Images of Our Thanksgiving

Here are great images of our wonderful Thanksgiving...

What a great little cleaning helper I had

What's the news, Grammie?

A Christmas present from Grammie and Papa that couldn't wait...

... because it is an ornament for our tree -- Baby's First Christmas with Tracey Ann's name

Happy Thanksgiving Morning!

Yummy!  A wooden spoon for breakfast!

We're so thankful for our little family.

My parents helped me stuff and address Christmas cards... we had quite the assembly line going, and they were a HUGE help!

Grammie and Papa reading Tracey Ann a story

Dinner's almost ready

Mmmmm!  Thanksgiving dinner!

After Thanksgiving means... its time to get our Christmas tree!

We cut it, and dragged it home.  Tracey Ann's first Christmas tree!

  
Time to go swimming up in Vail!

We can't wait!

Ooooo... this is a little cold, are you sure the water's heated?

Oh, the water's warm.  No problem!

After swimming, Hubby and I had a date... first the spa...

... and then dinner alone at Old Chicago.

Tracey Ann had a great time with Grammie and Papa.

And, in one fell swoop, she went from looking at the dishwasher...

...to climbing up onto the dishwasher.  We officially have a climber.

Our Colorado Christmas tree is now up in our living room ready to be decorated!

Tracey Ann still needs some saline drops for her nose... but she didn't quite understand the directions.

We have had a great family week!

Beat Ohio.

Michigan, Beat Ohio State.

1000 Words

1000 Words... only I couldn't choose just one.

Thanksgiving Proclamation

Thanksgiving Proclamation

Issued by President George Washington, at the request of Congress, on October 3, 1789

By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and—Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favor, able interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted; for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other trangressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally, to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Go. Washington

source

Now I understand.

My entire life my dad always preferred to go to bed at the same time as my mom.  He didn't like her staying up late for any reason... including a movie night with me, or girl time, or a girls weekend, etc.  Don't get me wrong, he loves that my mom and I are close, but he always said he couldn't sleep without my mom.

As a kid, I never believed him because I could hear him snoring when mom and I went back to bed... who was he trying to fool?  He could TOTALLY sleep without my mom.

Now I've learned, he was completely right.  Chris and I do not sleep well when the other is not there.  On nights where he works late, or when he's off hunting, or I'm out of town, we both find that we can't sleep, we toss and turn, and the sleep we get is fitful.

I'm sorry for doubting you, Dad.  Now I understand.

One of the best parts of my day is curling up next to my Hubby in bed.  On nights when I can't do that, everything feels wrong.

The Song, "Mom"

After I wrote the post a few days ago about Matthew 7:9-11, a friend commented and asked if I had heard the new Garth Brooks song, "Mom."  I hadn't... but wow, it is now one of my favorites.  There is no music video yet, but check out his first performance of the song on Good Morning America a few weeks ago.

Enjoy.

Tracey Ann - 10 Months

 My precious baby girl is ten months old... my goodness, how is this possible?

Weight:

 Probably a little more than 17.5 pounds, but I'm not sure exactly... I'm just excited to be posting the ten month update ON her ten month birthday, the fact I don't have an updated weight is not something I'm going to worry about.

Length:  

Probably a little longer than 27", which she was at her nine month check up.

Clothing size:
She mostly wears 9 and 12 month clothes, although some six month clothes still fit her.  We have been fortunate to receive some hand-me-downs from a family from our church, but some of the sizes and seasons don't always match.  Luckily, she wears skirts and dresses with pants underneath, and short-sleeve shirts with long-sleeve onesies underneath.  We are all about the layers.

Eating: 

She is such a great eater.  I've said that almost every month... but she really is.  This month she even tasted some of my mom's three-bean salad, which I don't like, and she made a face when she first tasted the vinegar, and then happily ate the beans once she was used to it.  She tried my chili this month, and some of daddy's elk back strap.  We do not have a vegetarian on our hands -- we have to give her veggies before the meat because otherwise she will only eat the meat and ignore her veggies.  She's also still loving breast milk.

Sleeping: 

This month has gone more smoothly with sleeping, with the exception of about ten days following daylight savings time, during which time we traveled to New York for a wedding... the time change with the different time zones with the excitement of traveling, Grammie and Papa, a hotel room, and a wedding took some time to re-create our good sleep schedule.  Now, we're back to normal with Tracey Ann falling asleep between 7-8pm, and sleeping until around 6am.  She often wakes up around 3, and I'm too tired to remember that she will probably go back to sleep on her own -- I often sleepwalk to her room, bring her back to our bed, and start nursing her before I realize the she really doesn't need this and I shouldn't have done this.

