Thanksgiving & Black Friday

This is the group minus 5 or 6 people who had already snuck off (or were asleep!)

Thanksgiving lunch was a blast and we had such good food! After lunch, we all just hung out and then all walked out onto the beach and played/took pictures. We really had a pretty lazy Thanksgiving! We all played catch phrase tho and it was so fun! Mom sent me out yesterday to buy it so we can take it home! HA. I was a little sad that we were missing about 15 people due to other things that came up.

Friday morning, Ben and I got up about 8 and went to Wal-Mart, Target, and Tanger Outlet Mall. I got 2 shirts, a bikini, and a cute dress for $35 at Old Navy. I also got some 442's (New Balance) that I have been wanting for a while. After shopping, we went and ate at LuLu's which is Lucy Buffett's (Jimmy Buffett's sister) restaurant. It was delicious... I had the Cheeseburger in Paradise and Ben had the Chicken Bacon Ranch Wrap with a Bahama Breeze. I also got a t-shirt from the gift "hut". It's pretty awesome.

After we ate, we went back to the beach house and rested and hung out until dinner which was Chicken Vegetable Soup made by Pat. It was so good! Afterwards, we had birthday cake and cheesecake to celebrate Rita's 50th birthday!! Game Time was Battle of the Sexes which the guys dominated, but they did get ridiculously easy questions. We got "Name Donald Trump's 3 Best-Selling Books??" WHAT??? The guys didn't even know that.

Today I think we are going to go to shopping again and hang out with family until the AUBURN vs. BAMA game! And yes, O and I have on our War Eagle apparel!!

WAR EAGLE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday night, Becca arrived but O had already gone to bed, so Wednesday morning O ran up to the bunk room to wake her up... and about scared the pee out of her! LOL Of course Becca got up and played with and ate breakfast with Olivia. We then went out on the beach and played some more. It was beautiful, and warm so I actually got to go barefoot! Olivia picked up some pretty shells and I got some great shots of her down by the water. One time the water touched her shoe and she had a meltdown! She started crying (real tears) and Becca had to rescue her.



Wednesday night we had our annual trip to DeSoto's (yum!). Ben stayed at the beach house with Olivia so I could enjoy the meal. She was being a little cranky anyway. It was so fun to sit around and chat with all my cousins who live in other places. At our table we had cousins who live in Chattanooga, DC area Virginia, Denver, South Bend, Tuscaloosa, Ann Arbor, and Atlanta. It's sad we are all so far apart, but it's GREAT to get together!



This morning we will be getting ready for our huge Thanksgiving lunch so I better go get busy! I can't wait to upload all my pictures!

We made it!

Well we made it to Gulf Shores yesterday in about record time! HA! We left the house at 7:30 and pulled into our beach house about 4:30. During this time we stopped at Priester's Pecans (OF COURSE!), Cracker Barrel, a gas station, a rest area, and a fruit stand. Olivia was so well behaved, I couldn't believe it! She read books, watched a Thomas the Train movie, and played with a magnet board that "Maw-Maw" got her. She also slept for about an hour and a half. Yay Olivia! Way to go!

When we got to our beach house, we took her out on the beach, but she did NOT want to touch the sand or the water and she said it was "COLD". Cousin Mary made Shrimp Gumbo for supper and it was DELICIOUS! I think Ben ate about 4 bowls. HA :) They have installed a touch screen music player and the speakers are all through the house so after O went to bed, Ben turned on music and I got in the hot tub and Ben put his feet in. With the ocean in the background, it was WONDERFUL! We are definitely getting a hot tub when we buy a house.

This morning, Olivia got to hang out with cousin Thomas and then we went to lunch at Hazel's :) Ben can't wait for DeSoto's night (Wednesday) and Original Oyster House (Saturday)! We also went down and played on the beach but O said it was "dirty". HAHA! She didn't really want to touch the sand and she was scared of the water... hopefully if we go to the beach in May, she won't still be scared of it!

I forgot my camera cord so no pictures until we get home but I've already taken 150! Wow!

Also, Beh-ba is on her way so O's getting excited! We love Thanksgiving!!

Organizing Olivia

We actually got this bookshelf several weeks ago but I'm just now getting around to blogging about it. It's so cute!

Yay for being organized!

It also frees up some space on O's dresser!

