The heat's on and it's time to give thanks.

Brrrr! It's finally cold! I don't think our heat went off last night. 22 degrees...a new record! I love fall and winter. Sweaters and turning on the fireplace is the best!
I'm running on low today. Alli decided at 2:30 this morning that she just wasn't tired and was ready to play. So, it took us the next hour and a half to get her to go back to sleep. I love sleep and long for the day I get to sleep in again! By that time, the little monkey will have me trained to get up early.
We went to buy Alli some warm pants last night for these cold days. I went to put some on her this morning, and she's too big for them! I was holding Alli by the pants this morning trying to poke her little fat roles into them. Needless to say the pants won and they are going back.
Alli has finally mastered the walker. She went from going backwards one day to running forward the next...literally running. We played "keep away" the other night, and she did laps back-and-forth through the kitchen to get to a wrapper. Oh, the things that will amuse her! I took her for her flu shot last week, and she weighed...20.5lbs! Sometimes I think I can actually see her growing. It's time to get rid of the carrier. That thing will give you a hernia to pick up.

I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving. It's so easy to take things for granted, so it's nice to take some time to think of all the things God has blessed us with. And Boy, do I have a lot to be thankful to God for this year:
~being married almost 5 years to a wonderful husband, who even gets up at night with Alli, and loves me no matter what
~a healthy and happy baby girl, who I can't remember life before (except for the sleep thing),
~loving and helpful parents and in-laws who would drop anything for Alli or us,
~great friends (although I really miss my Memphis buddies),
~a nice house (with great neighbors...the next door neighbor's drinking garage is great. it's like we're on our own episode of King of the Hill),
~freedom,
~a job (although there's no job in the world like the one I had at St. Jude),
~great care for Alli,
~cars to get around in,
~being healthy,
~food on the table,
~a closet full of clothes and shoes
the list goes on and on.
I hope that everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving, and takes time to think of all the little things they are thankful for.

We did our civic duty and stood in line for two and a half hours!

Well, what's been going on recently in our lives??? The biggest news is that Alli FINALLY has a tooth (I know this because I was bitten by it, and you can actually see it)! Alli is now saying "da-da." She started saying it on Chris' birthday. What could have been a better birthday present? We learned that Alli likes guava...and it stinks! Alli had her first Halloween...see pictures below. She was a cute tiger. I was sad that we only had 5 trick-or-treaters. What happened to the days of when kids went out trick-or-treating? Chris wasn't too sad though. He got all the leftover candy. Chris and I both turned 31. The tigers actually won a game...who would have thought? Now, we'll see what happens with the rest of the season. The question now is will we get 6 wins and be bowl eligible? My bet is no. Basketball season starts soon...maybe they'll actually do well. We had Fall Break Mon and Tues. It was nice to have some days off. I had lunch with an old friend, Kay, and her sweet daughter, Violet. It was a good time. I'm glad for Alli to have a little friend around her age, and for me to have an old friend back, who's also a new mom. Chris and I stood in line two and a half hours to vote...unfortunately, not the outcome we had hoped for, but I guess we can say our vote contributed to SC being red. I wasn't all that excited about McCain, but was/am anxious about Obama's experince. No matter who is going to the White House, they have some big shoes to fill, and they definitely have our prayers. We did our civic duty. Now we'll see over the next 4 years what the outcome will be. At least the Congress and House didn't both go to the democrats, so there will still be "checks and balances."