Thanksgiving with Nana and Papa...

Oh I love that we are in the holiday season! It seems even more exciting and fun having a baby here to celebrate with us. On Thanksgiving Day, while everyone was taking a nap, Hatte and I were playing outside and I couldn't stop thinking about how thankful I am that she is in our lives. I can't even express how much this little girl means to us! We really do have so much to be thankful for.
Cathy and Rick got here one week ago and now they are getting ready to leave in a few hours. We did so much while they were here, it really makes me wish that our parents lived closer. They couldn't believe how much Hattie had changed since July. She definetly is starting to get more of a personality! Anytime we turn on music she starts dancing by rocking and shaking her hands...it is so funny! She was quite the Nana and Papa girl while they were here. Of course she was a little spoiled and I think her day care provider will notice on Monday! Hattie got to spend all day Monday with Nana and Papa while we were at school and then Tuesday night. They are such wonderful grandparents, it is easy to see how much they love her!
Rick and Cathy also spoiled us and let us go out a few nights. One night Brent and I went to a Mavericks games with kids from my school. All Brent could say was that middle school doesn't look so bad after riding a bus with 30 elementary kids! Last night Brent and I went out to dinner and then watched the movie Blind Side ( it is very good by the way). We hadn't been to a movie together since May of 08!
On Thanksgiving both my sisters and their families came over for a delicious lunch ( delicious because Cathy did most of it). It was also Brent's birthday that day! Lots of holiday birthdays this year I guess! Yesterday Cathy, Kim, and I got up at 4:30 to test our sanity by shopping at Walmart and Target. Holiday shoppers can be so crazy, Kim almost got hurt trying to get Rock Band! She ended up holding strong and walked away with it at the end. We also got several other bargains, so yes, it is worth it! Yesterday we also got our Christmas lights hung up, the tree up and decorated, and all of the other decor up. This is the first year we have really got to put up many Christmas decorations! Have I said how much I love this season?!?!
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

so sweet...she is such a cuddler

Papa and Hattie must have spent hours outside on this swing!

Of course, Nana got her share of playing time too

such a nut!

this is where she would go when she woke up in the mornings

Go Mavs!

I think I am going to have a little bargain shopper on my hands!

how to eat for Daddy's b-day

who needs a highchair?

me and my baby before getting her Christmas pictures! I will post some later on...they were pretty cute even after waiting over an hour to get them!

pretty cozy here

Nana got Hattie a new outfit for Thankgiving and she actually kept the shoes on!

Rick and Brent posing with the b-day cake...they have a picture like this when Brent was 1 or 2

helping daddy with the presents

Fun with the Teachers!!

So, I made it through my first night away from Hattie. My time away over the weekend went really fast and it was nice to get to hang out with the teachers away from school. We had lots of fun: ) On Friday we had a few workshop sessions to go through. I actually was the presenter for all of our districts 4th grade teachers. I was almost late for it too! I was freaking out because I was supposed to be there presenting and I couldn't find the room. It is so unlike me to be late....atleast I made it there, only being about 2 minutes late. On Friday night we got to dress up for a dinner banquet. Then we hung out for a few hours after that!
Saturday we had a few more sessions and then headed home. The teachers all wanted to go out for lunch ( I car pooled with them) so we ended up going to a little restaurant. At that time I was so anxious to be home to see Hattie. Finally, I got home in the late afternoon. She woke up as soon as I walked in the door! She did good with daddy though, sounds like they had a good time just the two of them.
This Saturday Rick and Cathy are coming and will be here all week! I really have the best in-laws, I am so excited to see them! They aren't going to believe how much their granddaughter has changed since July. She is crawling all over the place these days!
Have a great rest of the week!
The Vista crew

Gerri, me, Maria, and Ruth Anne

I tried doing a self portrait

this is for you, Kelly!!

the hotel already had the christmas decor up! Love it!

me and my roomie for the night, Deana

we had to get Audrah this little outfit for Carter, who will be here in March!

me and Debbie

I was so happy to be home with my little girl.

Our 7 month old!

I feel like I just get used to saying my baby is 4 months, then 5 months, 6 months, and now 7 months! I feel like these last few months have gone by so fast! Each month seems to bring lots of new accomplishments for our baby. This week she started scooting all over the place. She also gets up on her knees like she is ready to crawl. Oh boy...our days of having an immobile baby are over soon!!
We still have not found a food she doesn't like and she can now eat those little puff thingies ( they are pretty good, Brent and I both like them). She really enjoys sitting in her high chair eating ( or making mess), while we all eat dinner. She loves going out to places so she can look at all of the strangers. But I think she is getting to that age where strangers scare her a bit, we were out at a restaurant and she was all happy looking around when this lady came up and started talking to her, all of the sudden she let out a schrieking scream. Yah, it was a little embarrasing. Most of the time she is just a smiley little baby. When Brent and I laugh or smile at her, she immediately starts laughing. I hope she stays this laid back and happy as she gets older: )
The other thing she seems to love is getting her parents up in the middle of the night to eat! I am beginning to rule out that she has been teething everynight the last month or so; and am now thinking she is just spoiled! Last night she was really hard to get to sleep and seemed really restless. I thought something was wrong, but then she was just fine this morning. However, when I picked her up from Alicia's her eyes were red and she had a runny nose. Alicia said she was really fussy and wouldn't eat...what...wouldn't eat, yes there is a problem!! I got her right into the dr. and we found out she had her first ear infection. Oh my poor baby. She is on antibiodics now and we gave her some motrin. She was happy tonight and went right to bed. Thank goodness! Tomorrow and Saturday I have a school conference out of town that I need to go to. Brent would take the day off, but I think we are going to just take her in to Alicia's if she feels okay. I hope she is good for Brent tomorrow night and Saturday morning. I am really dreading being away from her for the first time. My fellow teachers are ensuring me that we will have a goodtime tomorrow night. It should be fun, we are staying in this really really nice hotel and get to dress up and have a nice dinner. Hopefully there will be plenty of distractions!
Here are some pictures we took last night. I didn't get any of her today since she was sick. I had to get a new camera this week because my old one broke. There is no way I could go a week without pictures!! Have a great weekend!

Hattie's First Halloween!

I think our little bunny had a good time yesterday celebrating her first halloween! We did a little trick or treating with Marina and Reagan. I was really excited to pass out candy this year since we finally had a house with trick or treaters to stop by. Oh my goodness did we ever have alot of trick or treaters...I would say over a hundred. We had to stop early because I ran out of candy. Next year I will be prepared: )
carving our pumpkin on Wednesday night

posing with Benny and Lola

cute outfit from Grandma Jean

cousins on Halloween

"what are you laughing at?"

all dressed up

Marina and her friend Reagan

already trying to get the candy

such a cute little bunny

in front of our house

bring on the trick or treaters!!

she loves her exersaucer!! and we do too!!