Thanksgiving in Atlanta

We got back Saturday from spending a week in Atlanta for Thanksgiving! Every year we have been able to do that but 1, when I was teaching through Tuesday one year, and it is one of our favorite things we do all year! My sweet, smart, and beautiful niece, Josie, blogged so well about some of our trip, so you'll have to check it out! We had a wonderful time, as always, with everyone, and we got to see almost every relative on Josh's mom and dad's side in one day! We are so thankful for that! Here are some highlights from the trip
* James slept in my arms almost the whole way on the plane ride to Atlanta.
* Besides the first night, he slept pretty well the whole week for not being in his crib.
* James recognized Papa Joe when he picked us up Sunday afternoon from the airport, immediately went to him, and wouldn't go back to us to get in the car without some persuading.
* We had the best time spending all of Monday at Jerrod (Josh's brother) and Amy's house, spending lots of time playing with our adorable nieces and nephews.
* James got to see Amy's dad's cows right up close and loved it!
* Josh's cousin, Jennifer, just got engaged, so we got to see her with her ring and new fiance, and talk wedding talk.
* We spent Monday night, Tuesday, Wednesday, and 1st half of Thursday at Aunt Ally and Uncle Eddie's house with Josh's mom and cousins.
*Jo Anna (Josh's sis) and Hannah came over to see us the first half of the week as much as they could with school still going on, and then we got to spend pretty much the rest of the week with them.
*James went a little nuts with all the attention he received and cracked us up all week. He was the biggest ham for the family all week!
*He is saying new names for people...Aunt Jo Anna is "Jo-Jo", Aunt Amy is "Mamy"(like Amy with an M in front), Papa Joe is "Papa", Josie is "Jo", this was my favorite-Hannah is "Nina". Those were the most clear. He almost said Jerrod, Jackson, and Jeb's names, but they weren't too understandable. He would whine and whine and whine for Nina and Jo, and loved every second of their attention.
*We spent the last half of Thursday and Friday at Papa Joe's house.
*Jo Anna and I got up early and went shopping on Friday. It is one of our fun traditions that I appreciate even more now, since getting up early is a little easier than it used to be. We got some good deals, but I had to be reserved in my buying, since we were flying home. I got some good ideas from Christmas presents, though, that I'm going to start on this week!
*We had the best time on Friday night at Jo Anna and Charles's house. We had our family Christmas with them, since we won't be there for Christmas, had a great meal cooked by Charles, and exchanged presents! James had the best time out of everyone, I think. He really enjoyed every second of the festivities.

We got up EARLY EARLY Saturday morning and flew out at 6:30 am Atlanta time, which is 5:30 am Texas time. The good thing in getting up that early is that it makes traveling so much easier! The main reason we did it was it saved us $200, but there was hardly a line at security, which is much appreciated when you have an extremely active toddler!

Yesterday, we rested, started decorating, watched lots of college football, and ate yummy turkey soup that Elizabeth made for us last night. Today was lots of fun, because I got to see Christine at church this morning, and then we spent the rest of the day decorating, cleaning, organizing, and just chilling before the work week starts!

Well, I'm off to bed! I hope everyone has a wonderful start to the Christmas season!!

James' First Haircut and Our Date with Matthew

Our little boy looks more like a big boy now, because he got his first haircut yesterday!













He would not sit still, except while he was eating his twix bar. Too bad I didn't have more than one, because the rest of the time, he was wiggling and trying his best to get out of the situation! He has a twix smear on his forehead from when the barber was cutting (trying to cut) the front part.



















We laughed because here, you see him eating. It looked pretty neat!













THEN...he takes his hand away, and you see this...













Here's the finished product! I think it looks adorable on him!

































Last night, we took out Matthew for a special time. James LOVED having Matthew there with him! Matthew is turning 8 on Sunday, and I just love the "big kid" Matthew is turning into. He made me an aunt, and he was my world from the minute he was born (besides a little issue at first with me not being the baby of the family anymore...that seems crazy to me now! Ha!). Josh and I love spending time with you, Matthew, and we are so proud to be your Aunt and Uncle!


























I hope everyone has a very blessed and happy Thanksgiving!

Questionaire

1. Name: Lauren
2. Birthday: April 24
3. Birthplace: Birmingham, AL
4. Eye Color: Blue
5. Hair Color: Dark Brown
6. Height: 5'7
7. Ethnicity: Caucasian
8. Weakness: good food at expensive restaurants, James clothes, cute shoes
9. Most missed memory: 1)college 2)Harding in Florence
10. Thoughts first waking up: Coffee! Seriously...the first thought!
11. Last time you cried: I cried a few days ago watching a touching video on the computer.
12. Song title that currently says how you feel: Something that has to do with being sick, since I have a bug and allergies right now
13. What is the perfect day for you: Josh and I wake up 30 minutes before James(who has slept late), have our coffee talk, James wakes up, we eat blintz (that my mom just happened to bring over for us to eat), we go to the park and play, we go shopping and find a really good deal for each of us, we come home and take a nap all at the same time (just long enough to make us feel refreshed), we wake up and get ready for dinner with friends, go to dinner and the food was delicious, we rent a movie on our way home, play with James, get snuggles from James after his bath, put him to bed, pop popcorn, watch the movie that happens to be fantastic! (That was fun thinking that out! I can think of other great combos, but I'll leave it at that)
14. Ever been asked for an autograph? Only as a teacher signing a yearbook
15. How do you vent anger? talk it out, cry
16. Who do you talk to most on the phone? longest amount of time- a tie between Amber, Amanda W, and Kim.
17. As a kid, were you a lego builder? If my brother wanted me to play with him
18. Do you chew on your straws? Yes.
19. Do you sing in the shower? Yes!
20. Who's the last person you stayed up late talking to on the phone to? I hardly talk late anymore, so probably Josh when he was out of town
21. The last place you went to in a plane? Atlanta
22. Do you cry at weddings? Yes
23. Are you afraid of the dark? Yes, never thought about it, but I really am!
24. What are you addicted to? Coffee, James, my friends' blogs
25. Crunchy or creamy peanut butter? I have to switch back and forth
26. Who do you fight with the most? I hate fighting, I talk things out mostly
27. Who can you tell anything to? Josh-it goes nowhere
28. Who can't you get enough of? my little family-Josh and James
29. Who makes you laugh the most? Josh and James
30. What is the worst feeling ever? When someone is hurting
31. How many pillows do you sleep with? I've recently gone from 2 to 1
32. How many rings before you answer your phone? However close I am to the phone.
33. How many times do you press the "snooze" button? Josh is in charge of the alarm, but he never does.
34. How do you sleep? On my right side to fall asleep, then on my back. I used to sleep on my tummy until I was pregnant, and it's never been the same.
35. Last time you laughed: Today when James was doing something he shouldn't have been (hitting his mama), I turned my head and bit my cheeks, pulled myself together, and then disciplined him (more on that in another blog!)
36. Ever looked at someone ugly and said "EWWW"? Probably when I was younger and immature...sadly.
37. What is your favorite color? hard to say, blue, green, pink, brown, black
38. What is your favorite state? Texas

