Hosting Our First Thanksgiving

Well, we did it! We survived hosting our first Thanksgiving holiday, and everything was wonderful. Sure, my floors may never be the same and I may be sweeping up little crumbs of food from now until the end of time, but it was so worth it!

The Wilsons - Thanksgiving 201

I've said it before, but having such a large extended "family bush" makes our holidays somewhat hectic.  There is always pressure to head to the next house and disappointment for cutting visits too short, which is why we decided to stay put and invite everyone to come to us!

Mr. proudly carving his first turkey

The inside table setting

One of the outside table settings

You can't have Thanksgiving without football:)

A Thanksgiving blessing before the meal

We've been in our new house for 6 months now, which makes it not so new anymore, but this was the first time for many of Mr.'s side of the family to see it.  Even the Tennessee bunch of Wilson's came home for the holiday!

Mr.'s dad's side of the family

Mr.'s mom and her family were all able to make it, as well as my mom and step-dad.  The guest list was just as full as the dinner menu, I'm so glad to be a part of a family that can cook!

Mr.'s mom's side of the family

Everyone arrived around 3PM and dinner was served around 4PM.  The rest of the evening was spent visiting and watching the cousins bounce in the fun jump and run wild together.  It's not too often that we're all under one roof!

Jackson loves his bounce house, and spent most of his Thanksgiving bouncing:)

Once the sun went down it got just crisp enough to turn on the fireplace outside to keep the adults warm while the kids continued to play.  We were even able to get a few family photos before everyone started to clear out.

And after the last guest left, Mr. and I sat for a minute and reflected on our Thanksgiving.  Jackson fell asleep in Mr.'s arms after his bath and slept straight through his breathing treatment, sweet boy played until he couldn't play anymore!

Then the real fun started...cleaning up Thanksgiving dinner for 30! Cleaning up after a party is much like coming home from vacation - it's so much more fun to pack your bags then to unpack them! We are oh so thankful for my parents, who stayed until the last dish was washed and even took the silver home to polish! Bless you:)

The rest of our weekend was full of family time for our party of 3, Christmas trees, football and garland...more to come!

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A Hodgepodge Post

Call it what you will - a catch up, a catch all, a recap, a hodgepodge or sorts, or a brain dump - here's what's new with the Wilson's:

Jackson is literally leaping off of anything he can climb, trying to fly like an airplane or soar to infinity and beyond like Buzz Lightyear.  Why? you may ask, well that's a simple answer.  He is sick yet again, and had another steroid shot that has him bouncing off of the wall.  Don't believe me - watch the video and you'll see for yourself!


And speaking of hodgepodge, please ignore the hodgepodge of an outfit he's in!

After our last trip to the pediatrician with an ear infection, sinus infection, respiratory infection - and I'm not sure what else because he just said it was all infected - we are headed back to New Orleans on December 13th for a CT Scan of Jackson's sinuses.  I'm sure I'll be back to blogging before then, but could you please keep him in your prayers on the 13th? He has to be put under general anesthesia for this and it will be treated as an outpatient procedure due to his young age. 

The holidays are always hectic for us - as we're truly one of those families with Four Christmases.  In an effort to lessen the stress, we decided to host Thanksgiving this year.  So, as of today, we'll have 28 members of our immediate family over for quite a feast.  The only thing that would make this holiday better is if my dad and sister increased that count to 33, which is just wishful thinking.  We started setting tables and making plans to stuff the turkey this weekend.  I truly can't wait for us all to be together, even though I'm not really sure this is less stress!

The Thanksgiving Invite (with our address marked out)

And since my body loves to mess with me, on top of planning Thanksgiving for 28, I of course started my period this weekend.  I would be lying if I said that I wasn't hoping for a Thanksgiving pregnancy announcement, but I've closed that door and moved on.  I even went in today for my CD3 blood work at the RE's office to begin down that path, wherever it may lead us.

Jackson loves his big boy bed, and I promise to take some pictures and dedicate a post just to that.

I wish my almost 2.5-year-old was ready to potty train, but it looks like I'll be wiping butt's for a while longer.

