To Uncle Drew, To say that we are proud of you is the understatement of the century! :) Way to go! You're D.O.N.E. We loved celebrating your accomplishment with you this weekend and can't wait to hang out during the holidays! Oh, and thanks for increasing the number of Yellow Jackets in the family! To all the family, It was so wonderful to spend Saturday with you!
To the Lady at the Post Office, For a women of your age (mid 60s??), you looked surprisingly trendy in your jeans, riding boots, sweater, and scarf. And then I saw it... You had the long narrow sticker indicating size running down the back of your leg. I immediately knew I needed to spare you from further unknown embarrassment, and let's be honest...I know what its like to feel mortified after finding said sticker after a whole day out, and I have never gotten a look of such gratitude from a stranger. May you have a Merry Christmas.
To Little T, The days of being content sitting and playing are over. You may still be completely dependent on two adult hands to hold onto, but you want to walk (and sometimes in a hurry!) everywhere. I thought surely you would crawl or scoot first, but I guess will we be skipping those and jump (almost literally) on to walking!
To Handsome Hubby, Poor Little T was such a trooper on Saturday with all the traveling, but he was definitely not a happy camper on the way home. Who knew that your mad beat boxing skills would entertain our little man so well?! I'm just hoping this is not an indication of the kind of music he's going to listen to as a teenager...

Never Under Estimate the Strength of a nearly 7-month old...

To the Naive Mama (aka, me), Upon entering in on a conversation about Christmas tree safety with some other moms, I can remember saying, "I don't think I really need to worry about [Little T] this year. I think it will be more of an issue next year when he's 18 months old." Oh, how very wrong you were! I now wish I could go back, undo those words, and take my own advice to fasten the tree to the wall with fishing wire or a bungee cord to keep the tree from falling over.
To Little T, In a matter of only a few days, you went from barely knowing how to move the walker to racing around in it...even on the carpet. You had been playing right next to me yesterday, when I heard a crash across the room and saw the Christmas tree laying completely on top of the walker (with Little T legs sticking out the bottom, but no other signs of him...). My heart nearly leapt out of my chest! Thank you, Lord, for protecting my little boy! Thank you that my sturdy little guy didn't have a bump or bruise (or tears) to show for the incident. Poor kid was thankfully only covered in Frasier Fir needles. Unfortunately, this has not made him any less interested in the tree... If Little T not being seriously injured wasn't miracle enough, not a single ornament broke.
To those of you who asked if I got a picture, Um, no... I was too concerned with collecting my buried child from the Christmas tree wreckage. If I could go back, would I take a picture? Probably not...but, my, would that have been a picture to cherish over Little T's lifetime!

To Santa, Thank you for making a special visit from the North Pole this week to meet my little guy. He obviously hasn't reached the age of being afraid of you (maybe next year?!) and found you quite interesting instead.
To the Jesse Tree, You have been such a wonderful daily reminder to our family of the reason for this Christmas season. I hope to make you an annual tradition! Little T may only look at the leaves as we add them to the tree, but I know next year I will appreciate decorating the tree himself! Thank you, Lord, for drawing in our focus during this Advent season.
To Weathergirl, I've decided it would be nice to have winter weather during this holiday season. Would you mind placing a special order for me? How about snow? That would be nice on Little T's first Christmas! Thanks. You're such a dear.
Jagbirder, It warmed my heart that Little T loved the one-on-one time he had with you at the Ladies Christmas dinner. You may officially be our go-to babysitter. :) Besides, who else is going to teach him about the birds that are visiting our feeder?
To Uncle Drew, Congrats on winning first place for your Mechanical Engineering project! We are so very proud of you and can't wait to celebrate your graduation! Wahoooooooooo! You did it!
To the Hubbster, Last week you performed a two-man procedure solo. Half way threw it, the attending whipped out his phone and started recording it. Simply put, you became the talk of the department. It's no wonder PawPaw's nickname for you was "Hot Shot". :)

He's still looking at Santa...

...and we're back!

