Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I can't believe how quickly the holiday season crept up upon us this year!  I thought time flew by with just one child in the house, but with two, it goes by even faster!  I feel like I look at Davis everyday and just try to soak it all in because the days of having a little baby in the house go by way too quickly!
I know its been a while since I've posted so here are just a few pictures to highlight our Thanksgiving this year.  The holiday season started off w/ Lance's grandmothers' birthday, which was about 2 weeks before Thanksgiving.  She turned 88 this year and is the only grandparent left between both of our families, so we were excited to celebrate with her!  I just love how excited she looks in this picture.

 

The week before Thanksgiving, her nursing home has a Thanksgiving dinner that we go to every year.  Harrison always has a great time there, dancing to the music and getting a lot of attention from all of the grandmas and great grandmas there!  This year Lance's cousins and their kids were all able to make it so Harrison had a field day playing with all of his cousins...or second cousins...or whatever they are to him! :)

Here are Whitney, "Dot Dot", and grammy.  I thought this was cute picture...

After 2 weeks of celebrating Thanksgiving, the actual day finally arrived.  Since all of Lance's family lives in Atlanta, we went to his Uncle Bill's house for lunch down in Decatur, then had dinner at his parent's house with his dad's side of the family.  We were able to get a big family picture...

Harrison had so much fun again playing with all of his older cousins.  Bill has a huge Magnolia tree in his yard that the kids were playing under and then Harrison spent the last half hour jumping off the porch...

We didn't get to leave Bill's until around 3:30 so Harrison didn't go down for a nap until 4:00 pm.  He did surprisingly well and a fun time was had by all.  We had to pace ourselves for dinner that night, but both feasts were delicious and we felt so blessed to get to spend the day with so many family members and 4 generations of Eleys!

We actually visited Santa a little early this year, before Thanksgiving even came around!  I felt funny posting those pictures first though, so here they are.  Last year, we took Harrison down to Phipps and to say he was terrified of Santa would be an understatement.  This year, the online booking got kind of messed up and we headed out of town the next day so we didn't get an appointment with the Phipps Santa.  The Hallmark by Lance's parents' house had Santa come by and were offering free pictures so we decided to get the kids dressed up and see Santa there.  It ended up being perfect b/c when we got there, there weren't any other kids yet.  Santa was waiting for us by the door and greeted Harrison as we walked up.  Harrison walked right up to him, sat on his lap and told him what he wanted for Christmas.  I think he did so much better because he didn't have time to get nervous about it by standing in line and seeing all the other kids freaking out.  Harrison's request for Christmas this year: "train track, and tunnels and bridges".

Of course Davis had to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas too...

...how cute are those boys!

And one family picture...whats funny, is that I didn't even realize Santa had snuck up behind us to be in the picture!  ( I have to say, I think Santa was a little creepy looking!)

Harrison & Davis w/ Grandma & Granddaddy...

We never usually get our Christmas tree up until about 2 weeks before Christmas, but this year we were ahead of the game and set it up the weekend after Thanksgiving.  It was fun to have Harrison helping out so much with the ornaments.  Decorating for Christmas is just so much more fun when there are kids around.
Lance is so funny about putting the lights on the tree.  He has 1200 lights on the tree and is very meticulous in making sure you can see the tree from a mile away!  I make fun of him, but it really is beautiful!  Here is Harrison helping Lance put up the lights...

It takes Lance so long to put up the lights so we didn't get to hang any ornaments until Sunday morning.  We usually go to church on Sunday mornings but Harrison had a pretty runny nose so we just relaxed, set a fire, had some coffee and spent the morning listening to Christmas music and decorating the house.  It was such a nice morning...simple memories I will not forget!  Here is Harrison putting up the ornaments...

 Davis was so excited about decorating and really getting into the Christmas spirit...

Here are just a few other recent random pictures that I thought were cute...Lance's sister lives out in Colorado but they came to visit for Thanksgiving.  This was the first time that they got to meet Davis, so here is Anna, so excited to meet baby Davis...

I can't remember what we were doing here, but Davis was having a great time...

Harrison just loves to hold his little brother...

We've had some really pretty weather lately so Lance and Harrison have had fun raking up the leaves...

After the nice weather left, the rainy weather came in...Harrison just loves to wear his rain boots so he went out looking for some puddles to splash in...

