Santa

 We had our first encounter with Santa this year. No tears, but definitely no smiles. My mom sat him in Santa's lap, and I was ready with the camera. I wanted to capture the moment even if it was with tears. Sometimes those pics are really cute & funny. He looked like he wanted to cry, but he didn't. I could never get all three of them looking at me. I was on a field trip with my mom's class at the health museum for kids. I had a whole row of mom's & teachers behind me trying to get pics too. We're going to Santa's Wonderland in CS this weekend, so we're going to attempt another pic. Maybe this time, he'll recognize that fuzzy white beard, and give us a smile. 

Still Thankful!

Remember me? I'm the one that started posting the "30 Days of Thankful" posts, got to day 7, then disappeared. Well, I'm still thankful & I'm back. To say I've been in a bit of a blogging funk, would be an understatement. I've just been so busy, but I'm trying to enjoy every moment of this holiday season! I think about blogging a lot, but that hasn't materialized lately. But, since I am so very blessed & thankful, I'm going to condense all "thankful" posts into one blog post. Here we go...

(you've already seen 1-7)

I am so very thankful for:
1. My Savior
2. My husband
3. My sweet Kaden
4. My parents
5. My brother & sisters
6. The family I married into
7. Snuggles
8. That my sister's adoption was made final, and she's officially a Gilbert
9. Our church family
10. Our youth kiddos
11. Our home
12. Two cars that run & are paid for
13. My job...a mommy
14. Play dates at the park
15. Friends
16. Our health
17. That my husband is following his dream
18. More time with Micah since he's not working 100 hours a week
19. Extended family
20. Vacations
21. That my husband is way stronger than me, and helps keep me grounded
22. Grandparents that are still alive and doing well
23. Prayer
24. The Bible & the truth it speaks
25. Mentors that speak into our lives
26. The education we were able to get at A&M...and all the memories it came with 
27. That we were able to travel to Korea for Micah's brother's wedding. A once in a lifetime opportunity
28. Mornings that we can sleep in
29. Chocolate...yes, I went there! 
30. That we live in the great US and have so much more than we realize!

For this, and so much more, I am thankful. And I try to remember that everyday, even the bad ones!

Day 7

Thankful for moments like this. When a sleepy, stuffy nosed little boy snuggles up just to rock with me in the chair & sing Itsy Bitsy Spider, or Jesus Loves Me. And then falls asleep. I love to cuddle with him. It happens so little these day. I'll happily snuggle & rock him to sleep as long as he'll let me. I never want to take these little moments for granted. They're too priceless!

Day 6

I'm thankful for the family I married into. They've accepted me as one of their own, and loved me as family. They're a wonderful family. Great parents, grandparents, aunts & uncles. I'm very happy to be a part of the McMahon family.   

My Little Monkey

We don't celebrate Halloween. Usually we have a church carnival or function. I hadn't really thought about a costume for K. I had tossed a few ideas around of costumes I might make, but wasn't sold on any of them. Then a friend of mine told me where there was a good sale, so I decide to pick up this sock monkey outfit. There was just one problem...K hates hats! And without the hat, it wasn't much of a costume...

 I had him entertained for a few minutes with a sucker & his swing, but it didn't last long before he started ripping the hat off. I just wanted one cute pic...I didn't get it.

Oh well...he's still a cute monkey. I can't say that I blame him either...it's been too hot to dress up in full body suits with a hat!

Day 5

I'm thankful for my brother and sisters. We're all so different, and yet I love them all. I love the memories we've made together. I love the good & the not so good about each of them. I really love that K has the best Aunts & Uncles he could ask for. 

Day 4

I'm thankful for my parents. I've always known they loved me, but I never realized how passionate that love was until I experience having a child myself. It makes it that much sweeter. I'm thankful they raised me to love God and the church. I'm so thankful that I live near them, and now that I'm grown, we can be friends too. And they're the best Grammy & Papa ever!

Day 3

I am ever so thankful for this face! I love this kid! He is hands down the best thing that has happened to Micah & I. We can't remember life without him. I'm still overwhelmed with how much I love him! Thank you God for this perfect gift!

Day 2

I'm thankful for my best friend...and I'm lucky enough to call him my husband. 

 I liked him the moment I met him. It wasn't all roses after that, but I wouldn't change it for the world. 3 years of marriage, 9 years of friendship, tons of memories, and many more to come.

