Thankful!!!

I know it is a bit late, but better late than never! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with a house full of guests! The Saturday before turkey day, we welcomed Michael, Debbie, Marissa and Spencer from Houston! On Sunday, Becky and Molly came from Philly. On Tuesday, Mitch and Lisa brought some sunshine up from Houston, followed my Russ's mom and grandmother on Wednesday from Philly! On Thursday my Aunt Marsha, Uncle Tom, Eric, Tanya, Kirsten and Patrick all joined us for a wonderful Thanksgiving Day FEAST!!!

The men could be found out in the garage hovering around the turkey fryer! Our garage still smells like KFC...but I don't think I have ever had a tastier turkey in my life! Everyone chipped in by making different sides dishes, desserts, setting the table, and doing dishes! We couldn't have done it with out the group effort!

Of course there was plenty of football to be watched and special thanks to mom for the Wii! I think everyone enjoyed taking turns figuring out their Wii age and ski jumping!!! Even great-grandma Jones got in on some of the action! The kids got to play in the snow! Spencer even made an igloo! I think it is safe to say a good time was had by all!

It was such a nice treat to have everyone (well almost everyone) here to celebrate!!! Thanks to those that made the trip! It was truly a wonderful time!

(sorry no pictures...I couldn't get them to load...I will keep trying)

LIGHT UP THE SEASON

Russ and I were really looking forward to taking Lexie to "Light Up Night". It is a big celebration down town Pittsburgh to kick off the holiday festivities. At first, I had a hard time getting in the spirit since we hadn't even celebrated Thanksgiving, but it didn't take long to warm up to the idea. Unfortunately, Russ wasn't able to make it since he covered a shift at the ER, so we called Aunt Allie to see if she wanted to partake in some holiday girl time! It wasn't exactly what we expected, but we ended up having a great time!!!!



Lexie was all bundled up! It was soooooo cold--just look at that bright red nose!!!



We took a break from the cold and went indoors to look at the lights. Lexie was loving this tree!!!


Sitting on Aunt Allie's lap eating a gingerbread cookie. She literally bit his entire leg off!!!


Lexie loves the gingerbread man!


The best part of the night---FIREWORKS!!! They were A M A Z I N G !


Lexie really enjoyed the fireworks!!!!


Somebody tried to stay up waaaaayyyyyy too long!

Thanks Aunt Allie for making the trip!!!!!

Just in the Nick of Time!

It has been a looooooong process finishing our basement, but there is a light (literally) at the end of the tunnel! Russ completed all the lighting in the main room while I have been working on the ceiling. Once Russ snapped the grid in place, I was able to pop in the tiles. The fun part has been cutting all the border pieces! How did I get stuck with that job??? Anyways, the cabinets for the bar have been installed and my dad is coming this week with the bar top and to help us with the last bit of electrical work and trim. The carpet is supposed to be here wednesday or thursday and the shower enclosure was completed today! It is reallllly starting to take shape now...we just hope, scratch that-PRAY everything works out according to schedule! We don't have much time before our holiday guests arrive! The first group of guests roll in on Saturday, then Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Turkey Day! Keep your fingers crossed!



We are anxiously awaiting the removal of the posts in order to have the carpet installed...neither task is something Russ nor I are willing or able to do!





A "working" view from behind the bar, complete with a mini-man fridge!!





Let there be light!!!! Look at that drop ceiling! This is what we meant by not your "typical grandma and grandpa drop ceiling"...no offense g-ma and g-pa!





I had to throw this pic in for good keeping! It's beginning to look a lot like the holidays!!!! It has been snowing for the last two days! Luckily, the ground is still pretty warm and it hasn't been sticking!


Wish us luck on the last final push to get this basement finished! I promise to post pictures of the before and after as soon as the after is completed! It really doesn't seem possible that we are this close to having it done! I can't wait!!!

Snip-Snip

I finally took Lexie to get her first haircut today! I have to admit I was a bit nervous...but for NO REASON!!! She has never acted out or shown any signs of stranger anxiety so I don't know why I had a little bit of a knot in my stomach. I wanted to get there a little early in hopes that there would be other kids getting their hair cut. I took her to a salon called Little Snips. It was PERFECT! The people were so incredibly nice and the decor was very kid friendly! Like always, Little Miss just took it all in. Soon it was her turn and she was READY TO GO! They have adorable chairs for the little ones to sit in...and she went straight for the taxi cab! Once she was buckled in, she was allllll about getting pampered! We may have created a monster! She sat there and enjoyed every second of it. She watched Elmo, leafed through a book, and "drove" the taxi! (be sure to check our the video at the bottom of the page...click on the little arrow to make it play!!!)

Here she is...ready for the first cut!!

The First Cut

A little more off the back please...

All Done!





Check out the video

Hair today...gone tomorrow?

We have been waiting and waiting to take Lexie to get her first haircut! Ever since Debbie shared with us the old wives tale about cutting your child's hair before their first birthday, we have been hesitant to do so...(your child will have a speech problem if you cut their hair before their first birthday) though neither Russ nor I had ever heard such a thing. She probably could have used a good trim months ago!!! Nini and GG have both commented about her needing a trim, but I KNOW it is time since Russ actually commented about it just this week! (Russ who doesn't say anything about that 'kind of stuff' actually said "so are we ever going to cut Lexie's hair...it is out of control"...or something to that effect!!!!)

I Drink from a Sippy Cup, cause I'm a BIG KID NOW...

If you haven't seen the episode of Two and a half Men where Charlie sings jingles about kids...you probably aren't laughing as hard as Russ and I. In any event...we have been working with Lexie, off and on for months now, trying to get her to use her sippy cups. We initially started while she was teething which was a HUGE mistake! She thought the hard plastic was a toy and just chewed on it. We didn't really force the issue...we just figured sooner or later, there would be a break in the teething action. We tried for a couple weeks then stopped, and tried again. This week, she officially drinks from the sippy cup, though she really misses her bottle!

Veterans Day

Thank you doesn't quite seem like enough to the thousands of brave men and women who fight for this country!!!

Welcome Home!!!

It seemed like Russ had been gone for a year, but he is finally home from his stint overseas!! Lexie and I couldn't be more thrilled! I think he was a bit excited too...he didn't even give us a chance to get out of the car!!!


Who's the guy with the funny hat????



IT'S DA-DA!!!!!!



Welcome home!!!! AND THANKS TO ALL WHO SERVE THIS FINE COUNTRY OF OURS!!!

It Won't Be Long Now!!!

Less than 6 hours and counting until Russ is FINALLY home! Lexie and I can't wait! She is ready to give her daddy a BUNCH of kisses!!!!