Thanksgiving 2013

I can easily say this Thanksgiving was one of my favorites. I am use to going several places for the holidays but this year we just went to two dinners in the evening and it was grand.

We slept in (8:30) and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (read: it was on and we watched in between meeting the many needs of a 12 month old). Hubby put up the tree yesterday on his day off so that would be one less thing we had to do today. The rest of the morning/afternoon I helped cook for the Thanksgiving feast. 

Georgia Grace even got in on helping make the pumpkin pie :) She seriously loves to be in the kitchen. Maybe the culinary gene skips a generation.

Our family of 3 on Thanksgiving 2013

And an outtake. This is her new favorite face to make. Kills me!

My mischievous little turkey. I was so excited for her to wear her Thanksgiving dress. And those orange dot shoes are the best things I have bought her. She's wore them a billion times from September to November and they are still going strong.

Our 11th Thanksgiving together. I remember our 1st Thanksgiving I had ran over a cat on my way to meet his extended family and I was so upset and his mom (now my MIL) was so sweet and comforting. So I decided to stick around! :)

Happy and hungry for the Thanksgiving feast

Some of the aftermath of Thanksgiving 2013.

After Thanksgiving at Grams we went to my Aunt Kim's for Embry Thanksgiving. We had to get a cousin picture of course. We've outgrown stairwell pictures!

Being the only baby on both sides of the family definitely has its perks! All eyes are on her everywhere we go. I don't think she minds it either.

"I'm going to be on Harrison Homeplace" HA!
This is my cousin Michelle AKA Shelky. She is our rich cousin. She lives in Brentwood, Tn, taught Luke Bryan's son (!!!!!) and just bought $800 One Direction tickets!! When she told us about the tickets we said, "It must be nice to be rich" and she said, "I'm not anymore" HA! I love her. (And she will probably kill me for putting this on here but remember she lives in Tennessee so I'm safe. Until Christmas at least.)

And this little piece of gold probably excited me more than all the other Thanksgiving food combine-deer jerky! I look forward to this every winter and I was so pumped when my uncle brought it out. The best thing in the world!!

We are recovering from our food comas today by decorating the house for Christmas! And I have the cutest little elf helping me. :) Scattering ornaments all over the floor was her specialty.

In years past you would have found me in the Black Friday lines today searching for a good bargain but not this year. It was all fine and dandy until they started creeping the sales into Thanksgiving day and that is just something I will not do is shop on the holiday. Call me a traditionalist but there are just some things I won't sacrifice and being with my family on Thanksgiving is one of them. So today we are playing in our pjs, eating leftovers and trimming the tree instead. And I am completely content with that! 

I think I have officially turned Black Friday girl to Cyber Monday girl :)

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Georgia Grace's Wish List

This Christmas will be another year that we can get by with not going big with the gift giving. Actually I hope we can always keep our Christmas gifting for our children to a minimum because I don't want that to be the focus of the season. Presents are great and fun, but there's so much more to it that we forget about if we are wrapped up in the tangible things.

Last year we asked our family to get her just one gift and money for her savings. This year we are also asking them to not overdo it. Our house won't hold it and our baby doesn't need it. And as I mentioned her favorite toy at the moment is my writing pens!

But buying for a baby girl is SO FUN so here are some things I can imagine would be on her wish list if she were making one :)

Wooden Bear Puzzle-I think she is ready to start working puzzles and is that bear family not the cutest? The wood will help it be more durable. I think this is right up her alley.
Kid Kraft Tasty Treats Chef Set-I may or may know about a bigger gift that she is getting that will go very well with a chef apron and hat! Dying over the cuteness.
Elf-One of our all time favorite holiday movies (it's up there with Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story, and Home Alone for us) which holds a special place in our heart because this is the movie we went to see in theater on our very first date. Our little cotton headed ninny muggin has to have a copy!
KidKraft Nantucket Table and Chairs-She is starting to sit in chairs and sits at a table when she is at AKK visiting the big kids. This table will grow with her and I think it will be a solid investment for years to come. And it will match her nursery really well. Santa did well! :)
Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas-This Christmas reading books to her won't be that effective since she can't sit still a minute to listen but they will be great to have for next year. I hope to stock up this season on some of the classics such as this one. I've heard it's every little girl's favorite!
Ducky-When Georgia Grace was born my Mamaw got her a plush ducky because that was my must-have-can't-leave-the-house-without item. Luckily GGH hasn't taken up with it quite like I did but she still enjoys playing with it. Poor ducky has fell victim to the teeth of Owen so she needs a new one!
Sponge Rollers-Why not?!? She's got enough hair for 3 babies her age and it has a natural wave to it so I think these will work well on her.
Bonnet-I have been swooning over a bonnet for her for a LONG time and just haven't taken the plunge. She wasn't wanting to wear hats at all until the last couple of weeks. Maybe she's telling me she really wants one...
Jesus Storybook Bible-You can never start too early. I want Georgia Grace to love Jesus with all her heart and I know this book does a wonderful job taking the stories in the Bible and making them easy to understand for children.
American Girl Mini Doll-My sister and I had American Girl dolls when we were growing up so it's only fitting that Georgia Grace has one of her own. These are the mini dolls that are the perfect size for her and really cheap!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We have so much to be thankful for.

