Advent

Our Advent calendar is up and running this year. The first year we did it with Cy I filled it full of little crappy toys or pieces of candy to put in these little pockets but it just wasn't very exciting for either one of us. So, last year we started having Cy do things with us rather than get stuff and it's been great. Because of swimming I don't get to do too much with it during the week but the weekends are my time:) So far this year Cy has gone to the Thomas exhibit with us, made homemade cookies with dad, and unwrapped a new Christmas book to read at story time. Some other things we'll do is make a gingerbread house, go to the annual Christmas parade, go to Dizzy the Snowman play, read the story of baby Jesus, send a card to a solider, and on and on. It's a nice month of fun family activities. I love doing it. 

Birthday Dinner

My dad and Jill share a birthday, Nov 27. Usually we celebrate them together but my parents were at Shawn and Kristin's for the Thanksgiving holiday this year so we went out with Doc and Jill and Herb and Susan to Mosaic for a birthday dinner. It was such a fun night. I love Mosaic, their food is amazing and the atmosphere is great. It was fun to celebrate Jill's 63 year with her :)

Thanksgiving!

We did Thanksgiving at Doc & Jill's house this year. We normally to it at our house but they just had their kitchen redone and were excited to put it to good use. Fine by me!! We arrived around 12:00 and I was excited about settling into a day of watching football, working on the computer, playing with Cy, and eating, lots and lots of yummy food! We brought a turkey to be fried, I made a sweet potato and quinoa stuffing, a goat cheese and brussel sprout side, we also brought a cake and some cookies. Brad and Doc fried the turkey out back and it was freezing out there. I think it was 35*?! Brrrr! We got a rather large bird this year, 20 lbs, so they were out there over an hour. I tried to tell them to come in but I guess it's a man thing :) 

Mrs. White came over too which was nice. It was great to see her. She and Cy had a great time reading stories and hanging out together too. 

The dinner was great. Doc & Jill made mashed potatoes, a pineapple dish that she has been making since Brad and Todd were little, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. Yum! It was a wonderful dinner. We didn't get home until almost 11pm, Cy was a trooper. 

the kookie with the pink feather boa, cute.

New TV?!

Ugh! Ok, we got a new TV today. A 42" flat screen, blah blah blah, something or other. We don't have cable, we haven't had cable in more years than I can remember. We don't watch tv. If we want to watch something we stream it on Netflix but it's not often that we have time to just sit around and watch it. That being said; the TV that we had was about 8 years old and on it's last leg. Whenever we did watch it. it would be playing just fine and then "snap, pop" and the color would leave the picture and only a red hue would remain. I have been hesitant to get a new one for a few reasons. One, we don't watch it. Two, they are pretty stinking expensive. Three, I knew Brad wanted a flat screen and one larger than my TV cabinet that we've had (and I LOVE, btw…it's a gorgeous piece of furniture) and I didn't want to have to buy a new console to support the new TV. Ok, so here we are. Brad found this one that he thought was a good deal and convinced me that it would be a good buy, especially with the baby coming (see what he did here?!). We can't have the TV not working for those late nights when the wee one is up and doesn't feel like sleeping. So, we got a new one today and moved the furniture piece into the guest room and moved the Over The Moon piece out to put the TV on. It gives the room a different look, not sure I love it yet, but I'll keep playing with it. Maybe we'll mount it?!

Holiday decorating

My favorite time of year:) I love decorating the house. Cy woke up from his nap today and the lights were on the tree. He just stopped and stared at it for awhile. I love that he is getting to the point that he understands what is going on and is becoming so enchanted by it all :) He got to hang the first ornament on the tree this year, and of course it was his new Jake ornament that Emma and George gave him. So cute. We will finish the rest of the ornaments tomorrow as we had to cut the decorating short to go over for Thanksgiving Left Over dinner with the parents at Doc & Jill's house. Hailey and Katie are up for the weekend and my parents came over too. It was a nice night and a great way to really kick off the holidays.

Black Friday Tradition

Our annual Home Depot trip on Black Friday :) This is our 3rd year of not chopping down our own tree which is super disappointing on the one hand as Cy would really be excited about this now that he's older. But, on the other hand, this is kinda nice too. The trees are always much fuller than the ones we would find in the forest, and, we don't have to let it melt in the dining room for 3 days before setting it up and decorating it. That part was always a pain:) So, Home Depot it is, and we got another beautiful tree again this year.

Star Burst

More and more progress:) I saw this starburst mirror out this past week and just loved it. I am having so much fun working on this nursery. 87 days and counting :)

Tim's 25th

We had Tim over for his 25th birthday on Sunday. He has been such a good friend to us over these past few years and we just love him! We had 13 people over and it was a potluck as everyone brought something yummy. I made a dish of roasted broccoli and a sweet potato and quinoa dish that was to die for! Lots of yummy desserts to indulge in and great conversations. 

The Perfect Rug

Closer and closer, we are getting there with Tag's room. I found the perfect rug today and we got her furniture in. Now to focus on the decor. I am having fun with this;) 

Thanksgiving lunch

I had the pleasure of attending a Thanksgiving luncheon at Cy's  school this week. It was so nice. I was afraid that I wasn't going to be able to make it because I ha to teach. Luckily my schedule allowed for me to slip away for an hour. Brad couldn't make it due to his schedule so it was important for me bc I didn't want him to be the only one without a parent there. So, I made it. Cy was thrilled when I showed up. He made me sit with him at his little table and share lunch and dessert.  It was so nice to have that time with him. It did break my heart when I had to leave him but he seemed fine with it:) I love this time if year!!