And here is a cute picture of Davis hangin w/ granddaddy...

This one is actually from the beginning of November, but it is the last time I was able to get Davis to take a paci. Thankfully he is a pretty happy baby, but I miss the luxury of being able to instantly calm him w/ a paci like I was able to do with Harrison!  I think this was also one of the last times that I was able to swaddle him.  So sweet...

And I will end with a funny video of Davis cackling...I just love that sound!

Shutterfly Rocks!

Okay, so Shutterfly is running a blogging promotion right now and I think it is working!  I was debating whether or not I was going to send out Christmas cards this year since it is always a little pricey, but since Shutterfly wants to offer me 50 free prints for posting a blog on them, I think my decision is made!  I have always liked using Shutterfly to order prints or send photo books to family, but this is the best deal by far!  I am now on the tougher debate...which photo card to choose!!
This one is pretty cute...

...but then there is this one...

...or maybe this one...

...ok, this could go on for a while!  Clearly, Shutterfly has a ton of cute options so hopefully I will decide on one sometime soon!  And then deciding on a photo begins...
If you are interested in the promo, check it out here:
http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/

Flip flop!

So its official...Davis is flipping!  On Sunday, 11/14/10, Davis rolled from his stomach to his back for the first time (he did it once at about 8 wks but I think that was a fluke).  This time he did it about 5 or 6 times in a row.  Then, on Monday evening, 11/15/10, he flipped from his back to his stomach.  We like to call him the flip-flopper because he will roll from his back to his stomach...hang there for a minute, then flip back over.  I guess this is the end of being able to leave him on the couch for a minute!  Way to go Davis!

A.D.Pi girls beach trip

After about a year of trying to find a good date to take our annual beach trip with my girlfriends from college, we FINALLY found a date that worked!  This year we all met up at an amazing house on Ono Island in Gulf Shores.  To say this house was large would be an understatement!  We had such a great time seeing everyone and here are a few pics to highlight the trip...
The car trip started out great, both boys were in a great mood and Harrison was entertaining Davis.  I left Harrison in a diaper and figured I wouldn't say anything about trying to use the potty.  I didn't want to discourage him from keeping his diaper dry, however I knew it would be a much quicker car trip if he just went in his diaper. Fast forward to 45 minutes down the road when Harrison let us know that he needed to use the potty.  So we stopped.  Then we stopped again 45 minutes later.  Then we stopped again 45 minutes later.  I am so proud of my little guy for doing so well with the potty but car trips sure went a lot faster before we had a potty trained 2 yr old!

Harrison had three favorite activities this trip...
#1 - building a "water mountain" with his daddy...filling up his bucket with water from the ocean, taking it to the top of his "water mountain"...

 then letting it run down the beach back into the water...

# 2 - fishing with his daddy off the dock at our house (too bad the owners didn't leave the keys for the boat)...

and # 3 - playing with his new buddy, Ben -

Cute video of Jessica & Ben trying to teach Harrison how to play football

 The pool was FREEZING, but Harrison and some of my crazy friends still had fun playing & relaxing in the water...

Here is my roommate from college, Kendra, and her sweet, sweet little girl, Ellie...

 Harrison & my friend Allison's daughter, Anna, hangin on the porch...

The amazing view from the house at sunset...

Two of my boys relaxing on vacation...

Harrison took a few special trips with his daddy.  It was so nice for them to get to spend some quality one-on-one time and I know Harrison had so much fun!  With Lance's crazy work schedule it was nice for the boys to get some good bonding time.  They took a little trip to the beach and look how far Harrison  has come!!

This trip went so fast, I can't believe I didn't get a chance to sit on the beach at all!  My how different beach trips have become with two kids!
Their second little outing was a little boat trip.  Our house had a few kayaks so Lance took Harrison out in the boat...

"SAY CHEESE DAVIS!!!"  Poor Davis, I'm sure he is probably thinking "just wait until I can defend myself!!"

Here are the little divas relaxing by the pool...
(Ellie)

(Anna)

Harrison having fun with Aunt Amanda.

Me and my Harrison

Why can't I live here?!?!?!

Since we were at the beach over Halloween weekend, we found a little Halloween event for Harrison to go to.  He was a pirate but it was too hot to wear the pirate coat and I left his "Argh!" shirt at home...oops!

