On to Christmas

What you are looking at is the first ever Moore family real Christmas tree. In fact, this is the first time that Scott has ever had a real tree. We are fairly excited about this.

You see, our first Christmas together, we were living in our tiny basement apartment, and we bought the smallest artificial tree known to man.

The next Christmas, we were packing up the apartment to move to this house, and I planned to not even decorate. At the last minute I put up the tiny artificial tree.

And last Christmas, our first Christmas in this house, mom gave us her old artificial tree. We were excited to put that one together because we knew it was a nice tree as far as artificial ones go, but when we were halfway through putting it up, an essential piece broke, and we were once again treeless.

This year we decided, that's it, Ada is old enough to "get" Christmas, it's time to buy a real tree. And when I saw Home Depot advertising a 19.99 black Friday special, we jumped on it. And we couldn't be happier.

It's amazing how festive a house feels when that slight scent of pine fills the air. Don't you agree? And Ada loves it. She is having a really hard time not taking all of the ornaments off though.

Here, she is sharing the joy of the tree with her baby doll.

And after all of that tree excitement, it was clearly time for the baby to go "night-night."Each year that I have been married, I try to stock up on new Christmas items during the after Christmas clearance sales when things are 75% off. The first couple of years I focused on buying ornaments and last year I bought different items to sit around the house. This year my goal is to find very real looking artificial garland. Where do I find this? Please advise. My current garland, bought at the same time as the first artificial tree is oh so puny.
Do you have a favorite place to shop for Christmas decor? After Christmas Pier 1 is a go to for me, but I need some ideas for nice wreaths and garland. Really, help me.Besides getting my house decorated for the Holidays, I also ordered and picked up our Christmas cards. I am so glad to have these two things done. I so wanted to enjoy Christmas this year despite the long to-do list, and this weekend we are making it happen.

Merry Christmas to all!!

And now for Thanksgiving

First things first--what a game, right? Oh my word. I thought I was going to die. Ada finally did get alarmed at the end when her mother was on her knees talking to the television like a crazy person. She ran into my arms and said, "it's okay, mommy." I laughed and gave her a big hug and told her that I was just having a fun, and then she smiled, relieved, and shouted, "touchdown."

I also turned to Scott at the very end, when I knew only a miracle would allow us to win (and oh was I hoping for a miracle), and I said, "I think I might cry. I really might cry." What a game!!

Scott was gracious in the midst of Alabama's victory, and we survived watching the most intense Iron Bowl game ever together in the same room. (I don't think that sentence structure is exactly correct. Forgive me.)

I drowned my sorrows by immediately heading to Home Depot with Scott and Ada, where we picked out our 19.99 Frasier Fur'. What a deal. It is about 6 ft. tall, which is the perfect height for our ceilings (unlike most people, our high ceilings are upstairs, not down), and after putting Ada to bed, Scott and I decorated the tree and the rest of the house with Christmas music playing in the background.

But, I need to blog about Thanksgiving before I talk about Christmas. Of course I am thankful for so many things, this little stinker being one of the main things, but what stood out to me this week was rest. I was so thankful for rest. Because I was away from home with no projects calling my name, I napped every afternoon. As soon as Ada lay down for a nap, I lay down for a nap, and I felt so good all week. What a difference in the evening when I have two hours of deep sleep under my belt!!

Here is Ada on Thanksgiving day (which was Wednesday night for us). She loved this baby doll--Bitty Baby. Do ya'll know American Girl Dolls? As a child I had two dolls--Samantha and Molly--and they were like real little girls to me. Anyway, we are thinking that Ada might get Bitty Baby for Christmas. We have not had to spend any money out of pocket for her Christmas gifts, so we thought we might splurge on this one gift, and it will still come out to be a very inexpensive Christmas.

