Lifesong

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like...

Christmas! I love this time of year. We have had a weekend full of decorating, but I love it! Ansley is VERY into it this year, which is a lot of fun. Our tradition is to always start the decorating after Thanksgiving, but this year we have even more motivation. Next Sunday we are hosting my Mom's Group couples Christmas party, and on the 16th we are hosting John's work party. So we actually have a deadline! It's almost done though.

Here is our real Christmas tree in the family room:

And the artificial one in the library. We call this our "memory tree", because it is decorated with year's past ornaments. We all enjoyed decorating this one, and remembering past Christmases and events through all the ornaments.

Here is the front of our house, almost done:

Ansley must take baby Jesus to bed with her every night. The first night, we tried to get her to leave him in the nativity, and Ansley said "But I can't leave Him! He's my family." How could we resist? So he sleeps with her every night. She is very into the events leading up to Jesus' birth, and asks lots of questions about the wise men - "were they nice?" and the angel - "why were they afraid?" She is also intrigued by Santa Claus this year, and gives us a full, quite detailed report about how Santa will come and leave presents. She can communicate quite well these days, and gives us elaborate stories on a variety of topics. I cherish these memories!

I hope you all are having a great beginning to this wonderful Christmas-time!

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving! We are so thankful for all of our many blessings. We praise God on this beautiful Thanksgiving Day.

{Someone was anxious to get started. Can you guess who?}

Snow Exciting

The first snow of the season! I don't know who is more excited - me or Ansley! It's just flurries, but still, snow is snow, and we love it!

We had a great time in Nashville visiting my family over the weekend. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera (can you imagine??!) so I didn't get any pictures, but they didn't allow cameras in The Lion King anyway. It was a great production - Ansley really enjoyed it, up until the very end, where she got a little restless (the whole show lasted three hours). And of course Ansley really enjoyed seeing everyone - she gets lots of attention, laughs and shrieks of delight playing with JonJon and PopPop. The guys got in some golf on Sunday afternoon and the girls went to lunch and did some shopping.  So fun!

John is off all week, so we are both really enjoying having him home. We have lots of things to take care of this week - doctor's appointments, projects, and errands - but it's still wonderful having him home. My parents will arrive on Wednesday to spend Thanksgiving with us, so we are looking forward to that.

Hope you all are having a great Thanksgiving week!

The Great Kitchen Remodel....

is finally done! Check it out in the photo album with the same name. :)

Christmas Fun (maybe a little early? Nah.....)

I received this from my friend Desta, and thought it was fun so I'd put it on here. I won't tag anyone - I know this is a busy time of year - but if you have a minute, feel free to respond with your own answers. I'd love to hear them! (The promised photos are in photo a day, so check them out!)

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Definitely hot chocolate!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wrapped, except for one or two big items that are left out in the open for her to see as she comes downstairs.

3. Colored or white lights on tree/house? When I first read this, I read lights on a treehouse - what? Now I see....always white lights!

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No, but there's still lots of kissing. :)

5. When do you put your decorations up? We always did it this way growing up, and continue it now as well - the day after Thanksgiving. I can remember begging my dad to get them out, and I hope Ansley is the same way!

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child. My brother and I whispering and talking Christmas Eve night about what present we'd open first, what gifts were, etc. Well, that and Present War. :)

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I'm pretty sure my brother ruined....I mean told me. :)

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?  We never did growing up, but our tradition now is for Ansley to open one gift, and it's always a new set of pj's. (Which will be even more exciting for her this year since she is THE pajama girl!).

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? We always get a real tree - I love the smell! - and decorate it with a theme that we've had for quite a few years now. A few years ago though John found a great after Christmas deal on an artificial one, so now we have two, and that one is our memory tree - ornaments from past Christmases and some from my childhood. It's one of my favorite traditions!

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love, love, love it! Never got tired of it, even when we were in Idaho. I'm hoping for more of it here? I guess we'll see.

12. Can you ice skate? *laughing*

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Hmmm.....my memory doesn't serve me very well. The most I can recall is last Christmas, where I got my digital camera, which I love. So I'll say that. :)

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Celebrating Jesus, being thankful I know what that means, teaching Ansley the real meaning of Christmas, family, togetherness, love.

15. Your favorite Holiday Dessert?  I absolutely love the peanut butter cookies with the Hershey kiss in the middle (Desta, that's funny that we're the same!).

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? I'll read that 'traditions' - there's so many! Our advent calendar that my mom made, putting up all the decorations, going to fun Christmas events as a family, creating new traditions, continuing old ones, watching the joy and wonder on Ansley's face each year, Christmas morning where all I'm thinking about is Ansley's face when she comes down the stairs.