She loves her new shelves And a picture of her bed and other side of the room for those who have not seen it :)

Video & Haircut

My sister requested another "cute video of Olivia" so I took one this morning for Oliv's beloved Beh-ba.







Olivia's haircut! Really short... but I'm trying to get it all one length and it was getting so ratty looking.

Christmas Card Sale!

Snapfish.com is having a sale on 4x6 photo cards. You get the first 20 for 1 penny each. Those of you who can't do math that is $0.20 for 20 cards. Yes, less than a quarter! It's really a good deal. I ordered our Christmas cards today from there and just thought I'd let everyone know! The coupon code is CARD08 and the offer expires Nov. 23, so get on it! :) Ours are sooo cute, I can't wait to send them out!

Glue

Olivia used a glue stick this morning thinking it was chapstick. HA. It's non toxic so I'm not worried but it was so funny. That is all.

The BIG 21.

Well Ben turned 21 yesterday and NO we did not go get "crunk". Ha. We went to lunch together with Olivia at La Fiesta and he had...... water with lemon (gasp!) Unfortunatly yesterday was very busy, so we didn't get to really celebrate so this weekend we are having dinner with his family and mine. I did get him PS3 game tho :)

Picture of Ben & O at La Fiesta! We love that place :)

Ben's Leg Gene

So I think O has inherited Ben's legs. (Strenthwise that is. At least I hope!) Every day this past week, Olivia has pushed her whole crib away from the wall with her legs. It is usually about 6 inches or so away from the wall. I find this a little incredible that this teeny little girl in the 15th percentile can do this. She can also practically hold my weight with her legs, which is INSANE!

Can other kids do this? If so, I guess I'm making a big deal out of nothing. But I still think it's pretty neat.

While it is fine that she does inherit his strength, I certainly hope that her legs do not get as big or hairy as his. HAHA :) I call them his tree trunk lets cause his bones and muscles are just huge!!

Video of Olivia from Sept.

This video is actually from about a month and a half ago... I just ran across it on the computer and thought I would put it up. It's cute.

Note: I make a reference to Grandad in the hospital (That was when he had his back surgery).

5 Things :)

Ten Years Ago I...

1. was in 5th grade.
2. had my first "real" boyfriend Drew. HAHA! We talked on the phone.
3. had Ms. Johnson, one of the best teachers in the world.
4. loved recess and was in the Hello Kitty club. HA. Which we got in trouble for.
5. had been alive for a decade and I thought it was really neat.

Five Things on my To Do List

1. Get ready to go out
2. Take Olivia to the mall, so she can play and ride in her new Mutsy
3. Clean and vacuum living room
4. Wash shower curtain
5. Plan what we are doing tomorrow on Ben's day off!

Five Snacks I Enjoy
1. Sugar cookies
2. Danish Butter cookies
3. popcorn
4. Little Debbies
5. carrots and ranch dressing. I felt like I had to put one healthy thing on here!!

Five Things I would do if I was a Millionaire

1. Buy a great house on the lake!
2. Buy 2 new(er) cars that are in perfect condition.
3. Pay for Olivia to go to private school (preferably GPS since there are no boys.) & college
4. Donate to the Humane Society
5. Invest the rest

Five Places I have lived

1. Hixson
2. Lakesite
3. Soddy Daisy
4. Back to Lakesite...
5. Still to come.... ha! I haven't moved much!

Five Jobs I have had

1. Nana's Frozen Custard
2. JPD Development
3. A Mommy!
4. ??
5. ??

I already pee-pee Mommy.

So I woke up this morning and Olivia was calling me to get her out of her bed. So I went in there and found her with no pants and no diaper on. She had thrown her diaper out onto the floor, so I picked it up - totally dry. GREAT! Her bed was soaked. She peed her whole night's worth in the bed. So I got her out, cleaned everything up... yada yada.

Then I told her I had to go pee-pee and I'd be right back. She asked, "Pee-pee?" And I said, "Yeah, pee-pee. Do you have to go pee-pee?" She goes, "Nooo, I already pee-pee."

Yeah, No kidding O. But it was hilarious when she said it. I made her sit on her potty anyway.

