Thanksgiving con't

Ok these are all the pics I wanted to include in my Thanksgiving post, but had technical difficulties. Brian saved the day so I could share the cuteness some more.

Love the look on her face here. 

She was such a good poser for once!

Don't you want to eat him up?!

Love this picture of the kids with Grandma and Grandpa. The kids have funny looks on their faces but at least they were looking!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2013

This year Thanksgiving was spent with Brian's side of the family. It was a beautiful Thanksgiving weekend to be in the woods at his dad's house. The table was set beautifully with tons of delicious food. Brian's dad is a really good cook and did a fabulous job!

My brother-in-law, Lance, took the turkey frying job and what a job he did! We all commented on it being the best fried turkey we have had. Oh I can still taste it! So moist and yummy.

Natalie had a wonderful time because there were dogs! This child is obsessed, people.  She asked 101 times to go outside to see the puppies. Amos and Patton (sister-in-law's dogs) just loved all the attention though! She kept telling me to take a picture of her with each puppy. Some were more cooperative than others=)

She also enjoyed Daddy pulling her around in the wagon.

My father-in-law has a new pond at his place and Natalie thoroughly enjoyed going down to feed the fish or throw rocks in the water. I think she had the most fun watching the dogs swim in the ice cold water!

When we weren't outside, we were finding ways to entertain inside since they were still sick kids.  A nice big box did the trick for awhile. These are always more fun than what came in it anyway, right?

Aunt Michelle got Natalie a bracelet to decorate for her birthday so we saved it for a Thanksgiving project they could do together. Too fun!

As you learned in the post about Joaquin's 10 month pictures, he doesn't sit still or cooperate AT ALL when it comes to pictures so we have quite the collage of bloopers=)  Natalie was finally posing so well with a nice big smile AND was looking at us but the little stink just wouldn't.

Poor girl just has her hands full with her little brother! ha! I love her annoyed looks in these photos.  She tried so hard to contain him.

This is a great pic of Brian and his mom with the kids aside from JZ. Poor thing just wasn't feeling well at all. None of us slept well over this "break"

My sweet pea! She was in a rare" pose for the camera" mood this day!

I have a few more pics but my computer is not allowing me to download them correctly so maybe they will come later. 

We had a wonderful time with family this year. Brian and I were most thankful for the date night they allowed us Friday to eat at my favorite Hibachi place, Fujis! Oh how wonderful it was. I was also thankful for the day of shopping with Michelle. It was a much needed day out for me. And we got a lot of shopping done which is also much needed!

10 month pics

Oh my! This boy is a fun-loving 10 month old, but he is wearing me out. Just taking these monthly pictures stresses me out lately. He will not sit still for any millisecond of time as you can see. He is either eating the plate, pushing it off, pulling off his sticker, eating his sticker, rolling over or just plain leaping off the couch. I mean seriously. It's comically frustrating. I finally decided I didn't care if I got one picture with the plate & shirt showing AND him looking at me. And just forget trying to get him to show off his teeth.  He has 7 of them, by the way! At this point, NJ had 2=)

Look how nicely she is holding her plate and looking at mommy. Girls are so calm. Boys are so not!

This month he has had a lot of new personality traits come out. He loves to play peek-a-boo and hide behind curtains or blankets draped over something. He will get behind it and wait on me to say, "Where's Joaquin?"  Then he will peek out from behind it grinning so big. It's quite precious!  He will even try to put a blanket over his face to play. 

He is walking behind his little push car and stroller very nicely now. He wasn't real interested at first, but now he feels so free!  He is getting a little more brave when he lets go of something and can stand unassisted for a couple seconds or more.

When Joaquin gets tired he brings his arm up by his nose and rubs it ever-so-lightly. Or he just holds it there by his nose for a bit. When I'm rocking him he does the same. It's like he is saying, "Whew what a day."  What he doesn't know is that I am saying the same thing!

Sleep. He fights it hard still. I feel like I'm in a wrestling match most times. The newest thing is putting him down. He will be asleep until he touches the bed and then, BAM!, eyes wide open and crying. I will do this at least 3 times for nap or bedtime and it is maddening! I've shed a few (or many) tears over this taking so long and me not having ANY time to do anything.

He still loves to eat and has tried a few table foods like bananas, avocados, mashed potatoes and carrots.  He still throws a fit every time he is put in his high chair but adding Cheerios to our repertoire has helped immensely.  The boy just loves to eat.

Unfortunately for me and all others trying to care for him, he is still "momma clingy."  The other night he screamed and screamed while he was in the kitchen with me (I was trying to fix dinner). The minute second I picked him up he stopped. Ugh!

Thank goodness for that sweet face and bashful smile he gives so freely! Love this precious gift, but he is giving me a run for my money=)

Holiday Happenings

While with family this weekend, my sister-in-law asked me what traditions we were starting with our kids, and that got me to thinking about my list I made last year. I haven't shared this year's (hopeful) Holiday Happenings so here goes!

1. Brian's work party at a local restaurant

2. Christmas Concert Date Night at Verizon Theatre to see 'The Tour' with Christian artists. I'm super excited about this!  Each year I want to do something "Christmasy." We've done The Nutcracker, Trans-Siberian Orchestra & the Dallas Symphony. Did I mention FREE babysitting thanks to my folks?!

3. Loading the family up to hunt down our favorite Christmas tree at the local farm. My folks will be helping us out with this one since I have a gimp hubby this year. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

4. Helping out at a local church ministry for Foster Families

5. Making 3 dozen Christmas cookies for our adoption agency to deliver to Pregnancy Resource Centers they partner with

6. Local high school Christmas Band concert for Natalie to enjoy (and maybe JZ).

7. Another date night thanks to our wonderful church for providing FREE childcare for 3 hours for our Sunday School class. We will be using FREE movie tickets earned by my husband for his hard work as an engineer. Thank you, L-3!

8. Visiting The North Pole of Texas in a city nearby. We wanted to go last year and never put it on the calendar so it never happened. This year it is scheduled! Check it out. www.northpoleoftexas.com

9. Christmas light looking around the area with cookies and milk!

10. Possibly a day of Christmas crafting with a sweet friend and her two precious kiddos.

11. Christmas Baking Day Tradition with friends.

12. New Year's Eve will be spent with friends and 7 kids! 

How will you be spending your holidays?