"She'll have to see the tree later Clark, her eyes are frozen."

Yesterday we head to Allen's Tree Farm in Oregon City and got our tree.  This is probably the smallest tree we've ever gotten, but there just weren't any tall nobles there this year. 



Click on collage to enlarge.



After eating some delicious pizza from Giuseppes, we turned on Christmas Vacation and started decorating! I love this time of year.

Daddy checking the lights.

 

He did a great job decorating.



Hanging one of his John Deere ornaments.



Finished product.



Thanksgiving

B had to work until 2 on Thanksgiving, so when he got off we headed to his parent's house for our Thanksgiving meal #1.  They had a huge 28 lb turkey with all the fixings, it was delicious.  Then we headed to my dad's house for Thanksgiving meal #2.  This first holiday without my mom was hard.  There's a huge piece of our family missing and we all miss her so so much.  I know she was looking down on us, happy we were celebrating together. 

Peyt and the girls checking out the turkey

Dad carving the bird

Being silly with cousin Brandon

Aunt Sherri taught him how to play thumb war.  He beat me

The boys were in charge of the dishes

Pumpkin Pie!

Whipped cream on the chocolate crinkle cookies that I made.

Coffee Break

Peyton spent a good half hour pretending to make coffee and taking a coffee break...



Drinking his coffee, "watching a cooking show like mommy does."



Thanksgiving Fiesta+Tears

Today was Peyton's Thanksgiving party at his school.  All week he's been telling me about the turkey song they've been practicing.  He was excited for his party all morning, until we got there and they started putting on their turkey accessories.  (He looked so cute with his paper turkey feathers on!) I guess he got cold feet, because he was FREAKING out, crying hysterically not wanting to sing with the class.  :) Oh boy.  It was cute none-the-less and it was fun to have lunch with Peyton, his classmates and the other parents.  We'll see how he does with the Christmas song they will be singing next month!

His class minus Peyton singing their turkey song.




Peyton with Teacher Shanise, crying while they sang.



Crying and looking for me. 

Finally calming down..



He gave me a Thanksgiving card that he made.



And a turkey he made out of a pine cone.  So cute!





Eating a Mexican Thanksgiving lunch.





My little turkey running around playing with his buddies.



Surprise!

Sunday night my brother threw a surprise 40th birthday party for his wife Amy at Amalfi's.  She had NO clue and was soo surprised.  Happy Birthday Amy and thank you for being such a fun, caring, and wonderful sister-in-law! Love you!

Patiently waiting for the birthday girl to show up.

Killing time by coloring on the table.



Surprise!  I'm sad I didn't get her face.



My brother really surprised her with flying her mom in from Montana and her dad drove in from Prineville.



Peyton and Aunt Amy



My bro got a lemon cake from Olive Garden and the Coffee Lovers coffee ice cream cake from Cold Stone, YUM!

Sillies

Operation Christmas Child

Peyton's preschool did participated in Operation Christmas Child this year.  We put together a box of school supplies, small toys, toiletries, etc for a little girl.  It's humbling to think that so many kids don't have the basic necessities in life and it felt good to do this.  Peyton had fun putting everything in the box and dropping it off to his teacher.  We also pledged to pray for this child and included a family picture and a note, so hopefully we'll get a letter back!  This will definitely be something we'll do every year at Christmas.

Thankful

Peyton brought this home from school last week.  He's thankful for a tiger, eating, home, food and pee.  Pee?  Really? Lordy...

27 Weeks

Yesterday I had my 27 week appointment and everything still is looking great! I feel pretty good.  The only complaint is a bit of an aching lower back due to my growing tummy.  I had my glucose tolerance testing this appointment, yuck.  The drink seemed to be much bigger this time and it took me forever to finish it.  They also did a blood test to see if I'm anemic.  The doctor called me this morning and my glucose test came back normal and I'm not anemic, so good news.  I also enjoyed a pre-natal massage yesterday after my appointment, which was so relaxing.  (Thank you Amy and Kate for the gift certificate!) This pregnancy is just completely flying by for me.  I'm starting to feel a bit rushed with all we have to get done in preparation for baby, especially with the holidays coming right around the corner.  I'm sure the next few months will fly by and we'll have Springer baby #2 in no time! I'm very thankful for a healthy, comfortable and complication-free pregnancy so far.

BP: 102/60

Baby's heart rate: High 150's

Weight gain: 2 pounds (18 total)

Cravings: Peanut butter and cinnamon on a toasted english muffin, yum! Also, I've been wanting a bagel/cream cheese forever and finally gave in to that craving yesterday.  :)

Peyton: He's really noticing my tummy and is always talking about all the things he's going to do to help and all the things he will show the baby.  Some funny quotes from him: "I'm going to get that doctor set (he saw it in a catalog) and I'll listen to your heart, give you a shot, and take the baby out, okay?"  "I'm going to put the baby in my tractor scoop and give her a ride to the park."  (He varies on whether the baby is a he or a she.)

 

27 weeks 2 days

He's finally rounded the corner!

So starting Friday last week Peyton really turned a new leaf with school!! He hasn't cried at all since then, and is excited to go to school.  Today, he didn't even give me a hug!! :(  He just grabbed his seat mat, went to circle time on the floor with his classmates and waved bye to me.  I'm so glad he has finally gotten over his separation anxiety.  :)

 

I found some more pics on facebook from his school...

Before: (this was a couple weeks ago)

After:

Trick-or-Treat!

We had a great Halloween! First we headed to B's parent's house and he got his first round of treats.  Then we headed to my Dad's house to all meet for dinner and head out and trick-or-treat with the kids.  We had beef stew, cornbread, and I made some yummy pumpkin spice cupcakes.  Peyton did so well, he was so excited and was sprinting from house to house, "That house has a light on! Let's go there!"  He did a great job saying 'Trick-or-Treat,' "Thank you!" and "Happy Halloween!!"  Every year gets more fun.  He was pooped by the time we got home. 

Happy Halloween!!!!!

Buzzlight Year!

First stop was Grammy's house with some scary decorations!



Vampire Buzz



Austin as Darth Vader



This is Colin, my GREAT nephew! My niece Brittni and her fiance flew in for a few days from Indiana.



Love this little man!

My boys



"Trick-or Treat!"



We had an adult entourage of about 12 or so following the kids around the neighborhood. (On the right is my nephew Brandon and his FIANCE Kate! He proposed last week!  :)

Sprinting to the next house.



Sillies




On our route back we stopped at my sister's house for some treats.  There's Lexa dressed as a nerd.



We went inside to say hi and take a quick break, or a sucker-break for Peyton.



Checkin out his stash