Hey friends! Last Monday I told you I was signing out for the week and I totally unplugged! You know those holiday weekends that are just so perfect, you don’t even have a word to describe how wonderful it was? Well that was our weekend folks. There aren’t any words, that I’m aware of, that accurately state how perfect our holiday weekend was. Two weeks ago our entire house was sick, and then last week the Mr was working 20 hours days, 7 days a week (instead of his typical 18 hr days); so to say we have been exhausted lately would be a complete understatement. But, to get away from reality for a few short days, to gorge on the most delicious food, to celebrate and give thanks, and to be surrounded by our village was............... ahhhhhhhhh so needed and soooooooo appreciated. The weekend didn’t just fill our bellies, but refilled our energy cups.
In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, Dutch and I did a lot of Thanksgiving crafts and made sure that he had enough Christmas jammies for December. I also admitted on Instagram that I am officially a hoarder of festive jammies.
I spent the evenings after Dutch went to bed, while the Mr. was working, baking a ridiculous amount of calories. Yummmm!!!
On Wednesday, we packed the car and headed out to the ranch. I don’t know how this happened, but we were out the door on time and didn’t hit any traffic! It was a Thanksgiving miracle! On our way, we stopped and had a picnic at a park. It was a gorgeous day!
Dutch had his first experience with sand.
I spent the evenings after Dutch went to bed, while the Mr. was working, baking a ridiculous amount of calories. Yummmm!!!
On Wednesday, we packed the car and headed out to the ranch. I don’t know how this happened, but we were out the door on time and didn’t hit any traffic! It was a Thanksgiving miracle! On our way, we stopped and had a picnic at a park. It was a gorgeous day!
Dutch had his first experience with sand.
I don’t think he knew what to think of it hehe
Had I known that there was sand at this park, I probably would have put Dutch in different shoes, but this little cowboy sure did look cute on the beach with his boots on :-)
Had I known that there was sand at this park, I probably would have put Dutch in different shoes, but this little cowboy sure did look cute on the beach with his boots on :-)
I promise you this folks, I am absolutely, 100% addicted to these two guys in my life. I mean I am head over heels, can’t breath without them obsessed!
Look at these faces though............
Can you blame me?!?!?!
Before Thanksgiving my bestie took a few maternity shots of me and sent me this sneak peak….seriously, Grace Hill Photographer is a magician behind the lens. I’m shocked that this is me! Thank you so much for capturing this moment in our lives!!!
Ummmmmm Oh my gosh is this really me?!?!?!
Ummmmmm Oh my gosh is this really me?!?!?!
Once we got to the ranch it was time to kick back and relax.
Leaving reality should always look this good, right?!
Places like these are great reminders of what it is that we should really be grateful for.
If you were to ask Dutch, what he was thankful for this year, I’m certain it would be something along the lines of “trac-tah” or spending time with his cousins.
Since we got back he has been looking for them all over our house.
For Thanksgiving dinner, we had a roasted and a fried turkey. It was ah-maz-ing! I’ve never had a fried turkey before, and to be honest, I don’t think I can go back now that I’ve had the fried version. It was so delicious; bravo Josh!
Leaving reality should always look this good, right?!
Places like these are great reminders of what it is that we should really be grateful for.
If you were to ask Dutch, what he was thankful for this year, I’m certain it would be something along the lines of “trac-tah” or spending time with his cousins. Since we got back he has been looking for them all over our house.
For Thanksgiving dinner, we had a roasted and a fried turkey. It was ah-maz-ing! I’ve never had a fried turkey before, and to be honest, I don’t think I can go back now that I’ve had the fried version. It was so delicious; bravo Josh!
One morning the Mr. took Dutch fishing for the first time (while I stayed in the house guzzling my coffee and chit-chatting). They had a very successful trip and caught several fish. When the Mr. told me that they caught fish I was just imagining little 5 inch fish or something like that; however, I was very wrong! He showed me these pictures and I was very impressed!
