Merry Christmas...May yours be full of Magic

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Holiday Happenings...

The lights on Gabriel Street...There is a neighborhood here in West Palm that requires all residence MUST decorate their houses for Christmas! I don't know if it is true, but I have heard it is even written in their HOA by-laws. We drove through the neighborhood Saturday night and just oogled and awwwed at all the beautiful homes and sidewalks with archways. And YES pretty much every house was lit up! I am so saddened to say that I didn't have my camera with me.
This is definitely a new tradition for us though.

The great Christmas Cookie Fiasco...McCoy and I have made some great friends with many of the moms and kids from school. A couple of us got together last week to decorate Christmas cookies and have lunch. You would never know these kids see each other every day...they can't get enough of each other! They are all such great friends.

The night before the cookie party we pre-cut and baked our cookies. McCoy used the potatoe smasher to make a snowflake imprint on a few of the plain old round ones. He had to give them some character he said. We gave the kids free reign with the sprinkles and decorations...This is what most of their cookies ended up looking like...And this is what we dumped off the cookies when they were done...this is just excess from ONE kid. Yea...they had FUN!

I don't know how we got them to sit still for lunch afterward...it didn't last long.
The Wellington Holiday Parade...We met up with our friends from school and watched the Christmas parade together. It was so stinking hot, I kid you not! I am surprised we didn't melt. Poor Glade got a sunburn and I did ok, but felt bad for baby belly. I thought she was going to roast in there. I tried to stay in the shade and drink lots of water and melted snow cones. It's hard to believe it's Christmas when your sweating in 90 degree weather, but we had a good time anyway. Of course McCoy's favorite thing was the storm troopers and Darth Vadar. He remembered from last year and thank goodness they were there this year too. I still don't know what Star Wars characters have to do with Christmas but it's McCoy's favorite part of the Parade.

Walking the kids down to find a spot to watch the Parade. Check out that side profile of the belly...

Momma and her silly boy...Waiting for Star Wars GuysMcCoy is the little fella amongs the big boys watching the Parade go by. He thought he was pretty cool stuff because they let him hold a skate board.

McCoy's Christmas Program...So I am one very proud momma! My baby sang his little heart out. I had no expectations for the program this year because last year he was not exactly thrilled to be there and he definitely didn't want to sing so this year we didn't know what to expect. Well, not only did he sing and do all his motions and actions, he threw in a few extra "Unique McCoy Moments" too. Glade and I had people coming up to us after the show and commenting on McCoy's little performance and how they just couldnt stop watching him. He was on the top row on the very end just having a good ol' time getting totally into the music and rocking out. And after every song he would wave and give the thumbs up and sometimes even the rock sign. Such a hoot. Last year nothing, and then this year -a little overboard...but he was just so fun to watch. My baby boy is growing and coming into his own. I love him so much! He puts on concerts for me all the time but never does he do it in front of other people, so it was such a shock to see him have so much fun out there in front of everybody. So proud of him...even in his not so fine moments...during a low in the program McCoy sat on stage for about a minutes straight just digging at his nose until his teacher stopped him - what do you do but laugh. No matter what he was doing...we were entertained. Above: McCoy and his classmates. He is wearing the light blue shirt and sweater vest. Below: He is the one on the very end under the exclamation point!SNOW!!! They had a "snow machine" after the Christmas Program. Not really snow but the kiddos love it just the same.

"I just like to smile! Smilings my favorite!" - Buddy the Elf

I just can't get enough of ELF. I love that movie! Still going full blast in Christmas mode around here. Listening to lots and lots of Christmas tunes. McCoy has been going around the house singing all the songs he has been practicing at school for hisChristmas program next week. I just love this time of year. No matter where you live it is just a magical time. Must be something in the air. ....

Here are some more holiday photos from our home to yours... ... ...

Yummy must try pie! Actually its Cheesecake - Crushed Peppermint Cheesecake. Good stuff. We like Oreo Crust better than grahm cracker, just a suggestion if you google the recipe.

Candy Cane Kid and Christmas Babe

Spreading some Christmas Love...

These Turkey's Got Stuffed...And then Decked the Halls

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. We Gobble'd Til' We Wobbled on T-Day with some great friends of ours. Thanks again Welner Family for the Wonderful Food and Good Company. The food was great and very plentiful - (we ate Turkey Day leftovers for three days). I made a green bean and a sweet potato casserole along with my annual pumpkin cheesecake that I have been making for the past three years. Once again it was a hit. I do love it myself so I am a bit prejudice I guess, but it is just soooo yummy!

Then the rest of the weekend was spent putting away all the fall decor and getting out the lights and Christmas Trees. We HEART Christmas BIG Time! Whats not to love...lights, holiday music, eggnog, snow (ok, fake snow), lots of festive family outings, and most importantly...finding and participating in all the magic, good nature, and true spirit that is abundant this time of year!

Daddy is in charge of the outside lights...And Mommy does inside... McCoy is thrilled to have his very own Christmas tree in his room this year. This is a tradition my mother started for my brothers and me and I recall just loving having my own little tree in my room to decorate myself and display. I still have that tree today and it still gets decorated and put out. I hope McCoy has as much fun with his tree in the upcoming years as he did this year. His only hesitation with the tree is of course its ties to Santa.

Big Mac is still a little scared of the big fat jolly man. Tonight after he plugged in his lights and took in the glow, he thought for a bit and then his eyes widened and he asked...

