"I like turkey"

Thanksgiving was celebrated a little different this year. We went to Nashville to spend the day at my brother in law's (Matt's) parents house. So we were able to see Amanda and Matt while they were in town, it was very nice. We felt very welcome and had a wonderful time. Their house sits on several acres, so little Cyril had a blast being able to run around and play with the boys. He got to swing on the rope swing, and only dipped his legs in the creek...I knew he would get wet at some point! They also played Power Rangers and had sword fights. Cyril also had a chance to collect the chicken eggs, which he passed on, but he did try to feed a chicken out of his hand. He also informed us that he likes turkey, and that was the first food he went for and took a huge bite :) Oh yeah, and I can't forget that Cyril styled his own hair after his shower...his new look is "spikey."

Cyril on the rope swing

Aunt Amanda with the boys

Uncle Matt and Tommy

Cockadoodledoo!!!!

Here chicky chicky

Daddy and Tommy

My Mother In Law Susan and Amanda

Then on Friday we had Thanksgiving again at my parents house. My sister Beth was in town as well as my cousin Matt. Beth and Matt came over Friday morning to help us put the Christmas lights up on the house. Beth wrangled the boys and Matt helped me with the lights on the bushes and the tree.

Thank you everyone for all of your thoughts and prayers for Mark and his family (see previous post). He has been removed from all machines, is breathing on his own, and is only hooked up to an IV. He is still unresponsive and not expected to recover. They say he was down too long without oxygen and therefore has extensive brain damage. I continue to ask for your prayers and hope for a miracle.

Very Thankful

I have so much to be thankful for this year. An amazing God, wonderful and caring husband, helpful little Cyril, and of course our newest addition that we were blessed with this year, Tommy. I do not think our lives could be any richer. We are blessed with fantastic friends and family. Cyril and I both have jobs that we are happy with and enjoy going to. We are able to provide for our family, and are blessed far beyond what we deserve. Please take some time to reflect on your life and realize how richly blessed you have been this year. A lot of times we take blessings for granted, reflect on everyday miracles and give yourself an opportunity to see just how amazing your life truly is...I assure you that you are blessed far beyond belief :)

As I write this to you, my Aunt Barb's brother in law is in the ICU with his family surrounding him. He suffered a heart attack yesterday morning while on a run. I am not really sure what is going on, his condition or prognosis. I just know they need a lot of prayer. His name is Mark Adams, I know his wife Martie, daughter Hillary, and son Jeff would appreciate all the prayers you can send. Hillary said it well when she asked for people to "Please keep him in your thoughts, prayers, send good juju, whatever you believe." And I ask the same of you.

On a more positive note, Tommy turned five months old today :) I got some pictures of he and Cyril this morning. He is still trying to crawl. He can get his knees under and rocks, but hasn't gotten the coordination down to move his hands at the same time that he moves his legs. I don't think it will be long before he is all over the place. As for little Cyril, he is really excited about our upcoming trip to Disney World in February. He has already started packing his toys :) He is also excited that he is about to turn five in December and celebrate at the bounce house with a Power Ranger party! He is growing up fast!

I hope that you and your family have a great Thanksgiving, eat lots of turkey, and most of all enjoy each others company. May the blessings of God be with you today and always.

Jenny

Empty House

Our guests are gone, little Cyril is at the Lady Vols game with my parents.  Cyril is in the bedroom with a sleeping Tommy and Hercules.  It seems too quiet around here, definitely not used to this. We had a great week with Uncle Tom and Aunt Teresa, so glad they were able to stay until yesterday. Cyril was able to take some time off too so that was nice, not to mention all of the nice meals we ate this week!  I can't remember the last time I cooked this much, especially since we have been watching what we are eating.  I have been trying to work on a little Christmas shopping and taking care of things for Cyril's Power Ranger birthday party that seems to be approaching fast. 

Tommy is now successfully getting his knees under himself and pushing up with his arms at the same time, I think we will have an early crawler on our hands. This morning before church he made a couple successful crawling movements...  He is also working on sitting up unassisted. He would rather be standing or sitting any day rather than laying down (unless he is on his changing table because for some reason he loves that). Not to mention he is gnawing on his hands to no avail. Looks like he is working on some teeth.

Little Cyril is enjoying school. This past week they were learning about transportation. So we had many conversations as to what our mode of transportation was or what it would be if we were flying, sailing etc...  This week he will get to take a field trip to a park that is near the school. They walk through the woods to get there so they have some "nature exploration" as well :)
My husband Cyril isn't up to much new. We are still getting used to him having braces. I keep forgetting and making corn on the cob with dinner as it is one of little Cyril's favorites. But we are having fun with it as well, we pick out the colors of his bands for each month. For November little Cyril picked out blue on the top and green on the bottom (of course it has to do with the ranking of the Power Rangers).

As for me, not much is new. I just got done baking some oatmeal cookies with cinnamon chips for a friend that had surgery. I have been going to the gym quite a bit and it feels great. Starting to get my strength back and shed some baby weight.

Guess that is all for now, Cyril just came out to ask what I would like for dinner...

Scooting and Yoga

Tommy is definitely learning to scoot. He is working at it very hard! He is also learning some yoga poses! Enjoy :)

Airplane? :)

Up Dog

Plank

Whirlwind Weekend

This was an amazing weekend for our family! We had a lot of family come in for Tommy's baptism on Sunday. My maternal Grandparents, sister Beth, Uncle Tom, Aunt Teresa, Aunt Kathy, and Uncle John all made it in to share the special day with us. My grandparents and Beth got in late Friday night. Little Cyril and I greeted them at the airport! Then Uncle Tom and Aunt Teresa arrived Saturday afternoon. And Uncle John and Aunt Kathy came in from Atlanta for the day on Sunday.

So on Saturday (after the gym and little Cyril going to his friend Carter Rose's birthday party) we had everyone over for dinner to celebrate Uncle Tom's 50th birthday and also as a thank you to everyone for coming in for the baptism. We had a nice spread of salad, toasted ravioli, and of course Big Ed's pizza. Then we topped it off with a homemade angel food cake and spiced pumpkin pecan ice cream :) We even had a nice fire in the fire pit and roasted huge marshmallows! 

Cyril keeping an eye on HIS pizza :) Cheese no sauce of course!

Sunday morning we were glad for the extra hour from the time change to get everyone ready for the big day. Tommy had woken up every two hours during the night so he took a long nap before church. I was sure that would mean he would fuss during the service, but he didn't end up fussing much at all. It was a great service. Three other children were baptized as well as Tommy. He didn't mind the water being poured on his head. My mother and father in law got him a bronze shell (what is traditionally used in our church for the pouring of the holy water for a baptism), so that is what Father Kallio poured the water with. Tommy also wore a special cross that is his Great Grandpa Carter's and that was nice too! I was thrilled that Tommy was able to fit in his entire outfit. It was the same outfit little Cyril wore for his baptism, that Cyril's mother had made for him to wear at his baptism 29 years ago! Right down to the socks and shoes, it was all my husbands original outfit for his baptism :)

My friend Lauren came and took pictures for us

With Tommy's Godparents Tom and Teresa

After church everyone gathered at my parents for some lunch and some cake of course to celebrate Tommy's baptism!

Beautiful cake made by Kristin Sharp

Aunt Kathy and Mom

Evan and Cyril

Then in the evening we went over to my in laws for some more food! Good 'ole hamburgers and hot dogs :) Where Tommy worked on yoga poses and showed us he knows how to scoot!