Happy Turkey Day!

Well, we survived so many things last week. We first survived both of us being off and having Keegan all day. I was kinda worried about it since we can only get him to nap 20 minutes at best on the weekends. Monday he really didn't nap and was kinda cranky. On Tuesday, we finally just put him in his crib and let him cry until he fell asleep. We have no idea where he gets this refusal to sleep as we wake up and can't wait to go back to sleep! We believe that he thinks we are so much fun that he doesn't want to miss a minute of being with us =). Keegan did reach some big milestones during the week. One important was that he has started sitting up by himself! It is so cool to see our little guy just start sitting up one day. He loves for us to put a blanket on the floor and spread his toys out. He will reach and grab for things. When he gets bored, he will fall over so that he can be on his tummy. This milestone gives him a new sense of freedom and we get to bring out new kinds of toys - YEAH! That means a whole bunch of new songs to learn. Keegan also turned 6 months old on Thanksgiving Day. We fed him sweet potatoes. He loved them! He kept sticking his tongue out like he didn't want a bit of it to be wasted.

Yum!

This leads to the other thing he learned this week - how to stick out his tongue. It is his favorite pasttime. If you stick your tongue out at him, he will mimic you and do the same. The first time, he did it to my mom. Chris and I busted out laughing and it scared Keegan. We were afraid that he wouldn't do it anymore but out fears were so useless. He does it all the time!! It makes us laugh and that makes him laugh.

Check our outfit out!

We had a really great Thanksgiving. We spent the morning watching the parades and being lazy. We headed up to Chris's Dad's for lunch. Josh's family was there too and we all had a good time just being a family.

Napping with Pawpi

We then headed over to Mono's house to visit with his mom's side of the family for a bit. Then we headed over to my parent's house for dinner.

Bib before

Bib after

That was really nice as Chad and Trey joined us for dinner. We also were blessed with having Clark and Traci Harbaugh join us. We haven't visited with them in a while so it was great to catch up. By the time we made our way down the alley, we were tired.

We left early the next morning and headed for Salado. We meet up with Chris's mom and family down there for a weekend full of shopping and family fun. We had such a great time.

Napping with Daddy

What happy boy!

Not a lot of great shopping but lots of laughs. Our room was connected to Josh's room. Caleb and Cole thought that was so cool! Keegan had a great time hanging out with his cousins. He loves his uncle Josh, that is for sure! Josh would how it and Keegan would reach for his face and just giggle. So cute! He is not too sure of Aunt Diane, though. I think I have figured out that wither Chris or I need to hold him and talk to the person before they address him. Otherwise, he starts crying when they talk to him.
We left early on Sunday to head home. We went and bought new living room furniture (YEAH!!), and then bought our Christmas tree. We pent the evening decorating it. Keegan just stares at it. The cats, of course, love it. They can escape from the dogs underneath it. We also put non-breakable ornaments on the bottoms part of the tree for them to play with. Now we just need to wrap presents and put them under the tree!!

Answer me this....

How is that, even when I am sick and coughing and feeling just horrible, just one look at my son and seeing his smile makes me feel better? It must truly a little blessing from heaven. This week has been rough with both Chris (food posioning from Atlanta Bread Company) and I sick (congested and coughing). Neither of us has had much energy but seeing that little boy makes all our yucky feelings go away. We keep asking ourselves, "What did we do before he came along?" He wakes up happy even though he has had ear infections over the past couple of weeks. One ear cleared up and then the other one got infected. We are hoping that this is not something he inherited from his Dad who had to have tubes in his ears. that would not be fun.

We went to Toys R Us on Sunday to pre-shop for K's 1st Christmas. So many cool things! We can't wait for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning to come so we can celebrate our 1st Christmas together. I did find a cool website that is a resale place for Little Tykes kind of toys. You know, the outdoor playthings, kitchens, car beds, etc. I called yesterday and if you buy two or more things, you get a discount. How cool!!

Oh, FYI, I am having a Lia Sophia party on November 30th at 7. They have beautiful jewelry. It runs what you would pay in the stores but they have all sorts of discounts and specials. I walked out with over $300 worth of sparklies for $130!! I love a bargain!! If you want more details, let me know.

On a sadder note, Chris's cousin Steve's wife Debbie (ok, that is a long chain of names) dies suddenly last week. She had surgery and was recovering at home. Steve is usually out of the country with his job for Nokia but he was in town last week. He went to work and left Debbie at home with a friend who was taking care of her for the day. Sometime in the morning, Debbie had a seizure and died before the paramedics could reach her. It was so sad. She was a special person and had various disabilities but she loved Steve so much. She was 37. They did not have children. I do not think they were going to in case Debbie's disabilities were hereditary but she had said something about adopting. Chris and I went to the funeral. It was REALLY long and left me feeling so empty. I could not help but think that this is so not the was Debbie was. She was full of life and love for other people. Steve did the best in summing up Debbie. He told a few choice stories about their 7 years together and really brought out the Debbie we all knew. My heart breaks so much for him. He is a fantastic man, very caring and responsible. He is just an all around great guy. To have this tragedy happen so young in their married life saddens me so much. But I was listening to the radio yesterday and "Homesick" by Mercy Me came on and totally reminded me of how Steve might be feeling. He knows she is with her Father and that brings him some relief but he must miss her so. For me, I am not sad about her passing because she is now free from her limitations and who could think of a better place to be than with their Father? But I grieve for Steve. He reminds me of Shel Silverstein's "The Giving Tree" because he gives so much to his family. He is in my prayers now and for the next few months as he struggles through the holidays without Debbie.

Our First Halloween

So, we have officially celebrated our first Halloween. K was pumpkin. We got the costume last year at the Children's Place in Grapevine Mills. We didn't know then what we were having but we knew they would be a pumpkin. And he made a cute pumpkin!

We went over to Miss Becky's house for a party with the kids she keeps. There were also families there whose kids Becky used to keep. It was so cool to sit there and know that Becky still has a friendship with those families even after they leave her care. K had a great time and was enthralled with one of the mothers. He kept staring at her. I think it was because she had a haci on her necklace and he was thinking, "What a great idea!" It was so fun to see all the kids in their costumes.

We then headed over to the church for Trunk or Treat. We decorated the back of the truck like a pumpkin patch. C did a great job of setting it up.

We had such a great time! We got to see our church family and meet people in the area of our church. One little girl was dressed as Pocahontas. She came around 3 times! It was so funny! The best costume had to have been Will Long's. He was dressed as a member of the GPHS band. He had on thick glasses and his hair slicked back. It was great! SGP people loved it but the Gophers didn't see what was so funny. This was our first year to do the Trunk or Treat and we are committed to doing it again. I love the fact that it is so intimate - not a lot of trudging around the neighborhood. Plus, it is very family-oriented. There were no obnoxious teenagers that tend to make passing out candy at home no fun at all. It was also a joy to spend the time with my parents and grandmother. As you can see, K loves his Nanny, even when she doesn't look like herself. He stared at her and didn't smile until she started talking and then he recognised who she was. He did not think that her hair tasted that great.

We also got to see my cousin and her family. Izzy is getting so big! I cannot wait to take pics of the cousins at Thanksgiving. The 4th of July pics turned out so cute!

So, now, we are looking forward to Thanksgiving. It will be time to start on more foods, including squash, carrots, and green beans. Plus, he can start trying to use sippy cups! Such a big boy!