Friday Randoms

Thank goodness Friday is finally here! Having a long Thanksgiving break made this week seem like it was twice as long. I'm ready for a couple of days of relaxing with Henry and Husband.

Thank you, Husband, for hanging lights on the house- they make me happy:)

Tomorrow we plan to get our Christmas Tree!!! I can not wait. We are real tree people. Well actually we are considering becoming artificial tree people- I would love to put the tree up right after Thanksgiving and have it last. But all the fake trees that I like, and are tall enough, are so expensive! So we're going to remain real tree people until we find a good deal:)

It will be my first time going to a local Christmas tree farm to chop down a tree-a new family tradition?

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We'll see how it goes... But I'm sure we won't be able to get that tree home fast enough so we can start decorating! We'll make some hot chocolate, turn up the Christmas music, and knock it out. Then finish out the night with one of our favorite Christmas movies-
Love Actually! I could watch that movie over and over again :)

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I also want to start doing an Advent Calendar! I hope to find one this weekend or make one? We may have to skip a few days:)

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And I need to make this Christmas tree skirt. Seems simple enough!

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I'll leave you with a video of my proudest parenting accomplishment so far.
I taught Henry to start "dancing" when you say "dance party"!
It's so funny, he bobs his little body around and just feels the music:) I'm so proud to be passing on my sweet dance moves. This boy loves music- I love it!

(please ignore the annoying mom voice)

Happy Friday, everyone. Have a great weekend!

A Walk in the Park

We recently stopped by our favorite park for a little stroll. Now this park it beautiful- full of old trees, rose gardens, tulips and azaleas in the spring, etc.... but it's also one of the picture spots in town. The beautiful fall weather meant tons of families in matching white shirts and jeans waiting for their spot on the bridge. Gross.
But Henry was so stinkin' cute in his owl hat that I couldn't just leave my camera in the car! So we found a few empty spots and sneaked away for some pictures. I apologize for the picture overload, but I couldn't resist- I just LOVE these!!!

Please ignore the fact that I allowed my child to chew on dirty old leaves. He's such a boy already:)

Linking up with Emily for ETC!

She's Back!

So I took a little blogging break.
It was not my intention.... a few weeks ago I was playing around with some buttons (I am the person that will push a button just because it's there, without considering the consequences. My husband, computer guy by trade,  is not a fan on this character flaw trait).
Any who, I lost my whole blog layout. So then I whipped up a little something and couldn't get the contact buttons linked up correctly. I think a few are still messed up. So I was discouraged and tired from another month-long-Henry-teething-party... so there's my excuse.

But as the title says- I'm back!

So I wanted to post about Henry's first Thanksgiving before all the Christmas craziness takes over!
I was a bad photographer and hardly took any pics. Oh well, I'm sure I'll make up for it at Christmas x1,000!

We headed for PaPa's house Thanksgiving morning. Henry did really well on the four hour ride. We spent about an hour making stops but those were mostly my fault. I spilled a huge drink all over the car and over fed Henry till he puked. Poor baby. (But in my defense, he's like a gold fish- he won't stop till the food is gone). Sometimes he's hard to read:)

The table was gorgeous and the food was so good. And there was soooo much of it. My dad outdid himself!

I made a pecan pie, which was delicious- minus the crust. I may or may not have made a homemade crust that wasn't working and angrily threw it in the trash and begged Shawn to make a Walmart run at midnight;)
I also made this sweet potato casserole.

Source: abcnews.go.com via Kate on Pinterest

What? You don't artfully place your dishes by multiple heads of cauliflower for your shots? Lame.
But folks, no joke, it was amazing. Do yourselves a favor and make it for Christmas!

Henry hanging out with Walter

We spent the following days relaxing and shopping.


Henry is some of his new Christmas jammies

Thanksgiving is one of my favorites.
I am so thankful for my two favorite guys. Henry had a great first Thanksgiving!

