Christmas 2009

Whew.. What a Christmas...

Christmas Eve.. We got up early and decided to go down to the lake and suprise Gran Ma and Paw Paw. Jon had to work Christmas Eve - we did not think that we were going to make it to see Gran Ma and Paw Paw, but it worked out. Thank God it did - because that Lasagna sure was delicious! We enjoyed seeing everybody. The kids are so cute and all of them enjoy playing together.

Then we went to Mimi and Grandaddy's and had dinner, Chicken and Dressing and all the sides. Yummo. I think Abby had dessert for dinner.

Then Maw Maw and Paw Paws on Christmas Day, Whew what a spread Rib Roast and Turkey and all the trimmings - I think Abby ate a roll and some apples.

Eating with toddlers around the holidays explained: I think abby has had a steady diet of M&M's cookies, pie, cake rolls crakers cheese and anything else sweet for the past two weeks. I think if she could get away with it she would sit right down with the bag of sugar and eat it with a spoon. She thinks that Cupcakes are for breakfast lunch and dinner ( no we do not serve her that ) but she thinks if she asks for it and says, : "cupcakes - yeah okay " that she will get it.

We are trying to wean her off of the sugar - I think she is on a sugar rush, well me too :) I do have to keep up with her right and Nathan. We are slowly trying to get her to eat veggies again. But for right now she is totally revolting. Oh well Christmas is totally worth it.

Christmas was so much fun this year...

Christmas morning was a blast, Abby was fully aware that Santa was comming to leave presents under the tree and that she had to be "NICE"

Nathan's Stocking was just as big as he is :)

Abby got a princess vanity from santa that she LOVES!!!
She also got a tobogan hat and some sunglasses so that she can make a fashion statement of course.

Santa, brought some lincoln logs and Abby and Daddy like building houses and trains that go "Choo Choo"

Going to the Lake for a Spooky Halloween

I think Abby and I will carve our pumpkin at the lake on the porch while Jon does some Deer hunting Saturday morning.


We are going Trick or Treating at Gran Mas and Paw Paws. Maybe have some soup and corn bread - that would be Yummy! Abby is going to be a ballerina this year and I am going to be a pregnant witch - hehe.

On Sunday we are going to Madison for Miss Morgan's Baby shower for baby Isabella. How Fun!!! This weekend is jammed packed full of fun. We cannot wait to see everybody.

Fall Festival - Recipes

Spiderweb cookies-


Ingredients
Cookies: favorite brand of Sugar Cookie mix
icing:
3 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons plus 4 teaspoons milk
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
Directions
1. Cookies: Heat oven to 350°. Coat 2 baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray. In bowl, prepare cookie dough as directed on package

2. Drop Tablespoonful of dough onto prepared sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Spread slightly with spatula. ( I prefer to roll into balls - the cookie dough will flaten as it heats up)
3. Bake 1 sheet at a time in 350° oven 13 to 15 minutes, until toothpick inserted in centers tests clean. Remove cookies to rack to cool.
4. Icing: Blend confectioners sugar, corn syrup, vanilla and 3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons milk until smooth. Remove 1/3 cup icing to small bowl and stir in cocoa and remaining 2 teaspoons milk. Transfer chocolate icing to plastic bag; snip off corner.
5. Turn cookies flat-side up. Spread white icing over one cookie. Beginning in center, pipe a spiral of chocolate icing onto cookie. Starting in center of spiral, drag a knife through spiral for spiderweb pattern. Repeat with all cookies. Let stand until set.

