Thanksgiving (a day early)

Whew, what a day!  We celebrated Thanksgiving a day early since Lindsey had to fly back to Tennessee on Thanksgiving day.  She works retail and was on schedule for a 6am start on Black Friday.

Gavin and I started the morning by calling David ("Papaw") in Tennessee to say Happy Birthday!  He was at work, but we did get in a quick hello and to hear their plans for the Thanksgiving weekend.

Pop and Jas took Gavin and LT for a walk to the park so Starla and I (really just Starla, all I did was vacuum) could get the house cleaned, table set, and food ready for an early dinner.  When they got back Gavin went down for a nap and the rest of us got showered and cleaned up.  

We invited Adam Bates over for dinner and he arrived around 3pm.  It's hard to believe that on Thanksgiving day, just one year ago, he lost his legs when stepping on a pressure plate in AFG.  And here, 1 year later, he drove himself to Ft. Belvoir and joined us at our Thanksgiving dinner table.  He talked about how for awhile he was really down thinking that he hadn't made the progress he had hoped for in one year, but then realized that he actually had come so far and should be proud.  His actual "Alive Day" is Nov. 26th and he talked about what he should do to celebrate the one year anniversary of the event.  I love how Adam can be so serious in one sentence and then be a riot in the next.  I was telling him how he better not be out-eaten by a girl at dinner and he quickly came back with the comment that I was eating for two and he was eating for a 1/2 a man.  He also mentioned how he recently went and got his first professional massage and asked for 1/2 off.  He's always one to be able to take his situation and make light of it.  We are all definitely thankful for Adam this year... and are so proud of all the goals he has met this year.  After dinner Adam had to get back home for plans he had with some friends.  

Jason and I took off for a date to the bowling alley a little later!  We played three games and had a good time with some friendly competition.  I think Jason was scared after the first game when I won 119 to 94!  I'd say it was just beginners luck though, as he beat me in the next two games.  

We came home in time to bake sugar cookies and have a Christmas cookie decorating contest!  The cookie cutters used were snowmen, but when the cookies came out of the oven they looked NOTHING like snowmen!  We each decorated a cookie and Lindsey and I had a joint effort to make a "dog cookie".  I made the cookie shape and she decorated!  It actually turned out looking somewhat like Chief (Lindsey's dog).  We let Gavin be the judge of the cookies.  Pop tried to win his cookie over by putting a $20 on the plate, but there was no changing Gavin's mind about the baseball themed cooking being the winner!  Jason won the contest!

It was a great Thanksgiving, even if we celebrated a day early.  It was the first Thanksgiving since Jason and I have been married that the entire Smith family was together.  In 2006 Jason was in Ranger School, in 2007 we spent Thanksgiving with my family in Clarksville, in 2008 Jason was deployed, and in 2009 he was also deployed.   

Here are LOTS of pictures from our day together: 

Having his morning "coffee" aka juice

Chef Jas preparing the turkey for the fryer!

Table is set

Stuffing is ready :)

Jason and Adam ready for Thanksgiving dinner

Lindsey and I!

The plate of a pregnant woman on Thanksgiving :)

1 of 2 desserts

Starla's homemade version of Ruth's Chris Steakhouse Sweet Potato Casserole

Starting our Christmas cookie decorating contest

Gavin is in awe of Aunt Lindsey!

He got caught sneaking a taste

Gammy's cookie

Gavin helps Jas decorate a baseball cookie

Lindsey and I made a team effort at a dog cookie - It's Chief :)

Pop makes a OHIO football field on his cookie

:)

Let the judging begin!

Someone (Pop) likes to use a little bribery!

The final works of art...  Nope, we have no art talent in this family!  Do we at least get creativity points for the dog?

PT & Lunch with Adam

Adam and Jason at Austin Grille
November 23, 2010

Tuesday morning Jason drove up to Walter Reed to attend a PT session with Adam.  Afterwards, they went to lunch together at Austin Grille.  Jason filled us in on Adams progress when he got back home.  

Adam spent the entire time up on his prosthetics.  Jason commented how tall they make Adam!  Adam is no longer on any medications, he's living in an apartment off the Walter Reed campus, has his own SUV that he can drive with hand controls (he drove Jason to lunch), and he often spends time up on his C-legs.  We're so proud of the accomplishments Adam has made in less then a year.

