North Pole Express

The past couple of years we've heard about the North Pole Express and seen several people on Facebook taking their kids. I didn't realize you had to buy tickets in July though! Thankfully, they remodeled a car and offered tickets in November. My friend, Misty, forwarded me the email with the info on the new car and I bought tickets immediately.

The Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum has set up a train ride to the North Pole and Santa, Mrs. Claus and his elves all come onto the train. The elves hand out Christmas ornaments, cookies and milk and Santa and Mrs. Claus stop to talk with the children and take pictures. The big thing to do is wear your pajamas like in Polar Express.

Ready to go! 

Waiting to board the train.

So excited

Finally on the train!

Mommy told her she was getting milk and cookies, so she
didn't care about Santa and wouldn't smile for a picture with him.

Or for one with Mommy and Daddy!

Smiling again after getting her milk and cookies! Spoiled rotten girl! 

 This was a really fun way to start off the Christmas season. I'm sure we'll do this again next year! (If I can remember to buy tickets in July!)

Taylor's Bedroom Re-do

Since we are having another little girl, we are using the same nursery furniture and bedding. Therefore, Taylor is getting a new "big girl" room and our guest bedroom is getting a makeover! First, she got to pick out her bedding. I found a couple that I liked online and then asked her which one she wanted. Every single time, she picked the same bedding set. So, that's what she got! Then, she got to pick her paint color. Every time we asked her she said purple and pink. Everyone knows purple is my favorite color, and I'm not a huge fan of pink, but since the nursery is purple, we went with pink. I can't believe it! Next, she helped Daddy paint the walls in her new room and helped Mommy and Mama Donna paint her bed (which was my bed and Mama Donna's bed when we were little girls).

We continually had to find new places for her to paint. She ended up painting the entire backside of the headboard because she didn't want to quit painting when there wasn't anything else low to paint.

Oh, so much paint on her! It's been a while and I still find paint in her hair!

I've been holding off on posting this until I take pictures of the final product, but so far, that hasn't happened. Here's a picture of Taylor her first night in her new room!

McWane Center Holiday Party

Last month, we purchased a McWane membership for the next 12 months (with a $20 off coupon from BirminghamMommy.com!). Tuesday night they had their Holiday Party, so we took Taylor. She had a blast! She has fun every time we go to the McWane center!

One of her favorite things is the big lite brite, but it's hard to get a picture of that. They also have lots of different trains set up. One is set up like a city, another is Harry Potter themed, then there are several more smaller set-ups. Taylor and Daddy had fun looking at those for a while. Then, we tried to go make a gingerbread house, but they had run out of supplies. Thankfully, they hadn't run out of Christmas cookies and decorating supplies. Mommy, Daddy and Taylor all decorated and ate a Christmas cookie!

Then, Taylor decided to play checkers. Although, she had more fun stacking them up than attempting to play. 

 After getting some more snacks and hot chocolate, Taylor slid down the slide to the second floor to see the Clifford the Big Red Dog exhibit. She decided to color him a picture (well, several) and put it in the mail.

After Clifford, we walked over to the cafe where Taylor took our order, prepared it and rang up our bill. 

What would you like to eat?

No, I think you want a hamburger.

We finally made it back upstairs to ride the train and zip line. We weren't sure if she'd ride the zip line, but she LOVED it. In fact, she wanted to ride it "twice".

We ended up staying longer than Mommy wanted, but Taylor had so much fun, it was well worth it! I think many McWane dates might be in Daddy and Taylor's future come January!

30 days of Thankfulness

This year I followed the crowd and posted 1 thing I'm thankful for each day. I try to be thankful on all days, good and bad, but this was interesting trying to recognize something or someone to be specifically thankful for each day. There were times I got behind, but I did end up doing it the whole month. 

Day 1: I'm thankful for Jesus!

Day 2: I'm thankful for my crazy husband who always makes me laugh!

Day 3: Thankful for wonderful grandparents who love Taylor so much! She is so happy to stay with them, it doesn't bother her at all that Mommy and Daddy are leaving!

Taylor waving bye as we leave for Baton Rouge

Day 4: I'm thankful that our parking and seats at Bryant-Denny are a lot easier to get to than what we had in Baton Rouge, otherwise, this 7 month pregnant lady couldn't be going to anymore games. :(

Day 5: In honor of Orphan Sunday yesterday, I'm thankful for the many, many friends that have adopted, are in the process of adopting, are involved in foster care, or are otherwise involved in orphan care through child sponsorship, adoption support, etc. These people challenge me daily to be more involved in the orphan crisis! I wish I could tag all of you, but I'd surely forget someone!

Day 6: Thankful for the ability to vote on our leader! Hopefully after tomorrow all the nasty political posts will cease, at least for a little while.

Day 7: Thankful that most (unfortunately not all) of my FB friends surprised me this morning with their comments on the election's outcome and their acknowledgement that God is sovereign! I'm sorry to say surprised, but during the days/weeks/months leading up to yesterday, I saw a lot of comments that weren't very Jesus-like.

Day 8: Thankful for the ladies in my small group. I look forward to meeting with them every time!! 

Day 9: Thankful to feel the many kicks and punches my little Leah gives me everyday! 

