Santa Surprise

After church on Sunday, we headed to the Galleria for pictures with Santa. Since Brett works there (and is not enthusiastic about paying $20 for holiday pictures), he was able to get some work done while Jameston and I braved the crowds. According to me we HAD to get pictures taken :-). To my surprise it did not take long to navigate the line for pictures. Since it was around noon, we were ready for lunch (and Jameston was ready for a nap, as you will see in the final outcome picture)! But, we stuck it out for about an hour (while he munched on Cheerios and puffs as we strolled around the mall) and had a grand 'ole time!

Checking out the shiny ornaments! He kept calling each one a "ball"Observing the ice skaters during their final recital of the year and the gigantic and very pretty Christmas tree (there is glass in front of his hand)! (Note the pacifier: after pictures, he was out by the time we got to the parking lot)!

Ta-da! Here is our little guy, on the verge of the a nap, hence the solemn expression...

I was surprised he did not freak out (and was prepared to have to sit next to him) since we are smack-dab in the middle of the "Stranger Danger" stage...but Jameston is a pretty laid-back dude around new people, especially when he's sleepy!

Here is last year's attempt, with a not-quite 3-month-old. My how things have changed...although he was even more sleepy last year!

Next year we plan on taking him to see Santa AFTER his nap :-)

SOLD!

(Read to the tune of John Michael Montgomery's hit :-)

To our family as our second home,

It's an 8, it's a 9, it's a 10 we know.

It's got an elementary school and playground (across the street)

and parks and trails nearby,

We're about to bid our 1st house good-bye!

So, after searching for 6 LONG days and looking at 30 + homes (I lost track of how many after 25...), we finally found our dream home! We had it narrowed down to two last weekend, one being older but closer to Brett's work and the other being newer with a lot of the "extras" from our wish list (e.g., three-car garage for the Mr. and community pool for the Mrs.) but a little further away than we had hoped for. After weighing the pros and cons of each (and really finding out that Brett and I had different tastes when it comes to homes, who knew!), we decided on this beautiful piece of work. We are SO excited because it offers many of the things we were looking for in a new home. And we totally see our family in this house for years to come!

So, now it's time to pack up and leave our starter home. I have mixed emotions, and I will move out kicking and screaming I assure you. But I will hold onto the many memories we have there as we plan for many more in our new place.

Because of all the house stuff that has kept us preoccupied of late, I have fallen behind on updating about our little guy. Well, he's not little anymore...and he's WALKING now! And into all sorts of things. And learning all sorts of things. An update is coming soon, as long as the computer doesn't get packed up first :-)

A Turnbough Thanksgiving

Better late than never, right? Sorry, we've been a little preoccupied lately with house-hunting and renting it out...post to come on that soon, when we finally find our new home :-) I figured I better post about the last holiday before the next one gets here!

For Thanksgiving this year, we drove to Balmorhea (West Texas) to see Brett's mom's family, the Turnboughs. Just like two years ago, the festivities were held at his grandmother, GiGi's, house. We had a blast of a time, although we wish we could have stayed longer!

Here is Jameston taking in the scenery on his great-grandmother's lap (with his cousins and Papa looking on). At 91, GiGi was such a great hostess yet again!!

This year, we had a blessed Thanksgiving filled with lots of memories, including FAMILY TIME:

Ruby and JW getting in some quality reading

Papa with two of his grand-daughters, Ruby (2) and Layne (16 months)

Uncle Larry, Lauren and some of the 8 dogs that were there

Favorite pic from the gathering: Kaelen (8) with Luke (17 months), Ruby, and Riley (4)

Jameston and Layne couldn't get enough of the wagon!

The kiddos ALWAYS love their Aunt Kayla!

Silly girls: Kaelen, Lauren, Autum, and Riley

And of course there was great FOOD!

Jameston LOVED his first sampling of duck (a Danish tradition). Can't you tell?!

And there was lots of OUTDOORS FUN

And GAME PLAYIN'!

Brett rounding the bases with JW in tow during their friendly game of kickball one night...

The freshly-mowed baseball diamond!

Spectating one morningMexican Train, 42 and 84, Hearts, and Time's Up were the popular games to choose from :-) Aunt Karen with her grandkids...Jameston contributed to the White Elephant gift exchange :-)

After two 8-hour-drives within a matter of 60 hours with three little ones, we were sure glad to get home! Ruby and Riley catching some Z's:

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and we hope you and yours did, too!

Charming Charleston

Two weekends ago, Brett and I had the pleasure of attending our friend Ian's wedding. Brett's mom drove to Dallas to keep Jameston, and he had so much fun with his Granny and cousins, Riley and Ruby, while we were gone! We flew into Charleston, S.C. on Thursday night and stayed at a beach house on Folly Beach, about 20 miles outside of the city. The weather was nice with highs in the lower 70's and clear blue skies. Just one of the many things we liked about the area!

