Happy Thanksgiving!

 Happy Thanksgiving!

We have had the craziest week between birthdays, the holiday and family gatherings, a proposal, and more birthdays! We started off the week with a 1st birthday party fiesta for little Georgia, then a boat cruise through Newport Harbor for my Nanas 85th birthday and an early Thanksgiving celebration with my relatives on my moms side. We had so much fun on this adorable Tiki boat with catered mexican food, a dj, and kareoke that had us all dancing & singing at some point. Its always a good time when you have 30-40 of us together and all of the cousins get to play.

On Thanksgiving morning I did the Dana Point Turkey trot (5k) with some of my girl friends and their babies and sipped coffee and chatted for a few hours, it was a great way to start the day. Then we headed over to my in laws for a couple hours and for dinner spent the evening with friends and family on my husbands side. It was a lot of fun and a lot of grubbin. We came home in some pretty serious food comas.

Friday we had Thanksgiving with my side of the family with just my immediate family, we each brough a dish or two and I made 2 Kale salads and home made macaroni and cheese (i'll share on that later because they were too yummy not too).  We always have so much fun together, getting all of us under one roof are some of my favorite moments and memories.

Today my sweet little brother proposed to his girlfriend and we added a 4th sister to the clan.  I am so grateful he found such an incredible woman, he is truly one of the best men i know. They are both so blessed and I cannot wait to see how God moves in their marriage. We were able to surprise her and celebrate with our two families joined today for an engagement party. Tommorrow we are going to get our Christmas tree, start decorating, and then we get to take our beautiful mother in law & family to an early dinner for her birthday & watch the tree lighting at Fashion Island.  

This week was jam packed with so much excitement and suprises (one or two im not allowed to share just yet) and we are just so thanful for family and living close to all of our loved ones. Its such a special time of year when everyone wants to celebrate their love for one another and get into the holiday spirit. 

Being pregnant I am really into Christmas traditions right now. I love love love Christmas but this year is different, i've been watching just about every cheesey Christmas movie thats out there and dying to decorate and sip cocoa and i have this weird thought that I wont be able to get done all of the Christmas-y things i've been dreaming of all of November.  I'm sure the next few weeks til Christmas will be fast paced but its my goal to fit in all the tradition my heart desires all the while keeping our focus on this being Christ's birthday.  I hope you guys are feeling the holiday spirit!

^^^celebrating our little Georgias 1st bday with a fiesta^^^

^^^This little angel is my best friends new baby Eve Rowan, im a bit obsessed with her & want to sneak her away in my pocket^^^

              ^^^Serious dance party on the boat. My family has no shame, and i  loveeee it. ^^^

^^^these two cuties pre engagement^^^

^^^he was so into watching the water^^^

^^^hanging with his autnie and uncle^^^

^^^horsie rides on grandmpa^^^

^^^kareoke^^^

^^^cousin love^^^

^^^Skipping to the finish line of the 5k with my little friend Michael^^^

^^^Turkey Trot 2015, roasting in the early day light^^^

^^^i coudnt get over that Beau Hudson bow tie on Thanksgiving!! You need one for your little guy if you dont already have one, & i wish i had taken more photos this week. ^^^

^^^Cousin play on 3rd Thanksgiving^^^

^^^So full, so theres a mini bump (:  a little over 12 weeks ^^^

^^^ And their sweet engagement! Congrats to you lovebirds! ^^^

^^^My sis on the far left is 5 weeks ahead of me and im hitting my second trimester now. Engagement party celebrating the two cuties in the middle^^^

**sorry for the iphone quality photos, i was terrible about pulling out my big camera this week. . . just too busy. But i suppose these are better than nothing.***

A holiday gift picks post coming soon!! Also we find out the gender of our little baby realllll soon, what do you think we are having, a boy or a girl?

XO

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy belated Thanksgiving to all you lovelies. I have been slacking on posts lately because my charger has been broken to my lap top so we have been waiting on the new one I ordered online and in the mean time I've been using my iPad (which is much more complicated when it comes to posting pics and typing). But I'm here and making it work for now! 

