Well, I got way behind on the Thankful Challenge and for good reason: I have been enjoying my time with my family. Alan has been off work for 5 straight days (and if you know us well, you know that this NEVER happens.) The last time all three of us were together for this long was back in July when we went to the beach. I have just been enjoying every second of the three of us being together and haven't spent much time on the computer.

We have really enjoyed Thanksgiving week! Jane Baird and I have been out of school all week. Monday we spent the day at home cleaning and organizing. I moved Jane Baird's room around (by myself) and was sore for the next two days from that. I forgot to blog about her new big girl bed. She's had it for a couple of months now. I'll have to post some pics of it. She loves it!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We enjoyed every second with our families. We are still eating leftovers and I LOVE IT! My mom makes the best dressing on earth and I could eat it once a week for the rest of my life and not get tired of it.

Friday morning we got up early and drove to Harpersville to cut down our Christmas tree. We went to Old Baker Farm and we loved it there! We had a blast and hopefully created some great memories for Jane Baird.

Today was the much anticipated Iron Bowl. ROLL TIDE!!! After the ball game we went to my parent's house to make Christmas cookies with Jack and Hayes. We had so much fun and JB LOVED shaking sprinkles all over everything and eating the colored sugar.

I went back to work yesterday. I'm sad my break is over, but a few more weeks and JB and I will be home for Christmas break!

I hope you all have enjoyed your holiday! Here are a few pictures from our week:

I'm having problems uploading pictures so this is only a few. More to come...hopefully!

I have to play a little catch up...

DAY 14: On Monday, I was so thankful for my husband getting up early to get Jane Baird ready for school! Love that he helps out. I'm so blessed!

Day 15: Yesterday I was looking forward to my doctor's appointment and then a day of Christmas shopping. I was not happy that I drove all the way to B'ham to my appointment just to find out that my doctor was in Haiti and my appointment was rescheduled and I wasn't notified...ugh! But I was able to almost FINISH all my Christmas shopping!!!!!!!!!!!! This was my first time to shop without JB and WOW, I got so much done :) I missed her company and found myself talking to myself a lot. So thankful for a productive day.

ALSO, and most importantly, I am thankful for my dad. November 15 is his birthday. We went to see Grandma and Pops last night and had cake to celebrate his special day. I also got him the perfect gift :) That always makes me happy to find that perfect gift for someone I love so much. Happy Birthday Pops!

Alan took Jane Baird out Saturday to play while I had some quiet time.

DAY 12: Yesterday I was so thankful for some quiet time! Alan took Jane Baird outside in the backyard so she could fing (swing). While they were outside I put my feet and read my magazine that I have been trying to read for the past month (but have never made it past page 7).

DAY 13: Today I am thankful that my car battery decided to die today instead of tomorrow morning as I head out for work. I am also thankful for my subscription of Taste of Home magazine. Alan's Aunt Velma bought me a subscription to this magazine 2 years in a row and I loved it! We had the most delicious Baja Chicken Burgers for supper tonight. Alan ate four of them and if you know Alan, he never pigs out! He said on a scale from 1 to 10, they were a 9.9 and I would have to agree :)

Pictures from the past week:

Last Saturday Jane Baird helped me make pancakes :)

Last Sunday we went to visit Alan's grandmother "Mama Rachel" I tried to get Jane Baird to turn around so I could get a picture of her braid. Mrs. Stacey braids Jane Baird's hair at school and she does a really good job! Her braids are so neat and perfect. I told her I was going to stop doing JB's hair in the mornings and send a brush, rubber band, and bow to school with her ;)

Last night Jane Baird wanted to fim (swim) in my tub. Blowing bubbles trying to blow bubbles on me

DAY 11: Today I am thankful for all the Veteran's, especially my dad, Kerry Reese. I am also thankful to have had the day off with Jane Baird.

DAY 10: Today I am thankful to have a husband who devotes all his time to our family! Tonight was our school's fall festival. After working a long day, Alan brought her to my school so that we could all be together. I appreciate him so much!

DAY 9: Today I am thankful for the Herzing College jingle that comes on the radio EVERY afternoon during our ride home from school. That is Jane Baird's absolute favorite and she always says, "Turn it up real loud, Mommy!" I turn it up and we both sing along. Jane Baird sings it with such passion and we both crack up about it. Good times :) "Career focused, convenient care. Find your career at Herzing!"