While the kids waited for dinner to be ready, "Cake" graciously played barbie games with Ellie and Ada. Apparently you can design your own barbie, and Ellie loved it. Every five minutes a little girl was requesting that one of the aunts play a game on the computer. Ada decided to start eating early. As soon as she saw food on that plate, she went to it. She loved her carrots.My favorite dishes? The green beans, the dressing (my absolute favorite!!), the sweet potatoes, and the spiced peaches. Really, I loved it all.And my big pregnant belly didn't stop me from enjoying seconds!! Here is the "sister's and husbands" table.The grandparents' table. My dad's mother joins us for Thanksgiving each year. My grandmother is 86 years old and in insanely good health. It never ceases to amaze me. She is as sharp as ever, and she loves her Auburn football!! She is also up to date on current events and pop culture--she even knows what facebook is. Crazy.This little guy got his own individual seat right next to "Near." I can't resist him and that precious face. If you look at his mouth you will see that sweet potatoes were one of his favorite dishes. And the kid's table. Complete with a table cloth underneath, just in case;)So another Thanksgiving is behind us. And how thankful I am. For so many things. Two of the things I am most thankful for are cuddled up on the couch right now watching cartoons. I am warm and cozy in my house, and my stomach never feels empty for long. The list could go on and on and on.

And now I have a grocery list to make. In all seriousness, I am super thankful for couponing. It has saved our family so much money over the past couple of years. The Lord has been good to show me so many ways to make that pay check stretch. He has provided in abundance!!

Quick Iron Bowl Post

I need to post about Thanksgiving and all that it involved, but I wanted to quickly say this.

Ada is loving the Iron Bowl. She is so hyper, feeding off the energy of Scott and me. By the way, she said, of her own accord, "War Eagle, hey," just a minute ago. Though she screams whenever either one of us screams, so she is definitely rooting for both sides.

Seriously, she has gone crazy. She is running in circles around the house, with her hands in the touch down position. In fact, a minute ago, I found her blue pacie under the living room chair, and she screamed and raised her hands in a touchdown position. I wish I had a camera.

Okay, that's all. I just had to record Ada's reaction to the 2009 Iron Bowl. (and give my sincerest apologies to the Auburn football team for ever doubting their ability). Hang in there, Tigers!!

Checking In

Hi everyone.

As usual when I have been away for awhile, I felt the need to check into the blog for a second.

We are vacationing away in Alabama. We spent the weekend with Scott's parents and siblings and other extended family, and now Ada and I are here at my mom's house enjoying the company of sisters and cousins.


It's always good to be with family, and Ada loves her Mae-Mae, Pop, Near, and the rest of the crew.

Remember our plan to transfer the furniture? Well, we woke up to a downpour yesterday, and our transportation was an open bed truck, so plan B immediately went into effect. We are now going to rent a U-Haul sometime during the Christmas holidays and make the move then. In the mean time, Scott promises that we will get the painting done. Will you join me in holding him accountable;) For some reason, I can't imagine why, he just isn't as worried about our house decor' as I am.


What else, what else, do I want to tell you?

We are getting a real tree this year. I am super excited about that, but I am also nervous that our marriage won't survive the purchasing and putting up of the tree. I have heard that things can get a bit testy when a real tree is involved:)

But before all that, there is a Thanksgiving feast to be eaten. Ours will take place Wednesday night, so that Sarah and Kate will have Thursday to travel back to Auburn in time for the Iron Bowl. Have mercy on the Tigers, right? I predict that it's not going to be pretty.


Scott and I will also get out of dodge, since we are in a divided family, and it is best that we don't all watch the game together.


Happy Thanksgiving, my internet friends (real life and otherwise). Enjoy the food and let the Holiday Festivities begin.

Ada strikes again

I have been busy, busy this week trying to clean this house before I go out of town for Thanksgiving and return with the Christmas season upon us.

Because of all the cleaning, I know it has been quite the unfun week for Ada. She has watched too much television and been bored in general, I think. I mean, in the midst of the bored, she has played with her doll house and her kitchen, and she has come up with other various pretend activities, but in general, I am guessing it's been a long week for her. However, my downstairs is (was) clean, so at least I have something to show for it. (Some of upstairs is clean. There is still much to do before tomorrow afternoon).

Well, this morning, after we spent some time sitting on the couch, eating eggs, cuddling, and watching Curious George, I continued with my to-do list, but I do have plans to take Ada to the park later this morning so that she can get some much needed fresh air and exercise. Though I had promised Ada that we were, in fact, going to the park, I am guessing she reached her wits end and decided to take advantage of my distracted state. When I stopped for a second to see what was going on, here is what I foundWhen I asked her about the situation, she explained that her stuffed animal needed to go "night-night." Obviously an entire roll of toilet paper is a necessity in the night-night process.

And here she is posing with her masterpiece.Note the unpainted walls. They are driving me crazy. Again, football is preventing the completion of those walls.