Day 10: Thankful that there is so much more to life than Alabama football...Taylor gave us big hugs when we got home! 

Day 11: Thankful for my wonderful Grace Life church family! 

Day 12: Thankful for clothes and linens to wash and a washing machine and dryer to use when washing them!

Day 13: Thankful for our veterans, especially the ones in my family!

Day 14: Thankful for a job I enjoy going to!

Day 15: Thankful for wonderful co-workers that always make me laugh!

Day 16: Thankful for my sweet, little Taylor. Daddy is hunting out of town this weekend, so we are having a girls' night. We got our nails done, eating pizza for dinner and watching a movie.

Day 17: Thankful for a wonderful mother who came up and helped us paint Taylor's bed, vanity and nightstand. I couldn't have done it without her! She was even babysitting Andi!

Day 18: Thankful for the good Samaritan God sent to Exxon to first put air in my tire and then change it when it wouldn't hold the air. I prayed on the way over there that someone would have mercy on me and help. I had barely gotten out of the car when this guy asked if I needed help. He said he had a wife and two daughters and hoped someone would do the same for them. Thank you Lord for providing, please bless this man!

Day 19: Thankful for the wonderful nurses that work at UAB Women and Infant's center and take care of the little bitty babies. I've been volunteering there through the Junior League and have gotten to see all the amazing things they do! They love and care so much about these little ones and their families! 

Day 20: Thankful for all medical professionals! My OB is great and I have several friends and family members that are nurses. Thanks for what you do!

Day 21: Thankful for the many ways God speaks to me--the Bible, brothers and sisters in Christ, Christian authors, etc--all through the conviction of the Holy Spirit. 

Day 22: Thankful for my huge, loud, wonderful family. We had 22 people at my parent's house, including 5 kids 4 and under. We were also missing 7 people! 

Day 23: Thankful for a house to clean and Christmas decorations to put up. 

Day 24: Thankful for wonderful in-laws to celebrate Thanksgiving with today!

Day 25: Thankful for the wonderful Sunday school and nursery workers at GLBC who take such good care of our little ones while the we're in class or worship. 

Day 26: Thankful for Wee Flip for providing a wonderful birthday party for Taylor and a stress-free birthday party for me! The kids loved it! I highly recommend!

Day 27: Thankful for my wonderful sister, Hilary! I am so proud of her and watching her be a mommy to Alexis and Andi is amazing!

Day 28: Thankful for my wonderful dad who was and is always there for his girls. He is always there for his granddaughters too! Thanks for being a wonderful Dad and Papa Rex!

Day 29: Thankful for a healthy pregnancy! Less than 9 more weeks before I have another beautiful little girl in my arms!

Day 30: So thankful for my amazing 3 year old! Happy Birthday sweet Taylor! She is funny and smart, sweet and strong, curious and witty and oh, so loving! God has blessed us with an awesome little girl!

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving weekend started off with deep cleaning the house so I could put up Christmas decorations on Friday. What a fun way to spend Thanksgiving morning! Taylor was a big help though and helped me make these pumpkin oatmeal cookies that were delicious!

This is the picture from MyBakingAddiction.com where I got the recipe.
I forgot to take a picture of mine and Taylor's.

That afternoon, we headed to Mama Donna's for Thanksgiving dinner. There were over 20 people at her house and at least 7 people were missing! We have a BIG family!

Friday morning included a deep cleaning of the kitchen and then a little Black Friday shopping. We didn't go anywhere close to the big crowds though, I just can't handle it!

Once we got home, I got most of our Christmas decorations up. Our 'Bama tree isn't up yet, but I'm not sure I have the time to put it up.

On Saturday, we headed to Brad's for Thanksgiving with Adam's family and then to the Iron Bowl! It was a pretty fun Iron Bowl (for Alabama fans anyway)! You can't beat 49-0! We did have to bundle up because it was cold. We took 5 blankets to the game!

On Sunday, we went to church and then had Taylor's birthday party. Check out the last post for the fun pictures!

It was a great Thanksgiving weekend, but I was exhausted when it was over. Poor Taylor didn't get a nap the entire weekend and was a little bit of a drama queen before the weekend was over. I'll know better (as will Mama Donna) than to think she can make it without naps and going to bed late.

After that long weekend, I do have a (somewhat) clean house and Christmas decorations up to enjoy the rest of the Christmas season. I'm also in the process of getting a lot of Christmas shopping done online! I'll be done before long!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Taylor's 3rd Birthday Party!

We celebrated Taylor's 3rd birthday this past weekend at Wee Flip. It was an awesome party! The kids had so much fun! Wee Flip had it decorated, provided cupcakes, drinks and snacks, goody bags, and even took some pictures. This really was a stress-free party for me!

Look how much joy is on the birthday girl's face! You can tell how much fun she had!

They played for an hour, then we did cupcakes and finished with some parachute time!

They were singing Happy Birthday to her. I don't think she knew what to think about that!

We had lots of party guests! 

Baby Andi and Berber

Miles and Ella

Jules and Shook

Sophie and Henley

Peyton

Mallory

Savannah

Thomas

Joseph

Stormy

Kathryn

Katherine

Wow! That's a lot of kids! Taylor had such a good time and Mommy was stress-free, exactly what I needed during the holidays and 7 months pregnant!