New Accomplishments: 

• Tracey Ann had her first Halloween this month, and dressed up like a little pumpkin -- because she is such a little pumpkin.  No Trick-Or-Treating, but we did visit a corn field and pumpkin patch.

• I know Tracey Ann isn't "officially" a toddler until she turns one year -- but this month she really became a toddler.  She gets into anything and everything, and moves a mile a minute.

• She can now lower herself from a standing to a seated position with control rather than plopping down with a thump.
• She has started raising her hands up above her head... sometimes on cue (like when we say TOUCHDOWN), sometimes not
• She has waved good-bye a few times and she has clapped her hands, but neither one consistently

• She has learned to stand in the bathtub... and we are trying to teacher her NOT to stand in the bathtub
• We've started letting her play with pots and pans and wooden spoons when we're in the kitchen

• She's begun nodding her head "yes" and shaking her head "No" -- and often it makes complete sense when she does it.  One night, Chris was talking to Tracey Ann and he told her that she was the most beautiful girl in the world.  Then he said, "Most beautiful is a superlative.  Can you say superlative?"  And she looked at him... then he said, "Should superlative be your first word?" and Tracey Ann looked at him and then shook her head "No."  It was adorable and hilarious... and clearly our child is brilliant!
• She's begun handing her toys or pacifier over to someone while she's playing with it... now she doesn't release the toy from her own grip yet, but she hands it over
• She loves the taste of her different toys... and now she tries to put them in our mouths as well -- she's sharing the tastiness
• She has begun getting stuck places... under chairs, in between furniture...

• She can now hold her toys while crawling, pulling up and standing
• Unfortunately, she is in the process of catching her first cold.  Yesterday morning she began coughing, and by the end of the day she had a little runny nose too.
• We tried out a new church this month, which has a nursery for babies age 6-24 months, and so she had her first real experience playing with peers her own age.  She and I both spent time in the nursery to sort of check it out... I'm not sure I'll be leaving her in there by herself yet, but she did so well exploring the new toys and doing parallel and a little interactive play with the other babies.

Likes: 

•  Cat toys (the little balls with bells inside her the perfect size for her hands)
• The toilet
• Pots pans spatulas
• Pushing doors closed
• Pulling up on Lloyd
• Trying to touch Lexie
• Jumping

Dislikes:

• Getting her diaper changed... she doesn't like to lay still
• Being sick

Places She Went:

•  New York (21st state)
• Abbie's wedding

• Pumpkin patch

• 2nd Airplane trip -- first airplane trip with Daddy along

Special Memories:

• Daddy went elk hunting in Wyoming for an entire week, and I ran the show at home all by myself... and Tracey Ann and I survived.  We had to have our nanny arrive an hour earlier every morning because usually there is an hour after I've left but before our nanny arrives when Chris is at home... but without Chris, we needed her to adjust her schedule, which she graciously did for us
• First snow that we could actually go outside and play in -- she has had "first snows" but she was too little to go outside in it... of course, it was only after I had her all bundled up that I realized she doesn't have winter boots...

• She got to hang out with the bride and bridesmaids the day before Aunt Abbie's wedding, and she had a blast trying to help prepare for the wedding

• She had fun with Grammie and Papa and Daddy while Mama was a bridesmaid in the New York wedding

• Grandma and Grandpa Miller came to visit right after our time in New York and got to enjoy some time with Tracey Ann

• Tracey Ann tried turkey for the first time because we had an early Thanksgiving meal when Grandma and Grandpa Miller were in town
• Tracey Ann and I had our first experience trying to shoot our Christmas Card photo for the year... I, for some reasons, chose to do this while Hubby was out of town... so I boldly tied Lexie, Lloyd, and Tracey Ann to a chair, and did my best to make them smile

Nicknames:

• Tracey Ann
• Tracey
• Baby Girl
• Beautiful
• Pumpkin (pronounced Punkin)
• Fuss-o (when she's fussy)
• Pretty Girl
• Little Climber
• Squirmy
• Hard Worker
• Problem Solver 

Oh my... this little girl is just the best thing in the world.