Thanksgiving Snapshots

I just love this time of year! It's so busy with lots of fun, family activities. However, it is so hard to keep up with the blog! So, in the name of "catching up" I'm just going to post quite a few pics from our wonderful Thanksgiving!

We started the morning with a delicious breakfast complete with "Turkey Pancakes!"  Mackaylan loved the helping... and the eating!

After breakfast, we decorated the Christmas tree while watching the Macy's Day Parade. I was going to "Tweet" this picture in to see if it would make it on TV during the parade, but Mackaylan requested that I didn't. She's growing up and I'm not sure how I feel about it! ;)

We travelled to Newberry for lunch with the Rush family. It did not disappoint! As usual, we all indulged way too much! 

After lunch, it was time to scope out the ads in preparation for the annual Bagwell-Black Friday Getaway! 

Cousin Rebecca wasn't able to be with is because she has started her new job in London, but thanks to Skype she was able to join us via the iPad! Seeing Levi "talk" to his mommy was definitely the sweetest thing I've seen in a long time. I was fighting tears the whole time! She will be home soon for Christmas so our family gathering will be complete! 

This Thanksgiving we had so much to  be thankful for... a new job, new house, and new baby were among the top of the list.  However, Thanksgiving shouldn't be about what we are thankful for on that particular day... it' should be a way of life everyday!

Pop O the Birthday Man

We kicked off our Thanksgiving break celebrating a man that we are all thankful for- Pop O.  

I have mentioned several times on the blog about how blessed I am to have such wonderful in-laws, but I just can't say it enough. Pop O is a man of God who puts his family first. He goes above and beyond to give of his time and talents for other people, and he always shows us love in action! 

We had a great time being together as a family. We went to eat at Outback and then came back to our house for cake and presents. 

I put the following post on FB and I think it sums up the type of man my father-in-law is: 

"His heritage to his children, wasn't words or possession, but an unspoken treasure, the treasure of his example as a man and a father."- Will Rogers

We love you, Pop O, and are so glad we are able to do life together!

Gender Reveal

As I mentioned in the previous post, I used a few ideas I found on Pinterest to help me with the official gender reveal.  

Before everyone arrived, I hid clues (created from nursery rhymes) throughout the house.  Each clue was part of a scavenger hunt for either "Team Boy" or "Team Girl." 

 For example, the clue with "Hey Diddle, Diddle" had the word "spoon" left out and the team had to go to the spoon drawer in the kitchen to find their next clue.  The clue with "Hickory Dickory Dock" had the word "clock" left out and the team had to find a clock in the house to find their next clue.  All clues for both teams eventually led them back to the living room. 

Once both teams were back together we called Aunt Betsi via Google Hangout so she could be a part of the official reveal!  Mackaylan was our official videographer since she already knew the results. :)

 I explained to each team that their clues had #s on the back and that their last task would be to add the numbers up.  The group that had the clues that equalled 27 (my due date) were told to shout out, "It's a ....!"  

When the results were announced, everyone was thrilled except for.... Lydia!  However, I must say, that the idea of a little brother is beginning to grow on her, especially since that means she won't have to share any of her "princess toys!" 

 It's hard to believe that I'm already 22 weeks!  We are over halfway there.  Woo hoo!! 

It's a.......

Last Monday night we hosted our Gender Reveal party with some of our family and friends.  I wanted to make the night special, but didn't have the time to go all out! ;) So, in true Lana fashion, I turned to Pinterest for a few fun, simple, ideas!

The girls and I started preparing on Sunday night.  They helped me paint the clothespins for our guests to pin on indicating their vote.

They also both enjoyed helping make the cupcakes.

On Monday, I took a 1/2 day at work in order to get to our appointment and finish getting set up for the big reveal!

Mackaylan had originally planned to go to the appointment with us, but then decided she opted out under the condition that she could be told before everyone else!  Again, Pinterest to the rescue!  I took her to her bedroom right before the big reveal and put pink Sixlets in one hand and blue ones in the other.  I then had her close her eyes and I closed the hand with the "incorrect" candy choice.  When she opened her eyes she was ecstatic to find out that she was having a ......

BABY BROTHER!!! I think you can tell by this smile that she was thrilled! :)  Her exact words were, "Yay!  I'm finally going to have someone to climb trees with me and play Nurf war."  Too funny!!

Stay tuned for the next post to let you know how we told the rest of the crew.  Gender Reveal- Part 2 coming soon....

Sister Shoot

I am trying to get a jumpstart on Christmas cards for this year and last Sunday was the perfect opportunity.  The girls were somewhat color coordinated for church and the weather outside was beautiful!  On top of that, both of them were cooperative.  SCORE!  Now I guess it's time to pick out the card, have them printed, and actually get them sent out before Valentine's Day!