What else has Ada come up with to entertain herself? Jumping in her old exersaucer. She climbs in and out on her own, bounces up and down really hard, and announces that she is either baby John or baby Andrew. I hope it survives Ada, so that John can enjoy the exersaucer.

Quick Ada Story

Just a quick story before I head to bed.

Today, Ada was upstairs in my room as I was getting ready to go tutor, and she noticed my gigantic stomach. She started talking baby talk to my stomach, holding her arms out, saying, "here, Baby John, come here Baby John." Then she pretended that she was holding him in her arms and rocking him like she does her baby dolls, and then, this is what tops it all. She pretended like she was stuffing him in her stomach, and she said, "I want to carry him in my stomach."

Oh my word, she makes me laugh.

Sunday Night

Last night when I was on the phone with my mom, she observed that my blogging has slowed down quite a bit.

I'll be honest with you...I'm a bit cranky these days, and I am afraid it will show up on the blog;)

You can all pray for poor Scott and Ada, as I am guessing I am not the easiest person to live with right now. But hallelujah, third trimester starts on Wednesday, and I am taking this thing one day at a time. That's all you can do, right? And soon I will be staring into the face of a precious newborn.

In the mean time, what's on the agenda for this week and the weeks there after as we prepare for his arrival.

Remember my big plans to have everything done before Thanksgiving. Well, you can all laugh with me now. The good news is that all of John's furniture will be arriving next week, when Scott and his dad (I think his dad is coming) drive it to our house after we celebrate Thanksgiving with the Moores this coming weekend.

That means that this week, I must, must, must go through and throw away unused toys. Many of the toys are moving downstairs to what will one day be a dining room? Maybe? Who knows? Right now, the room holds my china cabinet (as I dream of one day actually using my china), my computer desk (where I am typing as we speak), and lots and lots of toys--a dollhouse, Ada's kitchen, and random other things. I moved everything upstairs to declutter downstairs, but then I realized it was much more practical to move it right back down. So there you have it. The makeshift office/play room. I may change my mind and move it all back upstairs to what is now deemed the junk room. We'll see.

In the mean time--PAINTING. It has to happen sometime between now and February. It makes me nearly panic just thinking about it. Scott promises it will get done, as he reminds me that there are only a few football weekends left. Ahhhhhh--I might scream.

Anyway, this week, I plan to deep clean because on Friday we all three travel out of town to begin Thanksgiving festivities. I will not return to Georgia until the following Friday, and then my house needs to be ready, as it will be time to "deck the halls." The practical part of me says that I should simply skip decorating this year, but I can't do it. I just can't. I love Christmas, and because Ada is old enough to get a thrill out of Christmas trees and lights and everything else, the nurturing thing is kicking in, and this house will be Christmasy. My mom never failed to make Christmas magical, and I will carry that on to my children. Ada is very into birthdays right now, so I think at some point we will celebrate Jesus' birthday with a cake and singing. I told her today that Jesus birthday was coming up, and she promptly began to sing "Happy Cake to Jesus--" her version of the Birthday Song. I am thinking that at two, that is the most she can relate to what is really happening at Christmas time--Jesus' birthday. I am sure we will read stories and such as well.

So, that's what is going on here. I don't mean to neglect the blog, but I also don't want to complain about things not worth complaining over, so some days I think it best to remain silent. Scott would most likely agree;) He has been very kind and gracious. Last night I told him that I couldn't understand why he and I don't get along lately, and he remained silent, never pointing out that the real culprit is me.

I will say this--I love being third trimester pregnant in the fall so much more than in the summer. Oh, that is the understatement of the century. I am not swollen; I am not sweating every second of every day; and I am not nearly as miserable as I could be!!! Thank you for a February baby!!!

And on that note, let third trimester begin...

Thursday

Note: I wrote this Friday morning, but because life happens, I am just now posting it. I wanted to post it despite the time delay since it was already written.

Yesterday was a good day.

After spending all morning checking off tasks, I realized that Ada was very restless, and I needed to get that little girl outside. I told her that if she would give me a half hour to take a shower and get dressed, we could then spend a long time out in the backyard. She agreed.

The weather was gorgeous. It was cool enough for long sleeves and shoes, but sunny enough to be very comfortable. Here is what we did. Hannah and Ada made up this game. They scoop up grass clippings and the clippings serve as various objects--food, drink, etc.

Ada announced that the grass clippings inside this cup were "foffee" (coffee, for those of you who don't speak 'two'). After being at Near's for a week, Ada fixes me "foffee" quite often.

