0 Thanksgiving

Whew! Thanksgiving was a wild and crazy week. It seemed like every minute of the day we were on the move. I drove to SA with the girls Tuesday afternoon and I was so scared that Georgia was going to be up all night. Before last week, she had NEVER slept in a pack and play and never slept through the night when we traveled. But she did GREAT. I will say we are sticking to a schedule with her, and it seems to be working. Our nights are pretty great, with Georgia down at 6 and Leighton down at 7.

Anyway, Wednesday morning we got up and went to the McNay with Uncle Matt and just walked around the grounds. Sadly, I didn't have my camera with me, but Leighton had a blast running around "exploring." We also stopped by Uncle Brad's work for a bit and he showed Leighton some beautiful flowers.

We went to lunch with my dear friend Megan and her two kids right before we went to see Uncle Brad. Megan's son Parsons had a cute little trick that Leighton picked up on (thanks, Megan!) If you are familiar with Jersey Shore, then check out Leighton's Situation:

My parents have enough fun in their backyard that Leighton spends pretty much all her time outside when we are there. It's so great!

My parents live right near the airport, so we see our fair share of airplanes. Leighton enjoyed pointing out each one to us.

I can just hear the voice she is using in this picture. Recently, she has taken to using a strange Kermit the Frog sounding voice...just out of the blue.

We had a great time just hanging out in the backyard in the afternoons. The weather was beautiful, and it's great exercise trying to keep Georgia on the blanket and out of the grass.

We tried a new experiment this year for Thanksgiving: deep fried turkey. My dad took on the bulk of the project, and we all LOVED IT. I highly recommend this method of cooking for turkey! I'm usually not a huge fan of turkey...in my opinion, it's sort of a dry, bland meat. But not deep-fried! It was delish!

I think I busted Leighton about to show another "Situation" here. I don't think she went through with it. Whew!

We had my whole family at the house, and Nonny and Granddaddy came over. I think Leighton was thrilled to have us all together. As thrilled as Leighton was, Georgia was horrified. Not really, but she definitely is experiencing some separation anxiety. Practically every time I handed her off to anyone, she burst into tears!

I missed out on the piano playing, but I could hear from the kitchen (where I was washing dishes, you are welcome mom) everyone singing and dancing and having fun.

Brad is notorious for suddenly disappearing in the middle of all the fun. I searched all over the house to find him...and here he was! On the FLOOR next to my parents' bed. I think the turkey got to him.

Georgia was pretty good for Granddaddy. I was surprised, given her sensitivity while we were in San Antonio. But I was happy for him that he got to have a moment with a happy baby.

Thank you, Uncle Matt. I feel like no one ever gets pictures of ME with my girls. And he got this great moment on film for me. Leighton and I were on the blanket and my mom came out and joined us and we all had a sweet, peaceful moment.

I'm sort of disappointed I didn't get more pictures of the family with the girls. It is so hard! I'm trying not to beat myself up about it, but I am wishing I was doing a better job in the picture department. (Which reminds me, I KNOW I need to post Georgia's 10-month pictures!)

I took the girls over to see one of my oldest and dearest friends, Aryah, who was in town from New York. Aryah and I were best friends back in junior and high school, and I see her so seldom these days, it was truly a thrill to get to see her. We actually had a dance party (just like the old days), and danced in her living room with Leighton and Georgia. It was FUN. Just pure happiness.

Leighton had some chocolate cake at Aryah's, and that sent her into a minor sugar high...which thankfully helped her go to sleep a few hours later.

We headed back home Saturday afternoon. Leighton was EXHAUSTED. We could tell. But she stayed awake until we were about 20 minutes away from the house. I have no idea how she does it--she NEVER sleeps in the car. She's always been that way. Georgia, well she's another story. She DOES sleep in the car, and she did.

We're glad to be home and we're ready for Christmas! We've got a few birthdays first: Nonny, me, Uncle Matt, Gigi (that's MY grandma), Grandpa, and then, finally the Baby Jesus. It's going to be a wild few weeks!

2 Gingerbread house

I LOVE LOVE decorating sweets like cookies and gingerbread houses. I got one for Leighton to decorate and bought some high quality candy for the job. I got SO excited that Chad was a little concerned that I possibly had lost sight that this was supposed to be something fun FOR LEIGHTON. He was right. I did the roof by myself, and I had planned on finishing the whole thing myself so we could have a really nice gingerbread house to display.

It was hard, I'll admit, but I surrendered and let Leighton in on the rest of the decorating. I feel like this is the same challenge I face when we're coloring in coloring books: I might be too much of a perfectionist and it's hard for me to just let go and let Leighton scribble. But that's the point, isn't it? She had fun, and I had fun watching her devour all of the cute candy.

It's pretty cute, isn't it? Maybe not as architecturally fancy as I had originally intended, but it's our first gingerbread house as a mother-daughter team. And it's adorable!

0 Thanksgiving at school

We went to Leighton's school at lunch today because they were all having their Thanksgiving lunch. Leighton doesn't go to school on Fridays, but I wanted her to be there with her "boys and friends" as she says. All the classes were in the gym, and each one had their own table. Here's Leighton's class (the Yellow Ducks):

They all made these adorable little hats and place mats (their hand prints are the turkeys). Leighton was thrilled when she saw that her daddy was there too.

I think Leighton loves having us see all her friends that she plays with at school. She was shouting and pointing to them all "Mommy look: Kara!"

It was sort of a little chaotic (for the kids, I assume). They all had turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, and rolls. All the typical yummy Thanksgiving food.

This sweet girl, Montgomery, Leighton talks about almost every day. Poor girl was jumping on her bed earlier this week and broke her leg! (Let this be a lesson to all you little ones out there!)

These are Leighton's awesome teachers, Miss Shana and Miss Elizabeth. They are so wonderful and patient with all the kids. And fun! Leighton loves them both.

Gordon and Skylar both also go to the same school, and we ran into them. (They are in different classes though.) That is one of the reasons I sent Leighton to this school. I hoped that because she had friends who went there, that might make it more comfortable for her. And I think it does. In fact, I bet she thinks everyone goes to her school!

I look at this picture and I can't even believe how BIG these kids are. Right? It was just yesterday they were all in little onesies babbling on the floor. Whew, time flies by.

0 Monkeying around

We sure are enjoying A&M's football season around here. And we have Leighton properly trained to be an Aggie someday. She's even got the Gig 'em thumb down! Funny...later that night while we were getting her bath ready, she dipped her hand in the water and got her shirt wet. She said "Mommy, my Gig ems got wet!"

Georgia is like a monkey these days, crawling all over anything and everything. I remember seeing Michael J. Fox in an interview once talking about taking care of toddlers, and he said it's like being on constant suicide watch. It's true! "Nope, nope, nope." I hear myself say that a LOT as I reposition Georgia from whatever trouble she's gotten herself into.

Leighton goes through phases with movies that she likes to watch. She went through an Up phase, then Bolt, and now she's into Monsters Inc. It's actually a pretty cute little movie, thankfully, because it's on A LOT.

Yesterday I saw that Leighton was going through my makeup bag, and I saw that she was putting on lipstick. For a long time. And I just let her. She was having fun. And so was I.