Fantasy of Trees

Every Thanksgiving week since Michael and I have been dating, we have been involved in the Fantasy of Trees. For the past several years, Michael's mom has been in charge of the Decorate a Cookie booth, which means we usually spend a lot of time decorating and working the booth. This year with Thatcher's arrival, we were not able to work, but Michael and Brenton were able to visit the Fantasy of Trees on Friday. Unfortunately, (and sadly) I was unable to attend because I needed to stay home with Thatcher. Brenton had a good time making a cookie, riding the carousel, and looking at the trees. I was sad to have missed this time, but I called several times to get updates on how things were going. Brenton visited Santa, but was not very crazy about having to sit on his lap.

We are Thankful

This year we have so much to be thankful for, mostly our 2 boys!

New Football Gear

For a big brother gift, Brenton's Granny, Papaw, Nona, and Popa got him a full UT football uniform, including the most exciting football helmet. Brenton was so excited to open the gift and was even more excited to see the helmet. Now he has enough helmets for all of us to wear, which makes for some funny scenes around our house, as we are sitting around all wearing helmets.

Thatcher's First Bath

On Thanksgiving, my family (or part of it) came over to have lunch with us. Being our first day at home, we were not all ready when they arrived. In the middle of getting lunch prepared, we gave Thatcher a bath, which he could not decide if he liked.

Welcome Thatcher Blayne

On Monday, November 24, Michael and I went to Baptist West Hospital at 6:00am and they started to induce my labor. After a fairly simple labor (compared to labor with Brenton), at 4:50pm, Thatcher Blayne entered our world. He weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz and was 20 inches long (1 oz bigger and 1/2 inch shorter than Brenton). At first, he looked very much like Brenton, but he has changed a little over the last few days but still looks like Brenton a lot. We came home from the hospital yesterday and are doing well, except that Thatcher seems to want to be awake and fussing from about 12:00am until about 4 or 5am. Hopefully, we can work on being awake some this evening and be able to get a little more nighttime sleep, so we can keep up with Brenton during the day. Brenton loves Thatcher and kisses him all the time. Nursing Thatcher is the hardest part at this point, but we are working out ways to keep Brenton busy. Thanks to all those who have been praying for us! We have much to be thankful for this year!

Dollywood at Christmas

Last night, we took our last family trip to Dollywood this year. With Thatcher's induction scheduled for Monday, it was a now or never situation. We had planned on going last Friday, but it kept threatening to rain and left us going on the coldest night in November. So at 39 1/2 weeks pregnant in about 25 degree weather we braved it and spent a couple of hours at Dollywood. We mostly went from one building to the next and watched a few shows. We managed to stay warm, well, at least not too cold. We had a good time and enjoyed some cider and cinnamon bread (yummy!).

Football Time

Over the last month or so, Brenton has become obsessed with football. Our nephew Justin, plays for Alcoa and Brenton thinks all football players are JT. Justin found a small helmet to let Brenton use and he loves it! The night we got it, he wanted to watch football on tv wearing it and even read his bedtime story with it on. Michael had to leave it on his changing table so he could see it before he would go to bed.

Brenton's Christmas Tree

As many of you know, we are a little obsessed with Christmas decorations. We decided last year that we would have a tree for each of our children, so that we could have a special place for their ornaments to collect over the years. Last year, we started Brenton's tree with blues and browns (what else would we use) and this year, so far, he has added a duck and a football to the tree. We want the trees to reflect where the boys are each year, so we are adding things he makes or is especially interested in. He wants to turn the tree on every morning right after he gets out of bed and can even turn it on and off himself. To say the least, he loves it!

Big Brother Training

Last week, we decided to give Brenton some big brother training. We got out a bottle and a bowl and spoon and practiced feeding his bear. It was so cute, but I hope that whoever he feeds is not very hungry because he is a fast feeder. Brenton's favorite part was wiping the bears mouth with a cloth.

Christmas Already?

Okay, so we know that it is not even Thanksgiving and we usually don't start Christmas "stuff" until at least the day before Thanksgiving, but this year is different and Thatcher will be coming very soon. This weekend we decorated our house (well, mostly Michael decorated) and it is almost done. We have been listening to Christmas music and already have all but a few gifts bought, so since we are already in the Christmas spirit, we felt that our blog should reflect it!

Big as a House

I got to looking at pictures of me this pregnancy and my pregnancy with Brenton. I feel huge this time! These pictures are both taken about 10 days before my due dates each time. I would normally never post this, but for those who have not seen me lately. Here I am in all my glory! (the yellow shirt is with Brenton, the brown shirt is now)

Brenton's Big Boy Seat

For the past few weeks, Brenton has refused to sit in his highchair without totally coming apart and crying his really sad cry. It really is our fault, because we let him sit at this little table we borrowed from my parents as a treat, which then turned into habit. It was all going well, until he realized that he could get up and walk around, which he then wanted to do at every meal, which was not ok with us. We had bought him a booster seat for Christmas and we had to break it out. He thought that it was really funny and it kept him in one place.

Trunk N' Treats

So, after a very short (less than 1 hour) nap on Friday, we got ready for Trunk N' Treats at church. Brenton was dressed as a duck, which of course as most of you know is his favorite animal. We didn't think that Brenton was going to leave his hat on, but to our surprise, there was enough action that he forgot about it and left it on all night. Brenton got his hands on a sucker and was totally taken with it!

When we went to visit the other cars, Brenton could not understand what we were doing at first, but quickly got the hang of holding up his pumpkin for treats.

Our Sunday school class decorated a car with the Grease theme and handed out candy. It was a fun night, but by the time we got home, we had a sleeping duck on our hands!

Pumpkin Patch

On Friday, Michael's pod took a trip to the pumpkin patch. We were suppose to go the Friday before, but got rained out. The weather was perfect and Brenton loved to walk through the fields. The pumpkins were pretty picked over at this point in the season, but Brenton (and Daddy) decided on a little green one, just Brenton's size. Brenton wore himself out and was asleep before we got to the end of the road!

Carving Brenton's Jack-o-lantern

On Thursday, we finally had time to carve Brenton's pumpkin, which he was excited about. After dinner we went outside and Michael got started. Brenton wanted to touch the "guts" of the pumpkin, but changed his mind quickly after he got one touch. By the time we were done, he was over it and did not want to have his picture made. After about 100 pictures, we finally got a few worth keeping!

Family Fall Pictures

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