And now she is gathering the ingredients for soup. Yum.
Bubbles were also on the agenda, along with sidewalk chalk. The chalk was extra fun because it was wet from the rain earlier in the week. It gave the chalk a paint like consistency.
When I wasn't being served "foffee," I was sitting in the sun reading this book.Have you read it? It's a good one. Wow.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from today's chapter.

The gospel is not at all what we would come up with on our own. I, for one, would expect to honor the virtuous over the profligate. I would expect to have to clean up my act before even applying for an audience with a Holy God. But Jesus told of God ignoring a fancy religious teacher and turning instead to an ordinary sinner who pleads, "God, have mercy." Throughout the Bible, in fact, God shows a marked preference for 'real' people over 'good' people. In Jesus' own words, 'There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.'" (54)

Grace is shockingly personal. As Henri Nowen points out, 'God rejoices. Not because the problems of the world have been solved, not because all human pain and suffering have come to an end, nor because thousands of people have been converted and are now praising him for his goodness. No, God rejoices because one of his children who was lost has been found."

Finally, I loved how Philip Yancy ended the chapter,

Mozart's Requiem contains a wonderful line that has become my prayer, one I pray with increasing confidence, 'Remember, merciful Jesu, That I am the cause of your journey." I think he remembers.

All of the above sections of the chapter reminded me of a chapter we recently read in my Thursday women's bible study. As I have mentioned, we are studying the Psalms, and a few weeks ago, we studied Psalm 103, which we all agreed is a strikingly beautiful Psalm. Read it and study it if you haven't, or even if you have.

Here is my favorite portion,

He does not deal with us according to our sins,

nor repay us according to our iniquities

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,

so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

As a father shows compassion to his children,

so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

For he knows our frame;

he remembers that we are dust.

Psalm 103: 10-14

Daily I am thankful that He remembers that I am nothing but dust, yet he loves me anyway.

What a merciful God we serve!!!

p.s. for some unknown reason, blogger is not letting me put space between my paragraphs. I apologize because it makes for some unpleasant reading.

Bad Hair Day

Ada's hair on a good day...Ada's hair on a bad day, fresh from bed (she did not want me to take this picture)And after I have tried to do something with it. Bless her heart, her hair reacts strongly to whatever the weather is doing. I think it's going to be a pony tail day.

By the way, if you look closely in the picture above, you will see a big knot on Ada's head. This happened yesterday when I was out of the room, so I am not sure what happened. Ada keeps some sort of knot or bruise or cut on her. It's a side effect of running, jumping, and climbing 24-7. By the way, before the knot on her head, Ada had already fallen and hurt her mouth badly enough that blood was involved. Really, it's a weekly occurence.

Tutoring, tutoring, tutoring

I have just finished tutoring for the night, and I am exhausted, but Scott is not home yet, (He is watching NFL with some guy friends) and it is pointless for me to try to go to sleep without him here. I can't do it.

So...I blog.

I haven't blogged in a few days because I haven't had the energy to think of what to say. Ada is back, thank goodness, but she is a double-edged sword in that she is one big ball of energy that never stops. On top of that, she is super attached to me these days. I am guessing she senses that something is a-changing around here, and she doesn't want to give up her mama. Every time Scott tries to help her with anything--juice, bath, diapers, bed time, etc, she says very adamantly, "no, daddy, it's mommy's turn." Ya'll, it's always my turn. And this little girl of mine that normally demands to walk everywhere now wants to be carried by me. She knows that's something's coming. She has to.

Well, on top of motherhood, I have tutoring every night. And I am so thankful for the tutoring because it allows me to stay at home with Ada while bringing in a tiny bit of income every week, and let's face it, I love all things education. Truly, I loved teaching. Other than wife and mom, I was certainly created to teach. But I will eagerly give up the tutoring after Christmas as I anticipate John's arrival. I am tired, you know?

Here is my schedule each week.

On Mondays from 4:30-5:30, I tutor a middle school girl, who I will refer to as B. Middle School B. is a delight to tutor because she is a great student. She just needs a little extra help here and there. So every week, we study whatever she has coming up that week, and I help her with whatever questions she has. You know, spelling, history, simple algebra. It's an easy hour, she is polite and works super hard.