On the way back into the city we decided to go ahead and pick up our Christmas tree. We did this last year with Dutch, but he wasn’t even crawling yet (he started crawling on 12/26/14), so I don’t think he got much out of the experience before. But this year was totally different. He helped us find the perfectly sized tree. He went from tree to tree making sure the one we got had the best pine smell hehehe I have a feeling that this little boy is going to love Christmas just as much as his parents.
You know when you get back from a trip, no matter how long you’ve been gone, it seems like it’s been an eternity with the amount of laundry you accumulate? As soon as we got home I got started on the piles in my house: going through everyone’s laundry, packing up all of the fall decorations, and pulling out all of the bins of Christmas goodies. We definitely were living by the “you have to mess up to clean up” method.
I decided to go a little, no a lot, lighter on the Christmas decorations this year. If Teeny Peep decides to join us exactly on time, I will be packing up Christmas decorations and getting ready for a newborn with a body the size of a house. Not appealing! But if she decides to come early, then I wont be ready AND I’ll have to pack up the Christmas decorations with a newborn, sleep-deprivation, and learning how to juggle an 18 month old and a newborn. I don’t even want to think about how hard that could be. Needless to say, there are minimal decorations this year; just enough to know that Christmas is coming, but not so much that it gives me anxiety.
You know when you get back from a trip, no matter how long you’ve been gone, it seems like it’s been an eternity with the amount of laundry you accumulate? As soon as we got home I got started on the piles in my house: going through everyone’s laundry, packing up all of the fall decorations, and pulling out all of the bins of Christmas goodies. We definitely were living by the “you have to mess up to clean up” method.
I decided to go a little, no a lot, lighter on the Christmas decorations this year. If Teeny Peep decides to join us exactly on time, I will be packing up Christmas decorations and getting ready for a newborn with a body the size of a house. Not appealing! But if she decides to come early, then I wont be ready AND I’ll have to pack up the Christmas decorations with a newborn, sleep-deprivation, and learning how to juggle an 18 month old and a newborn. I don’t even want to think about how hard that could be. Needless to say, there are minimal decorations this year; just enough to know that Christmas is coming, but not so much that it gives me anxiety.
The Mr. & I also decided that we weren’t going to put up our normal Christmas ornaments. Like I said, last year Dutch wasn’t even crawling, but this year he is running, so I don’t want a bunch of breakable ornaments on the tree that could get broken & hurt him. We purchased this super nice kit from Costco, in the red and gold, for only $20. It is a 50-piece set of shatter-proof plastic ornaments and decorations. It seemed like a perfect fit for us. We probably would never have had something like this before, but this is just right for right now, when we have a little elf rearranging the tree constantly. 
Before we left for Thanksgiving I recorded the Macy’s day parade, and we watched it as we were decorating the tree. Dutch was captivated by the musical theatre pieces and loved to watch the singers.
Before we left for Thanksgiving I recorded the Macy’s day parade, and we watched it as we were decorating the tree. Dutch was captivated by the musical theatre pieces and loved to watch the singers.
The rest of the weekend was spent fairly normal: we went to the grocery store and to church, the Mr. put up the outside Christmas lights, we wore slippers (because it finally got cooler in Houston), we watched the Steelers game (because it was actually playing on TV for Houstonians), & we got to skype with “Aunt Nana”.
Our Elf on the Shelf, Sheldon, returned to our house this weekend. We don’t do much with Sheldon except read his book and play hide and seek with him. Dutch really enjoys his new buddy Sheldon.
This weekend Dutch also shocked us with some potty training behaviors. While at the ranch his cousin was being potty trained so I think he saw it a lot, but when we got home he told us twice that he needed to go and actually went. The Mr. and I just stood and stared at him because we were so shocked and we didn’t know what to do. So I guess that means we’re potty training now? I wasn’t going to even start this for another 8 months, but I guess I might need to start thinking about this haha
I also got to spend time in the mornings & the evenings when it was still dark just starring at the Christmas tree. Does anyone else love to do that?
I hope that y’all had a great Thanksgiving week with lots of food and family fun. Now we have Christmas coming up and I’m looking forward to that. It’s kind of like Christmas for the first time with Dutch. He was here last year but he was so young that a lot of the traditions were just sensory stimulation, this year already seems to be different and more fun