17. What tops your tree? An angel on the real tree, and a star on the artificial one.

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? Definitely giving! I love finding THE perfect gift that will delight a friend or family member.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Again, I'll read that 'songs' :) - My absolute favorite of all time is O Holy Night, but I really love the For Him Christmas CD (favorite song: Strange Way to Save the World) and the Alan Jackson Christmas CD (favorite song: Let It Be Christmas). They are both fabulous.

20. Candy Canes! Not really a big fan of candy canes by themselves, but my absolute favorite thing at Christmastime is the special edition Peppermint Ice Cream that comes out. LOVE it! 

21. What is your favorite Christmas Movie? Movies, you ask? How the Grinch Stole Christmas - I especially love how Ansley goes around singing da-hoo da-hoo welcome Christmas - and The Muppet's Christmas Carol. 

Atlanta Weekend Update and More

We had a great weekend in Atlanta visiting and catching up with our friends. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera (can you imagine??) so I don't have any pictures of the weekend! We arrived on Friday night where our good friends Mark and Ashley and Chris and Kimberly were waiting on us. We enjoyed staying up and chatting with them. On Saturday, we were able to visit our other good friends Shawn and Christina and their son Alex and enjoyed catching up with them as well. Christina and I are due a week apart, so it was good to chat about how different these pregnancies are for each of us. During the day on Saturday Mark, John and Ansley went and played golf (where Ansley was a real trooper!) while Ashley and I went to the outlets and I was able to stock up on some super cute boy clothes and a few things for his room. Saturday evening we all went out to eat and met our friends Ron and Kelly and their kids McKane, Riese and Cooper. It was a little tough in a restaurant to really let the kids play and catch up, so we went back over to their house on Sunday morning, where all three kids jumped back into their play like it was old times. Ansley remembers Riese and McKane very well, but did not remember our old house or neighborhood. After that, we met Mark and Ashley and Chris and Kimberly for lunch, and then headed home. It was so nice to see everyone. We really miss these friends!

On the way home, Ansley was very flushed and not acting like herself, and we realized she had a fever. Of course, John was to go out of town early Monday morning. Have I mentioned that I really love having my parents this close? They were able to come over Monday and just left (John is home already) so that was really nice to have them help out with a sick Ansley while John was gone. Thanks, Mom and Dad! I took her to the doctor yesterday, where they said it was a viral infection in her throat, and her temperature was 103. Today, it is gone and she is completely back to normal, with the exception of a few grumps because her Mimi and PopPop had to leave. I was able to go to my mom's group this morning as well since my parents were here to stay with Ansley.

But she won't be grumpy for long, as we're heading to Nashville this weekend to see The Lion King with my parents and Jonathan and Missy. I know Ansley will enjoy that! We are looking forward to it.

When I have more time, I'll take some pictures of my cute new boy clothes and the bedding for his room and post them. Hopefully later today, or tomorrow. And I'll try and get back to my pictures - I've been a little behind lately.

Hope you all are doing well!

Added note: Ansley is doing great with her potty progress! We have had *no* accidents! She has gotten all of her dresses, candy, ice cream and promised toys that we had stocked up on in the hopes of this day coming! Dare I say she is potty trained??

A Good Day

Good is really an understatement though. Does this picture give you any clues?

This morning I had my doctor's appointment, which went well - everything is fine. He told me that they will most likely offer to induce me at 39 weeks, and it would be up to me if I wanted to or not. Which means I have 9 weeks left. Oh my!

Afterwards, we were right by Chick-Fil-A so I asked Ansley if she wanted to get some lunch. Of course she did, and she said she wanted to go inside, instead of taking it home. So we went in and placed our order, and the lady behind the counter handed me a humongous cow bell and said to ring it as loud as I could. Ansley, of course, wanted to do this, so she rang it loud. We were the 100th customer, so we got a free lunch. Ansley was quite excited by the whole thing, and I thought it was pretty neat too.

Then earlier this afternoon it was time for quiet time, so I got Ansley settled in her room with some books and toys, and left her bathroom door open for easy access. I came downstairs, and a few minutes later Ansley comes running down the stairs shouting "I poopied! I poopied!" I thought she meant in her panties, as usual, but she was running around and told me to come up and see. Sure enough, she had poopied in the potty ALL ON HER OWN. Needless to say, there was much praise and kudos going on around here. She got the new dress in the picture, as well as some candy and a few other special priveleges. Happy, happy day! :)

Wednesday Already?

I don't have any pictures (shame on me!) but I thought I'd do a quick mid-week update. Ansley has adjusted well back to Mommy-and-Daddy life, which is quite different from Mimi-and-PopPop life, but both very much needed. I'm so excited for Ansley that she will be close to her grandparents, that they will know her and she will know them, and get to spend that quality time together that seems so rare these days between grandparent and grandchild.

Yesterday I had my mom's group, which was good. Since Knox County schools were closed for election day, Grace babysat for me while I went to the group, which was much less stressful. I was also able to run some errands afterwards, and Ansley had a good time here with Grace.