Railroad Tracks & Leaves

I took these this morning on some railroad tracks near our house and then Olivia wanted to go play at "Maw Maw's" (my grandmother) so I got some cute pictures of her playing in the leaves my grampa had just raked up. We also went down to the garden and saw his new garden cats, who have decided to live behind their house. There are 13 of them!! Olivia kept going "cat cat cat!" cause they just kept coming!

Ben wouldn't let me go alone in fear I would be abducted, so I recruited my dad to go with us.

Snobby look! HA!

BEN FACE!

Danger Olivia!!

So when I brought my little girl home from the hospital she was a sweet little snuggly bundle of quiet and happiness. Now I'm starting to wonder if my sweet peaceful child got switched with someone's loud, hyper, difficult, bouncy one.

This morning, within an hours time mind you, O managed to dump her Cocoa Pebbles, chocolately milk and all onto the hardwood floor. While I was cleaning that up, she dumped out a whole bag of Hershey kisses that I did not even think were in her reach. After cleaning everything up, I went to her room to find her climbing on top of her Little People house (the roof is probably a foot off the ground and very narrow) so I told her, "Danger Olivia!" Then she pushed a rubbermaid container over to the kitchen table and unwrapped and ate 3 pieces of chocolate before I found her. Well the chocolate made her extremely hyper most of the day.

So then tonight, she climbed up on the lid of her potty and goes, "Danger, Danger" and laughs hysterically. Thanks for mocking me Olivia.

Part of me just wants to skip this whole terrible 2 and terrible 3 stage and go straight to Kindergarten!

Olivia's Pig Outfit

Ok I absolutely love this outfit, so I had to put a picture up. We went to Olive Garden when she was wearing it yesterday and almost everyone we saw complimented her on it. HA!

7 Things About Me!

I was tagged by Courtney!

1. I can't swallow pills and am extremely medical phobic!! I passed out at my first OB visit when I was pregnant with O because they said they would need to take blood. They hadn't even started doing it yet! I also passed out at my wisdom teeth consultation b/c the doc said he was going to put an iv in my hand.

2. I love Disney World, but hate roller coasters. They give me horrible headaches, and why would I want to spend my day at Disney with a headache?? We go to Disney World every Christmas.

3. I love to decorate for holidays! Every holiday!! I get most of my decorations at Hobby Lobby half price sales :) I was very sad this morning packing up all my Halloween stuff. Ben also loves decorating for Christmas so our house is double decorated then. It's pretty insane.

4. I am addicted to Ebay!! I have gotten some great deals and get on nearly every day. I actually got Olivia an outfit for 1 penny. Yes one cent. I had to pay maybe $2 for shipping but still... what a great deal! I have also gotten her boxes of clothes and toys on ebay for next to nothing.

5. I love Jon & Kate Plus 8. I have this secret dream of living next door to them and being best friends with Kate. Partly why I love the show is because they remind me so much of Ben and me. Ha! I've even gotten him watching it with me... but don't tell anyone!

6. I am obsessed with monogram things. I want a monogram machine so bad, but I know if I had one, all of Oliv's clothes would have her name or initials on them. That might be a little too much. I also love pillowcase dresses. With monogram on them. Ha :)

7. I have worked at Nana's Frozen Custard for almost 3 1/2 years. I worked there in high school, took a small break when O was born and now work on Sunday nights. And I love it! There is a special place in my heart for the business and the people who work there. There always will be. (Although currently - because Ben is working 6 days a week - I am not working there at the moment. I hope to be back in January.)

Since I don't know that many people with blogs I guess the only two people to tag would be Lashley and Jackie... if they read this!! You two have to write 7 things about yourselves that most people don't know!

Halloween Festivities

We had lots of fun on Halloween this year! Olivia went to her party at school which I also attended and had so much fun with all the kids in her class. They are so sweet and all have so much energy!

After the party, we patiently waited for Ben to get home from work (he got off early so they could all go trick or treating with their kids... sweet!) When he got home, we went to his parents house and trick or treated there and also at the neighbor across the street. We also went to the Johnson's. By then Olivia was really tired so we went home and put her to bed. Next year I think she will be ready to go to more houses and understand what she's supposed to do.

Olivia dressing up for pictures Halloween morning In her Halloween outfit

At school for her party

Her table at school

Nana & Pop's neighborhood

Their neighbor decorated a ton! So we took some pictures there. She in the "graveyard" here.

Mickey Mouse pumpkin