Thanksgiving and Texas Christmas

 One of the table settings

 Homemade floral arrangement

 My parents/Trey's parents table

 Dining room

 Closeup of a place setting, I had everyone's names on little leaves with Thanksgiving Bible verses on the underside!

Food table (minus the food) We used almost all of mom's Peter's/McCarty's pottery to serve on

We hosted our very first Thanksgiving in the new house and as a married couple actually this past November! We had my parents, sister and brother, Trey's mom, dad and sister and the Milcic's Trey's sister's boyfriend's family from Illinois. It was a ton of people, ton of food and alot of fun! We did a dinner instead of lunch (much to Trey's dismay) b/c leigh anne had to work. I had three tables of place settings and enough food to feed a small army. I was exhausted by the end of the day but was so happy we did it, although I may opt for Cracker Barrel next year!! Luckily I only had to cook a few items, we all chipped in and cooked pieces of the meal so no one was stuck with a large amount to cook! Mom, Tracy and I did the big Black Friday shopping trip and got up around 5:30 to get some deals. I did get myself a canon SLR camera that I have been waiting and saving to buy for months and a few christmas gifts. I finally finished up my semester last week and couldn't be happier!! My life has been consumed with school lately and have been feeling guilty that I haven't spent more time with Trey and Camden nor have I gotten very prepared for the new baby. I did end up with a B in my class and hopefully an A in my clinical making my overall gpa 3.6! I am very proud of that. I still have another year and a half to go though, so it will be a much longer road but the next few years but well worth the work I think!

 My beautiful cousin Melissa on her wedding day

 My family

My family

 Trey and I at the reception

 The majority of the Cresswells at the reception (minus the bride's mother and father and my mom) See how pregnant I looked?? I felt like I took up half the picture!!

Dad, Walker and Cam at Cheesecake Factory enjoying my dad's ice cream!

Trey and I celebrated (briefly) our 5th wedding anniversary December 3rd. It's hard to believe where we are now compared to where we started. In 2005 I was a graphic designer in a dead end job and Trey was a professional baseball player on the disabled list. We had gone through career changes, lay offs, continued education, new jobs, financial strain, the birth of our first child, buying our second home, returning to graduate school and now preparing for yet another child! Whew, that makes me tired! I couldn't be happier with my family and all the things we have built together. Also, I celebrated my 31st birthday which seemed like a blip on the screen with all the things I had going on that week! I had clinical or work every single day plus shopping for christmas and studying for my final exam. The next weekend we traveled to B'ham, AL for my cousin Melissa's wedding. My sister and I were both bridesmaids. I wasn't extremely pumped about being a bridesmaid at 7.5 months pregnant, but I think that it ended up being fine. I hated that I was so big, but hopefully everyone understood! It was a sweet ceremony and fun weekend with bridesmaids luncheons, rehearsals, dinners and of course the wedding and reception! Camden and Walker had to stay with a babysitter in the hotel, and they must have scared her off b/c she backed out for night #2 and Mom and Trey had to take turns missing the wedding/reception so they both could come. All in all it was a great weekend and my family treated me to cheesecake factory on Sunday on the way out of town for my birthday. It was great!!

" Hey, Santa I want the big truck with all the cars in it"

 The "North Pole" at Bass Pro shops

Hey, Mom can Santa bring me this for Christmas??

This past weekend we made the annual trek (10 hours) to Dallas then on to Brownwood, TX to visit with Trey's grandparents and spend a few days with them. We made it to Dallas on Thursday night and stayed in a hotel rather than with Trey's uncle Gene who was out of town which was interesting (we went for the cheap route, rather than luxury). We stopped in Dallas at the huge Bass Pro shop by the interstate to let Cam meet Santa. I was nervous he would chicken out like last year and cry, but he was so brave and sat in Santa's lap and even told him what he wanted! I couldn't have been a prouder mom! He was so sweet up there innocently asking Santa for " the big truck with all the cars in it" (that is all he keeps asking for) and smiling for a few pics. We then traveled to see great g'ma maylene and spent the day and night with them even taking Cam to his first movie Yogi Bear in 3-D! I was so amazed how well he did and when he finally was convinced him to put the 3-D glasses on he really got into and laughed and clapped and sat still in his Jo Jo's lap watching the movie intently! We then went to the other grandma's house the next day to open even more presents and ate, ate ate. While there we celebrated Trey's uncle Craige's 50th birthday (late) with a big party! Then we played Dirty Santa which was a fun change and twist to our usual Christmas gift exchange. We got up this morning at 6:00 am and drove straight back and did pretty well on time. We had a great time on our short trip and enjoyed visiting with this side of the family whom we usually only see once a year.

