I am thankful.

On this dreary, kinda rainy Thanksgiving Day, I want to give thanks. 

Before I do this, though, I want to say that this has been a very different Thanksgiving Day for Matt, Chase and me.  You see, normally, Thanksgiving (and Christmas) consists of a lot of driving and rushing around from Durham, to Henderson, to Hillsborough, to Durham and then sometimes back to Henderson the next day.  It's usually really stressful and not very relaxing.  Today, however, started out very differently.  Chase woke us up around 5am crying.  I let him cry for a few minutes hoping he'd just go back to sleep but about 10 min. later he was still at it.  So I went to get him and brought him into our room so we could all get some more sleep.  He normally doesn't sleep very well in our bed but I thought I'd try it anyway.  Good thing I did that  because he woke up and threw up twice.  Poor little guy.  He was so sick and pale.  He normally wakes up between 6 and 7am but after falling back asleep this morning he slept until 9:30!  So after consulting with my sisters (both of whom have little boys), I decided that we shouldn't risk spreading the germs not only to the little ones but also my Nanny.  It's not worth taking that chance and making everyone sick.

So, back to what I was saying.  As I sit on the couch under a blanket while Chase naps and Matt watches some show about climbing Mount Everest, I want to recognize all that I have to be thankful for:

1) God.  He has given me all these things and for that I am so grateful.

2) My husband.  Yes, he drives me crazy sometimes.  (sorry, Matt.  But you do.  Sometimes you even do it on purpose to see me get all fired up), he's crazy about ESPN, sports, and the Discovery channel.  But I love that he would rather spend the weekend with Chase and me than anyone else.  He is also pretty silly and he makes me laugh on a daily basis.  I love him.  I love that we are a team.

3) Chase.  I feel like it's important to first be thankful for Matt because he is the man who gave me my precious baby.  It's so important to me to put Matt first so that Chase has 2 loving parents who love each other first and then love him next.  Children see (and feel) everything and they're smart.  I believe that it gives a child confidence when they have parents who love each other.  But I digress.  I'm thankful for my energetic, silly, playful son who is so loving and sweet at the same time.  He is so tender-hearted and once almost started crying when he (accidently) hit me with a toy and I pretended to cry.  I hope he's always like that.

4) My family.  My dad and Martha drove up yesterday (from Chattanooga, TN) and we spent the afternoon and night cooking and hanging out.  Abby, Chris and Jake came up on Tuesday to watch Chase so I could go to work (Betty Ann had the flu and Leslie is with her family in GA).  I miss the rest of my family but I am thankful for the fact that I talk to my Mama and Katy (as well as my dad and Abby, of course) on a regular basis and I will see them soon.

5) Matt's family.  I hear so many people talk about how they don't get along with their in-laws.  I never really understood that because Matt's family (sister, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins...everyone) has always treated me like I was one of them.  They are such special people and I am so grateful that I now not only have my own biological family but I have my family by marriage as well.

So even though I'm not sitting around the table eating turkey, dressing, and pecan pie right now (sigh), I want to say all that I'm thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Just a Sunday afternoon

It was just a Sunday afternoon and we were just playing around in the yard. 

It started out with Matt bringing his golf club outside to practice 'chipping' a few golf balls...

Then it turned into Chase wanting to get out his golf club.

(He was an especially happy boy yesterday after a really good afternoon nap).

There were lots of smiles and and even more giggles.

And looks that he gave us just like this one.  Enough to make anyone melt. 

This sweet, happy little boy makes his mama and daddy fall more in love with him every day.  :)

House divided

Yesterday Matt and I went to the UNC/NC State game.  I was really excited since it was here in Chapel Hill.  I love any excuse to visit the UNC campus.  It was a gorgeous day, with Carolina blue skies, not a cloud in the sky...Too bad the gorgeous day ended badly (at least for us Tarheels) but it was still a great day for football.

We tailgated with Lauren and her friends.  I got her to pose with Matt for a quick family photo.

Then Matt and I took our turn for our Dickerson family shot. 

Well, Heels.  There's always next year, right? 

Need a little something??



To the right are holiday tags, to the left are little 'purses' that can hold a gift card



Reindeer food (oatmeal and glitter to feed Santa's reindeer)  :)



My mother-in-law, Betty Ann started her own business called, "A Little Something".  She is incredibly talented and makes every single one of her products herself.  She makes and sells really cute gifts, favors, cards, and other paper products.  She sells these products at craft/vendor shows (similar to the Raleigh Junior League 'A Shopping Spree' in October).  Tonight, tomorrow and Saturday, however, she's having an Open House at her house.  Here are a few of her products that I think are too cute not to share:



Tags to hang on a wine bottle to 'dress it up' or to use if giving it as a gift.



