With a Grateful Prayer and a Thankful Heart

Today, I am grateful for...

a wonderful husband who I love so much and we got to have a great Thanksgiving dinner with at the Coast Guard station.

two beautiful children who make me laugh and smile all the time and always make me happy that I'm a mother.

 a great family of moms, dads, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, and everyone else who support us and help to keep us going.

the knowledge of the gospel and of the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for all of us.

the beautiful place that we live in and the good friends we have.

the amazing life that I get to live everyday.

Oh Baby!

Oh man did Brett's turkey turn out beautifully on Thanksgiving! I wish I had taken a picture before it got carved up, but it took an hour longer to cook than we anticipated so it was in high demand! It really was wonderful though, and the gravy was pretty much the best gravy I've ever tasted.

It was a small Thanksgiving, and pretty much no one went back for seconds. After one plate and half a piece of pumpkin pie I felt sick. And then I realized that I had eaten so much that my belly button was sticking out. For those of you who don't know, towards the end of pregnancy that happens anyway. Mine hasn't done that yet, but it did that night.

And yes, I'm already huge. I'll be 23 weeks along on Tuesday. I've gained about 15 pounds so far which doesn't sound like a lot, but I still had some weight on me from Kennedy, so I got big fast. We have also finally settled on a name for this little boy. We had been going back and forth with lots of names and going through tons of lists, but in the end we came back to Noah. I know it's popular right now, but my name is a popular one and I have survived. In any case, we had a great holiday weekend, full of Black Friday shopping (which Brett got up at 4:30 for) and the BYU/Utah game. Also, I have put some new posts on my cooking blog, so check it out!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I probably will not be posting too much this weekend, so I thought I would go ahead and do my Thanksgiving post today. Here are the things I have been most grateful for lately.

The Atonement of Jesus Christ - I am so grateful that everyone has access to this incredible gift. I am so grateful for the influence it has had in my life and in the lives of those I love.

My Growing Little Family - I'm going to have to go through each of these separately.

• Lucy - Her little fuzzy face makes me happy. On days when Kennedy is being a pill I am always so thankful that Lucy can take care of herself and is so quiet. I love when she comes to lay with me and get a pet - it makes my day.
• Baby boy - I am so grateful that he is growing so well and is so healthy. And even though his kicks are really hard sometimes, I'm glad to feel him moving around. I'm so excited to meet him in March!
• Kennedy - She is so sweet and so happy. In general she is an easy kid to take care of and spoils me big time. She is so smart and I love hearing her pick up on new words and concepts almost daily. I love her more every day and am so glad that she is part of our family.
• Brett - I am of course grateful for Brett. But I am grateful for him everyday. He is everything and more I could ask for in a husband. He brings me so much joy. He is constantly striving to be a better man and a better husband and father. He is so concerned about me and I see his love for me everyday. I am so proud of him for being brave enough to change the path he thought his life was going to take and I am excited to start this adventure with him. I am thankful everyday that Heavenly Father lead me to him and that we were married in the temple for time and all eternity. I love you!

Thanksgiving in Texas

As you probably all know, we flew down to Dallas on Tuesday morning to spend Thanksgiving with my family.  Kennedy was great on the plane rides and she loved getting to meet her cousin Wyatt.  He was so cute!  He gave us some really good smiles.

I got to see some good friends, and we did a little bit of Christmas early.  Kennedy got a new outfit from Grandpa Pitt (which you'll see in the Santa pictures in a couple of days) and her Christmas PJs too.  Grandma Pitt gave her a new stuffed sheep and a cute hat.

Christine enjoyed playing with Kennedy too.  And Spooky, my mom's cat, got along with Kennedy really well.  Christine gave us some great gifts too.  Kennedy got a new stuffed dog and Green Eggs and Ham.  I got a Green Eggs and Ham cookbook and the third season of Father Ted.  Brett got Trauma Center for the Wii, which I'm sure that he will thoroughly enjoy.