The Holiday Spirit

It is Thanksgiving week which means it is one of my favorite weeks of the year. I can barely contain myself with the excitement!

Marcus' favorite holiday by far is Thanksgiving. He loves the family, food, football, hunting and tradition minus the stress, gifts, and overloaded schedule. And I totally get it. This year our Thanksgiving day is super low key and I am thankful for that.

I am going to act like an "adult" this holiday and contribute to the Thanksgiving feast. I am making deviled eggs and a two cheese squash casserole recipe that Marcus picked out. I am 26 so I guess it's time I start pulling my weight.

My family is blessed with some AMAZING cooks and I have never been needed in the kitchen but this year I'm providing even if it's not needed. It won't hurt me to practice my culinary skills and what a perfect opportunity to do so. If it tastes like dirt at least we will have Gram's dressing and Mamaw Carolyn's sweet potato casserole to fall back on. But I'm hopeful it won't taste like dirt! Or salty brownies. Or cardboard-y pizza. I could go on but I will spare myself.

We still don't have a picture for our Christmas card. I was banking on using one from her 12 month pictures but that didn't pan out so I'm not sure what we will do. Going to have to get creative! But I don't think we can beat last year's card/birth announcement anyway...

I loved getting to spend the entire holiday season at home with my newborn baby last year. We timed that one right!

I can feel the Christmas spirit starting to take over. I have watched a few cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies while rocking Georgia Grace to sleep, switched the sheets to flannel, and started the "When can we get the Christmas decorations down?" plea :) The fireplace has been a blazin' and my warm pajamas and slipper socks have never felt so good at night when I get home from work :)

And last night I baked 40 pumpkin muffins for Marcus' class and we had our first snow of the season!! It was just a dusting but it counts. I jumped at the opportunity to try out some of our winter gear. She doesn't wear many hats but agreed to this one. There's nothing like 19 degree weather and the first snow to put you in the spirit.

The holidays are here! Our 2nd holiday season as daddy + mommy + baby is upon us and we are ready for it!

Five On Friday

One

We have our first turkey handprint artwork. This may be my favorite children's craft of all time. I can't wait to watch that hand grow year after year. 

I found this picture on Pinterest and I feel like it needs to be recreated by the Harrison family. I just love it and I could display it every season.

Two

Tuesday night we went over to my mom's house to watch the UK game (which come to find out was blacked out in our area-bah humbug!) and mom wrangled GGH for me so I was able to spend an hour of uninterrupted time on Pinterest while we listened to the game on the radio. It was a really awesome hour. I have missed "Pie-interest" as my FIL calls it :)

I am swooning over white kitchens. The only thing I have told Marcus that is a definite for our new house is that it will have a white kitchen.

Who am I kidding? I have told him hundreds of definites for the new house :) Must. Stay. Off. Pinterest.

Three

Ebates. I love Ebates! I started using this site a couple of years ago and I have probably made $100 over the course of time. It is super simple. All you have to do is sign up here and every time before you make purchases online go to Ebates and click on your store and you will earn cash back!

Every quarter they will mail you a check for your cash back.With the holiday season and Cyber Monday coming up, now would be a great time to join. You can thank me later! Can't beat free money. 

Four

I received my first text from Georgia Grace this morning. They grow up so fast!

Five

I spent the day yesterday Christmas shopping and running errands with my favorite girl. I can't brag on her enough for how good she did! She did try to run away from me in the mall once and threw items I had placed in the cart out of the cart at the grocery store but she was happy while she was doing all of these things! She is rotten.

She waved at everyone and tried to talk to most of them. She stole the show everywhere we went. Who could resist a super cute waving smiley baby in a fur vest and winter hat?

This picture is a pretty big deal because Georgia Grace has never been one to give herself her own bottle. It's so funny because as soon as she gets it to her mouth and we help her she let's go and let's us feed her. Sippies too. Total diva move! :) But I thank she has finally reluctantly given in to doing it herself.

We ended the trip with a stop at the grocery store (Aldi) and I had to take a picture like I did last time. There is only 6 weeks difference so not a lot of change but her hair is longer and she looks more girl-ish instead of baby :(. I love my grocery shoppin' Georgia!

Happy Friday y'all!

Georgiaisms

Her personality is really starting to blossom and I want to remember the funny things she said/did at the one year marker. I think I will remember all of these things but of course I won't so I better write them down.

