Thanksgiving 2012

This year we enjoyed another nice and quiet Thanksgiving at home.  Lucky for us we have Michael close by so he came and spent Wednesday through Sunday with us.  I prefer not to cook for Thanksgiving---it's just too much work for such a short lived holiday--so instead I make reservations.  Once again we headed to The Carolina Inn for their brunch.  As always, the food was great; however, being 9 months pregnant really limited the amount and type of food I was able to enjoy.  But Michael made up for what I couldn't eat by returning to the buffet at least 5 different times.  

After lunch we attempted to take a family picture for our Christmas card but our sassy 3 year old wanted no part of it.  Every picture she was either fighting with us or else I looked like a beached whale.  Oh well, I tried.  

As soon as we got home I began decorating for Christmas and I didn't stop until after 10:00 that night.  Oscar even completed all of the outdoor decorations.  Now the house is all set for the season.  

On Friday we choose to skip the black Friday crowds and stay home for most of the day.  Oscar and Michael played in the annual Turkey Day Touch Football game on campus.  Thankfully neither one of them got too injured but they did both have to whip out the ice packs for the next couple of days.  

On Saturday we went into Raleigh for a quick shopping trip and then stopped by the chicken place for lunch before coming home for the rest of the day.        

yummy Christmas cookies

all set up for the family pic...now where is Savannah???

attempt #1

attempt #10

me and Michael

attempt #20 back at home

final attempt.....no luck this year with a good family picture

Overall we had a very nice and normal family Thanksgiving.  We watched the parade, ate well, decorated for Christmas, watched football, and did a tab bit of shopping.  It doesn't get much better than that.  We have so many things to be thankful for this year---our family, our health, our home, and our healthy little man coming in just a few weeks.  

Savannah's 3rd Birthday Party

Savannah had her 3rd birthday party on Sunday, November 18th at Chapel Hill Gymnastics.  She had so much fun playing with classmates, gym buddies, and good friends.  This was her first party outside of our house and I'm now a huge fan not only of this facility but also of just having it away  from home.  It was so nice to not have to worry about cleaning for guests and then cleaning up after guests.  For this party I simply put together the decorations which I really didn't have to do since the gym would have provided some for us.  But my prissy girl being who she is wanted to have a ballet theme so everything was ballet pink.  I purchased cupcakes and candy, favors, and a giant balloon.....easy stuff.  We arrived 30 minutes early to set up with the help of the gym staff and then just sat back and supervised the fun.  The best part was that I didn't have to do any clean up.

decorations

she's considering digging into her cupcake

"Where is everybody?"

party favors

the birthday girl observing her guests playing with the parachute

classmate Katherine

now she's having fun

gym friend David

her favorite activity was swinging from this rope

classmate Helen

more friends on the trampoline

baby Tripp

fun in the foam pit

Cal

classmate Caroline and gym friend Elia

Brad coming to knock down S's tower

time to blow out the candles and the birthday girl is far away

thanks Brad for taking charge

she's not too happy with the attention all on her

snack time

still unsure

back home opening presents

I think all the kids had a really great time and the parents were really impressed with the facility.  It was a win-win for us all.  Savannah even came around to liking the idea of having a birthday party--minus the singing.  I may need to go ahead and start planning for next year :)

Daycation to Ashville

An unexpected 3 day weekend snuck up on us so what did that mean???  Not an extra day to do chores and spend time at home, but a daycation of course.  So on Saturday, November 10th we loaded up the car and headed to Ashville, NC.  Our first stop was the Biltmore Estate.  I had been years since I last visited this place and it was the first time for Oscar and Savannah.  Lucky for us they had just finished putting up all the Christmas decorations.  We didn't go inside the home at this time since we would be returning after dinner to walk through during the candlelight tour.  Instead we walked around the grounds, visited the shops, and had lunch in the old stables.    

outside the estate

at the little farm

Savannah now asks almost daily for a horse for Christmas (I agree, we need one.) 

chasing the rooster

she obviously doesn't share my strong dislike/fear of chickens

"oh darn! another dead end!"

she made it!!

Because Oscar planned this trip last minute, they're were no available rooms at the Biltmore Inn.  So instead we stayed at the Grove Park Inn.  They, too, were already decorated for Christmas but unfortunately, the gingerbread exhibit didn't start for another week.  We returned to the estate for dinner and finally made it into the house around 8:20 pm.  We thought surely Savannah would pass out but she most certainly did not.  In fact, she managed to stay awake until after 10:00 that night.  Apparently she adapts to vacations quite easily.    

views outside our room

Surprisingly the drive took right around 3 hours which made this an ideal daycation.  Plus it was a great way to kick off the Christmas festivities!

Savannah is 3!!!

I can't believe it.....my sweet baby girl in now 3 years old!!!  Where have the past 3 years gone?!  No wonder people say children age you----they cause time to speed up.  
The birthday celebrations started a couple of days early while Grams was still visiting.  She was soooo excited to receive the Cinderella Lego castle.  She played with it nonstop for the first two days.  Unfortunately she's not able to rebuild it when she destroys it so I've become the castle building expert.  

ready to open her present from Grams and Grandad

it's the Cinderella Lego castle

The night before her birthday I set out all her gifts and decorated the table with nothing but Disney Princesses of course.  The morning of the 8th came bright and early but our birthday girl was none too thrilled about the idea of her birthday.  She even forbid us from singing.  At first she was a little hesitant about coming downstairs but once she finally got a look at the birthday spread she came running down.  Because Oscar had to head to work we decided to wait and open the wrapped gifts until after school at lunchtime.

the birthday spread

here comes the birthday girl!

confused girl because she thought the lego castle was her only bday gift

checking out her doll house

getting in a last few minutes playing before school

She even had a birthday celebration at play school.  Too bad the teachers don't allow the parents to hang around because I would have loved to capture her expression when the teachers put the birthday crown on her head, presented her with a candle in a cookie, and sang Happy Birthday.  Especially since she wouldn't allow any of that with us at home.  I think I'll try to track down the picture that Mrs. Pate took during the festivities.  Since it was my day to take snack I took a big chocolate chip cookie cake decorated with Savannah's favorite colors---pink and purple.  

After school, we drove through the chicken place (aka Chick-fil-A) and got lunch for us and Oscar.  As soon as we got home, she drove into opening her presents and only then would she finally slow down long enough to eat.

opening the rest of her gifts

a pretty ballerina necklace

Caillou movies

"hmmmm, what could it be?!"

"It's Caillou!!!!"

opening gift from Uncle Obie and family

furry house shoes

watching cartoons with Caillou and Abby

afternoon dress up time

What a special day full of celebrating my favorite little 3 year old!!  These past 3 years may have been the most exhausting, the most thankless, and the most frustrating at times; but they have also been the most wonderful, the most challenging, and the most fun of my life.  Everyday is better than the one before and I feel so blessed and honored to be my sweet and sassy Savannah's mommy.