Christmasy Things

We are so on top of things this year...the house is decorated, the Elf is moving around each morning, we've done the gingerbread house, we've made a visit to Santa, and we are enjoying chocolate from our advent calendar. Nothing like a newborn's arrival to kick it all into gear! 

Turkey, Pilgrims, and Indians!

We had a very relaxing and wonderful Thanksgiving this year. Although Emma didn't make her debut, we were prepared and decided not to leave town. It was a nice change of pace, no packing and no driving. 

The week started off with the Thanksgiving Feast at Davis' school. The kids performed a couple songs and we enjoyed some turkey from Bill Miller BBQ!

Can you spot Chief Davis?

Forrest smoked the turkey this year...yum yum!

Eating loads of turkey requires playtime at the park

Emma's Due Date is Here!

It's December 4th, our long awaited due date for Emma. Is she here? Nope. Just like her older brother, I think she's cozy and we are probably going to have to force her out. I feel blessed to have made it to 40 weeks. But I do have to say, going on 10+ months pregnant is not so pleasant. Think swollen feet, clothes not fitting, and getting up every 2 hours at night. In an attempt to get her moving, I decided to wash and vacuum my car yesterday, followed by a nice long walk. Nothing. 

Since I don't have sweet newborn photos to share, I will give you a glimpse into the nursery! Enjoy! 

Hello Kyle Field!

As I entered Kyle Field I tried to remember the last time I was actually there...in the stadium...I think it was at least a good 8 years (maybe more!). I've been back to College Station since graduation and I've been back for tailgating, but I never had a ticket to the football game. I've also seen the Aggies play since I graduated, but it was at UT. So imagine my excitement when my sweet cousin and her hubby called us to invite us to the Auburn game! Whoop! 

Early Saturday morning, Forrest and I dropped Davis off in Buda with my Aunt and Uncle. He was ecstatic to spend the day with the cows, chickens, and Miracle (their horse). We enjoyed our drive to College Station surrounded by the suburbans full of fans decked out in maroon. The weather couldn't have been more perfect, sunny and cool. The game was a great one, so close. Sadly, the last two minutes of the game were not pretty for the Aggies. 

Pregnant girls enjoy their pickles!

There's Johnny!

Ole Holiday Market

I volunteer with the Junior League and every year since joining the league, I sign up for the Ole Holiday Market as my placement. More than 200 merchants come set up booths for the week and each day during the week we put on different events/parties! 

The months leading up to the event are spent planning parties, getting merchants, advertising, getting donations, and much much more. This year I was co-chair for all the events: Sneak Peek, Tween Fashion Show, Girl's Night Out, and Pajamas and Pancakes. Hours and hours are spent during the week of Ole setting up, decorating, coordinating, etc and this year was a little more challenging being on my feet all day while being 7 months pregnant. 

Our event is in October, so trying to twist in a little Christmas cheer is always a challenge. So we went with "Christmas Ole!" Bright fiesta colors decorated Christmas trees! 

My favorite event this year was Pajamas and Pancakes! It was our final event (yay for wrapping it up) and I got to spend time with Forrest and Davis (who I had barely seen all week!!). Kids came in their pajamas, did science experiments with the Children's museum, ate pancakes, painted, and sat down for story-time with the author of the cutest book, Good Night San Antonio. 

Painting with a Twist

Story-time with author of Good Night San Antonio

Davis and Jack

Hot Lava

Soccer season is coming to a close. Surprisingly, it went by quickly. We practiced one day a week - which really was like one big play-date on a huge field with 10 kids - and we had games every Saturday morning. The games proved to be very entertaining. 

The first couple of games, the kids had to learn that not all of them could play at the same time. There were some tears. I think the majority of kids had more fun hanging out by the "snack cooler" than on the field. There were some who would absolutely collapse in complete despair if the other team scored a goal. And there were some kids whose parents were shouting bribes from the sidelines - "If you stay on the field for the next 15 mins, I will buy you bubble gum!!!" Desperate times, desperate times. I will miss Saturday mornings! 

Did I mention the kids came up with their team name...HOT LAVA! Go Hot Lava! 

Trick or Treat

Emma enjoyed her first Halloween. She indulged in plenty of chocolate,  via me. 

Davis also had a great day...starting out with Spooky Chapel at school and the Spooky Parade. In chapel, the kids learned that while they might see scary things that night (ghosts, witches, and monsters), there are people in their lives that love and support them. So sweet. They sang a couple Halloween songs, but my favorite was watching them sing and dance to "The Monster Mash!" 

I brought the kids lunch that afternoon and we played some Halloween games like pumpkin bowling and pin the nose on the pumpkin. Davis came home with me after lunch and was ready to trick or treat right then and there, it was 1pm! I distracted him with some Halloween crafts and we played some games, that helped get us to 3pm. Then it was time for Captain America to get ready!!

Spooky Chapel and Spooky Parade

Captain America to the rescue!

Super-hero shield! 

We met up with our neighbors and made it around the block. It didn't seem like that many houses and somehow Davis came home with an entire bucket full of candy. 

Every year, my favorite part is when we get home, sit on the porch and hand out candy. Davis loves it!

Davis used his glow-sticks to point other trick or treaters towards our house, "come to my house guys!" He looked like he was directing planes for take-off and landing! Then he would meticulously count out three pieces of candy per person. If ever there was a lull, he asked me, "do you think we'll get more customers?"When we ran out of candy around 8pm, I said, "well, Halloween is over." Davis said, "Great, so tomorrow is Christmas?" 

