Happy Thanksgiving!

Yes, tomorrow is the big day! I foolishly passed up Mark's offer to buy Thanksgiving dinner from a local restaurant and decided to cook it instead. What was I thinking??? OK, it's not that big a deal. My sister and mom will be here to help cook. How long does an 18 pound turkey take to cook anyways? Also, buying the dinner felt a little like cheating. After all is eaten and cleaned up, I am sure we will be grateful for the time spent together.

Before the frenzy of tomorrow starts, I'll leave you all with a photo of Hannah taken a few days ago. I can't believe she is already one month old. Next thing I know, I'll be sending her off to college. Oh, she has started giving us her first smiles. They are so cute! Hopefully I'll be able to capture one on film soon.

Isn't she beautiful? (I know, I am biased)

Time flies

We got David's very first school photo last week.



I cannot believe how grown up he looks. I also can't believe that he will be 6 in just 4 short months. Wasn't it just yesterday that we had his 5th birthday party? He is getting so big too. He hardly fits on my lap anymore and don't even talk to me about carrying him.

Maybe he seems so big because Hannah is so small. I remember when David used to sleep on my chest when he was a baby. Now, Hannah is the one sleeping on my chest. Just that tiny, warm and snuggly little package. I really love the baby stage. I guess I have to let them grow up. Sometimes I just wish they would stay small forever.

On another note, all is well with the world and it's going to be a good year. In case you didn't know, this Saturday, Ohio State won their big rivalry game against Michigan (or as Mark says, "that state up north"). Yes, the biggest and most important game of the season. The one where my husband paces the living room, worries to no end, and has to watch the game with no sound. OK, he did do a great job of containing the stress and interacting with his family during the game. I am just glad they won, because if they didn't, well, the weekend wouldn't have been as good as it was.

Speaking of, I was able to get some much needed gardening done. Our poor garden was suffering from neglect. I had barely touched it this summer because of the heat (that and my ever growing pregnant belly). If you can believe it, it was almost 90 degrees yesterday and my tomato plants are still producing good tomatoes! In fact, they are taking over the garden. I spent some time cutting them back a bit and pruning the herbs and the perennials. David helped me plant some new plants and do some weeding. I still have to clear out the green beans and plant some cool weather vegetables like peas and lettuce, if we ever get any cool weather!

Mark spent most of the day yesterday cleaning out the side yard. We hosed down the stuff that was piling up back there including the slip-n-slides, inflatable pool and the plastic ride on toys. David had a great time helping rinse down the cement. We had a good time together as a family. Then we had a bunch of friends over for a BBQ. Gotta love that warm weather. Makes up for not having any "seasons". Ha Ha!

Busy, busy, busy!

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. Things have been sorta busy around here. My sister was staying with us last week and was a huge help. She picked up David from school for me, played with Luke, helped get meals together, and took both boys to Chuck E Cheese one morning.

All of our helpers have now left. We had houseguests for almost 6 weeks! Things are going pretty smoothly now. I have managed to get David to school every morning so far! The baby is sleeping almost all night and is not too fussy. The Tagamet she has for her reflux seems to be working pretty well and I seem to be able to eat most anything without if affecting her. She is just a sweetheart. We are all enjoying having her to look at and hold. I took this photo of her sleeping on Mark's chest.

I have even completed my first scrapbooking related project since Hannah was born. I was totally inspired by Jen Olsen's canvas clock in the December issue of Creating Keepsakes. What a brilliant idea! I wish I would have thought of that! Thanks Jen for the inspiration! Here is my take on the clock. I gave it to Mark for his birthday. He absolutely loved it! By the way, it's also the first time I have ever captured a photo of my boys BOTH smiling naturally AND looking at the camera at the same time! What a feat! LOL!

Little fingers, Little toes

I just love my camera. Maybe the thing I love most about it is its ability to take super close-up photos of things. I had always envied those close up shots of small baby parts. Who can resist??? I'm so excited that I can take photos like this! Here are Hannah's tiny fingers after her first fingernail trimming.



Here are her toes. I can't believe how small her little toe bones must be. Amazing!



We had her 2 week check up on Monday. She was 7 lbs., 10 oz. Gained back to her birth weight and more. Everything looked good except that she was diagnosed with GERD, or what we call acid reflux. We had suspected it. Both the boys had this as infants. She started showing symptoms such as difficulty sleeping and crying while eating. We got some meds for her and we are hoping and praying that they work, otherwise, nursing a reflux baby is really hard!

On another note, we took the boys to our church's Halloween carnival last night. They got to play games, win candy and do the bounce house and super slide (well, David did at least). They really had a good time. This year David was Lightning McQueen and Luke was the frog. They were both very happy with their costumes and just delighted in wearing them around the house. I managed a shot of them before we left the house.