To the Move, No offense, but I'm so glad you're over! You have absolutely consumed my time since the last time I posted... 1 house packed up, 2 houses cleaned, 1 house mostly now unpacked (not to mention helping host a baby shower and caring for a little man who only wants to jump, but is too small for the door jumper...)
To Little T, Happy 5 months!...a little belated. 5 month pictures coming soon. They just need to be taken before 6 months, right?! :) You are becoming such a big boy and you have been a trooper with all of this moving and transitioning. You are just about out of your 3-6 month clothes and you've started growling and roaring all day long (quite appropriate that it started on the day I dressed him in a dinosaur outfit). The fun just never ends with you!
To all our friends and family, we couldn't have done the move without you. Thank you for collecting boxes (largely from my work family), thank you for literally helping us move (the guy's Bible Study), picking up and delivering our new fridge with your trailer- and even having to take off the doors to get it into the kitchen- (Fritz Landscaping), providing dinner for us (Morris family!), painting (Mama Ne'!), building a temporary fence for Long Dog (Popmiester!), watching Little T so that I could get lots done (Granny D and Mama Ne'), and countless others who helped with words of encouragement and support that helped me keep my sanity (Ray Ray and Weathergirl... I promise I'm not normally this emotional). Thank you all for being part of our amazing community of family and friends. We are so humbled by your never-ending acts of kindness.
To Handsome Hubby, I love our stay-at-home date nights. Your schedule is so unpredictable and you come home so late, that the only way we can go on dates is if we bring it home. Last week your brought home frozen yogurt (my favorite!) and we ate it out on the oh-so-cold screened porch and just caught up on life. Then we had a pumpkin carving date night! I feel like we've never spent this much time together...it helps that we got rid of the DVR when we moved and we are no longer compelled to "catch up" on missed TV.

Proud homeowners! Just after closing...

Carving pumpkins...can you guess which one is the surgeons?

My happy boy!

Sitting in his new chair in the new kitchen

We voted! it cut into nap time a little...can you tell?

Visiting Papa at the hospital

Little T's Nursery

I thought I would post pictures of Little T's mostly finished nursery in this house before packing it up for the move. Be sure to check out the before pictures! Once we get settled into the new house, I'm hoping to finally finish the last nursery project: a picture collage above his crib of all his grandfathers and great-grandfathers in their military uniforms. I'm excited to see how it turns out! We have some handsome gentlemen in our family! :)

The changing table is an English Buffet that actually still have pink baby contact paper in the drawers and on the shelves. My mama used this piece of furniture as the changing table in Weathergirl's and my nursery.

I love the wooden frame from Weathergirl! Look closely...that is a ultrasound picture of Thomas around 32 weeks. I was so surprised by how much he looked like that picture when he was born. Technology is soooo amazing!

Banner handmade by a sweet sweet friend. Mama Ne' made the bumper pad, the crib skirt, and the curtains.

Alarm clock from Pottery Barn Kids

Popmiester helped transform the corner media cabinet into a wardrobe since the closet in the room is fairly small.

Model vintage planes that I found at Hobby Lobby

Prints ordered and framed by another sweet friend. Thank you! Thank you!

"Hudson" rug from Pottery Barn Kids... I got an amazing deal on it! The model plane on the stand is from Handsome Hubby's aunt.

Vintage Airplane fabric that Mama Ne' found! I love it! It will definitely grow with Thomas.

Food Friday!: Girl Scout Coffee Cake

Food Friday!: Girl Scout Coffee Cake

I was a Girl Scout while in elementary school and we were always presented with projects and opportunities to earn badges for our uniform. One such badge was the cooking/baking badge. In order to earn this badge, our troop leaders designed a bake-off where we were each given the same recipe- "The Great Coffee Cake"-, we were to bake it without any help from our parents (although certainly not without the supervision of our parents) in an unmarked/unlabelled baking dish, and submit it to a panel of judges (3 parents...one of which was my dad), and they chose the top three best preparations after sampling all umpteen cakes. Weathergirl and I were selected as two of the top three winners. We got our skills from our Mama...