Then from 6:00-7:00, I tutor a seven year old boy, J. Seven year old J. is a math student, who is struggling BIG TIME with his multiplication tables. It's a sad situation because he has great grades in all of his other subjects, but he is failing math. And I am his tutor. Crazy, right? We are drilling, drilling, drilling the multiplication tables, and then we spend a bit of time working on longer multiplication and division. In the mean time, he continues to skip half of the problems on his tests just because he doesn't feel like doing them. So much so, that I have promised him his favorite candy any time that he leaves no problems blank on his test. He is a funny little guy, and he always makes me laugh, as he often tells me that his brain is broken. He also always has great excuses for why he didn't bring his math homework home again. It's an uphill battle with this little guy. But he is slowly learning his multiplication--he almost knows through his fours, and he has a few sets that he can fly through in less than ten seconds. We make a really big deal about that because I think much of the problem is lack of confidence.

So, that's Mondays and Wednesdays--Middle School B. and Seven year old J.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I tutor seven year old G. She's a tough one. Though she is seven, I often find myself saying the same things to her that I say to Ada--don't throw the pen across the room, don't write on yourself, look in my eyes, etc. etc. When I first started tutoring G., she could barely read at all. Getting through one page of a simple "learn-to-read" book usually involved tears on G's part. However, she now reads first grade level books on her own, and we even recently read a Beverly Cleary book together--her reading one page to my two pages. I thought we would never see progress with G, but all of a sudden she is improving in leaps and bounds. We still have really good days and really bad days, but it is exciting to see the improvement she has made. We are now working on writing, which is super tough. Getting through a two sentence answer to a question usually ends in tears, but I am not discouraged when I remember where we started with her reading.

As with anything that I do, I get very emotionally attached to my students. I just don't know how to do things in a detached way. Though I loved teaching, it always left me emotionally exhausted. I had nothing left to give at the end of the day. Tutoring has that same effect on me on a much smaller scale. I want to see progress. I want the students to feel confident. I want them to understand the joy of learning and discovery. And all of these feelings leave me with the potential for exhaustion every single night.

But, I only have another month until I give it up for a while. I will turn all of this energy to Ada and John.

By the way, I also tutor online, which is why I am just finishing for the night. But it is much less exhausting as I am sitting at home talking to a computer, so my emotions are not nearly as involved. In fact, we are looking into buying me a lap top so that perhaps online tutoring will be all I do after John is born. We'll see.

So there's a glimpse into this other part of my life other than the mothering and homemaking and such.

Back to Scottsboro, I go

I am headed to Scottsboro tomorrow morning to pick up my stinker of a girl.

I don't think I could stand one more day away from her. I feel a bit lost when she is not here. I have talked to her on the phone every day that she has been gone, but I am ready for a big hug and some quality cuddling. It has been nice to rest, rest, rest, though, and I have enjoyed lots of quality time with Scott. I am well aware that soon, very soon, we will be moving into the newborn days where we will often be parenting and sleeping and eating in shifts, so I appreciate quality time more than ever. I also now know that the newborn stage is fleeting. It won't, in fact, be that way for the rest of our lives. (No one could convince me otherwise after Ada was born. I was sure that Scott and I would never again find the time to talk or eat or even breathe.)

Good news, by the way, I got the all clear on the glucose test, so no follow up tests and no diabetes. Woo-hoo. One step closer to having this baby.

I am feeling oh-so-pregnant today. I noticed as I was tutoring tonight that I can no longer comfortably cross my legs. My stomach is simply too big. And my poor bladder. I need to move into the bathroom because I spend so much time in there. In between tutoring sessions tonight, I had to run into a gas station. I needed gasoline and a pick-me-up snack and diet coke (my energy was rapidly dropping). The gas station attendant was an older man from India, I think. He asked me how much longer I had, and I told him. He smiled very kindly at me, and he said with a strong accent, "this is a hard time, isn't it?" Something about the way he smiled at me and asked that question just made my night. He then said, "but at least it's not summer." Something tells me that he is married with children. He seemed to understand pregnancy so well, and his kindness absolutely touched my heart.

Anyway...I have nothing much to say tonight, except that our house feels extremely quiet and empty without Ada here. We need that little girl back.

A bit more from Scottsboro

I am about to head out to begin my nightly tutoring, which I can't believe I don't blog about more. It consumes so much of my time, and yet I never mention it here on the blog. Hmmm...maybe I will write about my students some time.

