Oh Christmas tree!

We have started a tradition where we pick out our Christmas tree the Sunday after Thanksgiving. I would love to do it the Friday after, but we are always out of town for the holiday.

We drove straight to the lot when we got back into town on Sunday. Last year Hawkins was just a baby, so this was a fun experience to do with him. Beau and Lady joined us too :)

Waving at cars going by...so polite

The chain saw they used was loud!

Annual family picture with the Christmas tree!

Too bad it was 80 degrees that day. I only wore that scarf for the picture!

Thanksgiving

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! Hawkins and I started in Americus for Fleming's Sip N See and got to spend a couple of days there. I made cheese straws and Hawkins got spoiled by Honey and Big Daddy.

Robbie came after work on Wednesday, and we all went to Newnan on Thursday for Thanksgiving lunch.

We had lunch at my Aunt and Uncle's home with my Mom's side of the family in attendance. My Grandmother, her sister, my first cousins and my whole immediate family - what a fun day!

Linda had the house and tables decorated SO cute.

She got out baby silver just for Hawkins!

Best part of the meal for Hawkins - oreos!

Cousins!

Hawkins giving Fleming a kiss!

So sweet!

Honey and Dee

Four generations

The whole family

The day just went by too fast! Before we knew it it was time to pack up and head to Atlanta...more in my next post!

Sip N See for Fleming

My Mom had a Sip N See for Fleming at her house the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. She loves to show off her precious grandchildren to her friends!

We packed up and headed to Americus! Hawkins was so excited to be at Honey and Big Daddy's house.

Leola loved holding Fleming

Here is a picture of Leola and Hawkins last year at his Sip N See

Katie and Fleming

Honey did a great job with the flowers - peonies are my favorite!

The food!

Aunt Say-Say was able to make it!

It was such a fun party and both babies were really good!

Thankful

This time of year always goes by too fast. I love the months of October, November and December. Temperatures start slowly dropping and air gets a little crisp. I love the colors of the trees and the decorations. I have really loved my pumpkins and have kept them all out for the past 2 months - taking away my Halloween and adding my turkeys.

It is still 85 degrees in Thomasville, so it's been hard to adjust to fall. I did my "closet switch" and got all my fall clothes out, but I haven't been able to wear most of them b/c it's not cold!

I wanted to share some things in this post that I am so thankful for this year:

1 - My sweet baby boy - he is the joy of my life. I am so blessed to be a Mother and for the health of my family.

2 - My husband - he is my best friend and my partner. That sounds really cheesy, but it's true. He helps me with everything and supports me in every way.

3- My parents - they are my best friends. I seriously talk to my Mom 5+ times a day. They are so involved in my life and still give me guidance. You are never too old to be reprimanded by your parents :)

4 - My health - this is something we really take for granted. Having a germy toddler means frequent colds and viruses and I am thankful every time we are all "well" in our household. I am also very thankful to be skin cancer free. I still get checked every 3 months and there have been many moles taken off, but none have been melanoma. I praise God for this.

5 - Being a stay at home Mom - I complain often about the long hours and a whiny baby, but really I wouldn't trade it for the world. We can stay in our PJs as long as we want in the morning and I am always the first to get Hawkins' sweet kisses. Little boys truly love their Mommies. It is hard and there is no salary, but I love being a full time Mommy.

6 - Supportive friends and family - I have grown closer to my "Atlanta" friends after moving away and we talk daily. They know me better than anyone and are always supportive and motivating.

There are so many other things, but these are close to my heart. I am most thankful that I believe in a God that listening to me and cares about me personally. He answers prayers and takes care of me and my family. I encourage everyone to stop for a few minutes and think about your blessing and what you are thankful for this year.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

God will provide

I have not given an update in awhile about Robbie's brother's battle with lymphoma. This has been on going since January. They did the stem cell transplant in August, and it wasn't a few weeks before Bryan went back into the hospital for his "graft vs. host disease" symptoms. I am not a doctor and will not be good at describing this, but basically Robbie's cells and Bryan's body are at war with each other. This is a battle where no one comes out a winner.

The disease has attacked Bryan's GI tract, and he has not been able to eat or drink anything in 2 months. Can you imagine this? My life literally revolves around food, so I can only imagine this must be miserable. Now he is bleeding internally and they do not predict a positive outcome.

Please keep Bryan and the Raybon family in your prayers. They need strength, comfort and understanding. This is so hard for Bryan and for everyone around him who loves him.

This seems so petty when I have written the above paragraphs, but I was nervous when Robbie left for Atlanta leaving me with the rugrat by myself. Being a stay-at-home Mom is HARD and it is even harder solo. My heart goes out to single parents b/c it is a taxing job.

Lately, Hawkins has formed velcro to his body that attaches to my leg anytime I try to do anything that does not involve me playing with him. A child pulling at your leg makes it hard to cook, shower, brush your teeth or do just about anything. There have been some loooooong days in our house this week, so I was not ecstatic about doing it by myself. I realize how important this situation is though, so I told Robbie to go and stay as long we he needed. We would be fine.

(Usually I would immediately call my Mother and make her come stay with me, but she was already out of town). I also had a feeling that we would in fact be fine.

Instead of counting down the minutes to bedtime or the next activity - I prayed. I prayed for patience, and I prayed for me and my baby boy to have fun. I stopped cleaning the house and had no one to prepare dinner for, so we played and chased each other and laughed. It was really fun. I asked for God's help and he provided.

I planned activities to keep us busy, and the time just flew by. He must have misplaced his velcro b/c he was not so clingy, he has eaten well (b/c meal times are war at our house), slept well and I did get a babysitter for 3 hours today so that I could make cheese straws and have a little break. It was worth it.