I love reading these, so I tag all of my blog friends!

Future GQ model?

I was snapping some pictures this morning before church, and James actually just stopped and posed like this! Check out his feet in the second picture. He has really big feet, and these shoes seem to enhance that fact. :)

My boys rough-housing

Random Tidbits

This has been a busy but wonderful week. Our church held a marriage seminar Sunday-Wednesday night that was excellent (our preacher blogged a little about it here). I love going to things like this, because you end up taking a little nugget from each night that stays with you for the rest of your life!

Here are a few new things James has said lately:
~~Last night, Josh and I were driving up to Taco Bueno and James said, "Nana! Deedah!". They weren't there, and we weren't meeting them there, but when my family meets up for a meal, that is one of the 3 places we go.
~~James has played with the Thomas the Train table at Barnes and Noble a couple of times, and Friday night, my parents took him there while Josh and I went out to dinner. They said that when they pulled up, to the parking lot, James said, "Choo-Choo!".
~~This is my favorite... When I went to pick him up from class one night after the marriage seminar, James got me face to face and said, "Mama, Dabatikaputa (something like that) bubbles!" I asked his teacher, "Did y'all play with bubbles tonight?" and he said, "Yes."! He reported to me for the first time what he did in class! That was a big moment to me.
~~James has a name for Elizabeth now! We've been trying to get him to say Auntie Beth for her, but he never would. We then decided we didn't like it, because Auntie Beth kinda makes you think of Anti-Beth. Elizabeth and I agreed on EB. James wouldn't call her that, but he has decided her name should be BB! It's so cute coming out of his mouth, and since he came up with it, Elizabeth approves! She said at church one night this week that he said, "Hey, BB!"
(I can't wait to hear what names he comes up with for the rest of our family! So far it's Nana for both grandmas, Deedah, Nana (for Hannah), BB, GG for my grandma, he said Jo once for Josie, and then he mumbles things that start with the letter of their names for Papa Joe, Matthew, Thomas, Mary Beth, Jackson, and Jeb.)

James is starting to know and love people who are not in his family, but are around him on a regular basis. One girl in my class named Jordan is one of James' favorite people. He gets excited when he sees her after class at MDO (she always gives him tons of attention). Yesterday, Amber's husband, James, said that my James saw him in the halls at church bringing Amber lunch, and he got really excited and tried to get out of line to go to him. He's turning into a little person! This makes me think about how when I was exactly James' age, we moved from Tuscaloosa to Abilene. I got really attached to an elderly lady (the mother of the professor who brought my dad from UofA to ACU), and I wouldn't go to anyone but her! That's crazy to me that we were at the same age!

James makes old people's days at the grocery store, because something about being there turns him into a greeter. He will make a connection with one and talk to them for as long as they'll sit there and talk back!

Well, I didn't mean for this to turn into a James update, but I thought those were worthy of sharing! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Pictures from our Halloween

I just love Halloween! We started our celebration on Tuesday with dressing up in our costumes, class parties, and office trick-or-treating at Mother's Day Out. I don't have these pictures yet, but I dressed up as a country bumpkin/cowgirl. It was hilarious watching James and his class try to take pictures. James saw me and started crying for me, which got a couple others crying for the class picture, but what else can you expect from the 1's class?! James' teacher said that he and one other are the class parrots, and they were getting them to say trick-or-treat! I tried and tried to get him to say it, but he wouldn't say it for me.




















Last night was Trunk-or-Treat at our church. Josh had strep throat, so he came for pictures and to watch James play from a distance. It just about broke his heart to not pick him up and kiss him. He's feeling much better tonight thankfully!







The night ended with us going to Elizabeth and Bryon's neighborhood to do a little trick-or-treating. We got the biggest kick out of James, because he was trick-or-treating like a pro! So different than last year, when he was just 6 months old! He was not a bit timid wiggling his way through the bigger kids, going right up to the lady with the candy, and putting his hand out. After he got his candy, he'd say, "Thace" (thanks) and then "buh-bye!" over and over again until we would be out of sight. The most he said it to one person was about 15 times! It was so much fun seeing him trick-or-treat for real this year! I also loved going around with Matthew, Thomas, and Mary Beth. Matthew is a teenager-in-training, and one teenage boy shouted, "Your costume RULES!", and you would have thought he had just won a million dollars. It was hilarious how excited he got!