This morning we had a playdate with a mom I met at the mom's group, Andrea, and her 3 1/2 year old, Sarah and 2 year old, Eric. It was nice to get out and let Ansley have some playtime with friends and for me to chat with another mom. Looking forward to more of that as I spend more time with these moms.

Tonight we are going to our neighbors for dinner, which will be fun too. They are a sweet couple that we met while walking a few months back, and she called this week and invited us over, so that was cool. They have four children between the ages of 6 months and 7, so Ansley should be pretty entertained. :)

Tomorrow I have my doctor's appointment - I'm going every two weeks now. Things are pretty much the same - still having contractions, still feeling big and achy, but a little scared that there's only 10 weeks left. Yikes!

Then Friday we are headed to Atlanta for the weekend to visit friends and catch up. Looking forward to that!

So there's the quick mid-week update. What are ya'll up to this week?

Weekend Progress

Here are some pictures of what we worked on in Ansley's room this weekend. It was a weekend of work, for sure, but it was nice to be able to talk just the two of us, go grab something to eat, or even go eat at 8 pm if we wanted, and just to have a little bit of time to ourselves. It was also fun to work on our projects together! But quite exhausting - we were both measuring, holding boards, cutting, going up and down the stairs, nailing boards in place, painting....whew, it was really exhausting work! But well worth it, as I'm very pleased with how Ansley's room turned out. We also worked on the baby's room - very time consuming - but I can't post pictures of that yet because it's not quite done. Stay tuned!

We added the wainscoting and trim around her room, which I think really makes a big difference. We also moved her furniture around, and ended up liking her bed at an angle. It's such a big room that there was so much empty space before, so this fills up the room a little more. The pictures leaning on the ledge will be hung, but we ran out of wire. We finally got her bookcase in her room, which was so needed - she has tons of books and they were just on the floor in her room. We purposely didn't put wainscoting on this wall because if we had, the bookcase wouldn't have fit. This wall is her "reading area" - the picture will obviously be hung once we get that wire, and I just ordered her an Ansley-sized hot pink chair with her name on it from PBK that will go in that spot to create her own sitting area (along with some bedding and curtains for the baby's room). I think she will love this. Then, finally, we got her shelf hung, and pulled a bean bag from the playroom to go in the corner. We still have a few little things to do - pictures to hang, mostly - but for the most part, it's done! Makes for a very cozy room!

In Ansley news, she has had a blast all weekend and has never cried or asked about us. I'm very pleased, a little surprised, but very happy that she is so comfortable with them and having such a great time that she doesn't think to miss us. :) This makes me think that she will definitely be able to do this again, maybe when the baby comes, and that way she still has undivided attention even after the baby. From the sound of things, she may even start asking to go stay with them! :) They have been playing a lot, and of course Jonathan and Missy have been entertaining her as well. They went on a train ride, walked around at Opry Mills, baked cookies, went out to eat, my dad brought out his train set that Ansley really enjoyed, and she has been enjoying the Polar Express book and movie. It's definitely different there, because they are able to devote every minute to playing with her, which is exactly what grandparents are for! But here, I have dinner to get ready, laundry to do, etc. and there's only one of me, so I can't do that non-stop. All that to say I think it was a much needed weekend for all of us! I'll leave here this afternoon to meet them halfway and pick her up. I must say I have missed that little girl, so I am excited to see her!

Conversations

This morning, right after Ansley woke up:

Ansley: Mommy! I have a good idea.

Mommy: Oh? What's that? Your ideas are always fun! (no, really, there was no sarcasm to my voice!)

Ansley: Yes. How about we get dressed, you get a shower, and then we go get [voice lowering to a whisper] donuts!

Mommy: Thinking.

Ansley: Is that a good idea?

Mommy: Yes, Ansley, I think that is a good idea.

So we went to Panera Bread and got pastries (she thought this was better than donuts) and milk. It was a fun Mommy/daughter outing. I am enjoying the fact that she is like my little girl now, my little companion, and no longer my baby that may cry or throw a fit or scream in the middle of a restaurant. That could still happen, mind you, but pretty rare these days.

In other random news:

In the Halloween picture, Ansley is looking up and amazed at the moon and stars. (Yes, we really should get outside more when it's dark).

Yesterday at my mom's group, we had a first - Ansley didn't cry! I was so relieved - made for a much less stressful time, and I really enjoyed it. I am enjoying these women - a very sweet, thoughtful, encouraging group of moms. Just what I needed.

And, Mom, Ansley hasn't had a single piece of candy all day. Why, you may ask, would my mom be concerned about this? Because Ansley is going to visit her Mimi and PopPop this weekend while John and I work on things around the house - mainly the nursery. I'm so excited about this - it will be a very nice, much needed break for both of us. Even though we will be working, I don't care. Still excited. :)

Happy November!