"In the air, there's a feeling of Christmas..."

We had a "Christmasy" weekend together- drinking hot chocolate, listening to Christmas carols, and looking for houses lit up with Christmas lights. I love this time of year! Saturday night, we took the kids to Sharon Woods to see the light show. Ella hardly stopped squealing the whole time. It's so fun to see things through her eyes. I think one of her favorite things was getting to sit on Daddy's lap in the front seat while Cade sat on mine. She thought that was pretty special...

Are you having fun, Ella?!

After driving through the lights, we headed into Santa-Land. We listened to carolers, check out the train display, and even had a family portrait taken with Santa! It's pretty cute. Cade sat on his lap and frowned the whole time. Ella wanted nothing to do with him and stood as far away from him as she could stand and still be in the picture. haha!! She did manage to blurt out that she wants a new puzzle for Christmas. :)

Looking at the trains...

The first candy cane of the season!!

Ella's been telling us for weeks that she wants a pink Christmas tree for her room and we finally found one! We decorated it last night with little red balls and candy cane ornaments that she picked out...

So proud!

"Hey, Mommy! Do you want to sit here and look at my pretty tree with me?" :)

Cade wanted in on the fun, too!!
Ella wanted to leave the tree on while she fell asleep last night, but when she was still awake after eleven, we decided it wasn't a very good idea! I don't know whether it was the light or the excitement. We'll have to try something different tonight!

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving week with our families, just hanging out and sharing time and food. I love being together and not worrying about work or the stress of daily life. Wednesday night, we had dinner with the Lawyers (dogs included!). It's so fun when we all get together. My cheeks are usually hurting from all the laughing!
Cade getting lots of attention from Carson and Ella. I have a picture exactly like this from three years ago, with Ella in the jumper and Payton and Lexi standing at her side. I can't believe how much these kiddos have grown!
The "kid table". Ella looked at this little table and said, "Mommy, this is SO coooool!" This is what memories are made of, right?

Cade was not going to be left out. He managed to bat his eyelashes enough for Aunt Carla to give him some mashed potatoes... Thursday morning, we had a yummy brunch with Papaw and Mamaw. It was a wonderful way to start off a day of feasting!!

What I am most thankful for this Thanksgiving... We headed down to Mammaw Freeman's Thursday afternoon. I loved getting to see family I don't see very often, plus it was fun to show off my new baby. :)

Mammaw always loves the babies. Here she is with sweet, little Laila...
Cade didn't waste any time finding a pretty girl to spend some time with!! haha! Thanks, Jalyn!

The boys graciously offered to hold the babies so April and I could eat first. We've got two of the best!! The three newest members of the Freeman family- Laila, Slade, and Cade...

Big hugs and a picture with Mammaw, or "Grammy's mommy" as Ella called her, before we left...
I was once again reminded of how fortunate we are to have so much family to love and to love on us. That is my ultimate thanksgiving this year. I hope your day was just as blessed!!

Cowboy trip

I know I'm so very behind with my blogging! I'm going to go back a couple weeks and try to play catch up. The weekend before Thanksgiving, the Davidson boys took a much-anticipated trip to Texas to go to a Dallas Cowboys game and see the new stadium. I pretty sure, no, make that positive, that they had an absolute blast together. I kind of got the feeling that if they could have stayed the week, caught the Thursday game, and completely missed Thanksgiving, they would have!! I'm glad they had such a great time and so thankful Chris and Kyle got to spend a little extra time with their dad.
In front of the new stadium...

Okay, so I'm not even going to try to comment on these pictures, because no doubt I would say the wrong thing. :) Maybe I will go back through and edit when Chris gets home later...

Inside the stadium...

Redskins vs. Cowboys. Go, Cowboys!!

Cheering the victory...
I love this one!!
And don't think we all got left out- the three of them came home with Cowboy gear for the whole family- baby footballs included!!

Girls' Night

Ella and I had a Girls' Night Out last night. It was so fun and I loved being able to spend some one-on-one time with my favorite girl. Ella was so excited about it all day, telling Cade at least a hundred times, "You don't get to go, Bubby. Only the girls get to go. You have to stay here with Daddy!" :)
We stopped by Barnes and Noble. Ella and I could spend a whole day in that place! I'm so glad she's such a book lover.

Oh, wow! A whole wall of Little Miss and Mr. books! Aunt Pam got us started and we have been collecting them ever since. Ella pointed out that we have most of the Little Miss, but none of the Mr. books, "so that's what I need to tell Santa about!" haha!

Love this one...

Then on to the hair salon for a haircut. Waiting patiently like such a big girl...

Cheese!

Getting a shampoo. She kept saying, "Mommy, this tickles!"

And a blow-dry. "Wow, my eyebrows are really going crazy!" haha! Needless to say, she was providing some good entertainment for everyone within earshot. :)

Ta-da!

Yea! All the good clients get a sucker afterward! :)
My pretty, pretty girl...

Last stop: Steak and Shake!! Yum, banana milkshake!!

Such a goofball!

I have to say, this little gal ate every last bite of her dinner and then asked for more! She told me over and over, "Mommy, this is really awesome!" and I had to agree! I loved it! We did manage to misplace a shiny pink purse over the course of the evening, containing a beloved Minnie phone and two favorite lip glosses. Total party foul, I know. We retraced our steps and asked around, but still couldn't find it. I guess it's safe to say Santa's list just got a little bit longer. :)

It won't be long now!!

He'll be on the move soon!

I'm a lucky woman to have two incredibly sweet and beautiful men in my life...

and I'm so thankful this is the man my babies have in their lives.

Ella looked up at Chris today and said, "Daddy, you're the best! You make me so happy!" It just makes my heart swell to hear her say things like that.

The jumper

Little Cade absolutely loves being in his jumper...

I love it, too, because it gives me some much-needed time to get things done and I don't have to feel guilty leaving him be for a bit, knowing he's having a grand time. I snapped these pictures of him the other day and, after seeing this one... I couldn't help but remember this one of his big sis doing the same thing in the same jumper... I can't even believe that was just three short years ago! Of course, the difference is Ella didn't have a big sister pushing her in the jumper, trying to send her flying off the door frame! But if she had, she probably would have loved it just as much as Cade does. :)