A Day at Bellingrath

Ok, so we're playing catch-up again:) The past few months have been a total blur and I cannot believe that we are almost to Christmas. Some days I just wish I could have a pause button so that I can catch up and enjoy the precious moments that seem to fly by. October was a busy month for Daddy and he was traveling for most of it. We kept ourselves busy with playdates, Kindermusik, and little outings like this one. We took an afternoon and went down to Bellingrath Gardens for a picnic and a boat ride. Bellingrath is a huge piece of property, but Shay walked the entire way and pointed out the different plants and floweres that he recognized along the way. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Shay got really excited to see that they had a butterfly garden.

Shay enjoyed a run on the Great Lawn.

Shay loves the idea of getting his picture taken, but he doesn't like the idea of sitting still or looking at the camera!

Here's one of Shay dodging the camera.

Finally!! I caught him sitting still long enough to snap the shot!

We were spoiled to have Daddy home the entire month of November which was wonderful! We had a great Thanksgiving with friends, and now we are busy getting ready for Christmas! This Thanksgiving, we made a tree on our felt board and added leaves to the tree each night. On the leaves, we wrote down different things that we are thankful for. We have much to be thankful for this year, our family (Malia and cousin Mikey being the newest additions), our home and the food we have to eat, our health, our freedom, and most of all our Faith. We are trying to slow down a little bit and enjoy the Advent season, preparing for the arrival of Baby Jesus. We light our Advent candles on our wreath each night and Shay is always quick to point out the pink and purple candles at Church, "just like ours!" As parents, we are trying to focus Christmas on Jesus' birthday, but we want the kids to enjoy the tradition of Santa Claus as well...so far, Shay seems to have a healthy understanding of both. Hopefully we can continue this as he gets older:) Happy Advent! More posts to come!