a great son-in-law?!

...my husband between my parents...

..looking at the iPad..

i cannot remember a time in the last 15+ years where i have set between my parents.

how many son-in-laws set between their in-laws!? :)

it really makes me smile!

thanksgiving weekend...

On Friday, we got up and spent some time playing with Hadlea. Later, we got dressed and headed to do some Black Friday shopping... but not before a lunch at Charleston's. Yum! Hadlea is in to coloring when we go out to eat.. yes, we do have to pull the colors out of her mouth 100 times, but she will try to color on the paper, which I think is great! :)

After lunch and hitting a few stores, we headed to Rusty and Nana's. Riley and Hannah were there, although Rusty and Riley were out working on the farm, so we didn't get to see them much! Hadlea did get to play with Hannah, which she LOVED!

Daddy/Uncle Justin and his girls!

Hannah dragged out every toy under the sun for Hadlea, but Hadlea mostly loved the baby stroller, which she wanted to ride in...

I think she might be a little too big when she can bend over and touch the floor! :)

After leaving Nana's, we headed back home to meet Grammie. She had came to town to do some Christmas shopping. We went to a couple of stores and then out to dinner. Then it was back home to put Hadlea to bed, and then Grammie and I did some more shopping until 11PM. We went to the mall, and although it was a disaster and the stores were torn apart, there was hardly anyone there! We got some GREAT buys!

On Saturday, it was back up and more shopping. Grammie got Hadlea this outfit when we went to Florida earlier this year. I just think it is adorable!

Sweet girl!

After doing some shopping, we headed home for H to take a nap and wait on our friends Shannan and Michael to arrive from Kansas City! They were coming to town so we could head out to watch the Bedlam, OSU vs. OU, game!

Hadlea, daddy and Uncle Mike!

Auntie Shan, me and Hadlea

Grammie stayed with H so we could go to dinner and go out to watch the game! It was a great night with an AWESOME win for the Sooners! Justin and Shan...

Mike and I

my very best friend... that never reads my blog! :)

My cousin James, or Grizzly Adams, met up with us also!

After the big win, we headed to the casino! I only put down $20 as I was not in the mood to lose... we will not discuss what the boys LOST!

On Sunday, Mike's parents brought Kennedy and Brynlee over so they could head back to Kansas City. I cannot believe how much the girls grow between the times we see them. They are just the sweetest things EVER... and H LOVES them!

Hadlea  and her KK.

3 sweet girls swinging...

love her to pieces!

KK and H playing in the 'house'!

Berkley even got to see his girlfriend, Mazie! He just loves her... we cannot even mention her name when they are gone or he will whine at the door for hours! Ha!

It was a great weekend of seeing family/friends and getting in some much needed Christmas shopping... too bad I am not even half way finished! I am just into party planning mode and not into Christmas mode... two more weeks before the BIG 1st Birthday, and then I will be into the Christmas spirit!

thanksgiving day 2010...

Wednesday after work, Justin, Hadlea, Berkley and I headed to my parents in Medford. Uncle Alan, Grandad and Gigi were already in town. We left later than we had liked so we got in later than we expected. But you can guess, Hadlea got alot of attention and some play time in before bed!

Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, we got up, dressed and waited on the rest of the family to get in. We were going to the church building for Thanksgiving lunch. My dad's family is so large that we would never fit in a house. I believe they said there were almost 70 people there... great turnout and SO great to see everyone!

Our little family minus Berkley!

And guess who showed up!?

My baby brother! I cried like a little baby when he walked in as he was late, which made me think he wasn't really coming. I was just dying to see him so I was so glad he showed! He looks AMAZING! I just love him to pieces!

This little girl wasn't exactly the angel we make her out to be! Ha! For one, she didn't sleep well at all which caused her to be cranky! For another, she is cutting her 4 back molars and I cannot imagine the pain that causes. But when she wasn't cranky, she was SUPER cute! :)

Hadlea standing and checking out her cousin Averie!

Averie is the cutest!

Me, with my cousin, Tyler, and our babies, Hadlea and Emery. Tyler is one of my closest cousins, and he is such a great friend! His wife, Shawna, had to work so she didn't get to come... Boo on her! I sure missed seeing her!

SOME... of the great-grandbabies on my dad's side.

TOP: Laura-Mya, Candace-Conner, Me-Hadlea, Tyler-Emery, Lori-Elyn   BOTTOM: Laura's oldest-Madison, Katie-Averie, Krissy-Riley

After lunch at the church building, we went back to my parents house. Here is Hadlea with her Great-Grandad, my mom's dad. I feel so blessed that Hadlea gets to know my grandparents.. both sets! I will never take that for granted! They are all some of the greatest people I have ever known, and I love them more than I could ever possibly put into words... and these pictures are some of the most precious ones I have ever taken!

Hadlea with her Gigi and Great-Grandad!

We love you both so much!

Hadlea playing with Berkley and her cousin Avery, Alan and Amanda's dog! She LOVES Avery!

Auntie A with her two baby girls... Hadlea and Avery! :)

We didn't leave my parents until Hadlea's bedtime as we thought she would sleep on the way home.. no such luck, but she was perfect on the ride home! :) We played for a bit after getting home and then we were all off to bed before getting ready to shop on Black Friday.. and no, not at 5AM.. we are more of the Noon shoppers! :)

happy thanksgiving...

