{Thankful}

Happy Thanksgiving 2-0-1-2 :) 

The yummy holiday has come and gone and we had a wonderful time. On Thursday we split our time between my husband's family (in the earlier part of the day) and my family (in the later part of the day). 2 meals = 2 times the yumminess and 2 times the love!

My husband's family is filled with teenagers, so there is never a dull moment. :) They do a potluck-style Thanksgiving, and everything is always delicious. Yummy turkey. Yummy potatoes. Yummy everything!! In past years, at least one or more of the grandchildren has been missing (away at college, etc.), but not this year. This year all 9 kiddos were here, so we took advantage of the moment and snapped some family photos. Prior to Oliver's arrival, the last family photo of just the grand-kids was taken close to 9 years ago so we thought it was time for an update.

Here is Grandma Ellen and her 9 loves....

These kids truly own her heart.

Also at Grandma & Papa's house, Oliver got to swing in an old tire swing that has been hung there for close to 30 years. He LOVED it. His Aunt Tammy pushed him and sang to him and he was in Heaven.

After a great day with them, we headed to my sisters house for another delicious meal and more family time. This year was a smaller celebration than usual, but that didn't stop my mom from cooking to feed an Army ;). Here are some of the yummy appetizers.....

I didn't get a picture of the actual feast, but trust me when I say it was yummy! My mom makes a mean Thanksgiving dinner. & she loves doing it which is even better. We had a happy relaxing time with my mom, siblings and cousins and Oliver crawled around and was a happy camper.

 

I didn't get many pictures (because I was too full to move), but all in all it was a wonderful family-filled day. I am so Thankful for my big extended family. I am one lucky girl :)

To continue on with the luckiness, my my sister and I (with Oliver in tow) went out for the Black-Friday madness and had a great time. Even if we weren't in the market for anything big, my sis and I still love being around the hustle and bustle of shopping mania!! We did end up getting some great stuff (because . . . you know . . . when in Rome ;) ) including (but not limited to) these sister bracelets - we couldn't resist...

 

(Veins. Ew! lol!)

We were out from around 11:00 am until 7:00 pm & Ollie was a champ. He even napped in his stroller (which is kind of a rare thing)

Shhhhh!

It was an awesome awesome day! Thank you husband for letting me S-H-O-P till I dropped! ;)

Happy Thanksgiving 2012. With my husband and my little guy by my side, this was the best Thanksgiving yet! I am looking forward to the upcoming holidays even more now (Hanukkah with my husband's fam and Christmas with mine). Life is so much sweeter because Oliver owns our heart.

I am Thankful for the love and support that my friends and family provide! Thank you all so very much!

xo
-L

Oh....and my Dad spent Thanksgiving with his beautiful lady-friend Yolanda and her family, and although he was missed, he is always in my heart. I love you Dad and am thankful for you xo

Oh.........aaaaannnnddd......I may or may not be working on this today....

that is inspired by this.....

Stay tuned ;)

{9 months, Sweet Bear, etc.}

Our tiny baby Oliver Cash is 9 -- months -- old (well, on the 17th he turned 9 months - I am a couple of days late). In just 3 short months our little love bug will be 1 year old. Crazy. Seriously crazy.

This kid is so much fun. He has the BEST little personality......

 ....and he has the best hair, don't you agree?!! ;) Haha!! His little face cracks me up. Our photo shoot was so funny this time around because it took place on two different days and he was all over the place. He needed a ton of different toys to hold his interest...

Ha!! He will definitely kill me for the one in the bear hat later, but I don't care. It is too cute!

He had his 9 month check up last week and everything checked out great. He is growing and developing perfectly. He recovered from his shots quickly and talked up a storm throughout the entire check-up.

His official stats are:
Height: 28" (50th percentile)
Weight: 17.5 lbs (10th percentile -- he is a little peanut, but the Doc says his proportions are PERFECT & that he wouldn't add a pound)
Head Circumference: 17.5" (same # as the lbs - funny. Not sure of this percentile)

Also, one random thing is that Oliver is oddly flexible, so I pointed out his bendy ankles to the doctor and he assured me that there was nothing to worry about.

But seriously......crazy bendy!

LOL!

Still no teeth yet, but he is doing a MUCH better job of eating lately. He eats baby food twice per day now, and actually opens his mouth for the spoon.

His favorites are sweet potatoes, bananas, and an apple/carrot mixture from Trader Joes. :) Yum! he also still loves frozen bananas in the mesh feeder and Gerber puffs (and is great at feeding them to himself now).

AANNDD.......as of Sunday, Oliver is officially crawling. It is the cutest thing ever! My video won't upload here for some reason, so you'll have to trust me on this one. It is seriously the cutest thing ever. :) He's growing up! {*sigh*}

Moving on....

Halloween came and went and we had so much fun. Oliver had two costumes. First he wore his SUPER ADORABLE tiger suit that Grandma Ellen bought for him....

...and for trick-or-treating he wore his pumpkin suit....

The pumpkin suit actually belonged to Noah first.....

...and then Hayden wore it 3 years later...

& this year it was Oliver's turn. :) I love being able to share these little traditions with my sisters family. Aren't they the cutest little pumpkins you ever did see? I think so! Halloween with Oliver is so much fun!!!

In other sad news, shortly after Halloween, our beloved doggy Bear passed away. She was almost 11 years old and had recently been diagnosed with cancer. She was the sweetest dog ever. She wagged her tail until the very end and passed away in the early morning sleeping only a couple of feet away from her daddy.

We miss her so much and are super sad that she is gone, but we know that she is no longer suffering so that gives us a little bit of peace. Josh has been so strong through everything, but I can tell how much he misses her. We are sad that Oliver won't get to grow up with her by his side (she was the best with kids), but we will be sure to tell him stories about her to keep her spirit alive. Bear, you are always in our hearts. We love you.

We have had some good times over the last few months too....

Brunch dates with friends...

Voting....

More jumping time....

Oliver's first fire in the fireplace....

and tons of time snuggling....

and playing...

We still go on a ton of walks....

and even go for rides in Hayden's baby-doll stroller ;)...

LOL!!!

These last few months have been a blast! We are so excited for the upcoming holidays. Life is sweet.  Happy Thanksgiving week everyone. I am thankful for so many things. My cup runneth over.

xo -L


Oh...and I finally hung the chalkboard up....

....now it's time to change the quote. We'll see how long that takes me :/ (lol!)