Friday Randoms

It's Friday, November 2nd, which means I have an EIGHT month old baby boy!!! It can't be true. I'm going to go ahead and stop the clock right now. No more of this growing business.

We love you, sweet boy!

November also means it's red cup time at Starbucks. Move over pumpkin, you're old news. Time for gingerbread and eggnog! I had my first gingerbread latte of the season last night and it was just as I remembered, so worth the wait:)

I enjoyed said latte while browsing Target last night. I didn't have a lot of extra time but I remembered to check out the Halloween sale. You need to get your pretty little selves to Target ASAP! Every year, all the Halloween goodies go 50% off the day after. I scored some great pre-lit jack-o-lanterns for $3/piece!
You better believe I'll be going back this weekend to look through the costumes, which should be 70% off by then:)

I was SO excited to see all the Christmas goodies that Target was setting out. It's officially Holiday season! Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year. I'm one of those weird people that could listen to Christmas music year round. I may know every word to every carol:) I CAN'T WAIT for Henry to experience his first Christmas!!!
Wrapping your baby's first Christmas presents!? Does it get any better??!!
Here's more proof that I'm Christmas season obsessed:
ABC Family announced their  Countdown to the 25 Days of Christmas Movie Schedule, and the actual 
25 Days of Christmas Schedule.
I see lots of movie watching in front of the fireplace in my future!
  
We just had our family pictures taken by my sweet neighbor, the awesome Amanda Lassiter! I can't wait to see the pics and get Christmas cards made!

How about a recipe?
Spaghetti Squash Parmesan
I made this the other night and it was sooo good. I really love scraping all the squash out with a fork. I'm such a dork. Make sure your squash is big enough- I think mine was on the small side so my dish turned out a bit runny. But Still delish!

You'll need:
1 to 1 1/2lb spaghetti squash
4tbs butter
6 tbs. all-purpose flour
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1/2c hot water
1 1/2 c milk
1/2c plus 2tbs shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2tsp salt
1/4tsp pepper
Preheat the oven to 350º

1.Cut the squash in half and remove seeds. Place squash on a baking sheet. Bake until tender, about 1 hour. Separate the strands of squash with a fork and place in a medium bowl; Keep oven on.
2.Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour. Reduce heat to low. Cook mixture, stirring continually, for 5 minutes.
3.Dissolve bouillon cubes in hot water. Stir into flour mixture. Add milk gradually, whisking continually.
4.Cook the sauce, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan, salt and black pepper.
5.Add squash to the sauce and mix well. Spoon into a 3-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan. Bake until bubbly and golden, about 30 minutes.

original recipe

Well that about does it, folks.Have a happy, fun, relaxing weekend!

 I plan to:)

Embrace the Camera 11.1.2012

How on Earth is it already November!?!  
But I'll take a Thursday- one day closer to a weekend with no set plans? 
Yes, please!

So Thursday means it's Embrace the Camera Day!
I apologize in advance, but I'm going to be the annoying blogger who posts the same pictures all over the internet. I put most of these on Facebook last night, and of course I did a post on Henry's costume yesterday. Then there's Instagram... Anyway, this will be the last of the Halloween posts, I swear:)
I just love any holiday, especially when it's your child's 1st and it involves costumes! I have LOVED seeing all my friends' pictures of their little ones all dressed up these past couple of days. 
So much fun!

Like I mentioned yesterday, we stayed home and got to visit with lots of family and pass out candy. 

Noah, the little monkey, came to snuggle with Henry and they were soooo cute together.

My sister, Aunt Jen Jen, came too and stayed for pizza and some Hocus Pocus.

Gigi stopped by as well:)

And Grandma and Grandpa!

 
Henry was exhausted and so over the costume. We were on a blanket in the front yard and just stripped him down. He loved it!

He finally got to bed around 7:20 which is way late for a baby who falls asleep by 6:30 every night. Poor guy!
But I'd say his first Halloween was a success! I can't believe next year we'll have a little walker on our hands. 
Let the costume planning begin!