I am  thankful for so much this year, my husband, my son, our home, food to eat, healthy bodies, happy hearts, family that lives close and are my best friends, friends that I get to walk life with, my salvation, and I'm thankful for freedom from the things that use to keep me in shackles..thank you God for rescuing me. I am also profoundly thankful for my blogger fam! I love interacting with you all via Facebook, instagram, pinterest  and this lovely little online journal I call my blog. Community is what life is all about, fellowshipping and connecting with you guys is so special to me. I jut love sharing our life with such incredible people! For those of you I've had the chance to talk with , thank you for your love and support, for those of you I've yet to meet and chat with, let's get to it!

Yesterday was so much fun! It was Cash's first real holiday (if you don't count Halloween) and celebrating his first Turkey day was so much fun for these first time parents and and grand-parents. I can't wait to show you the generational photos we took with my entire family and all the grandkids. Cash is the youngest but he sure loves his cousins! His cousin Payten is 3 and she held him for the first time yesterday..its safe to say he was smitten. He locked eyes with her and never looked away. Cuteness to the max!

This little one is troubleee.. This was about the best shot we could get. She doesn't stop moving. She's the ultimate energizer bunny and I love her for it! 

We spent Brunch with my side of the family, which happens to be a circus! And we spent the late afternoon and evening with my husbands side of the fam..most of his parent's relatives live in beautiful Colorado so they get together with their California fam (a group of friends they've made a home with these past 20+ years). It's so fun to see everyone and mingle and catch up.  It's also more meaningful when you get to make a dish and see if everyone likes it! I made my kale broccoli slaw (I always try to bring a healthy element to the table on holiday feast days! There tends to be a lot of golden options but not a ton of greens!). You can check out the homemade recipe I posted here: Healthy Kale Broccoli Slaw Salad

We didn't get around to games this year..which happens to be one of my favorite things about holiday get-togethers! So I'll be praying for double the game time during Christmas and New Years festivities!!

What's your favorite thing to do when you spend the holidays at a family/friend/or work get-together? also, what's something you are Thankful for?

Uncle Garrett and little Parker

Cannan giving Cashy some love.

I love this family of mine.

Auntie Kelsey holding Cash.. i think shes pretty close to wanting another one.. dont ya think?

Aunty Courtney and Cash

Great grandma (Nana) holding Cash for the very first time. Melts my heart. 

 He just adores her & she cannot get enough of him... i cant wait to see him with our little princess in the future,.. whenever that is.

 Isnt my mother-in-law just the cutest? I love these two first time grand parents. They love my son so much & it makes me so happy

Im her little girl, and hes my little boy. My mama.

Reflecting Back On Pregnancy & Thankfulness:

Reflecting Back On Pregnancy & Thankfulness:

"There is such a sweetness in being able to participate in creation"

I cannot believe this photo was taken almost a year ago. This was the day we shared we were pregnant with both of our families. I was 6 weeks pregnant and it was Thanksgiving day.  My heart is so happy looking back at that "me" and that "him".  We were newlyweds, it was just the two of us, and we had just found out that we were creating life inside my tummy & were able to share our secret with the people we love most. This was  SUCH a special time for us. Reflecting back causes so much emotion to stir within me. I cannot believe our little boy is here. I cannot believe that we are parents and how much pregnancy and being the parents to this little angel has changed us and changed our lives. Im in tears as I write this thinking about the beauty and the joy that God has placed in our hearts for this child,.. thinking about all the change that has taken place before our very eyes.. thinking about who my husband has become.. a father, a man that wants so badly to be a good example to his son.  I look in the mirror and I see a woman of strength, a woman that has learned more now than ever about selflessness and true love. My boys are my world and i am so very blessed and thankful to say and have that. I would give my life for these two humans, I dont know that I could have ever meant that before.  

I love looking back at the joy that we were experiencing in this moment. I remember my sister taking this picture of us, it was the very first picture of us all together as a family of three, little Cash man was cooking up in my belly.  This photo forever documents the moment when we were able to share in our joy and excitement and allow reality to set in.  It was now real, we were having a baby.  

Thanksgiving will forever remind me of how grateful we were that day to be having our first baby. Not knowing his sex at the time and just dreaming of what parenthood would be like. Pregnancy is just such a special gift, there is just such a sweetness in being able to participate in creation with the one you love most in this world.  Today I am thankful for Thanksgiving, for family, for babies, and for my sweet boys. 

What are you thankful for?