http://www.parents.com/recipe/cookies/spiderweb-cookies/

** I have changed this recipe to make it easier to make**

Spooky Surprise Cupcakes

http://www.duncanhines.com/recipes/cupcakes/dh/spooky-surprise-cupcakes

1 (8 oz.) block cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 pkg Duncan Hines® Moist Deluxe® Devil's Food Cake Mix
1 1/3 cups water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tub Duncan Hines® Creamy Home-Style Classic Chocolate Frosting
1 tub Duncan Hines® Creamy Home-Style Classic Vanilla Frosting
chocolate decorating decors
Blend together cream cheese, 1 egg, sugar, until smooth and creamy; set aside.
Preheat oven to 350° F. Place paper baking cups in muffin cups.
Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Fill each muffin cup 1/2 full of batter. Place a dollop of cream cheese mixture in center of each cupcake.
Bake for 23-26 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan 5 minutes then remove to cooling rack to cool completely before frosting and decorating.
To decorate cupcakes -- frost top of each cupcake with chocolate frosting. : set aside. Place vanilla frosting into plastic resealable bag. Cut a pinpoint hole in one corner of the bag. Starting in the center, pipe frosting in circles on top of cupcakes, making each circle larger than the previous. Drag a toothpick through the circles in an outward, spoke like motion to create a spider web.

**you do not have to do the creamcheese filling** if in a crunch - make cupcakes acording to box and To decorate cupcakes -- frost top of each cupcake with chocolate frosting. : set aside. Place vanilla frosting into plastic resealable bag. Cut a pinpoint hole in one corner of the bag. Starting in the center, pipe frosting in circles on top of cupcakes, making each circle larger than the previous. Drag a toothpick through the circles in an outward, spoke like motion to create a spider web. :) **

Pumpkin spice cake

http://www.duncanhines.com/recipes/cakes/dh/spice-pumpkin-cake

1 pkg Duncan Hines® Moist Deluxe® Spice Cake Mix - or any other flavor you desire
2 large eggs
1 cup water
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup chopped nuts
2 tubs Duncan Hines® Creamy Home-Style Classic Vanilla Frosting
green, red and yellow food coloring
1 flat bottom ice cream cone
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 10-inch Bundt pan.
Combine cake mix, eggs, water and pumpkin in large bowl. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer for 2 minutes. Stir in nuts. Pour into pan.
Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 25 minutes. Invert onto serving plate. Cool completely.
Measure 1/4 cup frosting into small bowl. Tint with green food coloring. Place ice cream cone upside down on waxed paper. Frost with green frosting. Refrigerate.
Tint remaining frosting with red and yellow food coloring until frosting is desired orange color. Measure 3 tablespoons orange frosting in small bowl; add green food coloring to brown frosting.
Frost cake with orange frosting. Make eyes, mouth and nose with brown frosting as desired on pumpkin. Place green frosted ice cream cone in center hole of cake for stem.

Projects for a Rainy Day

Whew with all of this rainy fall weather - I needed some crafts to keep me busy... We headed to Joann's today and got the material for the stockings. I was so proud of miss Abby, I was in there for about an hour-and she did so good- her reward was candy corn.(which she can pronounce perfectly- I guess we work on those things that really matter :D ) The snowmen will be for Jon and me and the reindeer will be for Abby and Nate. I chose to do the cuff a color - so the cuff on the snowmen stockings will be red and the cuff on the reindeer stockings will be brown.




For Abby, I think that this little bag will come in very handy when she goes to church nursery and starts preschool next year. I do have to give props to Jessica, she gave me the idea- she is so crafty!! I do not do embroidery at all so,I went with the iron on letter. The ribbion will go below the letter and in the center there will be a bow.


Whew. Looks like I have my work cut out for me... but I like doing this kind of crafting. It just makes me feel like " oh yes I can " - I will post pictures when the projects are complete. :)

Nathan's Room is DONE!!!

Cinderellie!! Cinderellie!! No joke seriously that is what I feel like, but it is my own fault. I just do not remember it being like this when I was pregnant with Abby. Probably because I was not also chasing after a very active toddler. Whew, okay so we made it to storytime today at the library just in time to see Dinosaur Man- and boy was he funny. He taught Abby and me all about carnivores, herbivores and extinction - plus the importance of eating our veggies.

So after storytime we went to Joanns because they were having a AWESOME columbus day sale! We got Nathan some baskets for his closet to put the non hangie up clothes in. Like socks, mittens, and hats and little onesies and stuff like that. Abby would have been content if we bought all of the baskets so that she could sit in them and throw them and do as she pleased. I was not sure if she and I were going to get out of Joanns in ONE PIECE. Just kidding. So of course it was getting close to nap time, and today I was lucky she actually took a nap! So here are the fruits of my efforts. I was able to get all of Nathans little clothes in the new baskets while she napped.

