Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksmas?

I have always felt that Thanksgiving is robbed as a holiday by the commercial draw of Christmas...this year I think it is at an all time low :( 

I received e-mails from stores advertising sales for this weekend as a 'pre-Black Friday Sale weekend', really? My all time frustration is with those stores that do open on Thanksgiving. SO eat a meal with your loved ones and share all you are thankful for...then go run around stores like hooligans to get more stuff! While I'm at it another frustration: Christmas music. Please stop playing it until the day AFTER Thanksgiving!!! I also have NO Christmas decor in my house and will not until after Friday. 

In case it was lost in the subtly above ;) I will not be shopping on Thanksgiving and most likely will not go out on Friday either. I am truly blessed to have loved ones close to spend Thanksgiving with and will enjoy Friday with Rose :) To those who work retail (as I did for several years) good luck on Friday (and Thursday if you have to work then too)!

Really winter doesn't even start until December 21 and lots of scholars make the case that Jesus was born in the summer or fall...I would definitely sign a petition to move Christmas to another day of the year so everything is not so smashed together.

That said I have gotten my Christmas cards and started Christmas shopping (we mostly get gift cards for people), what's a girl to do?

**this year I finally ordered an return address stamp! I am not sure why it has taken me 5 years to decide we were not moving for awhile and to get one, but this year cards will go a little faster!

**also I will NOT throw Rose's artwork away, no matter how high the pile grows. I have used it to wrap gifts in the past and this year I made some into envelopes for the gift cards :)

Anyway, Rose had a wonderful week with her grandma and nana. And we enjoyed family time to start the weekend with dinner out on Friday.

 Rose was a little ham, trying to get the other diners to laugh at her silliness.

We also cleaned the office upstairs (to hold some of Rose's toys when we have to find a spot for a tree and after Christmas for the great "toy rearrangement so mommy can have some room in her house back").

The pictures I ordered also arrived this week and I was able to update the pictures in our living room, look how much Rose has grown! My dad told me last week that Rose is not a baby anymore...wrong! Every time I see her, I see that little bundle I first held in my arms :)

Thankful Thursday

Taking it easy is good for everyone!

This week was a little less busy for all of us and no one is complaining about that!

I met up with Becky on Tuesday at a Spa and we enjoyed massages and lunch along with time to catch up. It was just what I needed after the last few busy weeks and more busy weeks to come!

Rose, really doesn't slow down much, so she was up to her normal fun this week. While Rose still have very little interest in cartoons and movies, she has started watching YouTube videos...mostly of other babies or cats! I blame her father for this :)

Rose is still also the best little mama to her babies, they are always fed, clean, and rocked to sleep. 

Rose also decided to instruct Tahnee on how to care for the babies :)

more YouTube...

Rose also must take after her mama because she also enjoyed redecorating her stuff this week!

Friday night we went to Uncle Matt and Aunt Jenni's for pizza and a movie. Rose enjoyed the pizza and playing with Aunt Jenni :)

It's kinda funny, we have NO trees in our yard, but seem to have tons of leaves. Whomever they belong to: we enjoyed playing in them, but feel free to come collect them!

After all that leaf raking on Saturday we headed out for some burger (or a hot dog for Rose) and fries!

We also got our family pictures this week and I got ALL our Christmas items: cards, magnets, accordions, mugs, ornaments, and prints ordered in under 3 hours!!! (for me that's really good) I can't post all pictures or that would ruin the surprise for some of the gifts, but I am SO very happy with the pictures. Here are just a few:

We took a few of Rose's favorite things (baby, bird, and book) to keep her in good spirits and to include in the pictures to capture those things that Rose loved at 2!

(someday when our stairway wall is painted, I am going to order a HUGE print of this picture, I love all of us sitting together and the tall trees in the background)

We had so much fun with our little girl!

Thankful Thursday

Everything's better with Rose!

We had a great week and even better weekend!

Since I had to work late on Monday on the way home I picked up Chipotle. Justin had already fed Rose by the time I got home, but that didn't stop her from digging into mommy's gauc!

Tuesday after picking Rose up, we headed off to VOTE. (this is not a blog about my personal views on our political system, so I won't be sharing how I voted or why...but I voted and hope you did too!)

I was also able to pick up yet another motorized train for Justin (by this point I think we are all aware that this is really his new obsession, but Rose does enjoy spending time building tracks with her daddy)

Since it's now getting dark so early in the evening and the weather is getting cooler, we are spending more time inside at night (we still bundle up and go out, just not as much!). Rose still loves to play with soap and ice cubes...I wonder what her little brain is learning when she plays!

 Finally, we made it to the weekend :) Justin worked a half-day again this weekend. After going to the farmer's marker, Rose and I played until we headed off to music class.

After Rose woke from her afternoon nap, we decided to have 'family date night!' We made a quick stop so I could pick up some yarn and then headed to Moe's for dinner.

Then we stopped at Barnes and Noble for a new book :)

Sunday was also back to a pretty typical routine. We had Rose's speech session, Rose and I went to church, we had lunch, Rose had a nap, then we headed down to Nana and Papa's for dinner!

So, I could leave a voicemail message without Rose screaming in the background, sleep until 10am, and complete crafty projects until my hearts content, but NOTHING would be as wonderful (and they probably wouldn't let me join the music group) without Rose!!!

Thankful Thursday

(just want to take the time to share on each Thursday through Thanksgiving what I am most thankful for; pictures are worth a thousand words, so I'll just post a pic)

I work for the weekend :)

In the past week or so, I have had very kind offers from several people to watch Rose (or even have her overnight). I know that others just want to enjoy Rose and make memories with her, but as a working mom, I am always plagued by guilt about not spending enough time with her and missing out on so many things. I am ok with her spending her week with grandma or nana, but anything else is MY time and it is very hard for me to give that up! So, if you offer, and I decline; it's not you, it's me :)

Here are some pics of the from this week!

Rose wanted to wear a scarf like mommy's :)

Rose loves cleaning...mostly because it's an excuse to use SOAP!

Monday night nana and papa dropped off some trains and Rose knew who to sit with to eat 2 lollipops...

Rose also made one more trick-or-treating stop, with a trip to our neighbors. She decided to be Snow White

Complete with a princess wand...she's not waiting around for a 'Prince', she'll take care of things on her own!

Saturday morning on our weekly trip to the farmer's market, Rose was busy munching nuts for a bit and then decided to go barefoot.

Rose got daddy to give her a ride on the swing...I just LOVE these two!!!

 Sunday we celebrated Grandpa's birthday and Rose was happy since she got to see Aunt Jeni :)

Also on a happy note: for the last two weeks Rose has decided that vacuum is ok! When she was a baby I ran it all the time and it seemed to soothe her, but then about a year ago she started running into other rooms and covering her ears. I decided not to worry about it and just vacuum at night when she was sleeping. The other day I asked her if I could quick vacuum something up and she said 'yes'. I turned it on expecting her to run, but instead she asked to do it! 

On a yummy note: I made some granola this weekend. If you don't normally eat breakfast or are not a fan of cereals, this is a great thing to try!