Three Thanksgivings

That could be the title of a movie, huh?! But it's not. It's how many Thanksgivings we had. We spent an entire week celebrating Thanksgiving. We began the week by going to Birmingham to have Thanksgiving with my Dad. We drove over on Monday afternoon and got spend time with our friends, Whitney and Brett, and their little boy, James Fleet. I've said it before, but we miss them so bad! Tuesday was packed full of visiting with family. We took Chapman to meet my Aunt Jane and Uncle John for the first time. After that we went to meet Baby Brady. My cousin Caroline had Brady 5 days after Chapman was born. They came in town for the holiday, and it gave all most of the Haley girl cousins an excuse to get together--they hadn't met Chapman and we hadn't met Brady, so it was perfect. We missed everyone who wasn't there! After visiting with everyone we headed to my dad's and hung out with Ashton and Brooks until it was time for dinner. My sweet Nanny had been in the hospital for a little over a week due to some light strokes, but thankfully she got out in time to come over and visit with us and see Chapman. Thanksgiving dinner number one was a success!

 Meeting Lauren for the first time!

 Chapman loves his Aunt Nell! 

 Cutie.

 If this isn't the sweetest thing you've seen, I don't know what is. 

 Chapman wasn't feeling the pictures too much...

 And he let me know it!

 We are so glad we finally got to meet Caroline and Brady.

Sisters and a sweet baby boy!

 It's tiring meeting so many new people all at once!

 I'll cherish this picture forever. It is not often we are all together. I wish all 13 of us had been there.

 Claire finally got to meet Chapman! 

 It's so fun to play with Aunt Ashton! 

 Nanny loves Chapman more than anyone will ever know :)

 Chapman melts his heart! 

 Busy watching Sports Center...

So sweet.

We headed back  to Atlanta early Wednesday morning so we could visit with two friends who live in California and DC. I'm glad Emma and Andrew got to meet Chapman! John, one of our dear college friends, stopped by too.  After our visit with friends, I got a LATE start baking for Thanksgiving lunch. Britt requested a pimento cheese cake he saw in Southern Living and I made a black bottom pumpkin pie that I got from Southern Living last year. I was up until 2:00am baking...I'm glad I enjoy cooking!

These three...we go way back to the Ross Park days. And now there's a baby!

I'm glad Emma and Andrew met at our wedding and reconnected!

 

Thursday morning we woke up with thankful hearts! We are beyond blessed. We had a lazy morning watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade before we went to lunch at Debbie and Al's. After a day full of eating and visiting with family, Britt and I braved the Walmart crowd to get an iPad mini {a Christmas gift from my Daddy!}. I swore I wouldn't shop on Thanksgiving night, but we couldn't pass up the deal. Thankfully it was a painless adventure. We were in and out of Walmart in about 20 minutes tops--that's never happened before.

Our most precious blessing.

 

I'm so glad it was cold enough for a warm fire on Thanksgiving!

Pimento Cheesecake...I thought it tasted good!

A different spin on pumpkin pie.

Why can't we eat dessert like this every day?!?

Chapman gets some Grandmommy love :)

I am so thankful for this baby doll. 

Thanksgiving didn't stop on Thursday. We ventured to Auburn on Friday to celebrate with my mom, Ashton, and Brooks. My Aunt Nee and Uncle Kenny, cousin Hunter, and his girlfriend, Alex joined us too. It was a short trip, but filled with fun, nonetheless!

Happy baby!

Hanging out with Uncle Kenny

To cap off a week chalked full of thanks Chapman got to experience his first Iron Bowl--the Iron Bowl of all Iron Bowls! This game had some huge hype; I was worried it would not live up to the hype, personally. But we all know what happened...and we Smiths are thankful for a victory over our biggest rival. We can't wait to watch Chapman's love for Auburn grow as he experiences Auburn for himself. War Eagle! 

 Chapman loves cheering on his Tigers! 

 Watching his very first Iron Bowl

"Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day."- Robert Caspar Lintner 

Three Months!

Chapman, you are THREE months old! I'm not sure where the time has gone. It seems like just yesterday that we were at the hospital waiting on your arrival. These last three months have been the best months of our lives. You bring so much joy to our home. You're changing every day! We didn't have a 3 month checkup at the doctor, but Mommy weighed you and measured you at home. I came up with 14.2 pounds and 23 3/4 or 24 inches long; you're a growing boy.

You are a good sleeper...not great, though! You finally started sleeping from 11:00pm-6:00am a couple of weeks ago, but the last 2 nights you've woken up at 3:30 or 4:00. I'm not sure why; hopefully you will go back to your sleeping through the night habits sooner than later. Mommy and Daddy would greatly appreciate it ;) You take one big nap in the morning {in your Mamaroo}, but your other naps are only about an hour long {in your crib}. I guess you don't require much sleep! We started letting you "self soothe" a.k.a cry-it-out and guess what--you are great at it! It usually only takes about 10 minutes for you to fall asleep. We still swaddle you, but you have two different swaddles for naps and bedtime. I know you will have to stop being swaddled soon--and I do not look forward to that day. We try to let you go to sleep without being swaddled sometimes, and it never works. Being swaddled calms you and helps you go to sleep. We better figure out a way to wean you from your swaddle soon, though.

Nighttime swaddle...

Nap time swaddle...

You are becoming a great eater. We had to buy 8 oz. bottles, and you now use Level 2 nipples. You are beginning to eat 5 oz. consistently {you ate 6 oz. twice today!}. We still give you one formula bottle at 11:00pm. You're a little spoiled when it comes to eating...you like your bottle warm. Not, just room temperature, it has to be warmed in the bottle warmer even if it has not been in the fridge. You also like to eat in weird places. When we can't get you to finish a bottle we feed you on the floor, in the bouncer, or even on your changing pad. We don't know why you like to eat in those strange places, but we will do whatever we have to to get you to eat!

This particular time you wanted to eat naked...whatever works!

You are still wearing size 3 month clothes. I bought you some 6 month clothes for Thanksgiving and Christmas because I was worried you wouldn't still fit in 3 month clothes, but they are a little long on you. You wear size 2 diapers now. We tried to keep you in size 1 diapers for as long as possible because we have SO MANY of them left from our diaper shower; I guess we can keep them for Baby S number 2 whenever that may be {no time soon, though}!

You're beginning to be so much fun! You stay awake for longer period of time instead of sleeping all day. You laugh and smile at us--and it melts our hearts. You love to shake your rattles and grab at your toys on your play mat. You're finally old enough that you can entertain yourself in your bouncer and Mamaroo for good lengths of time. You seem to enjoy story time with mommy in the mornings. My absolute favorite thing is when you talk to us. You "talk" so much now. You also follow Mommy with your eyes whenever I walk out of your direct sight.  It is the sweetest thing. I hope you're always a Momma's boy! You're not supposed to watch TV, but of course you love it. We can turn you away from the TV and you turn your little head to watch it anyway. I don't know what we're going to do with you!! You're really starting to try to roll over; you just can't quite get the hang of it yet just kidding--you just rolled over twice!! We can't wait to watch you grow in the next month!

Now for my favorite part of this blog...

This hair cracks me up!

 

This one's going in your wedding slideshow one day!

You love your daddy!

You're the happiest baby I know. We love you to the moon and back!