Anyway, I am very tired because I have been running around all day doing things I can't typically do with Ada in tow. I spent most of the day at the local outlet malls because I had a 20% off coupon (thanks, Jessica). I also wanted to walk the length of the mall twice. It's an absolutely beautiful fall day, and with third trimester closing in and the weight gain actually in control (unlike my first pregnancy), I would like to keep it that way. So, I decided to walk. And walk I did. All while searching for inexpensive fall clothes for Ada. No luck in that department, but at least I was out in the sunshine getting some exercise.

Then I headed to Target for the same reason--fall dresses for Ada. There is a dress I have my eye on, but I am waiting for it to go on sale as it inevitably will, so I didn't purchase it today. All of that to say, my feet are hurting, my body is tired from carrying this little baby around, but there is still much left to do before the day is done.

In the mean time, I wanted to share a few more pictures from this past weekend that my sister, Sarah took. I am very envious of her camera. We soon will be purchasing a new point and shoot. We have to get one before John is born. Any suggestions?

And now for Halloween

First of all, I went to the doctor today for the glucose test. I am crossing my fingers that everything comes back clear. I had no problems with Ada's pregnancy, so I don't anticipate any diabetes. Did you see Ann's comment that she got to eat candy bars and drink coke in place of that syrupy drink? I am jealous. Everything else looked good--my stomach measures just as it should, I continue to steadily gain weight;), and the heartbeat was perfect.

I was also given the papers for my birth plan and hospital pre-registration. Filling all of that out made me so excited and eager for February. It was nice to confidently fill out my birth plan. When I was filling out the plan for Ada, I called Ann on almost every question. This time, I zipped through that thing, marking answers with no question about how I want things to go on birth day. A few questions did make me laugh, like this one, "do I want to view the placenta after it comes out?" Um, no thank you. Really. Scott was with me, and we were making all kinds of jokes about that. I also asked Scott if it makes me a bad mom if I want them to clean John up before they hand him to me. Another pregnant girl sitting nearby joined in our conversation, assuring me that she wants her baby cleaned up first. It did make me feel better. Anyway...I am eager to meet this little boy. And I was telling Scott tonight that lately I feel very content and thankful to be at this stage in life--stay at home mom, doing nothing much other than hanging out at home, etc. etc. This is a new contentment for me, and I am thankful to be feeling this way. Ada is with my mom for a few days while I finish up a few more projects around the house, so Scott and I took advantage and headed into the city tonight. As we were driving through down town, headed back towards home, I realized that I didn't feel the usual nostalgia for our first year of marriage spent in midtown. I was okay to be driving away from the city to our little suburb. Thank you, Lord for these new feelings.

Anyway...I really wanted to blog about Halloween and our little Raggedy Ann. At first Ada was unsure about all of it, but when she realized that by knocking on a door and saying "trick-or-treat" she got candy, she quickly warmed up to the holiday. We went to Scottsboro because trick-or-treating is still a big deal on my parents' street. While Ann, Sarah, and I took the kids to the different houses, the rest of the family sat in the driveway handing out candy. It was quite the "block party." See for yourself.

It was a success!! And of course, the next day was the shower (another reason we spent Halloween in Scottsboro). Okay, I am so very tired, so I am headed to bed. Happy Halloween, many days after the fact.

Celebrating John

Ann (and mom and Kate and Sarah? not sure of the hostesses), hosted a small (tiny) shower for me and John this past Sunday afternoon. She called it a small gathering rather than a shower since it's the second baby. It was mostly just family--my mom, sisters, and aunt Mary Ann--though Ashley Owens Turnbull (along with Kate) and Mary Bratton also joined us.

We had coffee

cookies

and cheese strawsI ate my weight in cookies and cheese straws. They were so yummy. And I stuck a bag of leftovers in my purse for later.

I received two precious, precious outfits from Mary Bratton. It doesn't get much cuter, right?

I also received this cute, homemade wipes case from Ann. As you can see, I love it. (you can't tell, but John's name is on it in white)

And I am fully stocked with all the necessities--diapers, wipes, bibs, onesies, etc.

It is so much fun to see all the blue. And Scott didn't even mind the smocked outfits since they are size three months. I am not sure at what age he will put his foot down, but I will get away with it as long as I can. I also have a few Feltman Brothers outfits already hanging in the closet.

Tomorrow won't be as fun when I head to the doctor for the dreaded glucose test. I hate drinking that stuff. I'll be back later with a full Halloween report.