Thanksgiving 2015

Will took the week of Thanksgiving off for a little stay-cation, and I took an unplanned week off of blogging! I have a lot of catch up to do, so we'll start with turkey day. 

We had a BUSY day! We started out at my parents' house to watch the parade, but the kids were not interested in the least. We snapped some family pics that morning since I had a feeling the rest of the day would fly by. 

We have lunch at my aunt's house every year, and this was the year of the babies! I can't believe Liesl was the oldest of the bunch too. My kids enjoyed rocking in my uncle's large rocking chair as fast as they could, hence the blurry picture. 

Liesl is the queen of stealing shoes and my uncle's slippers were no exception. 

Liesl and her second cousin, Skyla! My cousin also brought over his new baby boy, Carson! He is only about a month old and pretty much snoozed through the whole get together. 

We ate super light at my aunt's house because then he headed to Will's aunt's sister's house (did you follow that?) for another late lunch/early dinner. They are Italian so it was a mix of traditional Thanksgiving food and Italian dishes. It was so delicious! 

Liam and my MIL broke the wishbone! My MIL won but she was really trying to get Liam to win -- he just bent it too soon! Look at that serious face. 

After eating way too much and playing cards, we headed back to my parents' where my mom had, no surprise, more food! We just grazed because that's all we had in us but it was nice and casual because we decided beforehand to spend the night there. 

My mom and dad surprised the kids with Christmas pajamas.

And just like that, Thanksgiving was over. Lol. 

And I love this picture just because. 

We had a great day spending it with those we love, and eating way too much good food. My mom and I did a little black Friday shopping later that night, and despite the freezing rain and cold, it was actually really fun! 

I need to use your bathroom because mine is dark...

"I'll lay down, but Bobo might want to get up and play."

"But my eyes aren't tired."

"The weaving hanging on my wall/letters above my bed/closet door scare me. I can't sleep in my room." 

"But I haven't had a string cheese yet today."

These are just some of the most recent excuses used in attempt to stall bedtime in our house. Liam transforms into the master excuse-maker as soon as the sun starts to set. He's really sneaky too and will tiptoe downstairs asking if I'm watching my doctor show (I'm currently watching Grey's Anatomy from the beginning and OMG what took me so long). Clearly Grey's is not geared for four year olds, so we have been trying to nip that in the bud. 

Thanks to Netflix and their new DinoTrux 5 Minute Favorites, we are well on our way to an excuse-free bedtime routine! I've written a post in the past about Liam's love for DinoTrux HERE so this new series is the perfect fit. I get to tell him he gets to watch one show before bed if he will actually go to bed fuss-free afterward, and so far he has gladly accepted the deal!

Now we recently changed up our bedtime routine where Will puts both kids to bed when he's in town. And obviously when he's not I take care of both. This involves reading them two books together in Liam's bed and then Liam stays in his bed while Will puts Liesl down. That usually involves a couple of songs along with some snuggles and prayers. The perfect amount of time for Liam to watch a show while waiting. Then Will can comes in to say goodnight and do prayers with Liam (and take the iPad out with him when he leaves). 

While I'm sure not every night will go this smoothly, for now, thanks to Netflix, it works, and Mommy gets to enjoy Meredith and McDreamy without a four year old creeping down the stairs to watch surgeries. I'm sure he could start coming up with much more interesting excuses after a few nights of that. "Mommy I can't sleep, my aortic valve needs replacing." Ummm...goodnight, buddy. 

*I am part of the Netflix #StreamTeam community and this blog post is sponsored by Netflix. All opinions expressed are my own. 

A Peek Into Magnolia Market

Over the weekend, we went to Waco for the Baylor game. Womp, womp. But the first thing we did when we got to town Friday evening was go to the new Magnolia Market. It was very similar to the old storefront that we visited back in May, except much larger! The displays were all so cute and perfectly put together the way Joanna would have them, and the actual grounds were much nicer. Lots of things for the men to do and places to wait while the ladies shopped. There was a large astroturf where children could run, and it was lined with food trucks. They also had party lights strung and Christmas music playing which made the atmosphere really festive. I will say we made the right decision going Friday night because, while there were quite a few people there, we were able to casually shop and even go through the checkout line twice when I decided on another item. We drove by Saturday afternoon and the line was around the block! I walked away with five or six items, but I also have my eye on one of those large scales for Christmas. 

Liesl, 2 Years

Liesl Penelope, you are two years old!

 (plus two months -- i'm running a tad behind)

You are 34 inches tall (50%) and 24lbs (45%). You had a huge growth spurt since your 18 month appt - three inches! You are turning out to be long and lean just like big brother!

You love to sing and dance! You know how to sing parts of Twinkle Twinkle, ABCs, Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves the Little Children, and Bushel & A Peck, but you will make up words or sing nonsense words to just about any tune! You like to shake your booty at any chance and dance in the car. 

We are working on counting, colors, and shapes. You can mostly count to ten but miss a few numbers in the middle, usually 6 and 7. You LOVE to read books and have Brown Bear, Brown Bear memorized. You just call it "bown beaw" 

You are a great sleeper! You take at least a 2 hour nap during the day and sleep 12+ hours a night -- many days I have to wake you up from both or you'd sleep the day away. You are still in a crib and have made no attempts to get out (which is surprising since you are the daredevil of the bunch), so we have no plans right now to move you to a big girl bed. 

