Happy Turkey Day!

We have a lot to be thankful. Food, health, family, dear friends, and a Savior that has provided it all. We gathered in Longview this Thanksgiving and gave thanks. We started our Thanksgiving morning with our 1st annual family turkey trot... a 5K. Tia Mel and Uncle Queso headed it up and were great organizers and t-shirt designers! The Hurts came over from Henderson and joined us. It was chilly, fun, and a great way to make room for some extra gobble gobble that would take place later that day. Everyone participated, even Lilly and Mocha. Some ran, some walked and one biked. I'm not gonna lie there were times I was jealous of the biker. :)

I will brag on myself a bit and with no shame, because if you know me at all I am NOT a runner! Ask Jeremiah about our one venture to run together around the Bear Trail in college. It ended within 5 minutes in tears, sitting on the trail, holding my side. Let's just say he vowed to never run with me again, but luckily still vowed to marry me. :) I surpassed his expectations and he was quite proud!  

So yes it's true... I pushed past the side stitches and ran my first ever 5K! Woohoo! I wasn't sure I could do it, but it happened and with not even a step of walking. Don't know that I'll be doing it again anytime soon, but I can mark it off my bucket list (not that it was ever on there... but an accomplishment nonetheless). 

Celebrating at the finish line.

Lilly with the coaches/encouragers!

Refueling after the big run.

I love this pic of Lilly and Meredith. L has so much fun with Mere!

After the trot we got ready for lunch.

This was Mel's veggie platter turkey! So cute!

Lilly was much more into the Thanksgiving festivities this time around.

We gave thanks...

and then gobbled down!

After lunch Lilly got to open her birthday present from Aunt Kim, Uncle Greg, Jordan and Meredith.

She loved the ladybug music box and little lamb!

We ended the evening with our last turkey day tradition of watching the TX/tx a&m game. Everyone in this family was thrilled with the outcome!!!

fall at the ranch

On our way to Longview for Thanksgiving... Lilly and I made a pit stop and dropped Jere off at the ranch to meet up with Cace and Jimmyman for some hunting. It was about an hour out of the way so L and I got out, had a snack, changed diaper and did a little exploring before we hit the road again. I grabbed my camera and took some shots of this little one exploring the great outdoors. They turned out pretty good I thought. "She's a country girl at heart..." says Tia.

a few other b-day tidbits

The neighborhood kids (Tess, Luke, Kailey and Brynn) decorated our sidewalk on Lilly's birthday and made her handmade birthday cards. They were so cute! The kiddos were so excited about Lilly's birthday. It was precious!

For L's b-day thank you notes I had this idea that I wanted to take pictures of her opening her gifts, print them, and write the thank you note on the back.

Then I handmade envelopes out of kids magazines. They turned out super cute with a handmade, personalized touch!

13 months

I was meaning to do more frequent, small blog posts as opposed to the long month ones since we are past 1 year old... but time flew past me so here are some highlights from the fall. These are everyday pics taken on my phone. So I guess if anything is us in real life these are! Unfortunately the quality isn't amazing... I will be better about toting my camera around with me.

Playing at the park with Jpop.

Ready for school and wanting to read a book! 

Lilly's New Words:

book

kitty cat

ball

dog

uh oh

weeeee

Other Favorites:

mama

dada

hi

bye bye

We took a Little Gym class with our friend Posey!

Lilly loved Forrest and his guitar!

Coloring and taking all the crayons out of the box at the allergist office. She climbed up on the chair all by herself. This is when we found out she is officially still allergic to dairy and has a mild peanut allergy. Hopefully she will outgrow them!

Uncle Frank came over to visit and play!

Uncle Frank let me wear his shades because my future is so bright!

Lilly loves to give snuggles and eskimo kisses.

Lilly's first shiner... she got it while daddy and jpop were babysitting. They were having too much fun playing chase (one of L's favorite games) and she ran into the barstool.

Lilly knows what NO means... but she is going through a stage where she thinks it is funny when you say no. She just smiles, laughs, and shakes her head no when I say it... and then does whatever she isn't supposed to do all over again. Hmmm... At the beginning of this video you can kind of see her shake her head no.

Checking out the turtles and ducks at Northpark.

Bath time is her favorite time!

"Look at my cool hairdo!"

Lilly has her top molars too now! So 12 teeth in total! She's been a drooling queen as those suckers have been prying their way through.

"Passed out at school right in time for mommy to pick me up!"

If Lilly doesn't nap at school she will take a good 2 hour nap for me when we get home. If she naps for 20 minutes at school then she won't nap at all when we get home. Verdict is: I prefer her not to nap at school. :) One 20 minute cat nap for the whole day doesn't put this baby in the happiest of moods. But she sure is a cute snoozer.

bed head

L loves to open cabinets and take everything out. Tot Loks going on these babies ASAP! :)

Who doesn't love a good remote?? Look at all the buttons!

L loves to play with the toys on her shelves in the family room. 

She's a little tornado! Literally!
She's also a little Curious George. She points at everything and wants to know what everything is.

Uncle Queso and Lilly giving lots of snuggles.

Conked out with her blankie from sweet Meredith in hand.

love you lil! you are too much fun! 

xoxo

mommy