in admiration

Alex's friend, Magda, finally joined our playgroup. Such a cute baby. Her poor parents, though. She's the only girl in a playgroup with 6 boys!

so tired

Poor Alex was exhausted this morning from his busy day yesterday. We had to leave church early, and he fell asleep on the less than 5-minute ride home.

best buds

We spent this afternoon with Jeremy and his parents, Nicole and Andrew. First stop-- EarlyWorks for a birthday party. The boys had a blast playing with each other. We were there until 3pm or so. Then it was off to Nicole and Andrew's house for football, dinner and just general being around friends. It was a great day!

thanks and giving

Before I can say that I am thankful for anyone else or anything, I am thankful for God. The man upstairs knows what He is doing. He has blessed my life with more than I could ever imagine-- amazing and supportive parents, awesome sisters, a loving husband, a sweet little boy, and friends who are like family. But there is so much more-- when I put my faith in Him, it helps ease every situation. It's the knowing that's comforting. and it's the continued belief that makes me who I am..
I am grateful for my parents. To this day, they support everything I do. There is not a day that goes by that I do not talk to my mom or dad in some way-- whether it is the phone, internet or texting-- I am so close to my parents. I honestly don't know what I would do without them. They have raised me right. They have taught me to always use my better judgment. They have taught me how to be a team player, how to strive for the best, win with class, and lose with dignity. They supported my every move. I only HOPE that i can do the same for my own child.
Sisters have a special bond. I firmly believe that. And in good time and in bad, mine are always there for me no matter what. I love them more than anything.
I am thankful for Chris. He is my ROCK. He supports me. He laughs with me. He understands me. He makes fun of me. He reassures me. He sets me straight. He loves me, and he reminds me of that every day.
Alex is amazing. I am beyond biased. but believe me, he make a mother's heart swell up with pride. It's amazing to see everyday life through a child's eyes.
My friends are amazing-- they are reliable, loyal, fun, sincere, appreciative and witty. They are family to me. They have the best intentions not only to me, but to every person they come in contact with. They are just good people.

This past month, I have realized that I am thankful for so much more. As I like to tell Alex sometimes, my "love cup is overflowing." And I have only realized it because of the Facebook status challenge. I'm thankful for Facebook, which has reconnected me with many, many friends from the past. It even keeps me close with those who are current friends. Chris makes fun of me because I will see my friends during the day, then we have what we call "facebook parties" during nap time. LOL! I'm thankful for music-- it is my inspiration and puts words to my feelings. More importantly, it makes me want to shake my (non-existent) booty! I'm thankful for Publix. I'm thankful for beautiful fall weather. I am thankful for my MOMS Club. I am thankful for beautiful fall weather. When you think about it, it's not all that hard to find something to be thankful for on a daily basis.

Happy Thanksgiving!

wordless wednesday

spike

Since Alex's hair is so short now, it sticks up when he wakes up in the morning and after a bath (when we dry his hair). It's kind of funny to see him with hair like this.

let me think

Should I finish eating the rest of these cheez-it's... or do I want something else?

shake your groove thang...

I finally got my Booty Bucks in the mail! Woohoo! Now, I'm ready to get started on my New Year's resolution, which really isn't anything big for me. It's to join a gym again.

and so it begins...

Chris and I took Alex to the official tree lighting ceremony for the City of Huntsville last night. We joined our friends the Denish's and the Williams'. It was a lot of fun. And the tree is gorgeous. Afterwards, we went to dinner at the Station with Kim, Greg and Ava. The kids had so much fun watching other people play video games, bowl and eat. It was a rockin' good time. If you're my friend on Facebook, I'm going to upload a video later of Alex taking everything in at the Station. We have a little night owl on our hands. He loved the music, seeing all the people, and of course, the company! Needless to say, we shall be returning soon.

And I loved the tree lighting ceremony. Thanksgiving was never a big deal with my family so I tend to look over that holiday and move on to Christmas. I even have a Christmas tree up already!

mom and son

Thanks to my friend, Beth, for taking this picture of Alex and I at the park on Monday! I didn't even know that she took it until I got it in my inbox.

insane in the brain

So I have been obsessed with trying to get a good picture of Alex for our Christmas cards. School pictures were horrible, our appointment to attempt to get pictures at Target went bad, and I've just about given up on any kind of picture taken by someone else. I guess he is now intimidated by big cameras. And all the lights. I wonder how his 2-year pictures will go. Anyhow, since we haven't been able to get any pictures, I take about 100 pictures a day now trying to get a good one. With every picture I take, I find something wrong with it. This one, he's got dorito stuff all over his mouth. Ugh. One of these days...

wordless wednesday

mad baking skills

I meant to post this picture of the birthday cake that Nicole make for JeJe's first birthday... so creative! She made this barn, with cupcakes decorated as pigs, chickens and sheep to go along with it.

happy boy!

Alex loves Creekwood Park! We were there this morning with my MOMs Club. I don't know what I would do without them... so many friends now, which has made living away from home so much easier.

sleepy sunday

It was another gorgeous morning/day. We spent the morning in our backyard, helping Chris raking leaves and such. We also talked to RC, one of the horse owners. It was exhausting and I let Alex watch Yo Gabba Gabba when we got inside to eat lunch. I went to check on him 5 minutes later, and this is what I found. He must have been exhausted from playing all morning.

FIRE!

Earlier today, we went to a bonfire up in Grant, AL. It was a lot of fun-- smores, burgers, hot dogs, dessert. We had it all. It was a cool night so sitting by the fire felt great.

manual labor

It's a nice afternoon... what does mommy do? Put Alex to work in the yard, raking leaves!

please, cake

I took this picture of Alex at Wyatt's birthday party yesterday afternoon. The child loves his cake. Shocking, if you remember that he didn't want to touch his cake at his own birthday party. Anyhow, he was the first one at the table and as soon as the candle was blown, he said to Laura, "please, cake."

another birthday boy!

In addition to being Alex's 20 month birthday, today was his friend, Wyatt's first birthday! We celebrated with him this afternoon-- the kids had fun playing and eating cupcakes.

damn vimeo

I wanted to upload a video of Alex counting to 10 on here, but vimeo is being stupid right now. I'm actually uploading to Facebook instead. Anyhow, I got more crafts in his back pack today. So cute!

friends

Alex and I hosted playgroup at our house this morning, and his bestest friends, Jeremy and Wyatt were here. Alessio and Lane came over too. But Jeremy and Wyatt are his favorite (probably because he's known them the longest). It's amazing how Alex has played with these two since they were just months old. And both Jeremy and Wyatt are a year old this month. When I think about telling Alex that these two have been his friends his entire life, it makes me want to cry. Because it's true. And who doesn't want lifelong friends. They are the best!

let them eat cake!

With all these birthdays people are having lately, Alex is discovering his love of cake! Yesterday at Jeremy's party, he ate a cupcake and a small piece of cake. Ian's birthday party was today and he LOVED feeding himself cake.