It's That Time of Year Again!

There is nothing like the time of year between Thanksgiving and New Years... One of my favorite things is when the mail arrives each day.  I absolutely love getting Christmas cards from family and friends.  Yes, Facebook has made it easier to keep in touch lately, but there is still nothing like getting some good, old fashioned REAL mail.

I'm currently on a search for the perfect Christmas card for our family.  Shutterfly has made it so easy with their abundance of templates!  We've previously used Shutterfly for our Christmas cards in the past, as well as for our birth announcements for Gavin, and for gifts for others!  We've never been disappointed.  You can't beat their coupons and the free shipping you can often get!

Some of my favorite gifts to send to family are:

#1) Wall Calendars: http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars

#2) Photo Books: http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books  
Right now they are buy one get one 50% off too!


#3) Photo Mugs: http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-gifts/photo-mugs
I've never purchased these in the past, but I think I may this year!  These are also currently on a buy one get one 50% off sale!

I was so excited when reading a friends blog to see that Shutterfly is offering 50 free cards to bloggers this year!  You can read more about the promotion here: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Now for the big decision... which card will we choose for our family?!?  Take a look at all the options: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards 

I'm currently in love with the Top Ten Moments Christmas Card.  It'll really make you reflect back on the year!

What are your top ten moments of 2010???

What a Find

This morning Jason and Gavin went down to the basement for something and came up with an amazing find - an old catchers mitt.  Gavin was thrilled!  We showed it to Jeff and he looked at it and said it was a mitt from 1973, when his dad (Gavin's GGPA) was stationed in Germany.  How awesome is that!  Gavin has had a blast wearing it around the house all morning and playing catcher outside with Pop.  They said Gavin can have it - it's like Christmas morning for this boy!!!  We'll have to find a special place in Gavin's room for his new mitt when we get home.

30 Weeks

November 22: 

30 Weeks along with Stella Nicole

National Zoo

Another Busy Day!

Sunday morning the men headed to the gym so Gavin and I took LT for a walk and made a pit stop at the playground down the street!  Gavin loves taking "big boy walks" where he can actually walk and not have to ride in the stroller.  He enjoys helping to walk LT!  The weather was great and I still can't get over the beauty of the changing colors of fall all around.  It's so beautiful outside.  I'm soaking up having colorful leaves as my natural outdoor backdrop as long as I can while we're here!  On our walk back home Gavin tried walking LT all by himself, it was cute until LT's nose got the best of him and he pulled too hard!

After getting showers and ready for the day we took off to Champps to eat and watch Sunday football and Nascar.  It's in the middle of Pentagon Row so afterwards we watched people ice skate on a little rink set up outside, got some Maggie Moo's icecream, and did a little shopping.  There was a DSW Shoe Outlet having a big clearance sale so I was able to find a cute pair of Nine West shoes to wear through the winter that are still comfortable during pregnancy!  On the way home we stopped at the 3 story MCX (Marine Corp Exchange) in Henderson Hall.  It must have been my day for shoe shopping because I found an amazing pair of brown leather boots that I couldn't pass up.  They are the brand "Born" and are SUPER comfortable!  

After all that running around we were exhausted and came home to make a fire and relax in our pajamas!

Lindsey Arrives

Back to the airport we went!  This time it was to BWI to pick up Lindsey.  We got on the road and traffic was terrible.  Thank goodness Lindsey's flight was a little delayed or we never would have made it in time!  We originally were going to pick her up at the curb, but when she saw the pictures of Gavin running to Pop she wanted the same welcoming!  

We got her then came straight home to be sure we wouldn't miss the Ohio State Football game.  It was a stressful one, but thankfully they pulled off a win.  A few of us snoozed a little during the game - football days are always great for sneaking in a little nap!  Afterwards we grilled out hamburgers for dinner and then Gavin and Lindsey put together the Thomas puzzle.

Waiting at the airport

There she is!

A Busy Friday

Friday we all got ready and headed out to Cheesecake Factory for lunch.  They have the BEST food!  I had the chicken salad sandwich with sweet potato fries.  YUMMM.  After eating we walked around the Fair Oaks Mall.  They have a kids haircut place so we attempted to get Gavin a cut.  That went bad to say the least.  We got the back cut and ended it there.  We couldn't handle the screams any longer.  Jason was holding him and was literally in an all out sweat!  