With so many kids around this trip, it was much easier to just eat at house each night.  On Saturday night though, we decided to go to Lulu's.  I'm so mad that we didn't try to get one big group picture, but here are a few pictures from dinner of the group...

Allison, Wes & Stephanie...

Fred, Amanda, Michael, Kendra, Ellie, Ben & Jessica...

Harrison goofin off w/ Aunt Steph...

One last pic of Harrison and his buddy Ben...

And the best part of the trip...we made it back in time to trick-or-treat!  We got home at 6:45 pm, rushed inside to get Harrison dressed up, when Harrison decided to melt down b/c he didn't want to wear his pirate costume.  Thankfully we have an Alabama football jersey that he wears on football weekends, so I asked if he wanted to dress up as an Alabama football player.  He thought that was a good idea, so he walked around in his Julio Jones jersey, but told everyone he was  a police officer.  At least he has a good imagination!

This year Harrison wanted his daddy to walk to the doors with him...apparently mommies were not allowed to trick or treat!

Davis' first trick or treat!  Poor guy, we were in such a hurry to get out the door that I didn't even bother to get him dressed up!

What a way to end a fun weekend!!

The Month of October - where to begin?

I feel like its been so long since I've updated my blog that I'm not quite sure where to begin!  The fall is always such a busy time of year for us with football season and traveling back and forth to Alabama and while it can be stressful traveling so much with two kids, it is worth it to get to see family! 
The month started out with the Florida game.  I actually took a week off and stayed home with the boys, while Lance headed over to Alabama with his dad.  Harrison and I watched the game from home and I thought this was a cute video...he did this for about 30 minutes straight!

When Lance got back from Tuscaloosa, we took the boys to a pumpkin patch.  This was one of the most random experiences of my life!  We picked the one that looked the closest to our house and when we pulled up the drive, this is what greeted us...

Who would have thought that you would find camels at a pumpkin patch in N. Ga?  They were also accompanied by zebras, chickens, some other birds I didn't recognize and goats.  Random.  Harrison had fun looking at the pumpkins but he was definitely more entertained by all the animals!

After the pumpkin patch, the boys celebrated the season in their halloween jammies.  I love this picture...Harrison just can't resist laying on Davis's mat anytime I put Davis on it.

 Here is another video clip of one of the funniest things that Harrison does right now.  He came home from school one day, looked at me very seriously and said "Hey mom, look, this is how the boys dance" and then he did his little dance.  I assume he learned this from school, but it cracks me up b/c he does it all the time now...

Poor Davis...I walked into the kitchen one day for a minute, and when I returned this is what I found...Harrison decorating Davis in his jack-o-lantern stickers...

 

Next up was Alabama's homecoming.  It has always been such a fun weekend, but is even more fun (and completely different!) with kids!  On Friday night they have a big pep rally and bonfire on the quad.  We took Harrison last year, but I think this was the first time that he actually understood what was going on.  My Uncle Kim and cousin Emily also came down this year, so here is a picture of Harrison w/ Uncle Kim...not the best picture but the only one with the bonfire in it!

My BFF Teresa's daughter, Madeline, hangin with Harrison.  Love this one!

Another sweet picture...my sister Julie and her oldest son Trey...

Harrison just loves his big cousin Jack...

Mom and Dad with baby Davis...

The next morning, well this year it was afternoon b/c the game was so late, is the homecoming parade.  The real estate company that sold my sister's house always has a big party and they are located right along the parade route so we always get to hang out there to watch the parade...here is some of the gang.

"ROOOLLLL TIDE!!!"

Lance's dad somehow convinced his mom to come tailgate for the weekend.  She swore off tailgating a few years ago so it was nice to see her there too!

Harrison spent about an hour playing by this tree.  Its kind of funny b/c this tree will have been a little part of our tailgating story.  We always tailgate in the same area and a few years ago, it didn't really catch on fire, but started smoking.  Since we were the closest tailgate, all of our tailgating neighbors blamed us for the "smoking tree" when the firemen came...we still don't know how it happened.  Now we have Harrison, and he was having so much fun playing in the same hole of the tree.  Just made me laugh to think about it...

Harrison was such a trooper.  He stayed out on the quad with us all day until my mom took him home at 7 pm.  I think this was only the 2nd time in his life that he did not have a nap and I have to say, he did remarkably well!  He didn't fuss once but when we walked to the car, I put him in his seat and he crashed before we even drove off!