Plus - she and I are both fighting seasonal allergies - can I just say that Zyrtec is a blessing. I never knew why they charged like $25 for such small bottle of medicine - but it is well worth the money paid!

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Please share this information with at least one woman you know. You could make a difference in their life.

http://www.nbcam.org/index.cfm

Nathans Room

Nathan- We are ready for your arrival little man.

Baby shower in disguise-Diana and I went shopping today - Whew what a day... She entertained Abby while I was able to pick up several things that we wanted for Nathan. Then when we went to check out - she said - I am getting this... WOW!! How wonderful! Nana and Papa Bill you all ROCK!! Abby was such a trooper-she played with the toys - then we went and had lunch at Chick-fil-a, where she had her nuggets and fries and of course played on the playground. Today was a very sucessful day. Jon and I are so blessed to have great family so close.

What we got

• Hooded Towels
• Burp Cloths
• Gowns
• Holiday Clothes
• More Clothes
• Mittens (for newborns)
• kiddopatamus -swaddle me blanket
• Lulliby bear that sings Jesus loves me

Looking out my backdoor

While we were eating dinner last night - three deer trotted across our front yard. It was a beautiful site to see. I love this time of year deer are on the move and they are everywhere.

High Tech Deer Hunting

High Tech Deer Hunting at the Thompson Household. Jon has been wanting to get back into deer hunting, but not wanting to get up at 3am to do it unless he knows for sure that there is something out there for him to get. So... Deer Cam to the rescue.

We had a rainy day on Saturday - so we loaded up and went to Bass Pro. We love Bass Pro. We can look at the gigantic fish tank while daddy gets his goodies. Plus there is a Wetzels Pretzels right outside Bass Pro - of course we have to have a snack.

So..More about the Deer Cam.. This thing is neat..If a deer passes in range the cam will take its picture and record the date and time. IT also has the ability to do video-but we left on the photo mode. We, can make a prediction based on normal feeding times and schedules based on this. We just love modern technology! We have seen some huge tracks - So Jon is getting anxious about hunting this season.

If you are interested or know someone who might be interested in something like this- this is what we bought

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_95973_425002006_425000000_425002000?cmCat=CROSSSELL_THUMBNAIL

The Thompson Family Birth Plan

Name : Paula Thompson

Husbands name : Jon Thompson
When is your due date: November 23,2009
Name of your practitioner: Dr. Mary Campbell
Place of Birth: Emory Eastside Medical Center

This birth plan is intended to express the preference and desires we have for the birth of our baby. We fully realize that situations may arise such that our plan cannot and should not be followed. However, we hope that barring any extenuating circumstances, you will be able to keep us informed and aware of our options.
Thank you.

Delivery:
C-section

Pain Relief : Spinal/epidural anesthesia

I would like to have my husband, Jonathon Thompson present in the O.R. For the Delivery of our baby.

Recovery:
I would prefer that the time that I am in a recovery room, that only nurses and my husband, Jonathon Thompson are present.

Feeding:
Formula
1st choice(similac advance)
2nd choice (enfamil)

Meeting the baby:

We would prefer that Abby meets the new baby before the rest of the family. We are also asking that if Abby is in the room, please remember this is a very exciting day for all of us, especially her - she is going to be a big sister! We welcome you to come and visit us...short visits will probably be better. Childbirth is an exausting event.We, Jon and I might enjoy a nap or two. Please remember that newborns are born with the mothers immune system, however it is very important to not expose extra germs to such a tender new baby. Please when you come in to visit us, wash your hands with warm water and soap. thank you.

Decorating Nathan's Room

Well we have the crib set up in Nathan's room YAY!



I also made a new seat cushion for the rocking chair, I didn't think that pink gingham would go to well with a nautical theme.





