Reese stuck in the Grass

I found this video when I was downloading pictures from Thanksgiving. I didn't know Christopher took this. I think its pretty funny he pushes her back down on the grass to try and get up again. (Is that bad that I think its funny?) Anyway for your enjoyment!

Family

We have been lucky this year I feel like we have seen a lot of our family. Mostly my side but we were lucky enough to spend the weekend with two of Christopher's brothers. Ben and Ursula came up from Tallahassee, Fl with their two babes and Travis and Ade came for a  company Christmas party so they left their four boys in Utah for the weekend. We had a lot of fun just hanging out. Reese was pretty happy about having some other people in the house to follow around besides Christopher and I. She has the best Aunts, Uncles and cousins. It didn't hurt that two were her size. It was fun watching her try to keep up with Bella(4) and Landon(2). It was a great weekend. We captured a few moments through pictures so here they are . . . 

 (Reese loves her Auntie Ade, seriously she wanted Ade to hold her all the time.)

 (the boys went golfing)

 (so sweet)

 ( The Dougherty Boys married well. I love the sisters I got when I married Christopher)

(These three were too cute!)

 I miss you guys already. Can't wait for this summer! Love you and thanks for coming to Atlanta to see us.

Thanksgiving

This year my Mom and Dad and 3 of my sisters came to Atlanta. It was a great time. On Thanksgiving morning instead of a Turkey bowl, this year, we did the Turkey trot, which was pretty appropriate for my family as we are mostly girls. I think Christopher missed his football but he was a good sport and ran the 5k with my dad and sisters. I ran the half marathon and my mom and bugs were the cheerleaders. 

 

(Before the race)

It started at Turner field and we live really close it. But it took us so long to get there because of all the traffic that we were a little rushed, at least I was. My race started a little before the 5k. I didn't quite hit my goal time, but it was a good race. Next time I definitely don't want to run alone. I'm still trying to convince Christopher to do it with me. Maybe next year! The 5kers had a blast though. They all ran together nice and slow. Most of them were in no shape to run a race. Margie was pretty rocked from the race the rest of the weekend.

My mom and bugs had fun too while they chased us down and waited for us to finish.

I saw Reese and my mom twice during the run. The first time I stopped and gave her a big kiss. She was so happy to see me and then I had to go. I guess as soon as I left she just lost it. She did not like seeing me run away from her and vanish into a sea of people. Then I saw her again and she was sitting in her stroller just scanning the runners going by. I thought I would be ok if I just waved this time she saw me and again just lost it. When we all met up after the race Reese was a mess. She was so afraid I was going to leave her again she would not let go of me. She wouldn't even go to Christopher. Apparently it was pretty traumatic for her. I was so tired I could barely hold my self up, but I felt bad putting her down, so I lugged or I guess hugged my 26 pound baby all the way back to the car. It was kind of nice to see how much she really does love me though.

 Notice her white finger tips. She was holding on so tight, so I wouldn't put her down.

 Then we went home and made an awesome Thanksgiving dinner. It was one of the better ones that I can remember. It was also my first experience with sweet potato pie. I must say I think it is my new favorite, even over pumpkin and I am a big fan of pumpkin.It was sooo good. Wish I had pictures of dinner.

The next day we went ice skating in the park and to the aquarium. It was so fun. Atlanta has some really nice parks and a few of them set up outdoor ice rinks. It was so much fun. We were all a little shaky on skates at first but we got pretty good after a while.

Umm. . . Reese had a little wave of PTSD from the day before whenever I would skate over to her then skate away, so I had to steer clear of her side of the rink. She loves her grandma though, so it wasn't too bad. The rest of the time we just hung out, played games and played with the babe. 

 She had so much fun with her aunties and grandma and grandpa. Her new obsession is purses, shoes and hats. Thanks for coming everyone. I'm so grateful to have such a great family on both sides mine and Christopher's. Happy Holidays!

Tasmanian Devil

Bugs got Tubes a few weeks ago. It was a sad day until she got her drugs . . .

 

 She was so scared of anyone coming near her that they had to give her something to help her relax and oh did it ever. Even though I knew she was happier and less stressed I think it was harder for me to see her drugged up and "high", for lack of a better word, than to hold her when she was going crazy after the surgery. She just laid there and was perfectly quiet, just looking around, eyes completely glazed over, and then they rolled her down to surgery. And of course I was crying.

The doctor came in when it was done and said everything went fine. She told us to expect anything from a sweet little angel to a Tasmanian devil when she came back from recovery and was coming down off the anesthesia. We waited for a little bit while she was in recovery and then we heard her. She was wailing when they brought her in. She had her eyes closed and was just thrashing and spinning in my arms. No position was comfortable for her and nothing soothed her. It was so awful. As sad as that was it made me feel so grateful to have a healthy baby. She finally calmed down after about a half hour of crying. We took her home, put her down for a nap and when she woke up she was just as happy as can be. She has not had any problems since the surgery so I think all is well. Little kids are tough. I think ours is pretty feisty. I love her for it.

Holiday Cards

I love holiday cards! It is so fun to see the cards start coming in the mail and to touch base with so many friends and family. It is so nice to see what everyone has been up to during the year when you can't keep in touch as well as you'd like. Okay so I've never actually sent out Holiday cards before but I've always wanted to and this year  I have decided to use Shutterfly.com. They have some pretty awesome products and Christmas cards.  I have made a few books using their site and they turned out so great with such high quality. They really take the stress out of finding, designing, and printing all your holiday cards. The hard part is picking your favorite from so many different designs. One of my favorite Photo Christmas Cards is this little number. Click here to check out my other favorites. I love them all! Now I just need to decide on a family picture that we all look good in. Which shouldn't be to hard considering my last post.

Shutterfly is doing a sweet deal right now for bloggers: Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards. To sign up visit here You need to see all the cards. There are so many to choose from. You can also go to shutterfly.com and see the fun possibilities for books.