Friday we relaxed on the beach and met some great people from all over the country who were in for the wedding festivities. Friday night was the rehearsal dinner at Folly Beach, but I failed to take my camera. Boo!

Since the ceremony was not until later in the afternoon, Brett and I took a trip into town Saturday morning to visit the historical downtown area. We started near Battery Park and took a tour on foot of several attractions.

Cival War cannons

Houses along what is known as "Rainbow Row"

The Antebellum homes were gorgeous! Some of them have patios larger than our house, and many have been turned into museums

Since we had a limited amount of time, we decided to book a carriage ride for a guided tour. So glad we did! Here is a sweet picture of a girl in the carriage in front of us trying to get our horse, Dakota's, attention. Too cute!

We fell in love with the city and hope to go back with Jameston again really soon!

Dock Street Theatre, the oldest theater in the States

Saint Philip's Episcopal Church, built in 1836,

in the French Quarter section of town

The Old Exchange building

What a view of the Atlantic! If you squint, you can see Fort Sumter

We grabbed a late lunch at the Amen Street Seafood Restaurant in Charleston's Historic District. Delicious!

Oysters-on-the-chandelier-shell!

We tried to get in SO much sight-seeing that morning/afternoon, that we were almost late for the wedding (oh, and we got a little lost). Thankfully, we made it on time! It was such a beautiful and moving ceremony

Reception time: Brett with his high school pals, Josh and Ian

Oh, I can't leave out their wedding gift to Ian, the giant giraffe behind them! Those two fellas gave us an Aborigine statue for ours. Jokers!

Wish we would have remembered to take more pictures of us on our mini-vacation

(this was the least cheesy, albeit scary, one we had taken by Josh)!

Ian and Tessa, thank you for inviting us to your beautiful wedding. We were honored to be a part of it. Wishing you a lifetime of happiness and love!

AANNDD we're off!

Or should I say "on?" Our house was officially put on the market two weekends ago. After we did lots of de-cluttering and cleaning (a special thanks goes out to my oh-so generous mother-in-law), our realtor and a photographer came by to take pics of our place. With the wide-frame photos that she took, Brett and I thought she did a good job of capturing the open layout of our house (even though the pictures make the house seem bigger than it is :-) Shhh...don't tell a prospective buyer!

(Brett has since removed the two cedars that swallowed the walkway)

We have put tons of work into updating our 15-year-old home (which came clad with every brass-plated item possible and enough linoleum and fake marble to make anyone want to grimace). Okay, CORRECTION: Brett has put SO much work into renovating our home. Seriously, the guy had a second job. Needless to say, we are a little attached to the thing. If only we could transplant it about 20 miles away and add a couple of rooms, we'd be set!

Here are the results of our home's photo shoot. For your sake, I'll leave out captions (and sentimental sappiness):

Yeah, we know...not the coolest study (if we don't sell, I plan on guttin' it and painting it in tranquil grays and blues). Oh, and we would totally redo the bookcase/desk and rest of the cabinets throughout the entire house!

And our not-so fancy backyard. Hey, when you have two huge dogs that like to chew everything in sight and dig holes (gotta love the Labs), it comes with the territory!

Thanks, REMAX, for making our house look good (and maybe a little better than it REALLY is :-) Now, find us a buyer (or renter, or maybe even a squatter)!

14-month-update:

Many teeth (15 to be exact, either totally in or on their way)

and lots of talkin' but still no walkin'

Jameston is a teething pro these days! His bottom molars started coming in about a month ago, and his top ones were not too far behind. He is one tough cookie, though, and usually doesn't show many signs of them bothering him, except maybe some crankiness and clinginess. I noticed when he cut his top right molar last week that his gum was bleeding :-( And now his canines are starting to show up...he's maybe hinting to us below that he wants some Orajel?

When it comes to him walking, we are taking it in stride (get it? haha :-) We know he will learn to walk in his own time. When cruising, he is definitely getting more gutsy and toddling between pieces of furniture, and he has taken 2-3 steps at a time and then crashed to the ground. He will stand up on his own for longer periods of time and even do squats :-) He climbs into and out of things (the wagon, window sills, his tricycle, etc., etc.) and he's perfected walking on his knees...

now if only he could get those feet underneath him!

Our little guy is definitely a "Chatty Charlie," and everyone comments on how vocal he is. He says over 12 words right now (bye, hi, Daddy, Momma, Papa, this, dog, shoe (sounds like "sue") ball, uh-oh, puppy, book, and some that escape me and others with his own interpretation! And he signs "more," "all-done," and of course "hi/bye." Oh, he'll show you where his nose is, too!

We are having so much fun reading these days (he would seriously let you read him 20 books and not grow tired), and he LOVES to try and make the animal noises! Horses are his absolute favorite right now, so we've decided that, when we transition him to a "big boy" bed, his new room will have to be western-themed :-)

Showing off with his walker...maybe we'll have a walking toddler by Christmas?