We spent Thanksgiving at my mom's and everyone was there.  We got Grandma Emigh's stuffing for the first time in a few years.  Brett made the turkey and I made the pumpkin pie.  We had a great dinner, and we all had a good time being together.

Here's a good smile from Wyatt, probably because he's sitting with his mom.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, today marks the beginning of Christmas at our house!  We're decorating tonight for family home evening and I'll be starting the holiday baking!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Give thanks for the wonderful belssings in your life! I am thankful to be here in Texas with my family, for Brett and Kennedy, for all of my friends, for being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and many other little things that make me happy everyday. Enjoy your days and you meals!

No Sissy Girls Here

As I have been informing you over the last few weeks, Kennedy is going to be a crawler soon.  She was entertaining Brett's family last night with her attempts and her push ups.  My sister-in-law Lori said that she gives her 2 weeks before she can crawl, but after this morning, I think it may be less.

She's got the legs down!  She is moving her knees forward just like she needs to to crawl.  Granted, it's slow, but it is definitely there.  And she's actually moving forward today, which is better than her usual backwards shove.  She still hasn't quite figured out how to use her hands, but it's getting there.  In the meantime, here is a picture of her awesome boy push up.

She's sitting next to me doing them right now.  She is so strong!  She'll be able to beat up all the boys her age, especially since she will be bigger than most of them until 8th grade.

We are heading off to Texas tomorrow for Thanksgiving bright and early.  We are excited to go and see everybody and to meet Wyatt!  We'll have a home cooked Thanksgiving which we didn't have last time since Grandma Emigh had just gotten out of the hospital.  Brett is cooking the turkey, and I'm in charge of the squash and the pumpkin pie.  I'll try to post while we're down there, and you can bet that my blog will be festive for Christmas on Friday!

How to Squash?

I am in charge of finding a squash recipe for Thanksgiving, and then I have to cook it.  Oddly enough, the cooking is the easy part.  I cannot find a squash recipe for the life of me.  I did find one from the Pioneer Woman that looks a lot like this:

But my mom said that she doesn't want the soupy stuff in the middle.  Personally, I think the soup sounds fabulous.  It's basically butter and brown sugar with a tiny bit of maple syrup.  Does anyone have any ideas of what to make?  Do you make squash for Thanksgiving?  What kind?  I'm thinking acorn, but anything will do.

Complete and Total Plagiarism of Ideas

My friend Noelle keeps up a fantastic blog that I look at everyday to see if there are updates.  She is so creative with her posts, and they are always interesting.  She sometimes does posts in which she writes letters to random people and things, and I am totally stealing her creativeness and doing this myself today.  So thank you to Noelle for her creative spark...I have stolen ideas from you before, and I'm sure I will do so again.

Dear Kennedy,

Please get better.  It breaks my heart to see you sick and sneezing, and to be honest, sucking snot out of your nose is not on my favorites list.  I wish so much that I could explain to you that sleep helps you get better.

Your Mommy

Dear American Visions book,

How I wish that I didn't have to open you yet again to write a paper on Edward Hopper.  At least you have pretty pictures.

A Disgruntled, Ungraduated Student

Dear Lucy,

When are you going to understand that in order for me to throw your foil ball you have to bring it all the way back?  Half way is not going to cut it.  Even if you say please.

Lazy Girl

Dear chocolate cheesecake,

You were so yummy, but now you are gone.  I really don't want to wash that pan.

Chef in the Kitchen

Dear Costco,

I am so excited to go shopping today!  There are some items that we desperately need, and once we buy them from you, it will feel like we will never run out again.  Hallelujah.

Bulk Buyer

Dear Thanksgiving,

I wish you would come sooner.  I want to eat yummy food, make a pumpkin pie, and have people who want to play with Kennedy all the time around.  I want to meet Wyatt and see my family.  Come fast!

Impatient Eater