11 month post...almost a month late. Almost!!

Well, since you turn one year old on Sunday, Mama figured she'd better hurry up and get your 11 month post done.  Sorry for the delay sweet girl.  It's much more fun to play with you than to write about it.  But I'll try to be better!

Some highlights from this month:

• You have 6 teeth that have given you practically zero problems.  So thankful for that little one!

• Mama's still squeezing you into size 3 diapers even though you are definitely in a size 4.  I need to finish the package!

• Started cruising on the couch...you are super fast!  But you like to chew on the end tables and have left teeth marks on them.  Not cool little one.  Not cool.

• Super into reading books...okay really just looking at them and chewing on them...but you love them nonetheless

• Stood on your own for approximately 5 seconds!

• We've dropped an afternoon nursing session leaving us with just 3 total a day

• You had your first babysitter who even put you to bed and said you were great!  We love her.

• You've discovered door stoppers and are obsessed with them.  I was okay with this until you took off the top and put it in your mouth.  No way sweet girl.  Gone.

• Your daddy and I joke about your "path of destruction" you leave wherever you go.  He can always tell where you were when he gets home from work.  You're into everything you can get your hands on and put every miniscule thing on the floor into your mouth.  How you spot those specks of lint even the vacuum leaves I have no idea.

• You spent Thanksgiving in Indy with your family and finally met Mook the dog.  Boy you loved him!  You laughed and laughed when he licked you and it was the cutest thing. 

• Near the end of the month you saw Santa and were so nonchalant about the whole experience.  You just looked at him like, "What's up!?" and then continued to chew on Sophie.  Love it!

Clearly you're a fan of chewing.....

I love you so much sweet girl and it has been my joy to watch you grow these last 11 months.  I look forward to so many more celebrations of your achievements.  I cannot wait to see the little person you become.  

Love, Mama

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Monday friends!  Matt's has been working weekends for the last two weeks so my days are all messed up.  Besides the fact that Natalie and I spent the majority of our day yesterday in pajamas which is more common on the weekends, I thought it was Monday all day.  I feel a little off.  It could also be all of the Thanksgiving food I stuffed myself with all weekend.  I'm in need of a food intervention.

We headed down to Indianapolis Wednesday evening and spent all day Thursday at my parents' house celebrating with my in laws and my family.  We had so much fun and so much food...and it was a super fun day filled with lots of love.  

 

I made this Pumpkin Spiced Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting and it was so yummy!  I ate the leftovers for breakfast for two days.  Yep.  That was only the beginning of my sweet issues.  I think I may need to give up sugar.  After Christmas of course.

To say that my mama loves her granddaughter is the biggest understatement of the century.  They had such a great time together spreading the love.

Until Natalie got a hold of my brother, her bestie.  These are probably my favorite pictures ever. 

After dinner we played some games, drank some wine, and played Just Dance.  In that order.  Which explains why my moves on Just Dance were less than stellar.  Or perhaps it's just that I can't dance.  Either way...complete and utter suckage on my part.  

We headed back to Cleveland on Friday and stopped to get our Christmas tree on the way home.  It's Natalie's first Christmas this year so we're soaking in all of the experiences together as a family.  Can you believe how nice the weather was?  I mean, last year it was so cold and raining.  This year girl didn't even need a coat!

Saturday I hosted my very first Thanksgiving for a group of our friends and their kiddos.  We had an absolute blast.  I forgot to take any pictures because I was rushing around all day prepping the food and such but I did manage to snap a blurry phone pic of the cupcakes I made.  Happy Turkey Day!

Change. The Good and the Bad.

I'm not a person who likes change.  That control freak inside of me (okay, it's not really inside of me...it out there for everyone to see) likes to know what's going to happen before it actually happens.  And when things change, I'm caught off guard, I'm not prepared.  And a Jenny unprepared is one of the worst things in my mind.  In fact I'm getting anxious right now thinking about it.

This is a particularly sensitive area for me during the holiday season.  I wistfully dream of the good old days where I woke up at 6 a.m. with my brother and sister, we all sat in our particular spots on the couch, and we opened presents.  Then Mom would make us an awesome breakfast and we'd all nap on the couch because why the heck did we get up so early?  Or Thanksgiving where we'd go to my Grandma and Grandpa's and sit at the kids table telling jokes or spying on our parents. 

Things have changed so much.  We've added husbands and lost grandparents.  We have so many other people to take into account, our little bubble has been disrupted.  A part of me mourns the loss of my holidays as a kid and the fact that they'll never be the same.

And now that we have a little girl of our own, I want us to make our own holiday traditions for her.  In her own home.  But how do you wake up in your own house on Christmas morning when the rest of your family lives 5 hours south? 

These are all areas we'll eventually have to work out.  Starting with this year's Thanksgiving.  We usually head down to Indianapolis as both my parents and Matt's parents live there.  My sister comes in from Chicago with her husband and we all of Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' house.  We're out at 3 a.m. with the crazies for Black Friday and then we celebrate another Thanksgiving with Matt's side of the family is they decide to grace us with their presence. 

This year, work is getting in the way.  Matt has a trial coming up in December and it's serious crunch time.  Before I married an attorney, I thought all lawyers went to court all the time like on T.V.  Well, obviously this isn't true.  Things rarely go to trial so this is a huge, crazy big deal.  And he's swamped.  So this year we're only going to be traveling from late Wednesday to early Friday.  No Black Friday, just a quick dinner and we're outta there.