I am having the best time playing Santa already this year, it's amazing how children can change you.  I normally don't even start thinking about presents until after Thanksgiving, but the UPS man has already delivered a few packages to the Wilson address!

Speaking of Christmas, have you seen these cute Reindeer pillows that Sweet Meredith is making?!? I haven't placed my order yet, but I just love love love them:)

I'm helping out with Thanksgiving Lunch at Jackson's school and am so excited, as this is my first mom-opportunity to do such a thing!

And if you're still reading, I promise to get back to blogging - as I foresee a lot to blog about in the upcoming months!

Lastly, I'm so thankful for each and everyone of you! I love reading your sweet comments and emails, and reading your blogs as well!

Loves,
Kristen - aka Momma

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Saints & Sinners Masquerade Bash

One of the perks of working in advertising is some of the amazing events we get to attend, and even better when it's done in trade. Our small agency was recently given a generous bunch of tickets to a Saints & Sinners Masquerade Bash in exchange for designing the print collateral for the fundraising event.

When I found out the date and theme of the event, I immediately called up my neighborhood ladies and invited them all to attend.  Great band, free food and open bar - it wasn't a hard sell:)  The event was last Thursday night, so Mr. was already out of town for the LSU @ Alabama game {days before the actual game, which I don't have much to say about} but I tried not to let that bring me down!

I found a sinfully, amazing red dress and put on my highest high heels for the night out! The band was Bag of Doughnuts out of New Orleans, and I don't think I've danced so much since my wedding.  Sad, but true! It was totally a night to remember, and one that will never let me look at tea lights without cracking up again:)

Being the responsible ladies that we are, we hired a couple of babysitters for the kiddos and a couple of drivers for the adults.  Best decision ever, by the way.  It was much cheaper than taking a cab home and we didn't have to leave our cars anywhere! 

Snap shot before we left the house, loved my dress!

The band from our private balcony viewing area

The Villas Krewe

My date for the night, and partner in tea light stealing crime:)

Love these ladies:)

No night is complete without a group shot with the band, and our tea light:)

We got home in the late hours of the night, which made for a rough day at work on Friday.  Being a slightly hungover and ridiculously tired single momma was not fun, but oh so worth it!

The kiddos all snoozing away in Jackson's big boy bed:)

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Jurassic Jack

I hope y'all had a great Halloween, I love seeing all the posts with your kiddos all dressed up. Even though I hate to dress in costume, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays to celebrate. I guess that's why I was so excited we got to do Trick-or-Treat twice this year!

Our neighborhood community had Trick-or-Treat on Saturday night, and the front part of our neighborhood hosted on Halloween night. It really worked out well since Jackson was too sick last year, so we made up for lost time:)

I made a deal with Jackson one weekend in Target that if he'd stop throwing a fit so CPS wouldn't get called on us dress up as the Cowardly Lion one night, he could be Jurassic Jack for Halloween.  I started to get a little nervous as Trick-or-Treat got closer, and my toddler seemed to forget our little deal.  But, with the help of a little candy, the dino costume was completely forgotten about on Saturday night!

Jurassic Jack - ROAR!

already eating some candy:)

ROAR'ing to scare away the birds flying over the pond

True to my word, I let Jackson dress up again on Monday and we loaded the wagon on a mission to get more candy.  I was so surprised that Jackson didn't get more into character, but he was so funny walking around with his strap-on-dino! He is so social and knows no stranger, which is a little scary.  The more ghosts and pumpkins and Frankenstein costumes he saw, the more he wanted to stay and visit with each house.  He may or may not have come home with a pumpkin or two in addition to the bag full of treats.  Who can turn down a dino roaring for pumpkins:)

Momma & Jackson self portrait on the back porch

Never without an airplane in hand:)

Pouncing the pumpkins with his friends

Hey look, you're a dino too - RAWR!

Thanks for the sucker, I'll be back next year for more candy:)

It makes my heart so happy to see my little man growing up to have such personality and character.  I am so thankful that he'll still cuddle up in my arms at the end of the day and want his momma, otherwise I'd be a basket case for sure!

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