Watching such a tragic situation unfold always leads me back to God. I may not live my life for God everyday like I should, but I have an unwavering faith about these things. God does have a plan. He knew the moment we would be born and the moment we would die before we were in the womb. He listens to our prayers and gives us comfort when we need it.

I am so thankful I have such a loving God.

15 (ish) months

Hawkins, you are almost 16 months old, so I'd better get going with your 15 month post! (I am a little late)! The best word to describe this month is "outside". If you aren't eating or sleeping then you want to be playing outside!

-I have to start off with the most precious thing you did for the first time today. I have really tried to get you to blow me a kiss, but you have never show any interest. Well, today I asked you to give me a kiss and you promptly put your hands on my cheeks and pulled my face to yours - and planted a kiss right on my mouth! How did you know how to do that?? It was the cutest thing I have ever seen and I will always remember that moment.

-You sleep from 7:30pm until around 7am and take one nap at 12pm usually for 2 hours. The longest nap you have ever taken was almost 3 hours (of course when your Daddy was babysitting)

-You wear 18 month clothes and a size 4 diaper. We just started putting a size 5 on you at night.

-You are the pickiest eater EVER. You will not eat meat (except chicken nuggets). The only thing good for you that you love are bananas. I have started giving them to you at every meal and you love them - can you eat too many bananas? Your Daddy and I eat this cereal for breakfast - Quaker Oats Cinnamon Oatmeal Squares - and you beg for them every morning. Finally I just started giving you those for your breakfast too! You like them soggy out of my bowl with milk! Lunch is still a grilled cheese and supper is always tough. I try to sneak in veggies with baby food b/c you will not feed your self a veggie to save your life. You love all snacks, such as teddy grahams, crackers, cinnamon cookies, cheese-its, etc.

-You drink a sippy cup of whole milk in the morning, afternoon, and night and a 1/2 a cup at naptime. Wait...that's right. We dropped the bottle at night and Hawkins drinks all sippy cups! It really wasn't that hard actually.

-We have our bedtime routine down - bath, milk and naked time, brush teeth, story, bedtime. You love your naked time after bath :) We have just started saying prayers too. You are usually pretty good when we travel and get off schedule, but I have noticed that the bedtime routine makes a huge difference in calming you down for night time.

-You LOVE to be outside. Literally I think you would stay outside all day and night if we let you.

-I guess we sneeze a lot, because you started fake sneezing on your own - we did not teach you to do it! It is hilarious. You go "ahhhh choo" and lean your head back and then throw it forward. It's your new trick and you do it all the time.

-You dressed up like a cowboy for Halloween and wore real cowboy boots and your Uncle Crisp's old vest.

-You saw Santa for the first time in Atlanta and were the best boy!

-You can tell me what a cow, sheep and horse says!

-You LOVE your Big Daddy!

-You love to drive anything!

-Words you can say:

Mama

Dada

baby

cracker = "dar-dar"

Beau and ALL dogs = "bo bo"

Lady = "ga ge"

Honey = "Nu-Ne"

Moon - "Ma"

What the cow says = "Ma"

What the sheep says = "Ba"

What the horse says = "Neigh"

Please = "me"

Thank you = "Da du"

Hawkins, you are the busiest little boy and you keep me moving! You would rather be moving or be outside rather than sleep. You are the light of my life and I can't wait to see how you grow up and change with each new day.

Atlanta

Hawkins and I traveled to Atlanta last week for an action packed good time!

The ride up there was rough as Hawkins only slept one hour the entire 4 hour trip :( A highlight was stopping halfway at a Chick-fil-a to play and meet Big Daddy! H got some energy out and then cried the rest of the trip. All was better when we arrived at our sweet friends' house and he got to play with John Quincy and Southern.

I wish so badly that I had a picture of the bath the 3 of them took together. Such great memories! Hawkins had a blast and got to eat waffles for dinner and stay up late!

Wednesday may have been the best day of Hawkins' life because he went to the park TWICE! Honey watched him in the morning while I had some Mommy alone shopping time and then Aunt Nina took him in the afternoon while we went to the doctor.

We ended the night with a playdate at Libby's house with Caulie, Virginia and babies Slade and Gardner. They played and played and then took a bath together! Hawkins loves bathtime and loved sharing it with his friends. The other girls took some GREAT pictures, but have yet to share them with me yet...shame on you! I will post when I get them.

Thursday morning was what we have all been waiting for - Santa at Phipps! I could not get us in last year, and I have been on the waiting list trying to get an appointment for 6 months this year. I grew up coming to Atlanta sitting on this same man's lap and I wanted my baby to have this wonderful fun experience.

I think Mommy was more excited about being there!

Not so sure...

The official photo!

The next day we went to ride the Pink Pig! This was a tradition started in Atlanta when my Mom was a little girl. She was SO excited about taking Hawkins.

Behind us is the original Pink Pig that my Mom rode 50 years ago!

H was mesmerized by all the lights!

Afterwards we drug Hawkins around the mall, but this race car made it all better!

On Friday we made an extra special trip over to Emory to visit with Uncle Bryan, Grandmama and Grandpa. I wish I had pictures! Children aren't allowed on his floor, so we had a little play date in the waiting area for a couple of hours. Bryan looked GREAT and we all had a good time.

Friday night Honey and Aunt Nina babysat while I enjoyed a night with my good friend Virginia. She cooked me dinner at her place, and we chatted and spent some much needed time together. This Mommy does not get many nights like this anymore!

This Atlanta trip was so much fun and memorable for me. I love sharing my little boy with my friends and seeing them grow up and play together. It does make me miss living in Atlanta a little bit :(

I have to add that Hawkins did great on this trip. His schedule was all messed up and he stayed up late every night, but he never fussed. Such a sweet precious boy!