Nov 30, 2011

THANKSGIVING FIRSTS

This Ohio Thanksgiving was a first for our family.  Since Brooke & Garrett moved to Ohio (blech), they could not make the trip to Arkansas for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  SO we decided to bring Thanksgiving to them!  It was super low-key, which is awesome as I'm not big on the stressful, elaborate celebrations.  Give me some good food and good people, and I am satisfied.  That is just what we did.  Besides our traditional Meme's Sweet Potatoes (yes, they deserve to be capitalized), we kept things simple with ham, spinach salad, dressing, and rolls.  My mom, Brooke, and I went and saw a movie while the guys watched football--constantly.  It was great!
THE from-scratch candied sweet potatoes--no cans used here!

Brooke learning to make my Great Grandma's chicken & dressing

Permanent positions for 5 days straight

Chowin' down

The rest of our trip, however, was more chalked-full.  Black Friday Brooke had THE ultrasound, the big one when we found out the gender of the baby.  Brooke & Garrett are having a BOY!  We were surprised, as my parents and I were convinced she was having a girl.  We're all so excited and are anxiously anticipating the arrival of Benjamin James Rea!  SO...Friday and Saturday were packed full of shopping for lil Ben.  We got the crib, a basically free changing table, car seat, stroller frame, toddler car seat (it was on sale, so why not), and a bouncer/swing thingy.   Brooke also started her baby registries at Babies R Us (.com) and Target!  It was super fun.  She let me hold the gun scanner thing and scan stuff...yes, I am a child.  I also could not help myself and purchased a couple super cute outfits, so Ben is stylin' it up right.  *sigh*  It was so fun.  It was hard to leave them Sunday morning, to take the 13.5-hour drive back to Arkansas, but the trip was more than worth it.  I am excited for them to come in December and for a BIG baby shower!


Some Hobby Lobby shopping fun 
My silly mother
Before
During
The grunt work...Garrett and I were the photographers, an essential role.
See I helped!
My mom was so excited to have it put together.
After

Before

After
Happy parents-to-be! 
This is Baby.  A super cute monkey given by Lacee Knoedl

A silly Max showing how easy it is for one to get one's head stuck.

The BEST BIB EVER I got when I was in England a couple Springs ago.

The bouncer swing thingy that my mom could not help buying...yes, it is super cute.  Agreed!
The Final Baby Shower Invite!

Ben will be stylin' in these diggs.  



Let me introduce you to Mr. Benjamin James Rea.  He's waving "hi!"...at least in my mind he is.   


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