So much to be thankful for....

I know Thanksgiving has come and gone, and now everyone is in the Christmas spirit....but, with 11 people (and 5 dogs) at our house for Thanksgiving, I was not able to post what I was thankful for: (unfortunately I left my camera at my mom's and won't get to post Thanksgiving pics until Friday, but better late than never!)

• My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
  
• My amazingly patient husband: You do not know what you mean to me....I don't know how I could make it through this life without you...You are MY better half and I am reminded of this every day just by watching you.
  
• This sweet baby girl that Walt and I have been blessed with. After many nights praying to God He did answer our prayers and we are truly blessed.
  
• My family: You guys have been there for me through thick and thin. We've faced more than most families have to face, but through it all we are still stronger than ever.
• My LaLee and Pops: I couldn't ask for better "in-laws" You two mean so much to me and I admire your parenting skills, you've raised an incredible son.
  
• My team: after switching schools 4 times, this team has taken me in and loved me unconditionally.
  
• Miss Gracie: isn't it great to have someone always happy to see you when you get home?
  
• My home
  
• My sweet 42 kiddos that I get to learn from every day
  
• The Peppermint Creamer that coffeemate has available during the holidays
  
• Tyler Candles that make my house smell so good
  
• The dressing that my sister slaved over for hours... don't worry I finished the left overs
  
• This ever growing belly...85 days to go!
  
• My weekly t.v. shows that I know I can't live without
  
• Peppermint Taffy from Central Market
  
• My black yoga pants, that still fit, no matter how big I get
  
• The sound of laughter in my house during the holidays
  
• The 2000 Lincoln Towncar (the boat) that safely brought my grandparents 5 hours to my house for Thanksgiving
  
• There are so many more things that I am thankful for....but praise the Lord that he has blessed me with so much! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving...can't wait to post about mine once I get my pics!!
  

Just a couple of countdowns.....

The two pieces of fabric above are going to be Eloise's bedding! I am so excited and can't wait for her bedding to come in! Don't you just love etsy? Gosh, I know I do. I went online to see if etsy had any cute baby bedding because I could not find what I wanted....man was I surprised. Not only could I pick out the fabric I wanted to use, so it would be unique of course, I was also able to find a lady that is making my crib bedding for me and it should be here January 4th! I was able to customize anything I wanted....I just can't wait to see it in person!!

Thanksgiving is fast approaching! It's so hard to drive down the road and see Christmas tress put up...I can't believe the holidays are actually here! My side of the family is coming to spend Thanksgiving here this year, and we couldn't be more excited. Here are the cast of people that are going to be at our house:

Spencer and Lauren...they should arrive sometime on Wednesday night with their two dogs, Granger and Abby

Nana and Poppy...they are actually making the drive all the way from Mt. Pleasant. Nana and Poppy are going to stay in a hotel. Nana is quite excited about being waited on hand and foot, while the younger girls do all the cooking!

My precious mother. She has to work on Wednesday, so she won't be in until late Wednesday night. She is bringing the main characters: the turkey and ham!! Oh and I can't forget... she is also bringing Gracie's friend...PHOEBE!

My sisters! YAY! Poco is actually coming in on Monday night, with Gracie's boyfriend, Riley. She is going to go grocery shopping for me on Tuesday, and come up to the school to eat lunch with me, and we will do some cooking on Tuesday night. Nichole arrives on Wednesday morning with the main attraction: Jack Man!

Of course Greg will be accompanying Nichole, and we can't forget Walt. This was Walt and Greg last year at the Graham's for Thanksgiving in North Carolina. They were in the middle of a game of Taboo...there will be a repeat of that this year!!

Jack Man! Jack, Nichole, Greg and Baby Claire are staying here Wed-Fri. night. Can't wait to love on this face!!

Thanksgiving is going to be fun! We had a blast last year in North Carolina, and I love the fact that we are all able to get together this year again. The house is going to be jam packed...just the way I like it! Good food, good fun and great times with the family!
The Saturday after Thanksgiving we will be driving to Dallas to spend the day with Walt's family. We are going to the Baylor vs. Texas Tech game at Cowboys Stadium. Tucker will have celebrated his 12th birthday on Thanksgiving, and since he feels like he is too old now to have a party, (gotta love that) we are all going to the game.