 I'm so grateful God blessed with me with a man that loves Him, loves me, loves his family, and loves to serve. I am a happy girl! 

He puts up with more than his fair share, and he does it wonderfully. I love you Micah!

Day 1

A day late.

I'm thankful for my Savior Jesus. I'm thankful for His grace, love & mercy. Romans 5:8 says "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." That is very good news. To know that even though I don't deserve it, Christ died for me and only desires a relationship with me. I remember sitting in a worship service right after K was born. I was sitting & holding him, admiring how much I was in love with him. In that moment, I felt like God whispered to me, "I love you that much & more." It overwhelms me how much I love my son, and it's even more overwhelming to think that God loves us so much more than that. I'm very thankful for that!

Finger Painting

If you read this post, then you know that Little Man has been a little grumpy lately. Tuesday was one of those days. He was just a little on the whiny side all day. I was doing my best to keep him entertained all day. He kept pointing to the box on his shelf that contains the colors, paints, etc. So I let him color. While he was content there, I came up with this idea. I grabbed a canvas, and painted this tree. (Don't judge me; I'm not an artist.) When he was done coloring, we headed outside.

 Daddy was working outside, so we went to join him. I gave K the green, orange, red & yellow finger paints. I also gave him some brushes...you know Little Man doesn't like his hands dirty. We don't really have fall around here, but I was going for the fall tree look. I helped him a little...just with keeping his brush on the upper part of the canvas, and with showing him how to get started. I think he did pretty good. And I was proud of the little guy...he actually put his fingers in the paint. Just a little. 

"Finger" painting his first tree helped to keep him happy. And that made me happy! I'm also happy I have a new piece of hand-made, fall decor...made especially by little man! :)

Grumpy Boy!

After several weeks of doing so good, I've been in a blogging funk lately. But I'm back...

This is how Little Man has been the past few days.

 In his defense, he's teething and has a cold, so I know he doesn't feel good. 

 There's a sure way to make him happy. It works every time. I have a huge, growing to-do list, but I set it aside for a little bit to take him outside for a while this afternoon. I knew I wouldn't get anything done with him crying at my feet. 

 As soon as he was in the swing he was happy. He was perfectly content in the swing for a while, and we even played with the bubbles. But then that backfired....

 He wanted to blow them on his own, and was frustrated when that didn't work and I wouldn't let him just play in the soapy bubbles. 

 And so...here we were again! Can't win them all. I think it's nap time...for both of us! :)

Pumpkin Patch

We met my friend Melanie & K's buddy at the Pumpkin Patch today. They held true to their ways, and would not pose & smile for us at all! But, I'm better than they think, and I still managed to get some good pics. Little Man is going to be Pumpkin Patched out cause I think we're going again with Daddy tomorrow to buys some pumpkins to carve with the youth. I'm not holding my breath for any great pics! 

 

 

 

Petting Zoo & Pumpkin Patch

Before we left Dallas Sunday morning, we went to a small petting zoo with a Pumpkin Patch. I had high hopes of getting some good photos, but those dreams were quickly shot down. When we got to the petting zoo, we discovered K was asleep & he was not ready to wake up. So we went to eat lunch hoping that he'd rest, then be in a good mood for the zoo/pumpkins. It worked...sort of. He did nap, and eat, but he's just not at a good photogenic age. He's very photogenic, but he thinks he's so big that he can do everything on his own, and stopping to smile for the camera is not on his agenda! So, I just tried to snap good pics while he walked around.

 He loves petting the animals, and is not at all afraid!

 The baby goats were so stinkin cute!!

 He wasn't quite sure what to think about the big tortoises. 

 We see ducks all the time, so he wasn't too impressed with them, but he did love this little picnic bench. It was just his size. I think we might need one of these for the backyard! 

 He had fun walking around all the pumpkins, that is until I tried to get him to take some posed pics. 

 "Excuse me? You want me to do what? Can't you see I'm trying to play here?"

 Not at all amused! 

 So I thought tickling would work...it does sometimes!

 And then I thought maybe Daddy could help. And here's our family picture for 2012! Happy Fall Y'all! :)

 And once I gave up on pics, he was perfectly content with the slides....

 checking out the pretty girl on this spin toy....

 and playing in the sand box. 

I guess my days of propping him up and making funny noises for a smile are over with.