BOO! Happy Halloween!

San Diego Part 2: Gaslamp, Aggies, and Harbor

We happened to take our San Diego trip during football season so the majority of Saturday was spent watching the game or planning watching the game. That morning we started with a delicious breakfast and a nice walk around Balboa Park (near the zoo). We quickly made our way to the Gaslamp Quarter to find the perfect sports bar for football watching. We kept an eye out for other Aggies, but surprisingly didn't meet any! 

Hotel Del by night

At halftime we decided to stretch our legs and change locations. I was so excited to happen upon a precious bar - chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, salads on the menu, and fluffy pillows! Forrest compromised and we watched the second half of the game in the "girly" bar. 

The girly - shabby - chic bar! 

After the game we headed to the harbor for shopping, more eating, sunset watching, and bird talking. This was by far my favorite stop for shopping. I cannot tell you how many people stopped us to talk to Forrest about the Aggies and Johnny Manziel! I heard the recap of the game at least 10 times! 

Our last day in San Diego we decided to revisit our favorite breakfast place, make a few shopping stops in Coronado, and spend most of our time on the beach. It was a short trip, but I feel like we were able to check off many hot spots in San Diego while still having time to relax. 

San Diego Part 1: The Del, The Beach, The Sunset

San Diego should be the #1 spot for a baby-moon (you know what I'm talking about, the term some genius marketing person came up with to help give people another reason to spend money and go on vacation)! Our reasons for picking San Diego included: direct flight, nice weather, and highly recommended. Little did I know I would fall in love with the city and want to move there. 

Where to begin? The people were so nice. Everywhere we went. Nice people! I don't blame them, sun 100% year round would make me a nice person too. We stayed at "The Del" in Coronado, but rented a car so that we could explore different areas. It was easy to navigate and super fun having a convertible. 

Hotel Del Coronado - Beautiful, full of history, and haunted!

The first night in San Diego, Forrest arranged a little bonfire on the beach and we literally ate s'mores for dinner. So healthy and every pregnant girl's dream (Davis' dream too, but he wasn't there). As we were enjoying our cozy bonfire on the beach, our s'mores server came over to tell us the Navy Seals were doing drills on the beach. We decided to walk down to the tiny green lights he was pointing to and see them in action. Amazing! The Navy Seals were fully dressed, running into the water (freezing), paddle a certain distance, come back, cross a field of rocks with their boat, then crawl in the sand, and repeat! We went to bed full of s'mores and proud to be American. 

Our first morning was spent relaxing on the beach and planning the rest of our time there. Highs were in the 70s and it felt amazing sitting on a beach, white sand, without sweating or burning. Ahhh, heaven! The first full day in San Diego we decided to take our convertible and drive to La Jolla. We went to Torrey Pines Gliderport, which had unbelievable views, we shopped La Jolla, ate at George's rooftop bar for the breath-taking sunset, and walked after dinner looking for the seals. Super cute seals, but by that time our pictures didn't turn out because it was dark. 

Torrey Pines Gliderport

Torrey Pines Gliderport

George's

George's

Hill Country Hyatt

We often get visitors to SA who stay at the Hill Country Hyatt. This particular weekend Annie and Papa Tom stayed there a couple nights and invited Davis. He loves this place, what kid wouldn't? Face painting, buffets at his eye-level, lazy river rides, nightly s'mores, slides, waterfalls, movies on the lawn!

Lazy River fun

Not quite tall enough for the slide...darn

The Move Upstairs

Our upstairs consists of the playroom, the office, and a bathroom. After a full weekend of moving and redecorating, the playroom and office have been combined. The old office is now Davis' new room! 

I held off moving Davis upstairs as long as I possibly could. Stairs make me really nervous and trapping kids with locks and gates make me really nervous too. While I didn't want him to be coming down the stairs in a sleepy state in the middle of the night, I also didn't want to trap him up there in case there was an emergency. So we leave the stairway light on and we still listen for him on the monitor. 

Maybe you recall my post about non-consistent sleep habits a while back? Well (knock on wood) our problems have been solved! Upstairs, Davis sleeps through the night about 90% of the time. Occasionally he comes downstairs because of a bad dream, but for the most part he sleeps from 7:30/8pm till 6:30/7am. He absolutely LOVES his new room, mainly because of the beanbag chair! 

Please ignore the massive armoire in front of the window.
It was too heavy to move that weekend by ourselves. 

Emma's Sprinkle

I haven't officially announced it to the blog world, but we do have a name for our baby girl: 

Emma Baird! 

No real reason for Emma other than we love it and Baird is a family name, it's my grandmother's maiden name. Davis Warriner, by the way, gets his middle name from Forrest's grandmother's maiden name. So they are even...starting life out fair...but that won't last! 

Emma was sprinkled by some very loving hostesses and friends on September 29th and I want to thank each and every one of them. I think the pictures will speak for themselves...but as you can see, the decorations and flowers were beautiful, the food was delicious, and the pink was plentiful! Such thoughtful and personal details were put into this sprinkle, and I am forever grateful for wonderful friends! 

Mommy-to-be mint tea -- Delicious!

Claire serving bellinis! 

The hostesses!

Davis loved Emma's umbrella!