November Happiness

Whitney has REALLY been into books lately.  She's always liked books at bedtime, but now she brings me books throughout the day and it is always sooo hard for me to say no or "not now."  I try to remind myself that the laundry and cleaning and emails can wait, but that Whitney will only ask me to read to her for a limited number of years.   She rarely has to ask twice :) 

Berenstain Bears are a big hit, which makes me smile because we are reading MY Berenstain Bear books from when I was a little girl :) She is currently loving the "New Baby" and "Learn About Strangers" books, even though I encourage beg her to read other selections occasionally. 

I put Beauty and the Beast on for Whitney one day a few weeks ago, and within minutes Whitney was walking through the house, dressed like Belle, "reading" a book as she walked through the kitchen, bedrooms, and playroom.  She was copying the opening scene of the movie where Belle walks through town with her nose in a book. :)

When she realized I was sneaking around corners taking her picture, she wanted to make silly faces for the camera :) (Cant WAIT to attempt family Christmas card pics...ugh)

Here is a 16 week belly pic from last week.  Nothing to see here, folks. I keep thinking THIS is the week my belly will really look PREGNANT and not just chubby, but alas that week has not arrived yet.  I have only gained 4lbs, which is "perfect" according to the doc, but Im certain the rest of the weight is sneaking around the corner behind a Thanksgiving feast and some holiday deliciousness. 

We took this pic the morning we went to our 16 week ultrasound. Whitney was excited to find out if she was going to have a baby brother or a baby sister :) We are OVER THE MOON excited for Grady to arrive safely in May :) 

Last weekend, we headed to Jacksonville to see Eric's sister and our niece and nephew. As an added bonus, we got some time with Eric's dad and his friend Martha and Lynzie's in-laws, whom we adore. :)

Lynzie had this sign on the front door when we arrived, along with blue balloons on the mail box. When we pulled up to the house, I said "Awww, she put blue balloons out for Grady!" and Eric said, "Umm, how do you know that's for us?"  I guess this all still hasnt sunk in for Eric yet, either. :) We are new at this "being pregnant" gig.

Lynzie gave us an AWESOME bag of clothes Corbyn is handing down to Grady...Cuuuuuuute stuff!! And the SHOES?!? Soooo cute!!  Lynzie had fun going through Whitney's old clothes and shoes, too. I LOVE that I am getting texts with pictures of Callie in the outfits Whitney used to wear :) It brings back fun memories and I am sooo glad they went to a family member so I get to re-live the outfits :) haha

Lynzie also went all out and had everyone wear blue in honor of our little boy, and she made DELICIOUS blue cake pops :) We talked baby shower details, which blows my mind because I NEVER thought I would get to do the traditional baby shower thing as the guest of honor :) 

Clearly, the big sis is loving the cake pops :) 

LOVE my Sister, Lynzie :) She is BETTER than a sister-in-law....she's a FRIEND and its an added bonus that she is family and cant get rid of me :) 

And the cuteness doesnt stop there, folks!  Every year, Eric is asked to make two pecan pies for his mom's family's thanksgiving dinner.  Tonight was the night, and he was sooooo awesome to include Whitney in the baking process.  He talked to her about measuring and ingredients and stirring. :)

She loved EVERY second and ate it up!

She got to crack eggs and pour sugar and drain a bottle of karo syrup :)

Yes, she is wearing a beret and her "Super Whitney" cape (backwards) as an apron.  Dont worry, I quickly added "apron" to Whitney's Christmas wish list :) 

Bailey didnt leave their feet the whole time :) 

She LOOOVED this whole process! She has helped me make cupcake and muffins before, but tonight she got to crack some eggs and get her hands dirty.  Sooo fun to watch her interact and get excited about the next steps :)

Her final product! She was SOOOOO excited, but it was a little tricky to explain why she couldnt have a piece tonight :) 

And lest you think Eric is the only parent teaching and getting crafty with our big girl....I made good use of my Pinterest addiction and made some cute Christmas countdowns for us to do each day in December! Whitney is patiently waiting to add Santa's Beard (cotton balls) to his face each day as we wait for Santa's arrival!

And she has been in loooove with "safety scissors" lately.  She has always called any pair of scissors "safety scissors" as that is what Mickey Mouse calls them on TV, and I bought her a pair as a stocking stuffer, but had to give them to her early so we can work on cutting off the days on Santa's beard as we approach the big day!

And while Whitney isnt technically involved with my sewing efforts, she did climb up in my chair and say "Mommy, I am goin to make a shirt. Okay? I am going to make a shirt for my Gwady!"  Sooo cute that she thought of him and wanted to make him something already :) 

I tend to go on sewing binges, where I just sew, sew, sew every chance I get...naptime, bedtime, school days, etc.  That happened earlier this week and last weekend, as I made stuff for friends and family and for Whitney and Grady :) 

And that brings us to this week, where time continues to draaaaaag onnnnnnn sloooooowly.  Not even 20 weeks yet?! I am sooo thrilled that this pregnancy has been ZERO drama and not one issue. We are extremely blessed! We've had some doctor drama with our hematologist reading me the wrong chart and yadda yadda, but my OB and the high risk group feel that I am safe just taking the baby aspirin each day, so we are going with it.  My OB said at today's appointment, "If you were my wife, I would say 'keep taking the baby aspirin each day, and keep going to church, 'cuz that's what's working!'" :)

And after a few nice requests, I snapped some quick cell phone belly pics for week 17: again...nothing too exciting. 

We go back to the high risk group again in 3 weeks for our 20 week ultrasound and then our OB said he'd "find another reason" to get us another u/s after that :) Im hoping to start to feel kicks soon (wouldnt Thanksgivng Day be an awesome day to feel that first kick?!?! C'mon Grady!)

Im hoping to be back here tomorrow for a fantastic "Ten Things Im' Thankful For" post,...but in case the turkey coma strikes early, I wish you all a WONDERFUL, HAPPY Thanksgiving!!

 And here is some Whitney Cuteness in the Kitchen :)