Jon and I were on a roll last night. For the past year we have lived with doll house in our dining room. Since we moved the crib out of Abby's room we moved her bed and put her doll house in her room - she was so excited she didn't want to go to bed. We were so excited just to have it out of our dining room.

ultrasound 28 weeks

We do not have to go to the specialist any more! YAY! Nathan is doing wonderful! He is a whopping 2lbs and 10oz now.(estimated)
I do have to say I did enjoy the special time that Jon, Nathan, and I got to share while we were at the Dr. Office. The whoosh whoosh of the heartbeat, seeing him grow and change already. It is truly amazing that a baby can be formed in 9 months. Right now we are at 28 weeks and 3 days. So we have less than 12 weeks to go! WOW! Halloween will be before we know it and then we will be in the homestretch-November 29th is the D-Day! So exciting. Abby is getting in on the action too!
We already have the bassinet up in our bedroom and she loves putting her babies in there (although she puts them in there a little rougher than I think Nathan would like) She is going to be a great big sister.

sticky fingers

Ha - I went grocery shopping today and was doing great until I noticed when I got out to the car that Abby had a reeses in one hand and peanut m&m's in the other. The reeses must have looked better to her because she was going to town on it. In that little amount of time paying for the groceries and out to the car she had managed to chew through the packaging. Oh well. So we went back in and paid for " our candy " . Kids will do the darndest things.

Abby-ish

So Abby has developed her own language as any toddler does. However some words are just down right funny.

We have been working with her everyday two to three times a day on the alphabet. Maw Maw got her a box of board books for christmas last year and every book is a different letter.

A-apple alligator airplane( aplane) ant
B boat baby bear ball
C cat (meow) car cow( boo boo) cup
D dog ( woof woof ) duck ( quack quack) doll
E eye ear egg elmo ( elma- poor elmo turned into a girl )
F flower frog fish
G goat (baa) Goose (quack) grapes(yum yum these are especially delicious ) glasses
H hat house Hammer( hanner) horse hungry ( honey)
I igloo icecream (icream)
J Jacket (coat ) Jam (yum)
K king kite key
L lion (roar) leaf lamb ( baa)
M mouse moon
N no
O orange (yum) Owl Otter
P pig ( oink) peas pear
Q quater
R rocket rooster ( cluck cluck) racoon
S strawberry ( yum)stroller spoon
T turtle truck tree train - and of course you know she can say tractor :)
U umbrella ( brella)
V
W wagon window
X
Y yarn (ball) Yak Yellow( Yewwow)
Z Zipper (zippa) Zoo

Consignment Sale

Whew, I went to the ginormous consignment sale yesterday and whew am I glad that I did. I loaded down.

Nathan :

1. crib bedding ( pottery barn ) bumper($9) 2 x sheets ($2 each) and dust ruffle($2)
2. Wave Shelf- ( super cool ) - Nautical Theme! ($15)
3. swing ( Graco Luv-N- Hug) ($40)
4. seat cover for the high chair ($4)
5. outfits ($2)
6. bibs (10pk) ($5)

Abby :

1. outfits ($7)
2. toys ($5)
3. dress up clothes & shoes ($10)
4. winter jacket

Me:

1. Maternity Clothes

Blackdress pants,($3) jumper (liz) ($4), 4 cable knit sweaters (gap and old navy)($5 each) 4 comfy long sleeve t shirts (old navy)( $3-4 each) and 2 kimono motherhood shirts($5) and grey yoga pants($2).

Jon:

1. Clothes

American Eagle shorts,($5) J.Crew button down shirt($4) & Tommy Hilfiger Blue Jeans($4)

I am super excited about all of the deals I found. It was well worth the wait - umm like 1hour+ but they had a good supply of chick fil a - So I had my lunch while I waited in line :) It was a lot of fun. Plus they had the FISH music on so the wait was not too bad. I love my deals. All these goodies for under $200.00

Under Destruction

HA HA! That is to say the least. I didn't realize what the loggers would do to our yard! Thankfully we can see past the huge piles of limbs and debris and we can see beautiful landscaping.

First comes the removal of the stumps, well, we have to wait about a month to let the sap dry out of the pine stumps so that when we grind them it does not tear up any machines. For the back yard we are looking at a more natural way of decompositon. I heard of a lot of different ways.

