Christmas in November

GG, Papa, Gran, and Grandaddy got Emmie and Ellie a Rainbow swing set for Christmas. It was delivered and installed yesterday. They didn't get done putting it together until dinnertime last night and it was already dark but that didn't stop Emmie from going to try it out! This morning all she talked about at breakfast was getting to go swing and slide. Needless to say we spent most of the day outside playing...here's hoping it warms up some in the next few days! Jackson also came over to try out the swing set today and he and Emmie had lots of fun.

The swing set came with 2 regular swings, a 1/2 bucket swing, a trapeze bar, and a seesaw like piece.

Thanksgiving Week

We spent the week of Thanksgiving at my parent's house. We had Thanksgiving with them on Wednesday evening and then went to NC to do Thanksgiving with Paul's extended family on Thursday and then heaed back to Columbia late Thursday afternoon. It was a hectic couple of days but Ellie was having some sleeping issues (as in NOT so much sleeping at night...she was up every 2 hrs one night) so it was nice to be at my mom's so that I could get some extra sleep during the day. After our first night back at home Ellie is back to sleeping through the night...hopefully. But I digress...We thouroughly enjoyed both of our Thanksgivings and getting to spend time with our families!

While we were  in Greenville Emmie had a great time helping Gran sweep the porch!

She and Grandaddy read some books.

I had some cuddle time with my girls.

Emmie decided she reallly liked to sit on the steps and hang out....so Ellie and I sat with her.



Emmie and Gran checked out the Thanksgiving ads.

On Wednesday afternoon my dad and I took Emmie to the Greenville Zoo.

Emmie got to hang out with Laura Ann, Emma, and Mary Jane while we were in NC. She had so much fun with them and they were so sweet to her! I'm so glad she has other girls in the family around her age since she doesn't have cousins. After we left she kept talking about playing with her friends.

While Emmie was playing with the girls, Ellie hung out with some of her great-aunts!

Sunday Style Section

Cupcakes

Tonight I did a trial run of the Elmo cupcakes I'm going to do for Emmie's birthday. I found the cupcakes online and was worried that I wouldn't be able to replicate them to my satisfaction so I wanted to try them in enough time to make a Plan B if Elmo didn't work out.
I let Emmie help me bake the cupcakes. She LOVES to help in the kitchen and she LOVES cupcakes so when I told her we were going to bake cupcakes she was ECSTATIC...she told everyone in the house that she was going to make cupcakes.
Emmie had a great time helping crack the eggs and stir the batter. She also got really into putting the batter into the muffin cups.

Can you tell I had a little helper!

Emmie had to sample her work when the cupcakes were done.

I was so excited about how the cupcakes turned out!

Thankful

Last year the week of Thanksgiving was a life changing one. This time last year I learned that my mom had Hodgkin's Lymphoma. This time last year I also found out that I was pregnant. Last year Thanksgiving was a whirlwind of emotions, emotions from both ends of the spectrum.
This year was a much less eventful Thanksgiving and one where I was especially thankful. My mom is cancer free and has recovered from the side effects of the chemo. We have sweet, happy, healthy Ellie here this year to celebrate with us...and she's been sleeping through the night for about 2 weeks (except for a rough patch this week...but hopefully we're over that!).
I'm so thankful for all of our family and friends. I'm thankful for everyone that prayed for my mom and thankful for everyone that supported our family during a difficult time. I'm thankful for all my family and friends who helped out with Emmie and Ellie when Ellie was born. It truely takes a village to raise a child...especially when you have 2 under the age of 2!!
As Paul and I tucked our sweet girls into bed tonight I was overwhelmed with thankfulness for all that God has given me. I'm so thankful for the family that I grew up in, the family I married into and the two little girls that Paul and I have been blessed with.

Football

On Saturday we took Emmie to watch Carolina play the Citadel. We went out early to tailgate and she had a great time watching her daddy cook and playing some football with her new friend Riley! At the end of tailgate she was running with the football, dropped it, and tripped over it and fell and skinned her cheek on the curb and cut her lip in a few places. She cried for quite awhile (can't say I blame her!) but then she dried up her tears as we headed into the game.

She had a great time at the game. She LOVED the fireworks they shot off after each touchdown and she enjoyed watching the band march and the team run out on the field. This week was military appreciation week and so they had the flyover. From our seats we could see the planes coming in which she loved (she's a little obsessed with planes right now) and she cringed a little at the noise when they flew over but overall it didn't seem to bother her too much. We stayed through halftime and even then she was still behaving well but you could tell she was exhausted...she was asleep about 2 minutes after we got in the car! I think she had a great time and she was so excited to get to see the Gamecocks play!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday (a day late) to Emmie and Ellie's Papa Coach!

We celebrated with Papa yesterday and Emmie woke up this morning asking about "Papa's cupcake".  She thinks Papa should have a birthday everyday!

23 Months!

I am 23 months (and 1 day) old!

• I am somewhere around 31 lb.
• I wear a size 5 diaper, a size 3t shirt, 24mo or 2t pants and dresses, a size 6 shoe, and bows of any size. ;)
• I sleep from 7:30pm-7ish am and take about a 1.5-2hr nap after lunch.
• I talk A LOT and I say the cutest things (see the end of the oyster roast post for evidence of my cuteness)!
• Most nights I pee in the potty at bedtime. I've gotten much better at knowing when exactly I need to go as opposed to just sitting on the potty and eventually going.
• I'm still working on my colors...every now and then I get one right.
• At night I sleep with mousie, kitty cat, and Elmo and my pink and green blanket, my quilt, and my little yellow blanket. I also have my mobile in my crib and some books. I get very upset if I don't have any of these items.
• I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to sing! I sing ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle, Baa Baa Black Sheep, and Old McDonald.
• I'm working on counting.
• I love arts and crafts.
• I LOVE my little sister and I love when we can play together. While mommy gets her shower or while mommy cooks dinner I will often sit on the quilt beside Ellie and read books. I also love to help take care of Ellie. I will often go get her a bib, pacifier, or blanket and give them to her.

• I went to Halloween at Boo in the Zoo and trick or treated at Grandaddy's office. I also when to the My Gym Halloween party. I was a super adorable ladybug this year.

• I had lots of playdates this month. I played with Jackson; Evelyn, Libby, and Mason; Kenzie; Everett; Ivy; Mikey and Lucy. I had soo much fun playing with all my friends (sadly Mommy didn't get many pictures).

• I talk about the Gamecocks a lot...I'm a huge fan!

• I got squeaky shoes this month. They drove Franklin a little crazy at first...he thought they were a squeaky toy!
• I love going to church and playing with my friends. Whenever we get ready to go anywhere I always say "church?".
• I love Sesame Street. Elmo is my favorite.
• I love when Ellie and I wear matching outfits.

• Some of my favorite books right now are Go Dog Go, The Best Nest, On the Night You Were Born, and The Spirit of Christmas.

• I went with Daddy to pick out a pumpkin and then supervised the carving of the pumpkin.

• I went to Gran and Grandaddy's this month and had so much fun.

• I went to an Oyster Roast and I loved dancing to the band.

• I love to cuddle. I will sit next to Mommy on the couch and cuddle up next to her under the blanket.

• One of my new phrases this month is "hold you". So sweet!

• I'm on the cutting edge of fashion.