The tree is up . . . .

. . . . and Clifton is outside working on the lights as I type this. It is beginning to look and feel like Christmas time around here. I put my tree up before Thanksgiving this year so I wouldn't have to worry about doing it while everyone was here during the long weekend. We have enjoyed it so much already and Layton has only fallen into it once :) He is loving the choo choo train around the bottom of it and will actually sit still and watch it for awhile. He knows how to control it with the remote so he is always wanting to play with it. I have most of my Christmas shopping done so I'm really hoping I can do some holiday baking and just enjoy this busy season with family and friends. Here are a few pictures of Layton and the decorations around the house.

Layton was helping me put the first ornament on the tree of course it was his tractor ornament.


He has been sporting all of his Christmas jammies around here.

I was looking through pictures tonight and found this one from last year. He was so little last year. I'm excited about Christmas this year because Layton will be more into it he can already say "kissmas tee" "ornanent" santa, wreath and of course he is loving all the lights around everywhere.


This is our front door looking into the living room.


Clifton just finished the front side of the house and it looks great! Can't wait for Layton to see it tomorrow night.

Layton's Early Christmas Present

I've been on the hunt for a little tikes climber for Layton for our backyard. He really doesn't have anything to play with outside and I'm tired of him only playing with daddy's toys (the lawnmower, weed-eater and now the ranger). He loves to sit and "drive" all of daddy's toys so he needed something to play on outside. I've been looking on craigslist daily and I finally found something that I thought would be perfect for Layton. It is big enough that he can use it for years to come but still small enough that it is safe and easy to move around the yard. My parents took me and Layton up to San Antonio to pick it up last night because Clifton had to be at church. It was tricky trying to fit it all in the back of my dad's truck and of course on our way home we stopped at Garden Ridge so my mom could get a new Christmas tree. I found some new wreaths for our front doors and something to hang on our gate for Christmas. It was hilarious trying to fit everything in the truck. We were packed and my dad and mom had there seats all the way up and sitting straight up the whole way so the tree could fit in between the seats. We laughed the whole way home and my dad said he was only doing it because it was for Layton :) It was a night I will probably never forget but it was so much fun. Today my mom came over and we completely took apart the climber and cleaned it really good. It now looks brand new! We went ahead and let Layton have his main Christmas present a little early because the weather is supposed to be 85 here most of the week and we wanted him to enjoy it. Here are a few pictures of Layton enjoying his new climber and slide this afternoon.


Nana showing him how to climb up

He was giving Roscoe lots of loving today too such a sweet boy


Here is a video of Layton in action.

Jessica's Shower

Friday night I helped host a shower for Jessica Hill my sister's best friend. It was a lot of fun and I honestly have not laughed that much in a long time. My cheeks were hurting from laughing so hard for so long. It was just a bunch of girls hanging out and Amanda and her friends were talking about old times and we had a great time. I helped with the food and it was fun putting it all together for Jessica. I wish we were going to be able to make the trip to San Diego in three weeks for the big wedding because I know it will be beautiful. Here are a few pictures from Friday night.

Santa

We took Layton to see Santa on Saturday morning and he wasn't a big fan this year. Last year we got the cutest picture of him looking up at Santa but this year it wasn't happening. That morning when I pointed to Santa in one of our Christmas books he said "Jesus" he was getting his stories confused haha. I told him all morning we were going to see Santa and he was going to sit in his lap but he was clinging to me once we got there. I tried a few times and it just wasn't working and as we were walking away he said "bye bye santa" and then once we got outside he said "I go see Santa" but I knew better than to try again. So maybe next year he will be a little more cooperative. Here are a few funny pictures.

Layton all ready to go see Santa
Me trying to convince him to sit in Santa's lap

He didn't even want to be near Santa

The small things . . . . .

Tonight as I sit here at my computer I’m thankful for all the small things in my life. Lately life has been crazy busy and I wouldn’t have it any other way. See I’m the type of person that is always busy with something and if I don’t have much going on I find something to make myself busy :) I just sat here and looked through the past 12 months of photos on my computer and wow how time has flown. Last year at this time Layton was saying dada for the first time and now he is using full sentences. Amazing how fast things change. I just needed to take time tonight to take a breather and sit back and remind myself to be thankful for all the small things in life and since Thanksgiving is just around the corner I thought it was a good time to reflect on this. Tonight I’m thankful for:

These are totally random and in no particular order.

Layton’s chunky feet as I put socks on them tonight before bed I told him I’m going to get your tootsies and then he said tootsies over and over laughing. You can’t help but smile.

My loving husband that always pulls me aside for a hug and a kiss when he walks in the door even though I am always doing 500 things in the kitchen trying to get dinner on the table before 8. He makes me stop what I’m doing for just a second.