You are still an incredibly picky eater. No meat, no whole veggies, no pasta, and only a few fruits. You could basically survive off of scrambled eggs, Greek yogurt, blueberry whole grain waffles, and crackers. And a lot of days you do. However, strangely enough, you will drink just about anything. We've been juicing a lot and giving you combinations of kale, beet, apple, orange, pineapple, carrot, etc. and you love them all. 

You love your baby dolls and bunny or "buh-ey," whom you sleep with everyday and night and just carry around a lot. You also love to play with your pretend makeup and carry your dance bag around like a purse. 

However, you also love to play in the dirt with Liam and stay outside until a bath is necessary. You love the slide and the swing best - you could do both all day!

You had your first ER trip which was technically after you turned two but only by a week or so. It seems to be healing nicely but we are still waiting for the glue to fall off to see how bad the scar is. Since I wrote this the glue has come off and the scar is minimal! You, however, are still a daredevil. 

You are a huge mama's girl. You love your Daddy, but when your feelings are hurt or you just need to snuggle, you come right to me and aren't afraid to let the other person know you don't want them! 

You go to preschool at our church two days a week. I'm there too so I get to peek in on you and you are almost always being carried or sitting in the lap of one of your teachers, usually Miss Shelby. They just love you and tell me how good and sweet you are all the time! You are good about seeing me and giving me a grin and a quick wave or blowing me a kiss and then moving on with your class. 

You always ask where people are - usually Bubba or Daddy if they leave the room. You always say "right there" when we ask where someone or something is with a point. 

Every night we go upstairs and read four books, sing two songs, say prayers and night-nights, blow a million kisses and then lights out. We usually go through a cycle of reading certain books in a certain order until I (or Will) change them up, but you will not read a book out of order even if you love it. 

You are a sassy little thing! The terrible twos started early for us as well as the tantrums. When you don't get your way you will lay yourself down on the floor and bury your head to cry. It's hilarious and so pitiful at the same time. At least you don't thrash around or anything so we just let you do it until you forget what you're upset about and move on.

Things you say...

(you talk a LOT but these are just a few words/phrases I hear on the daily)

"No." ( even if I offer you your most favorite thing in the world, you initially say no. Then you will realize that you do like it and will quickly  change your tune.)

"Up, peas, mommy" (when you want to be held)

"More _____ peas, mommy"

"a-din, a-din!" (again, again!)

"I do it" usually followed by "I did it!" 

"Nack, peas" (snack, please)

"Back-cack" = backpack

Bubba = Liam

Where ____ do (go)?" Usually, Bubba or Daddy

"Meowk" Milk (although now it's "milky" and I'm SO sad meowk is not your word anymore. I looooved it!) 

Liesl - "See-suhl" although you also call yourself "baby sister" when you see yourself in pictures.

And now...pictures. I took these quickly yesterday evening and while the wind was not doing us any favors, they perfectly capture our big girl! 

This & That!

Liam and Liesl are two of the newest Sugar Bit reps for this next year! I love their online boutique; it is full of some of my favorite brands and they have the cutest accessories and gift ideas too! You should check them out if you haven't heard of them before HERE! 

These Munchkin Miracle 360 sippy cups are my absolute favorite new cups in our house. I bought two after seeing them at a friend's house and quickly ordered four more. You can find them at Target and I ordered off Amazon, but I'm sure plenty of other places sell them. They are for the most part no spill and have NO straws or millions of little pieces to pull apart to wash. Can I get an amen!!? You simply unscrew them and pull off the top rubber lip. They are SO easy and pretty cheap! 

I know I'm not the first to say it, but Target is killing it this Christmas season. I love, love, love their new holiday display in stores -- I feel like I'm browsing through a Pottery Barn when I'm in their home section!

This embroidered car pillow already lives at my house, and the kids each have a bottle brush tree in their rooms. And while I'm generally very traditional when it comes to Christmas decor, their "brights" collection just screams kids playroom to me!  

Liam and I just finished his first chapter book, The Bears on Hemlock Mountain. He loves books and to be read to, so I thought we'd start on a few longer books to read together. I found THIS blog post on Pinterest where she lists some great examples for first read-alouds. I ordered a handful of them, and this was the first one. We finished earlier this week! 

So I store most of my beads and necklace making supplies in the guest bedroom, but I tend to bring it ALL into the living room when I'm working so I can have some company. The other day that company was the kids! Liesl loves to see how many beads she can toss across the room before I finally make her stop, but Liam will actually sit and make necklaces with me. He works on patterns mostly, but right now he's obsessed with my Christmas light charms. 

Liam is also all about coloring/painting/crafting lately. He's always loved to create, but he's REALLY been into it for the past month or so, and I've been pretty impressed with his creations! Here he drew a person who needed some hands so he traced his own! 

I love the way he draws hair on his people. Always sticking straight up like they've just stuck their finger in a light socket! 

Speaking of wild and crazy hair, check out this beauty coming down the slide! 

I think I'll end on that :) 

Happy Wednesday!