Next, Jeff and Starla took Gavin to the soft play so Jason and I got to walk several stores by ourselves.  It was a nice treat!  We have been looking for "big boy bedding" for Gavin once we move to Benning and he moves out of the toddler bed.  If it was up to Jason, it'd be a football room, but Gavin has requested baseball!  We did go in Pottery Barn Kids and look at their bedding - they have two different baseball bedding sets.  We love them!  We bought him one of the pillow shams with a baseball, bat, and hat to give him and he loves it.  They also have a baseball lamp/shade, night light, piggy bank, etc which is adorable.  Now we're just waiting for it to go on sale! 

We all hit up the Wegmans grocery store on the way home - we don't have any of those in Savannah but they are awesome!   Gavin likes walking down the seafood section and looking at the lobsters, shrimp, and the fish.  I'm not a seafood fan, but Wegmans sure makes it all look tasty on display. 

Gavin hadn't napped with all our running around, so he was out quickly on the drive home.  He stayed asleep on the couch for about an hour after we got home and then was wide awake until 11pm!  We hung out downstairs in our pajamas playing with his makeshift train table until we were all ready for bed.  I love lazy evenings!

Gavin took this picture!  :)

Nov 18th

We got up in the morning and had a quiet breakfast at home.  Later Jason, Jeff, and I headed to the gym for a morning workout.  It felt good to get a couple miles done on the treadmill and to do some weights.  Workouts can be challenging these days for me, but I always feel good about it once they are done!  We got home and took showers, had lunch, then Jason and I got to get massages at the spa on post!  Jason's was a 1 hour therapeutic massage and mine was a 1 hour prenatal massage.  (They were a Thanksgiving gift to us from Jeff and Starla!)  We so enjoyed our time of relaxation!

Later that evening Jason and I drove over to our friends, The McGee's, for dinner.  The Mineo's were also there, as they were driving to NY for leave and stopped 1/2 way for the night at the McGee's.   It was nice to all catch up again!  We had beef enchiladas for dinner, yumm.  Thanks for cooking, Melissa!  I don't have any pictures from the evening, but it was nice to all hang out.  I'm sure we'll get together again before we leave here, as Gavin keeps asking about Colton-man and Mackenzie!

Pop is Home for R&R

What a day November 17th was - we were able to welcome Pop back on US Soil!  He flew into Reagan National around 1pm and we were at the gate waiting.  Gavin was thrilled and ran down the "Do not enter" hallway as soon as he spotted him.  We were so glad that security didn't get mad because there was no stopping Gavin!  It was such a sweet reunion.  (The pictures below will explain a lot better then I can in words).  We were just missing Lindsey - she wasn't able to be there just yet due to school and work.  

We went home so Pop could shower and change, then we headed to National Harbor, MD for an early dinner and to walk around.  It's beautiful there!  We ate at a restaurant called Rosa Mexicana.  It's an upscale mexican place.  For your appetizer they bring a cart to your table and make a huge bowl of guacamole right in front of you.  It was literally the best guacamole we'd ever had!  Our dinners weren't as great as the appetizer, but we were already so full it didn't really matter.  We then walked around National Harbor and got some ice cream at Ben and Jerry's!  

I had to laugh when we spotted a restaurant that HAD to be made just with Gavin in mind!  Gavin loves ketchup and thinks it belongs on EVERYTHING, so when we saw a restaurant actually called "Kethup" and the advertisement was a picture of 3 types of fries with about 6 dips we knew that one day we'd have to take Gavin!

It was getting super chilly outside so we headed home with one sleepy boy on our hands.  He fell asleep laying on my belly on the couch when we got home and I soaked up every second!  

Security wouldn't let us meet Jeff at the gate, but they did let us know which plane was his so we could watch it pull into the gate!

Jason and Gavin watching the plane pull in

Notice the "Do Not Enter" sign - whoops!

A happy Pop and Gavin!

Excuse all the crazy shadows - there were windows all over the place in there

Waiting for baggage

Gavin had to show Pop his baseball skills before we went to eat

Swing batter, batter swing!

When he plays pitcher he flips his helmet over like this - too funny!

Gavin and Pop at Rosa Mexicana

The guacamole cart

Smith Boys at National Harbor

Whoa, that belly is growing!

In front of the National Ferry

Gavin's dream lunch

My sleepy boy :)