1. cutting a cross with a chainsaw and putting lime on and covering.
2. pouring buttermilk on predrilled holes.
3. covering with stump out and buring with kerosine

We will probably try all of these methods and see which one works the best for us - since we have a lot of stumps.

I have since become a fan of Walter Reeves - Georgia Gardener http://www.walterreeves.com/

his website has a lot of very useful information about planting trees, which we will be doing when it is cool enough.

Another website I have come to love is http://www.arborday.org/

When you join for $10 you get 10 free trees, which will come in very handy but also when you are a member you can buy trees/flower/shrubs at a discount.

I have also heard that we can buy tree seedlings from the national forrestry commision. ( at low cost )

We are very excited, but a little overwhelmed about the mess in our yard.

bye bye Trees!

Click here to view these pictures larger

So It looks like the loggers are all done! YAY! They will still be visiting with us though. Our next door neighbor is having his trees cut down. We used Piedmont Timber Co. Inc. from Good Hope, GA. I would definately recommend these guys. They have all of the equipment and show up and work hard.
Jon says he doesn't know yet to be happy about the trees being gone or to be sick. It was really nice to come home to all of the trees, but it was becomming unsafe because the trees were dying and some of them were really close to the house. So...In the end it all works out.

Geared up for Christmas Already

We have officially started christmas shopping. :) I could not help myself Target had toys marked to 75% off. Now that we have some shopping out of the way I have some new decorating things in my future.

I have found a pattern for stockings. I will probably use a different material, but I just think these are adorable, besides I would like for all of our stockings to match.

I also found a really neat christmas craft. It seems pretty easy. A sugar cone with some frosting to hold the candy, I am sure abby is going to love it.

Oh I just can't wait for christmas this year!! We will have a brand new baby and a toddler to share christmas with this year. So exciting. :)

Okay so another Craft in mind. Pom Pom Wreaths. How neat! I am thinking that we may even be able to do some of these crafts at Abby's Birthday Party.

thanks to babycenter

http://www.babycenter.com/210_pom-pom-wreath_1936.bc

Oh and Candy Cane Reindeer,

fun fun fun!

The loggers

Trees are coming down everywhere...and it is wonderful. We do not have to worry about our home being hit by the pine trees any longer. The beatles were causing our pine trees to die and Jon would cut them down, but how easy it is for a logging company to come in and put a machine around the tree and lay it down. Whew. I am am so excited about the huge change. We have about 50 trees down right now. Monday they are comming back out to cut more. They were held off by the rain.

I do have to say that I was really nervous at first...I mean it is a HUGE change. We are used to living in the woods basically, and now we can see sunshine. Wow. What a difference it makes though comming home and pulling into the driveway. Our house looks like a brand new house, just because it looks so different.

Nathan's Bassinett

We are on our way. We bought Nathan a bassinet today. We are getting so excited for our newest bundle of joy.

New sewing project

I am sewing again. Not clothes this time. Now we are on to cushions...I am making a cushion for baby nathans highchair.

No material yet.. I hope to find something in cream or maybe something plaid.

The Tree Man

The tree man is comming tomorrow to cut our trees down. I am a little scared about this whole ordeal. We have a lot of pines close to our house, that is why he is comming, so that he can take them out. I still get scared that one may fall and hit our house. I am praying that God watches over everyone involved and that no one gets hurt in the process.

This will be a huge change for us. We are so used to feeling like we are in the woods. We are selling our trees for lumber. Things are going to look very different around here. I think after all is said and done that our yard will definately be safer. We always would worry when storms would pop up. So we are happy that our home will be safer.

My baby girl will not nap!

Sleep. Sleep that is all I ask for...For the past week Abby just wants to play at naptime and at bedtime. All of the stuffed animals go on the floor. Somehow the light switch is turned on (repeatedly). Hmm.

Laying down with her does not work

Rocking her does not work

Letting her stay up with us does not work

Hopefully this is just a stage and she will go back to napping. I took her to the playground this morning thinking ahh yes peace at last! HA! I was wrong again! The the joys of motherhood. She is no worse for the wear. I cannot say the same for her bedroom. I think that every book, and every toy was out of the basket. Heaven help me when she can open doors.