 Such a little poser!!

 Opening one of his many stuffed animal gifts!

 Happy 50th birthday Uncle Craige!!

 Enjoying some of Uncle Craige's birthday cupcakes

 Camden watching the guys shoot guns intently through the den window. Not quite old enough yet to participate.

 Showing off his new rain boots

With uncle uncle Gene with some of the gifts he got Cam!

Halloween and other fall fun

Long overdue, but here is our halloween photos. We went to the Ole Miss vs Auburn tailgate then to a friends party where Cam was Napoleon Dynamite, I was Flo the Progressive Insurance lady and Trey was teen wolf. Camden also had a Frankenstein costume he wore around the neighborhood trick or treating and to his school party.

Random bubble bath shot!

He is doing awesome potty training. I would venture to say that he is 85% potty trained. He tells us when he needs to go (#1 & #2!!) and wants privacy as he does his business :) pretty funny he's so grown up acting! He and one other little boy at school are the only ones on the "Master's" potty training list. They rank everyone according to their level of potty training (ie. Beginners are diapers, no pull ups, High School is wearing pull ups, Bachelor's is pull ups using the potty sometimes, Master's is big kid underwear and pottying on the potty, etc). So needless to say out of 15 kids he's doing pretty good! He has been telling us repeatedly what he wants for Christmas from Santa and he actually understands this year about who he is and we have made a few "phone calls" to Santa if he started getting out of line! He falls for it everytime:) Other than that we are gearing up for the big Thanksgiving meal and getting the house ready for our guests. I haven't put up my Christmas tree yet, but will probably do it the day after Thanksgiving (the way it's always been done). I don't know when Christmas started in November, but it seems like it moves up every year!

Trey and I got to go to game 5 of the World Series which was super exciting. So when I was pregnant with Cam we went to the Master's, with this baby we went to the world series, if there is a #3, then I guess we'll be off to the Super Bowl!! Pregnancy is going ok, I had a scare this week with some severe cramping, but after a trip to the Dr. everything turned out fine and I just had a stomach bug. I am now 28 weeks meaning I'm in the 3rd trimester, which is hard to believe. I have so much to do to get ready for this baby. I feel behind by this time with Camden I already had the nursery almost completely done, but I know over Christmas I should be able to do alot. Pray for my sanity the next 3 weeks of school. It is pretty taxing with being at work or clinical all but one day a week. I'm pretty exhausted. Hopefully after this semester I will enjoy a nice break getting together with family and friends. We have a wedding that I'm in December and then the next weekend we are going to Texas for trey's side Christmas then Christmas! It's coming up fast! Hopefully I will post after Thanksgiving some pictures.

Fall Fever

I have not been a good blogger lately. Mostly because I have been working, doing clinical, and being a mom & wife in between. It's been crazy! Some weeks I have one day off which I typically use to catch up on housework, laundry, studying, decorating...
But the pregnancy is going well. We have had two ultrasounds and they both look normal.

 Can you guess if I'm a girl or a boy??!

We aren't going to find out the sex of the baby, even though it's driving everyone nuts!! I think it will make the baby's birthday so special. I have been able to get a few things done around the house like get a couple of rooms almost completely furnished and decorated. Mom and I went to several nurseries and bought alot of pansies, mums, snapdragons and cabbages for my flowerbeds. I love all the fall flowers and pumpkins!

 Getting my thanksgiving table ready

 My grandmother's (Ma) wash stand it looks perfect in my entry, I think of her everytime I see it!

Front den, finally complete!

My mom came and painted the nursery (pics to come soon). We are having all of my family and Trey's family over for Thanksgiving at our house this year which is excited (and stressful). But all the women are going to cook some portion of the meal so that no one person has to do the lions share of the work which is nice. I'm pretty pumped to host this year and I hope it turns out beautiful :) Other than that we are working with Cam on potty training. He seems to do it more at school than at home. He usually says " I already did it at schoo!" when we ask him to peepee on the potty. He is a pretty funny guy these days and keeps me and Trey cracking up alot! When he counts he'll go "one, two, eight!" I love his little expressions and what a great kid he is.

 Cheesin after bathtime!

 Clean Cam Cam

 eating chinese food (he can even use chopsticks!!)