On another note... we are LESS THAN 100 days away from our expected due date!! I've been saying from the beginning if she is anything like her dad she will either be EARLY or ON TIME!! I go back to the Dr. twice this week, once on Tuesday for that test where you have to drink the nasty juice, and then again on Thursday. We will be having a sonogram on Thursday, so who knows, maybe I'll have some pictures for you!!

And to end the post on a funny note... last week, I was teaching my sweet, sweet class. I turned around to do something on the board and noticed that my shirt had definitely inched up my shirt.....my stomach was FULLY showing!! Who knows how long my big ole' belly had been sticking out, but my class is so incredibly polite, they would have never said anything. I am sure they went home traumatized!! At least we know that I teach some precious kids!!

Big Daddy's Birthday

LOOK at that SWEET, SWEET BABY!! Who would have ever guessed that sweet baby could be WALTER?!?!
Happy Birthday to my favorite man in the entire world! I can't believe that this is our 8th birthday together....but I am so thankful that we have many more to share. It's hard to believe that next year at this time, you will have already experienced many months of being a daddy!

This past weekend, Walt and I went home to celebrate Walt's dad's birthday, (he turned 60.) While we were there, we decided to also do Walt's birthday with his family. When Walt's mom was pregnant with Walt she had some blankets made. 28 years ago, they did not do sonograms to see what they were expecting. So, before Walt was born his mother had some blankets made...or course the lady made several blue blankets and several pink blankets. Well, Walt's mom never had a girl, so she saved the pink blankets. This weekend Walt was given one of the pink blankets, for us to use with Eloise. It was perfect! We hadn't bought a blanket yet for the crib, and now we don't have too!! The blanket is beautiful and it is so obvious that so much work and detail went into this precious gift. What a neat story to be able to tell our daughter!

Walt and his daddy blowing out their candles. The "brownie torte" that Walt's mom made, was by far the yummiest dessert I have had in quite some time.

The present that Preston and Ashley got Walt...this will definitely be used!

Walt looking at the sweet blanket

This morning I woke up extra early to fix Walt breakfast in bed. I got up at 5 in the a.m. and started making Walt's favorite...homemade blueberry pancakes. I decided I would wake Walt up at 5:45 to give him his breakfast....15 minutes earlier than usual. So at 5:45, Gracie and I walked into the bedroom, with the nice little tray all set up....cards, breakfast, juice...."Happy Birthday!" Gracie and I exclaim....Walt, of course, reacts totally different way than I expected...he was mad that I woke him up early. Now... I had already poured the syrup on the pancakes, done all that jazz so that he wouldn't have too. Walt's response was, "Can I eat this later?" I, being the pregnant person that I am, told him NO because the syrup was already on the pancakes and it would make them soggy. Well, it was obvious that he did not want to eat the pancakes at this time, so I did what any normal person would do....I put the pancakes in the sink.
Walt then realized at this point in time what I did...(I had already gotten in the shower to get ready for school)
When I got out of the shower, my sweet, darling, birthday boy of a husband was sitting on the couch, eating his pancakes on the tv dinner tray, watching a football recap. He smiled at me and said, "Oh honey, thank you for the pancakes, these are the greatest ever."
I looked at him and said, "NOW THAT IS HOW YOU SHOULD HAVE STARTED YOUR MORNING!"
So...needless to say, we had a fun morning, this morning....but the pancakes were good!!
I fixed dinner for Walt tonight...his favorite meal, homemade meatballs and spaghetti, and I got him a Caesar salad from La Madeline, and two pieces of chocolate cake. We went for a nice little walk, and now we are watching the Ugly Truth, for the second night in a row....only because my bedtime seems to be around 8:15 every night, and I slept through half of it last night!!
I must say I am an extremely lucky girl to be married to Walt... he is the most incredible man...and he puts up with a lot of my non-sense....especially here lately. Thank you Walt for loving me and Gracie....and for showing me that you are going to be the most wonderful father to this sweet baby girl. Happy Birthday!!

Our weekend

The first day of November! I can't believe we are already into the month where the holidays begin! I am not going to lie...Walt and I have already watched 3 holiday movies...Elf, Love Actually and we started Christmas Vacation. As much as I love the lazy days of summer...I also love the months of November and December because of the holidays. Walt and I had an uneventful, but productive weekend.

