What are you thankful for that might seem silly to someone else?

I am thankful for my silly little back brace. Just when I think my back must be broken, the back brace fixes me like new again.

Thanksgiving is only a couple days away and I am real excited. For those that know me well, it's definitely not because of all the food. Although the variety of food always looks fantastic, most of it doesn't fall under the five things I eat, except the macaroni and cheese. My mom manages to throw in some homemade macaroni and cheese, along with everything from Italian turkey to dressing, to every dessert in the book and then some- but the homemade mac is a real nice treat, a good break from Kraft. Back to me being excited... the excitement comes from seeing everything prepared just for us and knowing we get to spend some time together not focused on anything else, but our relationships and probably, football! :) We spend Thanksgiving at the lake which I look forward to every year. It's a great tradition.

This year Clay's side is getting together to celebrate on Saturday so we will get to enjoy the evening with them then. And lucky for me, since I am always craving Italian, they are going an Italian route with the food. Not traditional Thanksgiving meal, which excites me. I really am looking forward to the time with everyone and even though I get to relax most days, this is special relax time and better yet, I get to relax with my husband. I'm so glad he has a couple of days off. Maybe he'll get in the hot tub with me, but I doubt it. He's not good at relaxing unless football is on, so I'll have to count on Keb to drink hot chocolate and soak in the hot tub with me! (And for those who are thinking I am going to hurt the baby, my Doctor gave me the A-Okay to enjoy the hot tub... he said it will help my back (see previous post) and make my body feel better! AND it DOES!)

Back to food... Mom wants us girls to learn to make the traditional Italian turkey, but I just don't see myself doing that. I don't like to handle meat raw and certainly can't eat it after I have seen it raw, so when it is my turn to make Turkey I hope Clay takes an interest in fixing a really good Turkey and Ham. Sadly, it won't be me, but I will be glad to make all the desserts and probably the side dishes too!

Well less than a week now till we can find out and we just can't decide. It's killing me knowing we don't know what we are going to do yet. I might change my poll to see what everyone thinks... looks like majority think this baby is a boy, 13 to 7. Nice thing about my poll is that I can't see who voted what... although I wish I could!

The baby must be dancing away because I can feel the baby everyday and frequently during the day, especially in the morning and at night. Clay still hasn't felt the baby move although he tried tonight, but the little one's kicks just weren't powerful enough. There were a couple of kicks that I thought he had a chance of feeling, but nope. I felt bad. I know he will think it's pretty cool. He may even be speechless over it. He has really taken on a new outlook... I think he finally sees my stomach growing and thinks, Wow, my wife is really pregnant, not fat! Hahaha!

Well I have already put up my Christmas trees and decor and didn't over do anything, just enough that most of the house feels pretty "Christmas-y." I wanted to have it done before Thanksgiving so when we got home from the lake we had everything done. I think houses look even homier when people decorate for Christmas. A big thanks to Kebby because she helped me. She came over Saturday with donuts and I supplied the hot chocolate and we had a great time. We listened to several old Christmas records and we had to take turns flipping the records. I felt like I was in the 60's. I love Otis Redding and his Christmas songs, along with Stevie Wonder and even Elvis put out a good Christmas record. I need one from Johnny Cash. I wonder if Bob Dylan made one? I just love them!

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. Be careful if you are traveling! And for those who have to loosen their belts on Thanksgiving, don't be jealous of my Thanksgiving pants, our otherwise known as maternity pants! Thanks to Jill by the way for the sweet Thanksgving card. Clay and I loved it and it's on our fridge! I feel like I need to get better at sending cards. It's a real sign of maturity and growing older when you send out cards, and as I said- I gotta' get better. Haven't quite hit that level of maturity yet... but back to Jill- I got one coming to you (homemade specially for you) but I am going to send it on the second so you can have a copy of the next baby picture! I thought you would like that! Thanks for your prayers. We are excited that everything is going so well.

Happy Thanksgiving-
Natalie