" ... give thanks in all circumstances;

for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

1 Thessalonians 5:18

I am more thankful this Thanksgiving than I ever thought possible! :)

God is too good!

learning & thankful...

I am starting to wonder if I should be doing a weekly post of everything new Hadlea is learning! She is catching on so fast to the things we tell her! Just a few of the new things...

• She is almost walking. She can take about 10 steps at a time before just getting down to crawl! It must be much faster! :)
• I say, "Where's Mommy's Baby"? and she pats her chest! (She has actually done this for a while, but I forgot to put it on her monthly post.)
• I can give her a sock or shoe and say, "put this on your feet". and she will try her best to get them on her feet!
• I can say, "do you have stinky feet"? and she will put them in face!
• She can point to her hair and belly... sometimes eyes.
• She fake laughs. (If I laugh really loud, she will stop what she is doing and do this really deep laugh... hilarious!)

Today, we are waiting on daddy to get home so we can head to Grammie and Grampie's for Thanksgiving! I cannot wait to see my family... mostly my little brother Jake. Sorry to everyone else :) but this Thanksgiving, I am most thankful to have him healthy. Jake and I have been talking multiple times a day lately, and I am so thankful for our friendship. I CANNOT wait to see him! I wish I had the time to write about each person I am thankful for... but you know how long my posts get anyway! :) God has truly blessed me with an AMAZING life... my daughter, husband, family, friends... a great job, a home, a car... a dog that I call my own child!

And while we have been waiting for daddy... Ms H has been into everything. She is EVERYWHERE! First thing this morning after breakfast, she finds a fork and put it and a toy out the doggy door... this is the first time, of what I assume will be MANY! She was so proud of herself she clapped. I wouldn't have even noticed if all of the sudden she didn't break out into a very proud 'cheer' for herself! Ha!

And we needed to do some much needed laundry... and how else to put it up... she is such a big helper!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving with their families/friends! May all of those traveling have a safe trip! May you eat anything you want and lose pounds... (that is my wish for the holidays anyway!) Ha!

one...

Yesterday, after daddy made it home from my parents, we went to run a few errands! H was wearing one of her outfits from Nana! She looks so darn old...

One of the things we worked on while daddy was away was Hadlea saying 'one' and holding up one finger. She caught on super fast! Please excuse my annoying voice and SUPER loud cheering, but I was so excited when she remembered as I hadn't asked her for several hours! Oh... the little things! :)

Tonight, we are hanging at home. Hadlea was so tired when she got home from daycare that she was asleep by 7PM. Last night she went down at 730PM and I had to wake her up this morning at 830AM to go to daycare! Just cazy how much she can sleep... but we are SO thankful! :)

playing & baby j...

Our weekend plans got changed due to some little girl not feeling well on Friday! The daycare called and said she didn't seem to be feeling very well. She wasn't running a fever, she was eating well, but wasn't acting like herself. So daddy took off of work early and went and got her. This was her before leaving for daycare on Friday. She was sleepy and congested, but she was acting fine. Just lounging with her babies before leaving... like any other morning! :)

Hadlea and I went ahead and stayed home while daddy headed to my parents house to stay the weekend to hunt. I didn't want her getting worse before the holidays, and I knew she would eat and rest better at home. I am so glad I made the choice to stay home. I always wonder how the next stage with Hadlea can get better than the last, but she always seems to amaze me! She was in a great mood today, although congested and a cough, but she has been eating like a cow and sleeping very well. This has been the funnest weekend to date with her. We have spent the entire day at home... other than running to the post office to mail her 1st birthday invitations... (YEAH!) and meeting a friend to give her some clothes.

We have chased each other, played in the kitchen floor with spoons and bowls as drums, and we made a pallet in the living room floor with pillows, which she thought was the greatest... EVER!

At one point, I got my phone out to look at something and she started saying, 'baby', which means she wants to look at pictures of herself. It just cracks me up!

After pictures, I started a short kids video that I downloaded with animals and she watched it... even though cartoons were on the tv in front of her! :)

For dinner we had chicken, peas, peaches and yogurt. She wasn't eating that well at first, and I was hoping it wasn't due to her not feeling well, so I got out a fork and helped her put the food on the fork... she then ate like a champ... as long as she could put it in her own mouth. I think she ended up eating 5 whole chicken nuggets along with everything else! :) (Obviously, I need to invest in some children's forks!)

And a video...before daddy called and interrupted us! :)

Daddy called late afternoon and had a Big Brown Down! It was an 11 point, 150 lbs. We do not eat the meat, but hopefully we get some jerky! I was a little sad that H wasn't there to take a picture with her daddy! :(

And my monkey.... this girl would climb a mountain if she could! :)

And today at 1:30 PM, Jessica (one of my very best friends and MOH in my wedding), and her husband, Jimmy, welcomed Jestyn Reece. 7lbs 15oz, 21 inches. She has tons of hair and is going to have the most gorgeous skin ever! I CANNOT wait to hold this sweet girl! Congrats, Jimmy and Jess! We love you all!

Tomorrow, H and I are going to church and then will wait on daddy to get home!