On Friday night we went over the Sarah and Nate's house and had dinner. Sarah is an amazing cook! She wouldn't let me do one thing! I must say I think she spoiled Walt rotten!! I am so thankful for Sarah and so glad that I teach with someone so wonderful! Thank you Sarah and Nate for a great evening!

Saturday was of course....Game Day

Walt and I didn't really think that Baylor would give us a win, but the game was actually half way decent during the second half. I keep thinking what could have been....if only Robert Griffin hadn't gotten injured. Oh well, we're still the same old Baylor. But hey... we have to support the Baylor Bears! We bleed green and gold!

Halloween night wasn't spent going to a fun party like it normally is... I remember last Halloween, my mom came to visit, and we went out for Halloween. We had so much fun. I must say, I did have fun this Halloween, just on a different level. I don't think it would look very inappropriate at this point in my pregnancy to just waltz on into a bar, or go out to a party....and not to mention I am normally passed out on the couch by 9:00. So...Walt and I stayed in and watched the Longhorns beat, I mean, KILL the OSU Cowboys. Now, if OSU is up against OU, of course I root for the Cowboys....but when OSU plays the Longhorns....hmm let's just say Walt and I were very satisfied with the outcome. Colt isn't too bad to look at either!

November is an exciting month....I celebrate not one, not two but 5 family members' birthdays! Walt's Dad (Pops) turns SIXTY on the 4th (and he has an ELEVEN year old!)

Walt turns 28 on the 11th

Tucker (walt's brother) turns 12 on the 26th

Poppy turns 89 on the 27th

AND

Nichole turns 31 on the 30th!

So, needless to say... November is a month to celebrate! Once November rolls around, I pull out Walt's birthday banner. Walt hates when I put this up...he says, "My birthday is just one day out of the month, Mer." but secretly, I think he loves watching me hang his banner, and he just waits patiently for November 1st.

This little thing hung out outside all weekend. She LOVES having a back yard. We caught her several times "sunning" on the back porch. She was very excited to get her Halloween present yesterday. Walt and I got her 4 little decorated doggie treats. She has already eaten two...and she gobbled them right up!

On Sunday morning before church, Walt, Gracie, Me and Baby Eloise went for a nice long walk. This has become a weekend ritual when we are home and I love it. We live next to a beautiful lake, and Gracie loves walking around it. The weather was perfect, cool and crisp. It was a great way to start our Sunday together!

I also spent the weekend the way that I spend EVERY weekend....GRADING PAPERS. Ugh! If there is a downfall to my job (because we know there aren't many) this is IT! I absolutely despise grading papers. Just thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach. GROSS!

While I graded papers, this is Walt my sweet, darling, loving, always wanting to help, husband did....

Hmm...what could he be watching?

Maybe the same thing we watched ALL DAY Saturday?? But hey...at least the Cowboys played well, and Walt was in a great mood! Miles Austin is on a roll!! Love this guy!

We also planted pansies in our yard. We planted a TON of pansies. I can't wait until they grow and we have beautiful flowers. I L-O-V-E pansies and I'm glad it is that time of year to plant them again....Pansy, I have missed you.

I started getting things together for my Thanksgiving tablescape. My entire family is coming to Katy this year and I want the dining room table to be just perfect. Gracie and I spray painted pumpkins and gourds and I can't wait until the I have the table completely finished...don't worry..you know I'll be posting a pic!

OH and tomorrow marks 6 MONTHS! I can't believe I have been pregnant for that long! Walt and I were talking today after church and we realized that sweet Eloise's first church experience was at Westminister Abbey in London this summer. How cool is that? Let me tell you, if there is one thing Eloise likes...it's music!! Yesterday while I was cleaning around the house, she was jumping all around to the music, and today during the worship at church Eloise wouldn't calm down. I think she must take after me in that area!! It's exciting to think that in less than 4 months we'll be parents! I'm just now starting to find clothes that I can't fit into.....guess that means I get to go clothes shopping!! Here is the belly....and yes, there is a belly!

Gracie was barking up a storm before this picture was taken....she wanted to be in the picture with all the girls...goodness, I look rough after a long weekend!