Thanksgiving in Texas

We always have such a good time in Texas. Love that place :) I probably wouldn't suggest traveling when you're 34 weeks pregnant, but the great part was Raya basically had a buddy (one of her grandparents) all day long, so I was able to rest more than I ever could when I am home with her by myself on a regular day. Raya loves her some Grandparents! She knew exactly who all of them were when she saw them. We only get to see all the Texas Grandparents a couple times a year, but we do skype pretty often, so I was interested to see if she'd make that connection, and she sure did. My Dad and Alan (Grandpa and PawPaw) live in Dallas and Gentry's parents (Grandmaw and PawPaw) live in Texarkana. We flew into Dallas and drove the 2.5hours to Texarkana later that night, spent the first half of our trip there and the second half back in Dallas. I didn't check the forecast right before we left, so I had an entire suitcase full of clothes to keep me warm...and the first few days we were there it was sunny and 70degrees. So I was one HOT girl ;) I don't think it actually got cold until Thanksgiving Day, which was half way through our trip, so I had to get some sandals because all I had were fur boots.

I had to wear Gentry's sandals to Target to get my own pair

And I was surprised at how royally pissed off that made me. LOL. I guess the combination of being excited for cold winter weather and being in the biggest stage of pregnancy made me slightly sensitive. Haha. I remember Gentry coming into the room after running out to the car our first morning in Texarkana. He looked at what I was wearing and, as gently as he could, told me I might want to change because it "wasn't really super cold out." And by "wasn't really super cold" he meant "it was very warm and you're going to sweat if you wear that outside." But because he is a smart man, and for the same reasons you don't startle a grizzly bear, he tried to deliver the new weather report as nice and easy as possible. When I went to check for myself I was so annoyed, but when I got back to the room Gentry was cracking up and really that's all I could do too.

Note to People that HATE turbulence...stay away from the Denver airport!!! I've never cried on a flight...but I did on this one. I know, I'm ridiculous, and I researched it when I got home and basically turbulence isn't going to bring the plane down, BUT, I didn't know that before my flight and I was pretty sure I was going to be driving from Denver to Dallas after our first flight. LORD!

Raya traveled really well on the way there. She slept at least half of each flight...the flights home were different because she couldn't really get comfortable. But all in all she traveled great!

Gentry's parents got Raya a Barbie Car that she LOVED. I was wondering how you teach an 18month old to differentiate between a gas pedal and a break pedal, but lucky for her (and me) it only has a gas pedal. The car only moves if she presses the pedal and as soon as she lets her foot off it stops (oh and did I mention the fastest it can go is 2.5mph, so even my waddling butt could catch it if all else failed ;)
Here's just a couple of the pictures:

She thought she was in a parade

I also uploaded a video on youtube of her driving. It was soooo funny. She had no interest in learning to steer, or really, even keeping her hands on the wheel. The video is here: Raya and her Ride

The true meaning of Southern Comfort

We headed to Dallas Thanksgiving morning. 

My step-sister and her husband were there, along with some other family and friends. They have a son, Christopher, who is exactly 6 weeks older than Raya. It was fun to watch them play together. 

This Thanksgiving there's 2 grandkids,
but by next Thanksgiving there will be 4!!!

She loves playing with her Uncle Bryce (my brother) and for some reason she loves waking him up. The last couple of times he's been home he's fallen asleep while she's around and she thinks it hilarious to wake him up.

Lovin on her Grandpa

So I'm pretty sure on Thanksgiving baby boy "dropped." By the end of the day he felt alot lower and it was pretty painful to walk. The whole time we were in Texas we didn't do much because I really couldn't walk for too long. By Thanksgiving I was as done as the turkey. I REFUSED to say I was ready for him to come because I could not take it if he came while we were in Texas. As cool as it would be to have a baby born in CA and the other one born in TX, I would have absolutely freaked thinking about all the logistics that would involve. So I just took it as easy as I could. And sweetly talked him into staying put ;) He's still very active. I think I got two videos of him moving, we'll see how well they upload. For the women out there that are working full time jobs and standing all day long and experiencing the same thing I am, I BOW DOWN to you! This is getting tough...like painfully tough, and chasing a 1.5 yr old around makes it intense, but at least YoGabbaGabba and Sesame Street have my back.

First family picture for the 2010 Holiday Season

I'm 34 weeks pregnant here.

All bundled up. It was FINALLY cold ;)

She went to the Dallas Zoo with her Grandpas. It was her first time at the Zoo. I need to get some more pictures from my dad. This is the one he sent me while they were there. She LOVES carousels. My Dad told me she had fun. She was more interested in running around and climbing than the actual animals. But she clearly had a good time because she took a super long nap when she got home.

Headed to the airport. Can't believe vacation is over.

If you're interested in seeing more of our trip, you can see all of our Thanksgiving pictures here: Thanksgiving in Texas