DAY 8: Today I am thankful that there are only two more days in my work week!!! I am in great need of a long weekend.

DAY 7: Today, I am thankful for my sweet, funny 1st graders! One of our "amazing" words this week is extinct. I asked my students this morning to raise their hands if they could tell me what that word meant. Of course every hand flew up (and I was proud to have so many smart kids). I called on about 5 kids and they were all clueless and giving me answers that were so far off (which took me by surprise). Finally, this one little boy raised his hand with great confidence and said, "Extinct mean a REALLY, REALLY nasty animal that stinks really bad." I giggled about that all day long!

Day 6: So much to be thankful for this Sunday morning! I am thankful for the time change! I know that most people hate losing that hour of daylight at the end of the day, but I need that extra hour in the mornings so badly. I am up at 5 every week day just to get everything done in the mornings before I have to rush out the door at 7.

I'm also thankful for watching BAMA football with my family, and a CLEAN game against LSU. Jane Baird loves watching and cheering for The Tide. She repeats what ever we say or scream at the TV (so we have to be careful). Last night she was screaming "GO TIM, GO TIM, GO TIM!" It took me a minute to figure out she was screaming for Trent Richardson :) She watched the entire game with us and enjoyed it as much as we did.

I am so thankful for weekends at home with my family. Alan has been gone A LOT here recently and has worked many weekends ( which he doesn't normally do). I am thrilled that he is home and that things will slow down a little.

And finally, I am SO thankful that this next week will be a 4 day work week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DAY 5: Today I am thankful for our Saturday morning pancake breakfast together as a family. Growing up, my mother made pancakes for us EVERY Saturday morning. She made the best pancakes (and still does). I am happy to carry on that tradition with my family (when we are home on Saturday mornings). My pancakes are not as good as hers, but I try :)

DAY 4: Today I am thankful for my healthy little girl. Jane Baird was born with a tracheal esophageal fistula and an esophageal atresia (EA/TEF). Thankfully, her EA/TEF could be corrected by surgery. It wasn't an easy road to health, but we made it! I just ready about a little girl that passed away at the age of 3 after multiple surgeries and complications from her EA/TEF. My heart breaks for her family.

Jane Baird brightens every day. I can not even remember what life was like before she came into our lives. I am so thankful she is healthy and that God chose me to be her mommy.

DAY 3: Today I am thankful for finger painting with my sweet little princess. Today I got my fingers messy with her and we had so much fun! I can't think of a better way to spend the afternoon :)

I got so tired last night after updating my blog for 2 hours last night that I didn't even begin my Thankful Challenge. So here it goes: DAY 1: Yesterday I was thankful to have a job. Yesterday was payday, and teachers got a pay cut which totally stinks. AND we are getting another pay cut in January. I did gripe a little about it, but the truth is I'm just thankful to have a job. No, it's not fair that our pay check gets smaller while the legislators' checks get bigger, but I'm glad to get a check and glad that it will pay our bills with some left over. DAY 2: I'm so thankful for my family! I have the world's greatest husband. He adores me and loves me for who I am. He sees so much more in me than I see in myself. He is ALWAYS here for me and he is the hardest working person I know. He helps around the house and is a wonderful dad to our sweet daughter. And that sweet daughter of ours is the most precious little girl ever created. She is full of laughter and energy. She has a mind of her own and doesn't mind expressing it. She has a really girly side to her but can hang with the boys too. She has a very funny personality and is just a ray of sunshine. She is strong willed and goes after what ever she wants. And she loves her mommy and daddy with all her heart. For all of this, I am so thankful!

Prayers for Colton

This handsome little guy goes to school with Jane Baird. He was born with a serious medical condition and had to have a kidney transplant last Thursday. His loving father donated one of his own kidneys. Both are doing well at this point but sweet Colton has a long road ahead. Please remember these two special people in your prayers! (Colton is the brother of JB's boyfriend)

I was not able to attend Jane Baird's Halloween party, but Alan was! He took lots of pictures for me. As you can see, JB loved the big slide!

Jane B. with some of her classmates. The handsome little guy sitting next to JB is Ethan, her boyfriend. Her sweet friend Maggie is sitting to her left. Alan said he saw JB and Ethan in the corner of the jumpy house tickling each other LOL!

This is my favorite! JB is such a little daredevil!