She is saying new words daily now. Aunt Shanna was eating a banana and Georgia Grace said, "apple" ha! Same food group so I call it a success.

When she is not wanting to go to sleep, she will hit herself in the head with her fist. She has done this for several months now. It works for a few minutes until she finally gives in. Maybe just maybe she's a little bit hard-headed :)

Her absolutely hands-down favorite thing to play with is my pens. They are the ones that I use to color code my daily planner and I store them in this red pouch. If she sees the red pouch in my purse or laying out on the counter she has to have it. Luckily she hasn't figured out how to take the top off of the pens yet. It will be a very sad day when that happens.

We had our first sister/doggy brother scuffle the other day over a toy. The toy was originally hers but Owen had chewed the eyes off (any toy with hard eyeballs WILL be destroyed) so we had let him have it and she decided she wanted it back. There were no tears but several back and forth takeaways. It was hysterical to watch. Who needs TV? We have free entertainment on the daily!

She waves to people ALL the time. Monday night she was laying down in the living room just waving her little hand off at the TV and saying, "bye shhhh"--the verdict is still out on who/what "shhhh" is. She also did the parade wave to the church congregation Sunday as we were going out to the nursery. She does not lack confidence!

She loves to throw things away in the trashcan. About a month ago our TV remote went missing. We searched high and low for a week. Then we started noticing random things in the trash-my pens, cellphones, babydoll bottle. I think it's safe to say the remote is in a landfill somewhere.

The other night she pulled her chair up to the fire all by herself! She had a "fireside chat" with herself for a little while. She is such a little person now.

Our house, heart, and hands are full!

Tradition & Throw-Up

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was one of those weekends you would gladly take a redo on. You know it's bad when you look forward to Monday and a fresh, clean start.

Marcus & Georgia both had stomach problems this weekend. We diagnosed Marcus with the stomach bug and Georgia we really aren't sure. I really think she had a touch of it herself. Because...

She fell asleep in these positions. Very non-Georgia Grace like. She has been a crib sleeper/napper since she was 12 weeks old so this was the first sign something was up.

She was totally fine one minute, laughing and jabbering, and then out of nowhere she upchucked...in her beautiful smocked pink pearl dress at Aunt Paigey's wedding shower three hours from home in a coffee shop!

Thank the Lord for a change of clothes and wipes.

Bless her sweet heart though. Her gag reflex that I have mentioned before is so intense.

We decided earlier in the week it was time to start brushing her teeth with an actual toothbrush. I get the toothbrush to her mouth and she gags! It is the strangest thing.

Even though it was a yucky weekend, we pressed on and attended my sister's wedding shower and church on Sunday (Marcus didn't get sick until Sunday night, and we didn't realize GGH was sick until afterward. We try not to spread sicky germs around!).

Paige and Eric's shower was held at his family business You & Me Coffeeshop in his hometown of Corbin, Kentucky. Such a neat, quaint shop situated in the downtown area.

Cute bride alert! 

They do showers a little different in Corbin. The shower was hosted by 9 different women who were associated with the Salmons family. The ladies opened the gifts for the couple and displayed them on the table for everyone to see. If the shower had been in someone's home, each gift would have been displayed in the room that it was for (i.e. sheets-bedroom, knives-kitchen). I had never been to a shower like that but I appreciated the tradition it represented. Also, it was an all-female shower besides the groom. I like that. Very southern.  

The newlyweds with their favorite niece who was giving some lovins during picture time. This was her 2nd OOTD.

I am so glad we were able to make the three hour trip for this special event. The drive from WKy to EKy is beautiful this time of year. Long, but beautiful.

During our outfit change, this happened! I was a little distraught from the whole event obviously. At least she was still for a minute :)

Sunday we kicked off turkey season! She's way too busy for pictures these days. This was the best I could get after several blurred attempts. She stayed in the church nursery and only cried for about 30 seconds and then she was fine. Progress!

Here's to a better week. We need everyone well and stomachs functioning properly for the Thanksgiving feasts next week!

Five On Friday

Watch out y'all. I am doing two link-ups today. I don't know if that's legal but I'm doing it anyway :) I love my Five On Friday tradition but I didn't want to miss the chance to meet other Kentucky/Tennessee bloggers out there so I'm double dipping. Two times the fun!

One

If this is your first time visiting my blog-welcome! Here is just a tidbit about me.
I was born and raised in Morgantown, Kentucky- a small town in the southcentral portion of the state. And when I say small, I mean small. Three stoplights throughout our whole town small! But I love it, I love Kentucky, and I love living in the south. This is home.

I married my high school sweetheart Marcus in May of 2010 and we welcomed our first child Georgia Grace in October of 2012. The two things I always wanted, to be a wife and mother, I have been given. I can't put a number on my endless blessings.

