Give Great Thanks!

We wish you a very happy thanksgiving!
May this holiday be cozy & filled
with family, (good) food, and much laughter!
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We are truly blessed!

growing like a weed

Griffin is growing like a weed.
He was born my biggest baby at 8lbs. 6oz.
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At 2weeks old he weighed 9lbs. 5oz.
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And today at his 1month check-up
he weighed 11lbs. 5oz. and is 23 inches long.
In his first month of life, Griffin gained 3lbs.
(45% of his body weight) and 2inches!
We are shocked; we've never had a big baby before!
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I have a good friend who turned me on
to baby's first 52 weeks.
The idea is simple-take a picture of
Griffin each Saturday to show his
growth and progress for 52 weeks. It's remembering
to pull out the camera that's hard.

I must admit that I'm off to a poor start,

but I've added a reminder to my phone and
will have to settle for 50 weeks of Griffin (in perfect pictures).
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My next goal, is to learn to use photo shop, so that can
add a cute tag to each picture specifying the week.

Happy Birthday Griffin- Week 0

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Cheater picture-Week 1

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Cheater picture-Week 2
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Week 3

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Week 4

Toy Story 3 (Jilley style)

Every kid has their cute interpretations
of how to say words or communicate
what they need and want.
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My all time favorite Jilley word is "ra-ra".
In Jilley speak, a ra-ra is a pacifier.
Jill coined this term when she was very little
and still uses it daily.
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Her latest "Jillism" isn't so much a word as it
is a tune. She loves Toy Story 3, and I've found
that she prefers to sing the opening song,
in the opening scene, to me when she
wants to watch the movie.
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See for yourself...

And as a bonus, I recorded Jill's "hiddy-up!"
I love the cute way kids say things.
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Here's a snippet of the actual scene to help
put it all in context.

P.S.- My favorite "Jackism" was pissed-a-deer.
Sadly, he knows how to correctly say this word now. :(
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Jack: "Mom, look I pissed-a-deer."
Me: "Pissed-a-deer? What's that?"
Jack: {annoyed} "HUUH!""You know,
you can see me, then I pissed-a-deer. Poof!"
Me: {holding back laughter} "Oh no, where'd you go!"

all mine

I love these kids! I'm so grateful to call them mine.
Jackson, Jillian, and Griffin...
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Being a mom is such a hard job, but their
love, smiles, and laughs make it so much easier to
view parenthood (and life) with "rose colored glasses."
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I know that someday I'll look back on these
crazy sleep deprived days and resolutely
state that these were the happiest days of my life.

the music of our lives

Kent & I are so grateful that we

get weekly concerts from this little girl.
When Jill climbs up on that piano
bench to play and sing we can't help but smile.

This video makes Kent and I giggle.
We can't make out much of Jill's lyrics.
And yet there is a distinct pattern to this
song and what we think is the chorus,
gets stuck in our heads
(and a hey, and a heeeyyy)! Enjoy.

holding hands

Jack loves to draw.

And I love seeing what he
comes up with.
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Jack told me this picture is:
"Our Family Holding Hands."
Papa is the big red guy in front, the red
fuzzy thing in the top right is Thor (the dog),
he's holding hands with baby Griffin,
Jack is the orange guy with his name in
the same color, and I'm the little pink thing.
Who ever everyone else is, Jack didn't specify,
but that's pretty much part of the
charm of 4-year-old art.
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I've decided to start taking pictures of the kids
artwork that I adore. Some of it will hang
on our walls, some of it will make it to the blog,
and some of it will just get filed with the rest of
our photos on our hard drive. But where ever the art
goes, I know I'll stop feeling guilty when the hard copy
hits the recycling bin; and that makes me truly thankful.

Gettin' the squeeze

Ever feel like Thanksgiving is the forgotten Holiday?

Yeah, me too.

This year I'm going to take the time I should to

be thankful for all that God has given me.

Santa, you'll have to wait because I won't be ready for

you until Black Friday!

Today, I'm thankful for my hands!

I use my hands for almost everything.

Typing, cooking, making beds, driving, holding my kids,

paying bills, waving, etc, etc, etc.

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What are you grateful for today?

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(more thankful thoughts to come this November!)