He loves going to "Pa's" (my late grandad's place in Hickory flat, MS) wit Cece and Walker. They play with choo choo trains and have lots of open land to run around in. Plus there are horses to look at and a four wheeler that his uncle Jimmy rides him on. We've been to pickwick to ride on Trey's dad's new boat, Sunflower. Should be lots of fun in the future!

On a friends yacht at Pickwick. Cam is hugging his new stuffed monkey friend!

We also have made it to a few Ole Miss games (Starkville is a little too far for us right now!) All in all, we have been doing great and staying uber busy as always!!

 With cousin Walker at Pa's house

Helping daddy fix a hole in the wall in the game room



Camden is going to be a Big Brother!

Long overdue post I know, weve been traveling, going to the lake, school, starting a new daycare, working etc... And I guess the biggest thing we have on the plate is we found out we are expecting baby #2! I am currently 15 weeks along (due date Feb. 9th) and I've been to the doctor 3 times all good visits. The baby's heart rate is anywhere from 180's to 150's which makes me think it could be a girl but there is no telling. We have decided that we will not find out the gender of the baby and let the sex of the baby be a surprise on delivery day! It may be hard (for me especially since I'm such a planner) but I am determined to make the delivery day a special exciting day even more than it already would be! Camden has been told he will be a big brother, but we aren't sure if he really understands he will not be the "baby" anymore! He says, while pointing to my belly "dares a baby in dare" (translation: there's a baby in there). And when I mention the baby in my stomach he always says "I wanna see!" Sometimes when we are talking about the baby he'll tell us that in his belly "dares a frog in dare" (there's a frog in there!) It's hilarious, so I guess we will have to wait until February to find out what our little frog is a girl or a boy. I've been feeling alot worse with this pregnancy than the first. Alot of nausea and VERY tired. Somedays I just want to sleep the entire day. I've gotten two different prescriptions for nausea medicine and chew ginger gum frequently. I was anemic prior to this but that seems to have resolved. The doctor is confident that I should be coming out of all of it since I'm now in my second trimester, and I hope she's right! It's strange b/c other than that and my ever growing abdomen I sometimes forget about being pregnant. I guess it's because I've been so busy with this summer session with school and work and trying to make the transition to my new position at work as a day weekender (starting early September). I cannot wait to be on a day schedule! I've worked nights for the past 2.5 years and it is pretty taxing on me and Trey. My sleep schedule will hopefully begin to stabilize and I will feel like a normal  wife and mom.

In other news, Trey's parents (gran gran and jo jo to Camden) bought a boat for the lake at Pickwick. The bought a lot last year and plan to start building in March of 2012 (which can't get here soon enough!) We took it out for the first time 2 weekends ago and had a blast. It was still a little hot for Cam and since he has to wear the life jacket the whole time he got a little fussy but luckily we met up with some of James' really wealthy (and generous) friends who allowed us to troll around the lake on their 3 story (air conditioned) yacht! It was a blast, we hope to make it back down there soon and looking forward to many summer trips to the lake with friends and family.

Camden is doing great, he started a new daycare a month ago and is finally starting to do well there. His other daycare was on the verge of closing (which is did a few weeks after we left) and I thought it was time he was around more kids. Some days he was the only child there! So we got him in a the Little People's Learning barn and the first 2 weeks he cried every day when we dropped him off and many days was crying when we picked him up. It broke my heart and I prayed about it everydayand finally he just started walking in like a pro and made friends with a little boy named Henry. The teacher informed me that they were "BFF's" (best friends). He has been playing and acting like his old self again.

Like I said I start weekends in the fall in order to accomodate my clinical hour rotations. I begin with Adult health where I will spend the fall semester in a family medical clinic in Olive Branch with Dr. McClatchy a family friend and my primary care physician. I am really looking forward to learning alot and hopefully starting to feel like a real Nurse Practitioner. The spring I chose not to do a clinical due to the baby coming then and then resume in the Summer of 2011. My expected graduation date had to be moved back a semester due to the birth of our new little one, but I would rather not be completely overwhelmed and stressed! We are praying that all is well with this new little life and God will bless us with a healthy baby girl or boy in early 2011! We have 3 other ladies pregnant in our sunday school class so it's been fun going through all the labor pains with others who can sympathize with me! We will be keeping you updated on all the exciting news our ever growing family has in the works.

Keep us in your prayers as we approach our first ultrasound September 14th. I'm anxiously awaiting seeing the baby and making sure that it is healthy and growing well!