Holiday Hustle

The last 2 weeks have flown by as the holidays are underway and Christmas is literally just around the weekend.  After my weekend in Chattanooga with my mom, I headed to Raleigh with my MIL for my SIL's baby shower.  Lander of course came along, but this time Jack-Bo stayed behind and hung out with Daddy. I was obviously sad to leave him, but what was worse, he had his first karate "graduation" where he got the next belt ("novice orange"), and I hated to miss it.

GRandi had Friday night plans, so Lander and I drove up ourselves and enjoyed a quiet night at the hotel after checking in with the parents-to-be for a little while.  My sweet little road trip buddy...she was excited to finally be done with the ride!

The next morning, GRandi flew in and took a shuttle to the hotel.  Then it was time to head to the shower! The shower was a Christmas theme, so of course Lander was appropriately dressed!

Check out the amazing Gingerbread themed diaper cake GRandi made for Cathy!  She is seriously talented!

And here is the wonderful spread from the shower hostesses!  Everything was Vegan for Cathy, and also, how cute is that watermelon cradle with the "baby" melon in it?  All the food was so festive too!

After the shower we had dinner at Robbye and Cathy's house while visiting with some of their family who came into town for the shower.  It was a lot of fun, but after such a busy day, Baby Girl was worn out! 

Sunday morning we made our way back to Atlanta, but not without a few nursing and potty breaks!  Here is Lander, happy to be free from her car seat temporarily during our stops!

When I arrived home, I was SO glad to see my little Jack-Bo!  He had been very good for Daddy and they enjoyed their time together, but it is better when we are all together!

They really missed each other!

Now, here we are, getting back to normal!

The week went by super fast, as I prepared our home for Christmas and shopped and wrapped and all that fun stuff.  Lander hung out in the "bungee" doorway jumper for the first time, and Jack decided to regress momentarily to try out the old excer-saucer!  Lander officially became a "hip baby" and is still working on her sitting-up skills.  My kids are growing up WAY too fast!

On Friday my mom and sister came over for our annual "Cookie Day," and we busted out 4 triple batches of our famous sugar cookies.  It was a nice day together, but it was a sad day in the world with the horrible news of the Sandy Hook shootings.  I cannot even imagine...I'll end with a prayer.

Dear God, please help the families of those poor people who have suffered the Sandy Hook tragedy; help them to feel your presence and find peace in knowing their children and loved ones are now home safely with You in your heavenly kingdom.  Please guide them in their lives so they may go on knowing your power and feeling your love.  And God, please help guide our society in such a way that something like this will never happen again.  I don't know the answer, but I believe You can show us if we all just open our hearts and souls to hear your message.  Thank you, God, for all of the blessings in my life, and please continue to guide and provide for my family and our friends and loved ones.  Amen.