After the competition, we had almost two full cakes left to bring home, and Banker Boy loved the cake! So much so, that he asked for us to make it for him each year on his birthday, which we did as often as we could. :) It simply became known as "Girl Scout Coffee Cake" in our family.  My mom still has the original recipe print out that was given to each of us. :) Remember, this recipe is easy enough for a bunch of elementary school age Girl Scouts to make...and not in an easy-bake oven! Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cups oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 egg, beaten
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

Directions

Grease a 9 x 13" pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream together flour, oil, and sugars. Remove 1 and 1/2 cups of the mixture and set aside. 

To the remaining flour/sugar mixture, add egg, buttermilk, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix together. Batter will be thin.

To the set aside flour/sugar mixture, add cinnamon and nuts. 

 Press half of the crumb flour/sugar/nuts/cinnamon mixture into the bottom of the pan.

Pour batter over the crumbs and sprinkle the remaining half of the crumb mixture on top. 

 

Bake 45 minutes, or until done (tooth pick comes out clean). 

It's A Good Thing I Birthed Him...

...otherwise, I might not think he belonged to me!

A lady at MOPS this week told me that Little T looks just like me. Bless her heart! I told her she must not know my husband. :) 

(Handsome Husband on left, Little T at 2-3 months on right)

To Little T, You had your first little tantrum this week, which took this Mama by surprise! Having never heard anything like it from you before, I was shocked at how you had completely lost it (although, I now know what I may expect in the future...). The even bigger surprise??  It was all because I stopped reading books to you (Thank you, Katie and others, for introducing us to the Sandra Boynton books. To say he loves them is an understatement!) I had read two books twice, you had decided that it wasn't time to move on yet. You're only four months old! May you always keep your love for reading!
To Little Miss L, Despite having gotten together before, I felt like today's play date with Little T was your first official one. We had a blast! I loved spending some extra special time with your mama, and I know that Little T enjoyed playing with some of your toys. Thank you for graciously allowing him to nap in your crib...I'm sure he didn't mind all the pink girly stuff. 
To Banker Boy's Girl, Heard you are in town and Mama Ne' got to spend the day together today. Two words: So. Jealous. Wishing I lived closer so I could have gotten in on the fun, but I'm glad you had a wonderful day!
To Handsome Hubby, After you got home from work this evening, you proceeded to dump your entire untouched dinner on the floor. You glanced at me with this the-straw-the-broke-the-camel's-back face and I immediately felt for you. Don't worry, Sweetheart! It could have been worse! The plate didn't break, the chicken was still edible (makes me question the chicken...), you didn't have to eat any of your veggies, and Long Dog was absolutely eager to help me clean it up. :) So thankful that this rotation ends soon!

To the Fall Front-Door Wreath, I was slightly frightened this morning when I heard light taping on the front door. After some minor investigating, I decided to be brave and open the door...only to find that the cardinals that hang out in our yard are picking you apart! Don't worry! The next house has a storm door that will protect you. :)  T minus 12 days until closing! Thanks Jagbirder Judy and the rest of the crew for collecting boxes!
To Little T, You were such a good boy at your baptism! It was the first of many special occasions in your lifetime and if this one is any indication of the ones to come, I will cry at them all. :) I was so moved, so proud, so humbled, and felt so blessed yesterday. May you never know a day that you do not know the Lord!
To Mama Ne', Popmiester, Weathergirl, Hurricane Hunk, Banker Boy, Granny D, and all those without blog names yet (Uncle Drew, Jackie, Mormor and Morfar), Thank you for coming this weekend and really making the celebration of Little T's baptism a special occasion. I absolutely loved having you all here, even if it was for such a short visit. Handsome Hubby and I are so blessed to have such a loving family and only wished that you lived a little bit closer. The new house is 10 minutes closer to you all...at least we are moving in the right direction! :)
To Handsome Hubby, I'm so grateful that you had the whole weekend off (and even got home early on Friday evening!). I will always cherish the weekends you are home, the Sundays that you are able to attend church with me, and the evenings that you are able to kiss Little T goodnight (and even bathe him and rock him to sleep!). 

With all the aunts and uncles

My family

Handsome Hubby's family