Bubble time Layton loves bubble time and I love that he gets so excited about it every single night. He even has to say bye bye bubbles when he gets out of the tub.

My long hot baths by myself reading my magazines after Layton is in bed. This is my down time every evening.

The cool crisp fall weather

I'm thankful that God chose me to be Layton's mommy what a blessing he is to me

My brothers, sister, sister-n-laws and brother-n-laws all get along and we truly enjoy spending time together. I can’t wait until next week until we all get to hang out.

The beautiful sunrise this morning I saw on my way to work

For a great group of friends that are always there for me when I need advice on anything

My family is healthy

My big pile of dirty laundry in my utility room right now because I have a nice washer and dryer and I can’t imagine having to wash all my clothes by hand.

The yummy warm peach crisp with vanilla ice cream we had for dessert tonight.

I’m thankful I still have both of my Grandma’s around to share this holiday season with

I have the ability to run whenever I want to. As I saw so many in wheelchairs doing the San Antonio half marathon on Sunday I thanked God for giving me the ability to run that far.

Friday mornings (my favorite day of the week now). . . . . bed heads, jammy feet, pancakes, hot chocolate for Mommy and Sesame Street with Layton

My once a week Starbucks treat Peppermint Mocha before work on Thursdays yummy!

My friends at work that help me get through each day at the office and make it bearable

I’m thankful for my mom that takes such great care of Layton while I’m at work. See I learned how to be a mom by watching her and she has been such a great example for me. I’m so glad she is a part of his daily life.

For two amazing mother-n-laws that love my son so much and play with him and his cousin Mason while I’m at work.

I’m so blessed that Layton is cared for by three special women because everyone teaches him something different and he is a little sponge right now soaking it all up.

My heated seats in my car in the morning when I’m driving to work. I never would survive up north.

My parents are still in love with each other after 34 years of marriage. What a great example to us.

An amazing relationship with my sister I couldn't make it without our daily discussions on the phone about anything and everything under the sun.

I could go on and on forever about what I'm thankful for and I realize after writing these now that a lot of these aren't little things but really big amazing things that I'm grateful for. I hope everyone takes a little time out this holiday season to think about what they have to be thankful for. I feel so blessed.

Tonight I leave you with some funny pictures of Layton. This is what happens when Aunt Amanda takes him shopping at Target.
Layton loves to wear hats and I just love this one on him.

San Antonio Half Marathon

Sunday I ran the San Antonio Half Marathon again and I finished woo hoo! My sister and my friend Kellie ran it with me; well Kellie and I ran way behind my sister but we were all there together. I’m so glad I did it this year even though I didn’t have much time to train for it. I ran the whole way which was a first for me no walking this year and improved my time by 25 minutes from last year. Kellie and I stayed together the whole way which was nice to have a running buddy for the whole race. It was so much easier this year as last year I was still nursing Layton so that complicated things a bit. The weather was perfect this year, I enjoyed the bands and saw a lot of neat things along the course. There were so many people running in memory of someone or for a great cause and lots of funny signs along the way. At mile 12 I saw a mom pushing her son in a wheelchair and she had obviously been pushing him the whole way and she was sobbing through that final mile. I got tears in my eyes as I passed them and tried to imagine how tired she was because I knew how bad my legs were hurting and she was pushing someone else (an older kid) that whole way. What a neat experience for both of them. It is also fun to watch everyone cross the finish line to see what people will do. Many people cry and hug and others dance it is just a neat thing to be a part of. After the race we walked downtown and enjoyed some much deserved Mexican food and a margarita and then drove home. I was able to shower and take a two hour nap that afternoon in front of the fire while Layton napped. I woke up feeling so much better. Here are a few pictures we took of our fun day.

At the expo on the red carpet ha

Layton at the marathon expo

These guys were advertising a run but I wish I had a picture of Layton staring at them. He wasn't sure what to think of them.

At 5:15 am at the AT&T center parking lot ready to go

Amanda finished way before we did so she was able to get a picture of us coming to the finish line

So glad to be finished

Layton's First Haircut

I finally gave in and decided to take Layton to get his first haircut last Friday. Clifton has been on me about his boy being "clean cut" a lot lately and I thought his curls in the back were adorable. Layton doesn’t have much hair to begin with but they trimmed the back and around his ears. He sat in my lap the whole time so he loved it. He just sat there and let them cut his hair and then we told him you got a haircut so he said haircut over and over until we got home. The funny thing is that night Clifton didn’t even notice his haircut so I don’t think it made much of a difference. I love the fact that Clifton has curly hair because it is different. I know he hates dealing with it everyday but I’m secretly hoping Layton’s curls come back and he has hair like his daddy someday. Here are a few pictures from his first haircut and yes I saved his little curls for his baby book :)

The before shot: