Thanksgiving Part II (The one with NO vomit...)

So we flew back to Texas Friday morning and spent the day relaxing(see previous post if you are confused as to why we needed lots of booze r.e.l.a.x.a.t.i.o.n...)  That evening we ventured out for a yummy dinner at 5 Guys and then stopped to get our REAL Christmas tree.  Yes, you heard it right folks... REAL!  I am just thrilled to have a real tree, real smells, real branches, real - real- real!  We always had a real tree growing up so it is so nostalgic for me.  Anyway, Lowes had some great trees and Grady picked it out.  We brought it home, put it in the stand, gave it a little water and voila!  We all crashed and went to bed early.

Grady woke up so excited to decorate the tree, but we had to let the branches fall a little first.  So, I took him to see The Muppets Movie and then we met Richard and Cole for lunch at Corner Bakery... yum! (Notice we are enjoying the food... due to the fact that we didn't get to enjoy much Thanksgiving food the previous week due to Vomitgiving...  Notice I'm still not over it yet!)  

We then headed home to decorate the tree.  We watched Santa Claus is Coming to Town, had chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and hot chocolate, and decorated the heck out of that tree!  Grady was so excited and really helped me decorate this year.  We had to put all of the important, breakable ornaments up top since Cole is very mobile this year...

 I went ahead and did the mantle and rest of the house too.  

Looking pretty festive if you ask me... I just LOVE the holidays!!!

 Here's the finished product!  This picture doesn't do it justice... it is just beautiful! 

Sunday was Richard's day... I say this laughing because we like to joke that the inside is me and the outside is all his!  This year was a little trickier.  Quite a few of our things had broken parts, sections with no lights, etc.  It must have been a rough December last year weather-wise or something.  He's still working on getting it all working!  He worked off and on all day Sunday - what a great Daddy!  I did manage to get some sweet pictures of the boys though... it was a cold day!  

So there you have it!  I can't wait for all of our other Christmas traditions... such a FUN time of year and even more special seeing it through the eyes of our kiddos- PRICELESS!!!

Lil' Man is 8 Months old!

Cole - that 8 month mark came and went in a blink!  Does this phrase sound familiar?!?  Boy, things just keep getting better and better! 

To mark this occasion I'm going to tell you about 8 of my favorite things about you lil' guy!!!

1.  You have the BEST smile!  You light up the room!!!

2.  You are a good sleeper.  You wake up lots but are happy and talk yourself back to sleep.

3.  You are f.a.b.u.l.o.u.s. at independent play! 

You play for 30-45 minutes without a fuss lots of times! 

4.  You are a Momma's boy...  

Grady was a Daddy's boy, and you prefer your Momma but LOVE your Daddy too!

5.  You have the best belly laugh!

6.  You are mobile - crawling, pulling up, and cruising!

7.  You LOVE your brother.  

You light up when he comes in the room and it is obvious that he is your very favorite person!

8.  You are very laid back... 

3/4 of us in this house are type A so I LOVE your relaxed personality!

Cole Merritt, we love you so much.  You are the perfect addition to our family!

Happy 8 months!!! 

VOMIT-GIVING 2011

So before you judge and think how terrible it is for me me to write about this, yada, yada, yada... know that this is a scrapbook for my kids, and what we did for the majority of our Thanksgiving break was vomit.  If you have a weak stomach, better skip this post!

So just before the break Cole came down with the dreaded stomach bug.  He got sick at the sitters house, he came home and spent the next two days recovering and was fine.  I thought to myself this is the end of it, how lucky we were and was looking forward to our trip to the beach to visit Mimi and Papa.  Craig would be there too and Cousin Julie... it was going to be a much needed week of relaxation and good family time.  Ha...  Guess I didn't knock on wood enough!  

It all started with us looking like this...

We look excited right?  Happy right?  Relaxed right?  Yes, all true until Cole threw up ALL over me, Grady and Richard about halfway through our flight.  Yes, we were the people ringing the flight attendant button asking for more bags, paper towels, etc.  We landed in Florida and I was so glad to be off that plane!  (turns out he wasn't still sick, he gets plane-sick each time we fly -- joy!)  Dad picked us up and we headed home praying that this was the end of it and that tomorrow we could start our week of relaxation and fun.  Again, (insert sigh) w.r.o.n.g!      

I'm going to spare you give you all the details so you feel sorry for me so here goes a recap... 

-Friday - VOMIT - Cole on plane
-Saturday - VOMIT - Grady gets sick multiple times and projectile vomits all over Mimi's leather couches.  Richard and I stay up with him so that every hour we can attempt a trash can vomit catch.  I ended up telling him that I would pay him a dollar for every time he made it in the can - he earned 4 bucks!  Three hours of sleep that night... (insert sigh and a "this can't get worse" comment...)
-Sunday - VOMIT - I get sick in the middle of the night (both ends)
-Monday - rest day, little beach going for the "healthy"

-Tuesday - BUSCH GARDENS!!! Wahoo, everybody is healthy.  We have kicked this bug and are going to make the best of the rest of our trip (Ha, ha, ha...)!

 Up close and personal...

 Richard and Mimi getting sprayed!

 A soaked Grady!

 Best . picture. ever...

Cole was ZONKED!

Baby zebras... ahhh!

 This cheetah and dog had been raised together - such a cool story! 

Busch Gardens was sooooo fun!  We had a perfect day (although as long as nobody threw up it would have been perfect)  The weather was beautiful, there were hardly any people and lines, and they had just put up all of their Christmas decorations so it was very festive!  It is the perfect mix of the best zoo ever (next to San Diego) and an amusement park filled with roller coasters, etc.  It has something for everyone!  Also, notice the cool topiaries all shaped like animals.  It is (and always has been) my favorite park to visit!!!  


-Wednesday - VOMIT x3 - Mimi, Richard and Uncle Craig ALL get sick.  Richard and Uncle Craig are at the golf course with Papa when it hits and they all have to finish their round early and come home...  :(   

-Thursday (Thanksgiving, I may add...) - no vomit, but a house full of sickness, and a cook who is too tired to cook.  We order a smoked turkey from a local BBQ place and then Mimi manages to muster up enough strength to fix a few dishes while I do the rest!  I was NOT gonna let this beat us, NO WAY! We also managed to make it out to the beach for some more play for Grady.  Both kids are back to normal and I am feeling pretty darn good (except for the fact that I keep expecting to throw up or be thrown up on at any time).   

Cole enjoyed exploring some new territory...

 Cole also LOVED "real" food for the first time...

I have a feeling baby-food will be out the window shortly!

 I made a pumpkin pie and from what I hear it was goo-ood!  

-Friday - VOMIT - and our day to leave... Poor Julie got it in the middle of the night and had to miss her half marathon.  Boo!  Sorry Jules!  We LOVE you!  I also will add (because I am on a roll) that a flight home wouldn't be complete without Cole vomiting on me AGAIN!  The fact that we know now he gets sick on the plane for some reason makes it a little better.  

So there you have it.  7 days, and 7/8 people infected.  


All joking aside, we did have such a good time on the two days where there was no sickness.  There are also plenty of things that are much, much worse, so let's keep it in perspective...  It also will be something we laugh about in 20 years... notice I said 20.  It's still pretty painful to think about!  Thank you to my family, who love us anyway and were happy to have us even though they probably wanted to kick us to the curb about half way through!  We love you!!!  Happy VOMITThanksgiving!!!