A Southern Thanksgiving

Jared and I drove to Memphis for Thanksgiving weekend, as I mentioned earlier. Thanksgiving Day actually took place in a small town called Booneville, Mississippi. We ate with all of Jared's relatives on his mom's side.

This was the first year I discovered a TRUE Southern Thanksgiving. Last year was pretty close, but this year was ALL OUT Southern!!! Keep in mind, that like most of you, I am used to a traditional turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie type meal.

Behold, a southern Thanksgiving feast: ( I better put labels on some of these things)

Of course, there was a turkey.

& Collard Greens

& Sweet Potato Casserole

& Black Eyed Peas

& Cornbread Stuffing

& Macaroni and Cheese

& Green Beans, southern style (add grease)

& Pecan Pie

Absent: Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Pumpkin Pie, Green Bean Casserole, Jello Salads

It wasn't what I'm used to, but it really was a great experience that I'm thankful I had!!!

Have any of you experienced a Thanksgiving like this?

So Festive!

My friend, Melissa, had the BEST idea to start a blog, SO FESTIVE! to give ideas on how to make the holidays more festive, more memorable, and more fun. She has some great ideas on there and encourages readers to submit ideas. She spotlighted one of my ideas today and will again tomorrow. Check out the website---hopefully you can glean some new ideas/traditions for your families!

Love, Court

Let's hear it for the 100th post!!!

Friends, family, acquaintances...

This post makes 100 for me.

I do have to say, I am pretty proud of myself for keeping up with this blog---When I started, I have to admit, I caved to peer pressure. Now I see it as a way of journaling for our family and providing easy updates for those we don't see very often. Plus, I'm not going to lie, your comments are a good self esteem boost for a words of affirmation person like me!

So, I do have some catching up to do, but this post is to say THANK YOU for reading the blog and caring enough about our lives to do so. Here are a few pictures of the star of the show,

The little mister Noah

A Taste of Memphis

Like last year for Thanksgiving, we found ourselves in Memphis, celebrating the holiday with Jared's side of the family. The Thanksgiving meal itself deserves its own separate blogpost and so does Graceland. However, due to lack of time, I've thrown in a few pictures from the weekend. We had a GREAT time!!!

Here's Jared and I at Graceland. This was Jared's 4th visit (someone loves Elvis!) It's actually pretty expensive (I thought) so this will probably be my first and only visit. It was neat though!


Here we are on Beale Street. Jared and I just walked around after visiting Graceland. It was a fun & free date...the best kind!

Here's a snapshot from the park where Noah met up with all of his cousins and his great grandma Gorden.

Other than Thanksgiving, Graceland, Beale Street, and the park, we had fun relaxing, watching movies & spending time with family (all of Jared's brothers and sisters drove up with us---and we all stayed in the same house. It was something like 21 people in one house. Yes, it was crazy!) We also went out to dinner at my favorite BBQ place, Corkys, went shopping, and out to eat some more. Jared and I participated in the madness known as BLACK FRIDAY and scored a computer at a GREAT bargain! It was so fun- we loved it (this was the first time I've ever woken up early for it). You can't beat saving 400 dollars on something you were going to buy anyways!

More pictures and stories to come- check back soon! :)

Project Grow!

Just an update:
I went to the pediatric dietician today and Noah is getting started on some fancy schmancy stuff to help him grow.
3 different prescriptions that I can't spell.
1 is a vitamin drop
1 is liquid that will make him more hungry
1 is a case of formula/carbs to be added to his milk everytime he has a bottle

For now, Noah will get all his calories from his bottles and all the food he eats is bonus.

I learned that when you weigh 17 lbs, you need 800 calories to maintain your weight. I also learned that Noah lost 4 ounces since his last visit.

I asked myself today why I even want my little buddy to gain weight so urgently. He's easy to carry around and captures everyone's attention being so petite and small. But Jared reminded me that he did not love being called "shrimp" and "little fry" when he was in elementary school. I do not want adorable sweet Noah to be picked on in school.
There's lots of reasons why he should gain weight, but that is my motivator.

I'll keep you updated on how the new diet goes.

Mini Man

We went to the doctor this morning for Noah's 15 month check up. We ended up being there for 2 1/2 hours. He had to catch up on some shots and get some blood work done, but mostly we just talked about his weight.
At almost 16 months, he weighs in at 17.4 lbs. He's not really even close to being on the growth chart.
He is 29 inches long. 3rd percentile.
On the bright side, his head is 17th percentile! So at least the man has some good brains!
We met with a pediatric dietican today and are going back next week. I have to do a food diary for 4 days. Hopefully I will get some new tips that I haven't already tried to get him to eat.
"Mini Man" is the nickname the doctor's office gave Noah today.



Here is a picture of Noah, with his friend Bennett. They are only a week apart.


Here's Noah with Bennett and Ian.

I know this picture is a bit sad, but I had to post it so you could see how little he really is.

Small, but Happy!

On a positive note, Noah is exceeding milestones when it comes to motor skills. Must be that big brain! :)

Halloween Fun

Before I get started blogging, I first have to ask if any of you have problems uploading pictures to your blog? It has taken me about 5 tries to get these few pictures uploaded. Pretty much everytime I try to upload pictures, it never works the first time- it says the internet connection doesn't work or something untrue. I am NOT tech savy so any technical advice will be very welcome.

Ok, now on to a preview of our Halloween this year. We had a ton of fun! The first 2 pictures are from a party that Jared and I went to. He was a shepherd and I was his little sheep. The costume came together in about 15 minutes with me pulling a coat that I have inside out and then sewing on some black felt ears. I wore socks on my hands, black pants and black slippers and painted black on my nose. WALA- a cheap sheep! :)
Jared refused to wear the awesome wig I borrowed for him. He only wore it for the 5 seconds that it took to take the second picture. He is such a Halloween scrooge. He does not understand why I LOVE Halloween! Maybe you should leave some good comments for him telling him how GREAT the holiday is!!!

On Halloween day, we got all the nieces and nephews together for trick or treating. Noah made it to about 15 houses before he got tired. We LOVE having family close and can't wait for Caleb and Becca to move here with their little guy, Jack next month!

After trick or treating, we all came back to our house and had chili, chips and bean dip, cinnamon rolls, mulled cider, and homemade pumpkin pie. It was AWESOME!

Noah was (obviously) a turtle this year. He pulled it off great. People couldn't believe such a little turtle boy was walking around. People just love Noah. He's so awesome!

We also went to our ward Halloween Party, which was super fun. It was a chili cookoff with homemade pies. Then, we had trunk or treat and pictures and games and a fun maze. I had some pictures of it, however evil BLOGGER will not cooperate with me on putting them up. This is the only one that came up. Ahhh, Noah!

Hope you guys had a great holiday too. Can't wait for THANKSGIVING!