So very thankful

There have been some small moments lately that have made me just so thankful to me a mom. (Ok, so I am always thankful, but these moments have really stood out and I hope to remember them always)

Yesterday, Caleb's teachers decorated the classroom for Christmas. They put up white lights all over the room, along with ornaments and they were playing Christmas music. Stephen picked Caleb up from school and they were playing outside. Well, as soon as they got back inside, Caleb ran into his classroom, jumped up in the air and landed with his arms and legs spread wide apart. "Ta-da!!!!!! Christmas!!!" he proudly exclaimed. I think Little Buddy is excited for Christmas this year!

They also recently made Thanksgiving Handprints for an art project. They had to tell their teacher one thing they were thankful for. Out of everything he could pick, Caleb proudly told them he was thankful for Jesus. What a sweet little boy!

We took Caleb for his first ride on the Macy's Pink Pig. A huge Atlanta tradition. His face was lit up the entire time as he looked at everything we passed. I hope I will always remember the look of excitement and curiosity in his eyes! His favorite part was when the conductor said "All aboard!" He ran to the front seat to begin his trip! After the ride, we went to Chick Fil-a for lunch. I think he may have been even more thrilled with who we saw there - a Chick Fil-A cow, than the Pink Pig!

Sometimes, after I get him dressed in the morning, I will tell Caleb that he looks great. His response? "Whistle at me!!"

Caleb is still talking about the holes in our house and if I mistakenly say "Let's go home," he promptly corrects me and says "We no go home. We have holes in our house. We go to Grandadddy's House!" I think he is ready for the holes to be patched up so he can sleep in his own bed. (We are very very slowly making progress and hope to get a lot done this weekend!)

The small moments make mommy-hood so worth living!

Drying Out

Yep. We are drying out. For those of you who did not see on facebook, Stephen and I had a massive flood in our house. A connecting valve for a pipe under our guest bath sink gave our and the pipe began gushing out water...when we were not at home. It had to have leaked about 1000 gallons of water during the day. It was on the second floor of our house, so it flooded the upstairs hall, soaking into the carpet in every single room upstairs, except for our bed room. It also went down the steps and through the ceiling into our kitchen, living room and laundry area and half bath downstairs. In the end, we will have to replace the hardwoods, ceilings, carpets, flooring in both upstairs bathrooms, the vanity in the guest bath upstairs, baseboards up and down stairs and repaint most rooms downstairs and hall upstairs. We will also need a new couch, tv and some other small items will need to be replaced. Thankfully all of our sentimental items and pictures came out ok. The verdict is still out on the laptop that was sitting directly underneath one of the major leaky spots. Honestly, I think we are just a little scared to turn it on. Said laptop is the home to oh so many pictures and documents! Hopefully, Mr. IT Man (Stephen) can get it fixed, or at least recover the documents.

Not sure when we will be able to get back in our home. I am really hoping to be in there for Christmas, but even at that point not everything will be fixed.

Yes. It is a big pain. We do have good insurance and that is assuring. I hate being displaced from our home, especially during the holidays. However, I know it could be so much worse. The flood occurred on Wednesday, the same day I experienced my first flat tire. We were stressed and worried, but thankful our entire house was not destroyed. As we sat in our hotel room Thursday night, everything was put into perspective with one phone call. We learned some devastating news about a friend and member of our church who was killed riding his bicycle. He left behind a wife and two sweet children. We now keep that family in our prayers and hold on to each other a little tighter. We will also take a flood any day.

So, as we dry out, we still continue to count our blessings. This Thanksgiving, we may not have our home back together, but we still have the people in that home....all together, and that is what really matters the most.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Remember to count your blessings!

Happy Halloween - a couple days late!

Three is a very fun year for Halloween! Everything from pumpkin picking, pumpkin carving (ok, so he refused to touch the insides of the pumpkin for the most part. I finally convinced him at clean up time...), and of course, the trick or treating. He even wore his pirate hat the entire time! Caleb is typically not a fan of any type of hat for longer than 5 seconds!

Trick or treating was a lot of fun this year. Each house we approached, he would look for the "ring bell" and yell out "There is the ring bell!" when he would find it. He perfected his "tick or teat" and managed to score a bunch of candy, most of which he can't eat. Bummer! He doesn't seem to mind when we tell him he can't have something and we were sure to have a good stash of "Caleb-safe" candy on hand to help him re-fill his goodie bag.

I can't believe it is already November. We are in my favorite part of the year and it just seems to be flying by already! I want time to stand still. I want to see the Holidays this year through the eyes of a child. I want to soak each and every moment in and not pass days away without being appreciative for what I have. I think having a child makes this time of year so much more magical, and for that I am so very thankful!

Here are a few pictures from our fun Halloween! Happy November!