Discovery Green is one of the coolest things to happen to Houston (or so I think) and it’s a perfect place to chase away afternoon baby grumpiness.

Which is how we found ourselves there one Sunday afternoon with a very grumpy Marion.

But jumping on the bridge with Gigi made the grumpies go away!

She was a little unsure of the Bird’s Nest at first

(The Bird’s Nest is this cool suspended trampoline type thing)

But once we bounced a few times, she loved it!

Again mama!

And of course, the always popular

S –

L –

I –

D –

E!

When my mom was here two weeks ago, we took Marion to the beach for the first time!

That is, unless you count this (20 weeks)

And this (38 weeks) as first time visits.

So I guess I should say, Marion’s first trip to the beach outside my belly :)

She had a little bit of fun

Silly girl!

Practicing running (at least the sand is soft when she falls!)

Come on GiGi!

Trying to get away from her shadow

I don’t want to have my picture taken!

Okay, fine.

That didn’t last long. She’s much less amiable to having her photo taken now that she’s mobile :)

Mama!

With GiGi around, we can actually get a family photo with all of us in it!

It’s also the first time we’ve been back since Ike. Needless to say, things look very different.

So my mom was in town all last week and brought a little bit of Alaska with her!

And thankfully, this super cute bear suit!

Ooooooh, snow!

The dogs were very afraid we’d moved back to Indiana!

Squidgey wasn’t at all too sure about it

Trying to reassure her that everything’s okay

She didn’t really believe me though

Thank goodness GiGi is in town!

Josh learned an important Daddy lesson on our way back from Mississippi after Thanksgiving. He learned that if you give a baby girl one stuffed puppy dog, she will not put the one she is holding down in order to pick up the new one.

Which is how we ended up with two new stuffed animals at a gas station in the middle of Louisiana.

Apparently, she needs one for each hand.

Nevermind that she has two real dogs…

They surely did make her happy though!

We didn’t have any plans for the day after Thanksgiving and as much as Josh has been to Mississippi now, he’s still never really explored the Natchez Trace. So we loaded up and drove down to one of my favorite little spots, Rocky Springs.

Sometimes mama gives up the camera :)

It should go without saying this is a pretty picture heavy post…

Marion and I flew to Mississippi a few days before Thanksgiving so we could be with my niece at her third birthday party!

And yes, Marion already knows who Elmo is.

Marion enjoys some of the forbidden plastic toys we don’t let her have :)

Isabella is the grumpiest Care Bear

More forbidden plastic fun

Sunday afternoon, Belle came over for a playdate at Marme’s house

Mmmmmm, popcorn, animal crackers and milk!

And here, Belle is teaching Marion the worst trick ever

How to close her straw cup lid

But not to open it!

We had some gorgeous Mississippi fall weather, so we spent a lot of time outside

She really was happy about it!

Come along little doggy

Marme, Lauren and Marion enjoy some post-Thanksgiving meal reading.

Clark The Toothless Shark is a family favorite

Do you know how hard it is to get four children under four to sit for a picture?

Andrew knows this isn’t going to be any fun!

Just a few outtakes…

Poor Mar gets left out :(

She’s done with this!

This can lead to no good

Marion knows what’s coming

We now have a new holiday tradition of Marion getting choked down by Belle. Fun for all!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I’m concluding that I’ll never get caught up on this since it’s now December and the holidays are in full swing. So I’m just going to wrap up by saying two things.

One, if you ask and purposely set your mind to be full of joy and thanks, you’ll be tested. We have had several life altering events happen in the past forty days that have really made me search hard for a reason to be joyful. (As a side note, it’s a lot easier to be thankful because you can at least always say you’re still breathing and have a roof over your head. It’s a whole, whole, whole lot harder to be joyful.) So if you set your intention towards a joyful mindset, expect to be tested.

Two, as cheesy, corny and predictable as it sounds, I come away from this absolutely amazed on a daily basis how lucky I am to be Marion’s mom and Josh’s wife and Doug and Gail and Tony and Debby’s daughter and Amanda and Darren, Brent and Bregitte, Al and Amanda, Chris and Abby and Taylor’s sister. This time of year it seems you see so many marriages falling apart and couples and family arguing and children being neglected and abused and it just stands out in such a horrible stark contrast to what this season is supposed to be about. I’m so blessed, so very blessed. When you’re young, you are forced to be a family. A joy of getting older is the ability to actually chose to be a family. I’m so glad that my family is filled with some of my best friends. Sometimes, it takes distance to make you appreciate each other, sometimes it takes tragedy to bond you together, but it’s wonderful when you can look around a room and say, I chose to be here, I chose to be with my family because I love them and they love me. And there simply are not words to express what it’s like to see your baby girl run up to you in a crowded room and have her arms stretched out wide saying “mama!”

I am thankful.
I am joyful.
I am loved.

we’ve been having internet problems here at the house and didn’t have access while we were gone over the holiday, so I’m a bit behind. But we’re still thankful and hope to be caught up soon!

I’m pretty sure I’ve been thankful for this before, but it’s okay to repeat it. Today, I’m so thankful for my friends here in Houston. Friends just don’t come better than these girls. Today was pretty stressful since Mar and I leave for Mississippi tomorrow morning, and it’s always a production trying to get us ready for a trip. I was trying to fit in a trip to the gym, a last minute run to Target, three loads of wash and all that other fun stuff in addition to an impromptu playgroup. Playgroup always takes priority! An hour or two with my friends and their babies and everything is just better.

Today, I am thankful for unexpected three hour naps. Oh, the wonderful, blissful sound of silence!

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