McCoy: "Mom, Santa puts the presents under the tree right?"
Me: "Yes that is right."
McCoy:"Oh, well...maybe we might have to move my tree out of my room on Christmas Night Time...because....well....I don't want Santa to come in my room."
Me: "Oh really, how come?"
McCoy: "Well...What if Santa comes in my room and wakes me up when I am trying to sleep?...So...Yea, we should move it out that night. But just that night."

I couldn't help but chuckle. I'm not so worried with his Christmas Eve sleep deprivation as I am about this Santa Phobia. Most kids would love the chance to sneak a peak at Santa as he put out presents but not my little tough guy. We can't hardly even make it through the Christmas displays at the mall for fear of running into Santa at the end of the trail. Maybe one day we will get that traditional Santa Picture but I'm not holding my breath.

Thanks on Thanksgiving...

I am Thankful that I have so much to be thankful for...

I could write pages and pages, my heart runneth over with love and gratitude for this life I have been given, and especially for the people who inhibit my life and my my HEART.

Awe yes, there is so much, too much to be thankful for today! I hope you all have a marvelous Thanksgiving Day filled with love and gratitude for all your many blessings.

Introducing...The Littlest Technician

Sooooo, you know how much McCoy loves to play pretend and is always game for dress up. Well the other day he wanted to put on his costume and follow daddy around. So after a day of spraying Glade agreed to a photo shoot with the boy while they treated our house. So without any further introduction...here is the littlest member of the Empire Pest Defense Team.

Dressed and Ready to go to work
Watch out Bugs...Daddy and McCoy are on there way...
"Where shall we start?""Like this daddy?"
"Getting Down and Dirty"
"I totally got this!""Life is Good When You're the Boss"

What's Up Doc?

Another appointment with the mid-wife this week and all is well! Mommy and baby are doing good. I have realized though that I am now just a little past the halfway point and I really haven't documented much about this baby and I am starting to feel like a slacker mom. So I have decided to finally start writing a baby journal and I just started putting together her scrapbook two weeks ago. It doesn't have anything in yet but I am going to put together all the pages so I can get started with her ultrasound pics and when she gets here I can just put in all the pics I am going to take of her when I get them and viola the book will be done. If I take 1/2 as many pictures of her as I did of McCoy then the book will get filled up fast. I just want to make it easier for when she comes. Over the next few weeks I will share a few stories and pictures from the journal and scrapbook. It was fun to go out and buy pink paper and flower embellishments. I am finally coming to terms with the fact that I am really going to have a little baby girl here in a few months and not just a dancing monster in my belly. I am getting so excited and nervous. The whole pregnancy has been a new experience for me, I feel like I have never been pregnant before because of the drastic differences between the first time. And now I think about how different it will be to have a girl vs a boy. It is all so exciting and scary at the same time. Something new to look forward to every day.

So she thinks she can dance...

Tuesday night while watching So You Think You Can Dance, the baby just started starting going nuts! She is a mover and a shaker any way but any time the dances started and the music began playing baby girl in my belly was kicking up her feet (or arms, knees and elbows - I really can't tell LOL). It was also the first time that McCoy actually got to feel her move. It was so amazing! I mentioned out lout that she was kicking he heck out of me and he said, "Mom can I see if she kicks me?" I immediatly said sure and let him put his hands on my belly. He has tried this before but he doesnt sit to still himself so he never has the patience to wait for her to kick. This time he placed his hands on my belly and sat ever so still and all of sudden she gave a power house kick and his eyes immediatly went super saucer size! They opened up so big and he had such a look of wonderment his mind was racing I could tell and then he said, "WOW! She really did kick me! She must think its New's Years and its time to come out now!"

Note: He keeps asking when the baby will come out and I have to tell him, not for a long time. I told him after the holidays then it will be closer to her time to come. Like after Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. He can't wait for the next Holiday to come and to get a little bit closer to meeting his baby sister.

These are his personal name choices so far...
*Pizza
*Feets
*Water

Needless to say we are still considering a few other choices.

Happy Halloween!!!

One of McCoy's favorite things to do is play costumes (dress-up). He has several and he is really into story lines and he gets really into his characters. We have a great time playing pretend so naturally he was stoked that there is a night dedicated to dressing up. He really understood more this year about trick or treating and he was a little less than thrilled about that part of Halloween, but he was stoked for the costume part. Only problem was he couldn't decide on which costume to wear. Well lucky little fella had several Halloween themed events and parties to attend this year so he got to pick a different one for each event. Lucky for mom and dad, we didn't have to buy a single one of his costumes, it was all just stuff we had or had bought on clearance in the past. So without further ado... ... ... ... ... ... ...Here is McCoy's 2009 Halloween Montage!

Skeleton Boy McCoy (@ A Birthday/Halloween Party)

And our all Time Personal favorite and a huge hit @the Trunk or Treat....

The "Terminator" (XTerminator that is) Empire Pest Defense's Littlest Technician.

RoCk sTaR! (Costume parade @ School)

Safari Lion Tamer (Neighborhood Party)

Basket Ball All Star Just Like Daddy! (Spookville @ the Fairgrounds)
Mommy had a basketball outfit too and was going to paint her belly like a Basketball but it just didn't happen. Maybe next year we will get a family photo with the four of us. I gotta start coming up with ideas. :)

Soilder Boy (Trick or Treating)

We had a very fun and festive month of October. Hope you all did too!