Small notepads with matching pens



cute gift bags that she made to thank people for coming.  (How thoughtful!)  They were each filled with homemade chex mix that she of course made.

Don't you love her stuff???  I definitely do and wanted to share it.  If you live in the Chapel Hill/Hillsborough area and have any interest in purchasing any of her stuff let me know and I can give you more information.  Her website is http://www.ineedalittlesomething.com/.  Happy shopping!!  :)

Fall fun

Leslie took these pictures of Chase and Samantha playing in/with the leaves earlier today.

Hmm.  What do we do with these??

That expression on his face cracks me up.

Looks like he's trying to find some more...

Thanks so much for sharing these pictures, Leslie!!  I love seeing the 2 kids play together.  :)

Is chalk poisonous?

Anyone else ever wondered this?  Anyone else's child pop a piece of chalk in their mouth and swallow it like a piece of candy?

Well, Chase did this earlier this evening.  It took me completely by surprise because he's been pretty good about not eating things that aren't food.  I mean sure he'll put things in his mouth.  But as soon as he does and realizes that it doesn't taste so good, he gives me a look (waiting for my reaction).  I will (typically) exclaim, "Chase!  What is in your mouth??  Spit that out!" and he quickly does just that.

This was not the case tonight.  We were having a play date at a friend's house and Chase was 'drawing' on the chalkboard easle.  Not long after that I saw him out of the corner of my eye reach down, grab the nub of blue chalk, pop it in his mouth and quickly chew it up.  Literally in the blink of an eye, the blue chalk disappeared.  If there was any doubt in my mind that it happened, Chase's blue teeth, tongue, and lips gave it away.

So, Just in case you're wondering, "Chalk is generally considered to be nonpoisonous, but it can cause problems if large amounts are swallowed." (this is according to drugs.com)

I guess we're good for now.  :)

The outlets are open!!!

Yes, I know.  People are CRAZY about the outlets that have just opened in Mebane...Well, I'm a little bit embarrassed to admit that WE are some of those crazy people.  I mean, to give you a little background about us to explain, here goes:  We moved about a mile from Southpoint Mall a week before finding out that we were pregnant with Chase, which led to shopping being one of our favorite pasttimes.  Fast-forward 2 1/2 years and we've started getting a little tired of Southpoint.  (Nordstrom Rack has spiced up our lives quite a bit, but still).  At any rate, we decided to venture out last weekend to see what all the fuss was about.

One of our first stops was The Children's Place.  We found a cute, affordable hat for Chase to wear since it was freezing outside.  He got a little stir-crazy from just riding around in his stroller (he'd much rather be running around any day), so we let him out.  He immediately crawled under this table and made himself at home on this little shelf.

"Mama??  I'm TIRED of all this shopping.  I'd rather be outside PLAYING.  Are you DONE yet???"

So, not long after we realized that Chase was DONE, we found this cute little carousel right outside that costs $1 for 3 kids to ride for a few minutes...Chase was IN HEAVEN.  See for yourselves:

See what I mean??  So happy.  :)

Playing

Like I mentioned before, the recent computer issues have set me back quite a bit with blog postings.  (These issues have also about sent me OVER THE EDGE several times as well.  But that is another discussion...).  You'll notice that Chase has a ghost on his shirt.  It's obviously no longer Halloween.  or October.  But I took these pictures a week or so ago when Chase and I were playing on the playground at the church near our house.

 (He needed to bring his goldfish along as well.  I swear, that is one of reasons that Chase is still a little runt.  Because he is always on the go.  He likes to take his food with him on the go as well.  And if that's how I get him to eat more then I'm usually ok with that.)

 Love this expression.  :)

 ...And this expression:

 

What a sweet boy.  I know every parent probably feels like this but looking at these pictures makes my heart melt.  :)  I can't believe how crazy I am about this little boy...

Bzzzz!

Our laptop has been "sick" for the last couple of weeks so I've gotten way behind on my blog postings.  At any rate, I had to post these Halloween pictures of Chase that I took yesterday from the church's Trunk or Treat.  He was a precious bumble bee.  Well, you can see for yourself:

I don't think he was all that excited about trick-or-treating, but he did love seeing all the other kids.  Here, he's got a ring pop in one hand and Aunt Lauren's keys in the other (necessities, you know).

Here's the view from the back.  I think the little stinger on his butt is hilarious.  :)

The bubble machine was a hit with Chase as well.