Thanksgiving 2013

It's another McPeak Thanksgiving and its our Emma Beth's first.  This is my favorite time of year and it was even more special because we have our sweet girl.

My mom usually makes the mac and cheese, cornbread dressing, sweet potato, and deviled eggs.....which yes sounds like everything ...and it sort of is.  I order the turkey from Rudy's and this year we included a ham.  Everything was so good!

 He cracks her up.

 Emma in her Thanksgiving outfit with her Nana.

 This was all before we ate....

 Intense conversation about Cash's drink...and you can see my Gracious Gift wine with glass full.

 Enjoying our hard work...or my mother's hard work.

 Emma got to enjoy some sweet potatoes and apples for her Thanksgiving meal.

The end of a long wonderful day..still smiling!

8 year anniversary

8 years!!!!  I feel so blessed that we are where we are 8 years later.  Literally 8 years.....we met June 24, 2005 and were married November 19, 2005.  There was still so much to learn about each other but that was the part of what made that time so exciting...and its been exciting ever since.

We had our first date at Bohanan's...which we laugh about now....seeing as how its one of the most expensive restaurants in San Antonio....and neither of us had any idea.  I had been there once before but I don't think I thought about where I suggested we go.  I was only thinking about the fact it would be our first date.  Little did I know it would the first of many "date nights" to come.

I think we have handled life's challenges gracefully and with no other expectations of each other accept honesty, respect, imperfection, and love.  We often fall but its how we get back up that counts.

We have two gorgeous children, a home that is our favorite place to be, and a love of which we are so grateful.  Its been a great evening....massages at Mokara (where we got engaged...was The Watermark) and a great dinner ..again at Bohanan's.  It was so nice to sit and enjoy time with my bestfriend and lover.  Our conversation is much different 8 years later but I love it!!!!!

Cash's 7th Birthday Party

Cash's 7th birthday was a big hit!  The last birthday we had at home was Cash's 1st birthday and I actually said I wouldn't do it at home again but since building the pool we thought it would be a lot of fun to let Cash have a pool party.

We started the day off not so hot as I was SO sick.  I had to tell myself to plow through the day and of all days ...not the day I wanted to have to do that.  I was so looking forward to his birthday party and to not feel good really put a damper on the fun of getting ready for it.  None the less Cash was very excited and that always makes me happy.  When we got up that morning we of course had Cash's gifts from us waiting for him in the kitchen.

The minute Cash got up he was ready to open his presents.  

The bounce house company got here about noon to set up the bounce house we rented in case it really was too chilly outside.

Almost everyone was here that we invited which was so nice as it was just good to spend some time with friends and have our kiddos play together.  We tried to keep it as small as possible since we were having it at the house but that was hard to do.  Some of those that were here like the Browns have been coming to Cash's birthday parties since he was 2 years old which some times is just so hard to believe.  Time passes so fast and Carter and Cash are still great friends.

We were missing one family member....Miss Addie!

Here are some great pics from the day:

Sadly before everyone even left I had to go lay down from not feeling good and thank goodness for my mom, Stephanie Leavelle and Rochelle Mitchell...because they cleaned up for me which allowed me to rest before Cash opened his gifts.

After most everyone left Cash opened his gifts..this was a little more chaotic than it normally is as I was trying to gain some energy as Ben was just starting to feel bad.  To say the least the "virus" ran over almost everyone minus Emma thank goodness.  Even my parents got sick.....a Cash birthday we won't forget.:)

I think this is Cash's last "party" as next year we will do something on a smaller scale like having 2 or 3 friends stay the night and maybe take them somewhere.  I was sort of sad that this would be his last "party" per say but excited to see what the next birthdays bring as my boy gets older. 

Emma - First foods

Emma went for her 4 month well baby check up yesterday and Dr. McCray shared that she can start solids.  I was thrilled as I loved seeing Cash try new foods and was looking forward to that with Emma.

Pediatricians are stating now that rice cereal is not good due to the arsenic found in the cereal so they are recommending oatmeal.  The other thing that has changed since Cash was trying solids for the first time is that Peds are saying we can give meats, vegetables and oatmeal when first trying solids.  That sort of goes against the "standard" way of thinking which was cereal first, then veges/meats a couple of months later.  I was excited to hear that things have changed though.  I am very thankful that Cash so not a picky eater.  He will eat almost every vegetable so hopefully with starting Emma early she will too.

We started Miss Emma off with cereal and squash.  She really seemed to like it.  She isn't so sure what to do with the spoon and was a little surprised at the texture but overall a great experience!

Next we will try peas....which I cannot stand but her brother loves them so we shall see!

11/5/13:  So after a few days of trying solids we decided to hold off.  Miss Emma is not ready yet.  We will try again at 5 months.