It makes my heart hurt that things have to change when you get older.  That everything doesn't always go as planned.  But I'm trying to look on the bright side.  I decided since we were going to be home for the weekend...that we could get out Christmas tree!  So I'm all pumped up to decorate for the season.  And seeing as I'm always piling on way too much, I invited several of our friends over on Saturday for another Thanksgiving meal.  Yes.  I'm hosting my first Thanksgiving, making my first turkey...on one week's notice.  When I get home from traveling one day before.

I'm insane.

But I'm also excited to spread the season with our friends who we've come to love.  Who we are so thankful to have surrounding us in this city we never thought we'd stay in more than a year or two.  We're dug in people.  Growing roots, you might say.  And I don't want to leave.

The Holidays at Home

Hey y'all! 

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!!  Matt and I worked on Monday and then headed back home to Indianapolis to spend the holiday with our families.  It was our official last road trip home as just the two of us.  I will not tell you that I had to make him pull over on the side of the road so I could throw up.  No.  I will not mention that.  I also will not mention the tantrum I threw upon finding out that the Peppermint Chocolate Chip Milkshake from Chick-fil-a has 150 grams of carbs.  How many can I have for breakfast?  30.  Yep.  Freaking diabetes...

Since being home I have done some serious baking.  I've made pumpkin butterscotch cookies and pumpkin cream pie.  Seriously yum.  I'm making a sweet potato casserole tomorrow to take over to my mama's as well.  Thanksgiving is going to be just delicious tomorrow! 

I've also had the opportunity to see some really fabulous friends.  I had dinner with two of them last night at my favorite Mexican restaurant of all time.  You know what's great about beef and cheese dip?  No carbs people.  0 carbs.  L.O.V.E.

I also got out and saw this movie today:

source

It really was super cute.  And see it in 3D please.  It is a must.

There is also something else really fantastic to look forward to this week.  My shower!  My sister, mama, and MIL are hosting it for me on Saturday and I just cannot wait!

Well, better get going but I'm sending out the love to all of you this Thanksgiving!  Y'all have given me so much and I'm throwing it right back at ya :)

Finally...a Thanksgiving Recap!

Goodness gracious ladies...it has been a long time! I'm so sorry I have been gone for so long. Believe me...it was not intentional. I got a little sickly my last day in Colorado and have progressively gotten worse. It's just a cold...don't worry! No swine flue here...but I am exhausted, sinusy, and just plain old ick.

But I am determined to finally do my Thanksgiving recap! But first...my final day in Colorado! I spent the whole day with bro at work and he showed me around the campus. Too much fun!






My flight home was uneventful and I got to see my hubby so it had a happy ending. We (and when I say we...I mean I) spent Thanksgiving morning baking a pecan tart and pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving at my parents' house. Matt's parents joined us and we had a lovely time. Family game night + lots of food + wine=the best day ever in my book.

I stayed way too late and only got about 2 hours of sleep before getting up for Black Friday. It was not. fun. at. all. Especially when I didn't buy one single thing for myself. But I stuck it out to watch my husband get great deals on tools and electronics. Fun, huh? Yeah. I'm a great wife. Period.

I napped and then enjoyed meeting up with Sonja from For the Love of Stilettos! So exciting! She and her husband came up from Jacksonville and it was so fun meeting them. I think our husbands bonded over sports...shocking :)

I can't wait to have a meet up somewhere warmer!! Isn't she the cutest thing ever? Forgive my grossness. Two hours sleep people...two hours.


The rest of our days in Indy were spent with family and friends and included lots of yummy food. It makes me super excited for Christmas time and more quality hours with people back home.

Since being home...I have been able to put away all of the fall decor, on the inside of the house at least. We are going to get our tree this weekend and I am beyond thrilled! It is the most wonderful time of the year you know!

Leavin' On A Jetplane...

Well ladies...I'm off!

Today is my last day of work until after Thanksgiving!! I am so ridiculously excited about this...you do not even know. Things have been a little crazy around these parts and I sure could use a break. I am leaving for Colorado tomorrow afternoon to visit my brother for a few days...then it's back to Indianapolis for some precious time with the rest of my family for the holidays.

Unfortunately, my dear husband will not be joining me on my trip out west...so keep him in your prayers seeing as he is going to have to fend for himself for 4 whole days without me. I can already see the pizza boxes on my kitchen floor. I will miss him like crazy when I'm gone (in fact I already kind of miss him and I haven't even left yet....weird?) but I'm excited to be able to spend some quality time with my brother. Living across the country...we do not see each other nearly enough.

I am going to be taking my laptop and I plan on attempting to keep up on my blogging from afar...but alas, I cannot make any promises. So I will say ta ta and wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving!

But before I dash off, I wanted to give a shout out to a few of my bloggy friends! Since I started blogging many, many months ago I have won three giveaways. Yes, that's right. Three! And even though I won them all at different times, I got all of my packages within the last few days! How fun is that? One day, the only pieces of mail we had in our whole mailbox were from bloggers!

So what did I win??

I won this painted wooden letter in the color of my choice from A Journey Through the Waiting Game:


Isn't it lovely?? Please forgive the spot my flash made on the R. It is flawless in person. Maybe she could do two smaller letters for me to put on each side of the R and I could put our initials on our wall!?! Oh the wheels they are a turnin'...


I won this from Shaina:

It's some super delicious granola and a pedometer! Now we can be twins! Please ignore the fact that the granola is already 1/2 gone and I just got it yesterday.


And finally, very fitting, I won this from Dugout Daisy:


Just in time for New Moon...my very own Twilight coaster!


Thank you so much ladies!! You have no idea how special I felt carrying in all of those packages with my name on them! You rock my world :)