I'm trying to stay on top of things when it comes to Christmas this year.  I have already started buying gifts and am doing pretty good.  I just need to sit down with the master list and mark off what has been bought and what is left to get.  I do not want to spend all of the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas preparing.  I want to spend it with my family and friends... making cookies, driving around looking at Christmas lights, watching our favorite Christmas movies... making memories! I mean, look at these faces?!?  Wouldn't you want to spend every minute you could with them? :)

So, what about you?  Do you send out Christmas cards?  What is your plan for preparing and organizing for Christmas?  It's hard to believe that the holiday season is upon us.  It seems just like yesterday we were celebrating Christmas in July!

Guess What??

It's hard to believe that I am just getting around to announcing this here on the blog, but......

Yep, the O'Shields are expecting baby #3!  It was quite a surprise, but we are all so excited! 

To get you up to speed....

How I told Mickey:  Mickey called it from the beginning.  I was craving hot wings like a mad woman and I never really eat hot wings much less call Pizza Hut and only order that! :) I was also "glowing" or so he said.  I tried to convince him it was the Plexus, but he kept saying, "No, you are pregnant!"  After about 2 weeks I decided to take a test.  

I stopped by Dollar General in town and grabbed a middle of the line test to take home and try.  The thing about living in a small town is everyone knows (or wants to know) everyone else's business so I had to "hide" it in my buggy as I walked around the store until everyone I knew had left.  It was pretty humorous! I couldn't believe it when 2 lines showed up.  It was surreal.  I tried to think of lots of creative ways to tell Mickey, but I didn't have much time and honestly just couldn't think very clearly.  

So, that night when he arrive home from work he gave me a big hug and I just greeted him with, "Well, you were right!  I'm pregnant!"  After the initial shock he was thrilled!  

How we told the girls:  We waited until we were ready to tell our families and friends to tell the girls b/c I knew that it wouldn't be a secret they could keep.  I told them that Sissy needed some new pictures for her classroom so they agreed to a mini photo shoot one afternoon.  I told them to hold the blank piece of paper and I would photoshop their names on them.  However, instead of typing their names I typed in Big Sister.... Again! and Middle Sister.  After I had the pictures printed we called a "family meeting" to show them the pics.  Of course, Lydia couldn't read hers, but Mackaylan knew exactly what it meant. They were so excited, but Mackaylan wanted to know why all of our kids are born within just a few weeks of each other! Ha.  Needless to say, we didn't go there!  

How we told our families:  We used the same pics to tell our families!  They were very surprised, but so excited! (These are all the pictures I have, but you can at least kind of see my sister's reaction!)

I am already 1/2 way along so we will find out on Monday what Baby #3 is going to be.  Today we are going shopping to get some "supplies" for the big gender reveal!  It will be on Monday night.  I will get a blog post up as soon as possible, but I am sure it will be posted on Instagram (lanagamma) before it is here so feel free to follow me there and you can follow along! :)

Have a great weekend! 

Halloween 2014

Our Halloween this year was cold and rainy, but we had a great time anyway!  Each year we always always make a stop to see Grams and Pop O.  This year the girls even got dressed there and then we had some time to take a few pics. 

Next, we drove down to see Jahpa and Uncle Gene.  It seems just like yesterday we only had to cross the street to be with them.  We were neighbors, coworkers, family, friends... "lots of things to each other!"  Those were such good times and I am glad we are able to keep our relationship strong even though there are a few more miles between us now! The girls always get spoiled by all of Jahpa's treats.  We pretty much do not need to go anywhere else b/c she sets the bar so high! :) 

Well, after we had to jump my car off b/c the battery died, we headed back up the road to my mom and dad's house for supper (which consists of sloppy joes) and trick-or-treating!  We always have a fun time with my sister and her family, and this year Lydia's "best friend", Emmersyn, was able to join us!

I love trick-or-treating in my old neighborhood because it brings back memories of my childhood.  My parents live right in the middle of our small town so the streets are always full of familiar faces!  I think we all have just as much fun giving out candy as we do walking the street to collect candy! :)  

Due to our crazy schedule last week we weren't able to get our pumpkin carved until Saturday night.  Even though Halloween was over, Mackaylan and Mickey still had a fun time carving a pumpkin while Lydia and I painted hers brown and turned it into a turkey! :)

Now that Halloween is over, I have debated going ahead and starting to decorate for Christmas.  However, I just can't bring myself to do it.  Not yet, anyway.  Today I took down the Halloween decorations and left the pumpkins, but added a few other "Thanksgiving-y" decorations.  It's just hard for me to skip over Thanksgiving when we have so much to be thankful for!