  So much so, I told Rob if he wasn't going to go out and get them, I would go in my pajamas.  He went.  He's a good man.

I have had several infections this pregnancy which have led to contractions, pain and discomfort, nausea, one trip to Labor and Delivery to be monitored because of my contractions, and many rounds of antibiotics.  Those things aside (ha!), this has really been an easy pregnancy.  I go to classes at the gym 3 days a week, and the other 4 days a week I walk on my treadclimber for about an hour.  I have energy- I sleep decently well (some nights better than others), and I am not uncomfortable with my size... yet.

My doctor is still eager and excited to have me try a VBAC, and so am I.  I can't believe this little girl is due in 2 months and 2 days.  We have no idea on names.  It took two days to name Scarlett, so I'm not worried.  Scarlett is so thrilled about having a baby sister.  She talks to her, holds my belly, kisses her, and tells me she is going to give her her pink paci.  We'll see about that...

I am getting so excited to be the Mom of two little girls.  I think about dressing them alike, the friendship they will have, the fun little excursions we will have now, and when they're older, getting our nails done, planning weddings... I really can't wait for it all.  And I am so excited to see Scarlett as a big sister.  She is so sweet, and LOVES babies, I think we will fight over who gets to take care of this one. 

Here's to hoping the next 9 weeks go by as quickly as these last 31 weeks have.  I think with the holidays, and everything else we have going on right now, this little girl will be here before we know it.

Chicago

Rob had to go Chicago on business mid-October, and he surprised Scarlett and I about a month before with tickets to join him.  I have never been to Chicago, and have always wanted to go, plus one of my roommates, Camille, from freshman year at BYU lives outside of Chicago with her family, so we were very excited about the trip.

We flew out of San Francisco Wednesday afternoon, leaving behind 85 degrees and sunny skies, and landed in Chicago at about 10pm, 40 degrees and raining.  Yikes!  We took a cab to our hotel where we found out we had a double bed and no sofa-bed.  We didn't get to sleep until 2am- I had Scarlett snuggling and kicking me all night, and poor Rob slept on the couch that was about 3 feet too short for him.  It was a long night of no sleep.  Nevertheless, we were up and at 'em first thing the next morning!  Rob headed to work and I got breakfast, showered and dressed while Scarlett slept in until I woke her up about 10am.  Camille picked us up with her two cute kiddos and we headed in to the city to go to the Museum of Science and Industry.

Scarlett and Graham loved the Idea Factory.  AND, yes, I am aware my cute little girl looks like an adorable little boy in this outfit.  The shirt has ruffles on the front, which do not show up in pictures, as well as glitter, and she was supposed to wear cute little leggings but it was rainy and windy outside and I wanted her to be warm so I put her in her chords.

She had way too much fun.

This was a hit!  The falling pebbles were being projected on to the wall and wherever someone stood, they would collect.  It was pretty cool.

 It was too cold and rainy to do anything else in the city, and we were pretty exhausted from our lack of sleep the night before, so Camille took us back to our hotel around 4:30pm.  Rob got back shortly after and I went to pick up our rental car- then we drove out to where one of Rob's good friends from BYU lives (he is currently training with the company Rob works for) to go to dinner.  We had delicious deep dish, real Chicago pizza at Giordano's.  It was fun to visit with Brad- and I'm bummed I didn't get a picture.  We were able to upgrade to a bigger room Thursday night- thank you whoever cancelled their reservation!- so we all slept much better.

Friday morning, Rob headed to work while Scarlett slept in, again.  I loaded this cart with all our luggage and checked out of the hotel.  Scarlett and I met Camille just outside the city and then headed in with her to see some of the sights.

 I don't know a lot about Chicago, but I have seen the famous Bean Statue in movies, so I figured we better go there.

 The kids loved it- and the weather was amazing!  51 degrees and sunny- a pregnant woman's paradise, if you ask me.

 The whole gang- and my 27 week belly.

 Scarlett was madly in love with baby Claire- or "Clear" as she calls her.  She could not keep her hands off her.

 She is going to be an amazingly helpful big sister.  Maybe a little too helpful at times.

 We walked a mile to the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower.

 After waiting in line for over two hours (the kids did amazingly well, I was shocked considering Scarlett hadn't had any naps in two days and really only slept about 8 hours at night- and we got in line around 11 and the kids hadn't eaten anything- and we didn't have that many snacks!) we finally made it to the top.  It was such a beautiful day- we could see clear to Indiana.

The Sky Deck.  103 stories high- it still makes my stomach flip-flop when I see Scarlett so casually leaning on the glass.

 The kids had no clue where they were sitting.

 I am not afraid of heights, but I was a little hesitant with this one.  It was crazy to look down and see nothing but cement and tops of other buildings...

When we were done we waited in a  much shorter line to get back down and ate lunch (at 3pm) at Panera.  We then hiked the mile back to where we parked and headed out of the city.  We did pass by Garrett's Famous Popcorn, and the line went on for two blocks!

We picked up our car and then headed to Algonquin where Camille and her family live.  Rob got a ride from a guy he works with that lives in the same area.  We ordered more deep dish pizza for dinner and the kids enjoyed playing and relaxing.  Can't you tell how tired they are? 

 Saturday morning, Rob and I got up way too early and drove an hour to the south side of Chicago where we own a property.  We had just finished rehabbing it and wanted to see the finished product.  It looked great and it was fun to see one of our investment properties in person (Rob has seen a few, but I haven't- they're spread throughout the US).  When we got back to the Warnings' Scarlett and Graham were running around playing- they just bought a house and have a great yard- Scarlett was in heaven!  We then headed to the famous Portillo's for Chicago-style hot dogs.  Yum!

The weather was so beautiful we took the kids to a gorgeous park and let them get out all their energy.

Scarlett now knows most of the words to "teeter tater, bread and water..."

We headed back to the Warnings' and packed our things.  We drove to the airport, dropped off the rental car, grabbed dinner at the airport, and had a very easy flight home.  Scarlett is in love with Shrek and watched it the whole way on the iPad.  She hadn't really eaten anything so we asked when we got to our car (about midnight Chicago time) what she wanted, she said fries (always fries).  So we drove a little while, she passed out, and we finally got to a place where we could get her some fries.  We went ahead and ordered some for her and then tried to wake her up to eat- our thought process was if we feed her now, then she won't have to eat when we get home and she could go right to bed.  We could not wake her up.  I shook her legs, we spoke loudly, at one point she opened her eyes and I said "look Scarlett, we got you some fries!" and her eyes rolled back and she passed out again.  You think the trip took a toll on her?!  It was hilarious.

A huge thank you to Camille for driving us around and taking us to see some of the great sights of Chicago.  And thank you for opening your home to us.  We had a blast, and the trip wouldn't have been the same with you!  Now, it's your turn to come to Napa...