6.5 Months

I am already 6.5 months along and can't believe it. This baby is growing like crazy! The pregnancy has been fine so far. I am just not a good pregnant woman. All and all, I am healthy and that makes me happy. I am up about 18 pounds which is about  4 pounds more than where I was with cy but it's to be expected. I ate a lot that first trimester and haven't been working out, at all. 

Tag is a busy bee. She is moving and shaking all the time...especially late at night and early in the morning. Scary. We are going to have to break her of that habit;) 

We are not doing pictures with this pregnancy because I know I won't do anything with them but I am going to get Brad to take some photos of my belly and Cy. I want them to be able to have those for later in life;) I will post them soon. 

Relay Foods

I have been meaning to get involved with Relay Foods since we got to Richmond so I finally put an order in last week. Relay gets local foods from local farms and delivers produce boxes to your house each week. It's all low spray and mostly organic and a good selection. This week we got kale, winter squash, salad greens, variety of potatoes, radishes (yuck), apples, Asian pears, broccoli, and some homemade apple cider. I am going to see if we eat it all before committing to a weekly delivery but so far I am excited. 

Costen Family Picnic

Sunday was the Costen family picnic in Hanover. I wasn't super excited about going because I had air of school work to do but it ended up being a blast. They had the most delicious fried chicken I have had in a long time. Thank goodness I am pregnant because I ate my weight in it;) There was an egg toss, ball toss, hammer and nail contest, face painting, a clown that made balloon animals, and karyoke. And, we got to hang out with Todd, Sallie, and the girls for the day, which rarely happens. We had a great time!!

Making progress

We made some serious progress on the nursery this weekend. We (meaning mostly Brad) got all of the office furniture moved downstairs and I cleaned out the closet to make room for Tag's clothes. We are getting there. I am hoing to move the baby furniture in soon so I can plan out the decor of the room. It's so fun to have all these little clothes out again:)

I Pledge Allegiance

I don't remember how we got on the subject but I started tellng Cy about how I used to recite the pledge each morning at school. I started telling him how it went and he stopped me, saying, "hey, I know that one" and proceeded to recite it with me. This makes me happy! Wish this still carried all the way through the kids schools today. 

Stocking Up;)

Probably, the thing I like least about being pregnant (besides not working out much and getting out of race shape) is not being able to drink. If you know me, you know I love my wine. I love to sip and cook in the evenings after work or have a glass on the porch with Brad at the end of the day. So, arguably, this is the hardest part for me. The silver lining of this all is that I have been stocking up during my pregnancy thus far so that when I get the green light I will have a full wine bar full of delicious reds to choose from. I just got my latest shipment of California reds in today and I can't wait to try them!!! Yum!!!

Moment of Panic

I had a moment of panic tonight while I was giving Cy a bath. I was talking to Cy about how swimming was starting next week and I wouldn't be picking him up from school anymore, it's Daddy/Cy time now that I'm coaching. This makes me sad anyway, it was really hard for me last year too because I cherish the time with my little buddy in the afternoons. But here's the thing, we were talking through the rest of the year and I had a moment of panic realizing that this is the LAST time in my and Cy's life when we will be able to hang out consistently, just the two of us. From this point on, after swimming is over, it will be the three of us in the afternoons. I am not going to lie...this about broke my heart.

I am excited about Tag coming into our lives and I know that Cy is going to be thrilled to be a big brother but there is nothing that can compare to our family of 3 right now. We are such a good team, and I know that it will get better and more defined with Tag, but in this moment I am just a little sad. So many things are going to be different now and I know it will feel normal as a family of 4 this time next year but I will miss these moments with my Cy.

Nesting!

I am using the weekend to Ty to get organized for Tavs arrival. I pulled all Cy's old clothes out of the attic to sort through. There is very little that I am not going to use. We are not going pink crazy so I am going to use a lot if his blue and neutral items and supplement with some cute accent pieces like pink/yellow leg warmers and hair/head accessories. I am also trying to figure out her room, which is currently our office. We are going to leave the guest room intact downstairs and keep her upstairs with us. We don't really use the office anyway as we do most of our work in the kitchen. So, we will need to move all the furniture downstairs into the basement space so we can move her furniture in. Alison and Creighton are going to lend us their baby furniture since we brought nothing with us from CO. This is the last baby for he Cooke family so if I can avoid buying new stuff, I will...except for some new cute things especially for a little girl:) 

Much to do as we approach the final trimester;) Thanksgiving break is going to be devoted to nursery build out around here:) fun, fun!

Canvas Crazy

I have been a little canvas crazy, I just love the look of them. Much better than framed prints in my opinion. I needed to do something to our entry wall to spice it up a bit. We originally had two prints from a local artist in Steamboat there but they were jus too small for that space. So, I had a 20x30 canvas print made of the three of us. I liked it but it still wasn't right, so, I decided to use photos from our summer adventure to make a collage. It came out great. I did a 20x30 of cy and I and the four additional 8x12s. Now I am working on one for over our bed of Picts of Brad and I.