Currrently we are enjoying life with our one year old (wha?!?) daughter, finding contentment in our 900 square foot starter home but making plans for our forever home, and trying to keep our lives balanced so we keep our priorities in order. I work four days a week as the Director of Nutrition at the hospital in the next town over and I love love love my job. Georgia Grace's great-grandmothers keep her for us the days that I work. This is one blessing where I can't even begin to express my gratitude.

The exhausted, lengthy version of our story is scattered throughout this blog. I just started blogging last year at the end of my pregnancy so I am a newbie but it has quickly become my hobby and I love the purpose and community it has brought to me. This is our virtual scrapbook that we will cherish forever. Thanks for visiting my corner of the www!

Two

As I mentioned on Tuesday, naptime interferred with our Veteran's Day plans so we made new plans and went on Wednesday. The VFW Ladies Auxiliary has erected Walls of Honor for the Veterans in our county that have served in the Armed Forces. My Papaw Porter is one of those Veterans and we are so proud of his service to our country. We found his brick and took a picture beside it. His legacy lives on.

Three

With our trip to Jackson Hole just a month away I decided it was time to start stocking up on new winter gear for Georgia Grace. I am a sucker for anything quilted and polka dots. And her fringed Minnetonkas couldn't be cuter. We are ready for the mountains! 

Four

The Good Life Blog

I'm making a valiant effort to keep our schedules from being too scheduled. I know I am often guilty of being overbooked and boasting my busyness. Motherhood has really opened my eyes to the importance of being intentional with my time. I want my life to be focused on what matters most. November has allowed me to appreciate my weeknights at home just cooking supper and playing with our daughter by the cozy fireplace. Less is best.

Five

Tomorrow will mark the 10 year anniversary of when Marcus asked me to be "his girl". He wasn't even driving yet (I robbed the cradle) so I had to drive to his house in the snow so he could ask me! I could have never imagined on that day that we would be here 10 years later. What a fun ride it has been! Sixteenth birthdays, driver's licenses, proms, graduations, college, first jobs, first home, a baby and so much more. We were just kids and we grew up together falling more and more in love along the way. He is mine forever and I love doing life with him. I could not ask for more!
Happy 10 years of US to my one and only!

Weekend plans of hunting and a trip to Corbin for my sister's wedding shower are on tap. TGIF!

Weekend + Veteran's Day

I will confess I am dragging this week. And I'm not sure why. We had a normal, restful weekend and I got more sleep than usual. I could barely keep my eyes open yesterday, hence the weekend recap on Tuesday. Caffeine and B12 haven't been able to touch this lethargy! I think it's still the aftermath of the time change.

Saturday afternoon we introduced Georgia Grace to playing in a pile of leaves. Our beautiful Kentucky foliage is mostly on the ground now so Marcus raked them up and we just had fun.

My favorite toothy grin

 Sis observed vest season this weekend with her fur frock. I can't even handle it.

I love this picture except for our concrete driveway and tire shadows in the background. It's a Christmas card contender considering our professional pictures we had made had a lot less smiling!

This will more than likely be our last fall at our happy little home. We will miss this place when we leave. The tree in our front yard saved us lots of money on energy with its canopy, provided great shade for Georgia Grace's first summer pool days, and gave Marcus poison ivy the week before our wedding ha! The memories. 

We had a special guest Saturday night. Our cousin Keagen told me Wednesday that he thought this weekend would be a good one for him to spend the night with us again HA! Of course it was. I love his boldness and confidence in staying at our house. We always want our family and friends to feel welcome in our home. It was a fun night of pizza, football, Sandlot, cookies, forts, and popcorn. I actually think the fort idea was Marcus's. :)

We've decided we are going to hire Keagen to come every Sunday morning to watch GGH while we get ready for church.

Sunday brought our first official boo-boo. Georgia Grace was speed walking through the kitchen when she slipped and hit the edge of our bench which cut the back of her ear. She cried just a little bit and it wasn't until 5 minutes later that we found blood. We didn't think the gash called for stitches so we are cleaning it and applying triple antibiotic cream. She is a tough girl!

Sunday night we went to the birthday boy Cainan's dinosaur party. I can't believe this little country boy is already 5! I remember the morning he was born so well. He stole all of our hearts that day. Happy Birthday Cainan Dakota! We love you!

And in honor of Veterans' Day, here is our girl holding waving the flag for the pledge of allegiance at AKK yesterday morning! It's safe to say she is proud to be an American.

We had plans Sunday to go to the new memorial wall on the courthouse lawn to see it and take a picture with Papaw's brick but naptime interferred. Maybe this weekend we can make that happen.

The high is 39 today. Thank goodness we will be snuggled up at home tonight watching the Cats game. Homemade pizza is on the menu. Go Big Blue!