Happy Accident

Anna went poo poo in the potty for the first time today!

Cold Turkey

No, this is not a post about a holiday meal-gone-wrong.

Anna slept without her paci for the first time last night!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas. . .

On Sunday, we took a trip to High Star Christmas Tree Farm in Hockley, TX with our friends Ashley & Paul, and their 1-year old son Charles. It was a real treat getting to hang out with them, and we had a great time riding a cute little train, walking around the farm, visiting with Santa & picking out fresh wreaths. We didn't cut down any trees since we both have fakes ones already, but I might consider getting a smaller one next year just for Anna.

Meet Charles. He's gorgeous. And a ham!

Charles had a great time chillin' with Santa.

Anna? Not so much. Cracks me up how even Santa looks stressed out!

Makes me want to run right out and waste an hour of my life in line at the mall so we can do this again.

Exploring on the farm

Helping Mommy pick out a wreath at the Wreath Barn

Can't help but notice that Anna is either screaming, ignoring me, or has a sucker hanging out of her mouth in every picture I took that day. This is getting challenging, but fortunately, I'm up to it :)

Honesty

Mommy [Excitedly]: "Anna, do you want to go shopping with Mommy?"

Anna [Enthusiastically]: Ya!

Mommy: "Are you going to be a good girl?"

Anna [Matter-of-factly]: No.

We repeated these questions several times with the same responses. You have to admire her honesty.

Who Knew

This is Derek. On the roof. Putting up Christmas lights. Derek doesn't like heights. Perhaps the high altitude was leaving him oxygen-deprived. He did, after all, come home from our last ski trip with a "Got Oxygen?" tee shirt.

Santa Claus Derek

Hippie Derek

Who knew that putting up Christmas lights could be so entertaining?

Overheard

[Derek and Anna playing with building blocks]

Derek: "Let's build Mommy a house."

Anna: [Plays with blocks]

Derek: [Begins building tall structure] "Don't you think that Mommy deserves a big house?"

Anna: [Plays with blocks]

Derek: [Continues building until almost all blocks have been used]

Anna: [Begins removing blocks from the center]

Derek: "Anna! You're going to compromise the structural integrity."

Jennifer: [Laughs hysterically...every single time she thinks about it]

Maybe you had to be there, but at any rate, it was a great laugh for me (oh...um...and a valuable architecture lesson for Anna...yep, that's it).

So Thankful

We had a crazy Thanksgiving holiday as per usual. Started off with lunch with Derek's family in Harahan, then we headed across the river to my Aunt's house in Avondale for more food, then (even though we were about to burst) we drove to Lafitte to visit with my Grandma...and ate a little more. Lots of driving, lots of food, lots of dragging poor Anna around from house to house. But despite it all, we are so thankful that we have so many wonderful people in our lives to share this holiday with. Thanks again to all of you for your hospitality and for inviting us into your homes and hearts this Thanksgiving!

While in Baton Rouge, we were also fortunate to catch up with some old friends that we see far too seldom: Michele, Matt & their son Ryan, and Allison, David & their son Dylan. It was so wonderful getting to see you all, and it was so much fun getting to see Anna interact and play with Ryan & Dylan. I'm already looking forward to the next time!

On another note...During our road trip to Louisiana, Derek inevitably inflicted his country music on me, and I caught this little gem: "Don't Blink" by Kenny Chesney. I don't know if it's being a mother and seeing Anna grow up so ridiculously, impossibly, mind-blowingly quickly, but I just want to cry *thinking* about this song. It's wonderful. Check it out if you've never heard it, and have your tissues ready.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that the buttons on your pants are still intact!