Happy Thanksgiving

This year, we had Thanksgiving at my mom's house. Aunt Dianne, Uncle Bobby, Kevin, Meredith, Chad, & Billy came from Tampa for the day to join our family for lunch. As always, we had way too much food which resulted in everyone over stuffing themselves. Adison had her first go at mashed potatoes and peas. She surprisingly loved both of them along with the sweet potatoes and green beans. I think granny may have even snuck in some lemon pie somewhere during the day. Adison is definitely the one thing I am most thankful for this year. I can't imagine my life without her. She amazes me more and more each day. She really is a blessing in my life.

Fun with Daddy

Adsion has really been enjoying her play time with daddy in the evenings. Go figure, we buy her all of these educational toys, and she has more fun trying to chew on daddy's ear. Last night, Lance was on dinner duty with Adison while I finished up in the kitchen. She finished her green beans in record time, but she was wearing more of them than she put in her stomach. Note to self--Daddy doesn't get dinner duty anymore. (I think that may have been his plan all along!)

Happy 30th Birthday Jamie!

Last weekend, we had my brother's 30th birthday party at our house. Friends turned up from all over the place. The gang from Clermont showed up in an old, oyster house RV which was a hoot. We had some of the Ft. Lauderdale crowd and Trevor and Heidi were there straight off of their honeymoon. It was so nice to see everyone again. We don't get the chance to get together as often as we would like. We barbecued all afternoon and held one massive cornhole tournament. Jenny made AWESOME Florida State cornhole boards. Everyone chipped in with side dishes and appetizers. There was enough food to feed an army. Adison was a hit at the party. I was really surprised how good she was. She was passed around all day and never got fussy. She is a little busy body though, so a crowd is really right up her alley. I think she would have partied all night if I hadn't made her go to bed. I lost track of Jamie somewhere after midnight, but based on what shape he was in the next day, I would say that he had a really good time. (I won't mention any names, but he wasn't the only one in rough shape the next day...) The best part of the whole party was that by 11:00 the next morning you couldn't even tell that anything had happened at the house. Everyone was great about pitching in to clean up. It really was a great time. My birthday wish for Jamie is that that he enjoys his next 3o years as much as he has his first 30. He is the best brother anyone could ask for!The Birthday Boy

Marshmallow anyone?

The coolest RV in town!

Fun in the Kitchen

Adison has decided she wants to "help" mommy in the kitchen. She sits on the rug next to the fridge and plays with an assortment of bowls and spoons while I cook. Not only is it cute to watch, but it really does make preparing dinner much easier. I forgot what it was like to have TWO arms to work with...

Mason Turns 3!

This weekend, we went to our nephew Mason's 3rd birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese. We had a really fun time watching all of the kids running around. Lance and I even had a little Skee-Ball competetion. He won, but barely. Adison was on stimulation over drive. She had never been to a place quite as exciting as Chuck-E-Cheese before. Adison also got to spend some time with her cousin, Makayla. Makayla is 4 months older, and we joke that they are on opposite ends of the growth scale since Adison is such a shrimp and Makayla is such a chunker. Soon, Adison will be old enough for a play date. I can't wait to watch the girls grow up together. All in all, it was a really nice afternoon. Mason enjoyed being the star of the show. It's hard to believe he is already 3 years old.

(The Birthday Boy!)

(Makayla & Adison)

Our Jack-O-Lantern

We had a great time carving our pumpkin for Halloween. We really made it a family affair. I drew the face, Lance cut it out, and Adison played in all of the filling. She wanted to eat the seeds until she actually got a mouthful of them. Being the 1st time mom that I am, I thought she was having a reaction to the pumpkin, so I stripped her down and drenched her with water. Turns out, she was just pitching a fit over having the pumpkin goo taken away. I guess I should have put two and two together.

Pumpkin Patch

We had a very busy day yesterday. Adison and I got up early in the morning to get ready for her Halloween pictures. Granny went with us to Ocala to have them taken. I was so proud of Adison this time around. She actually seemed to enjoy the pictures instead of screaming the whole time. I think she was too busy trying to figure out the flash to think about being mad. She looked even cuter yesterday in her witch's costume than she did the last time I put it on her. Michelle Foster is our photographer and does an awesome job!! She had a great backdrop set up with a wooden bench and pumpkins. I can't wait to see the pictures! After we finished up there, we went to a pumpkin patch so that Adison could pick out her first pumpkin. I sat her in the middle of the mini pumpkins, and she bent right over and picked up the one that she wanted. I also picked out a bigger pumpkin that Lance and I carved last night (stayed tuned for a posting on that.) Who knew that pumpkins could be so fun? This year, all of the Halloween stuff was really for the grown ups of the house. It was so fun to watch Adison eat the grass at the pumpkin patch and drool all over her witch's hat. She really does remind me to slow down and take it all in.