Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was pretty swell for the Kemp family. Matt had a nice 5 day weekend and it was so great to spend time together as a family. I made lots of nummy treats and french onion rice and we feasted away with my family. Olivia got pretty overwhelmed with the large group of people. I think her teething did not exactly help the situation. After dinner we went to visit Grandma Carrie and Grandpa Blaine and Olivia was such a chill little chatter box! It was so funny to watch her chat and giggle with Matt's dad. After our visit it was time to tackle Black Friday! I didn't go too crazy this year but we did get some awesome stuff :) Then on Saturday we put up our Tree(s) and had our Friendsgiving (Thanksgiving with friends) at Pat and Courtney's house. It was a lot of fun!

Our tree

Olivia's tree

4 month cutie

Little miss Liv is not so little anymore. She is now 4 months old! I cannot get enough of this babe. I swear I go to bed and wake up to a whole new baby! At 4 months Olivia:

• is 25 inches long- 70%
• weighs 18.4 pounds- still above 95%
• head 16.5"- 70%
• wears 6 month clothes
• in size 3 diapers
• eats 7 ounces every 4.5 hours
• eats rice cereal twice a day
• has almost mastered sitting up on her own
• yells and chats all the time
• cutest giggle in the world
• still sleeping 8 hours through the night with 2 naps during the day
• is officially teething- so drools on and tries to put everything in her mouth
• Love, love, LOVES this video; Florence and the Machine- Dog Days are over. I loved this album when I was pregnant and listened to this song almost every day. I think it might be a familiar sound to her.

Now time for some pics

Attitude of Gratitude

Well since Thanksgiving is 2 days away, I suppose its only appropriate to list some things I'm grateful for:

• Matthew Gene

My husband, my rock, my best friend and love of my life. He is the greatest man on the face of the earth, no battle. He is such a hard worker and takes such amazing care of our family. We make a great team, and I truly admire his loyalty to me. Thank you for putting up with me and loving me exactly the way I am. Thank you for standing up for me-well us-,thank you for being my companion and most importantly thank you for the giving me our beautiful baby.

• Olivia

My daughter, my child, my pride and joy. Words can never express how grateful I am to call you mine. Being a Mom has always been a dream of mine, but being your Mom is the greatest. Thank you for your smiles, for your laugh, for your adorable little personality that I just love watching bloom. Thank you for being patient with me through this learning process of being a Mom. Thank you for your unconditional love.

• My Parents

Thank you for raising me to be the person I am. Thank you for teaching me to be a strong woman, thank you for teaching me love and empathy. We may not see eye to eye on everything, but thank you for respecting my choices and views. Thank you for being such great parents to Matt. Your support means the world to us. And of course, thank you for being such AMAZING grandparents to Olivia, not just claiming the title because she's biologically related to you. Thank you for being involved, thank you for calling everyday and coming to see her every opportunity you can.

• My Sisters

Built in best friends. The older I get the more and more grateful I am to have you both in my life. Thank you for the support, thank you for the laughs, the hugs, the late night chats, the list goes on and on. I cannot imagine a life without either of you. Thank you for being such incredible aunt's to Olivia. She loves both of you sooooo much! Thank you for helping me become the person I am.

• Friends

I love all the amazing friends we have in our lives. Thank you for supporting us and loving us and Olivia. Thank you for keeping me sane, thank you for being an outlet and teaching me new things. A special thank you to me fellow Mommy friends- I'm not really sure how I would get by without you. Thank you for being patient with my millions of questions and for your advice. I cherish the memories I've made and am continuing to make with all of you. Old friends, new friends, I love you all!

• Carrie Kemp

My mother in law. Thank you for raising such an amazing man. Thank you for wanting to be in our lives, and making an effort to do so. Thank you for being there for Matt and me. Thank you for being our middle man, well woman for certain situations. Thank you for having good intentions and supporting us. Thank you for being a Grandmother to Olivia. She loves you very much and we love having you in our lives.

• Thanksgiving Feast

My family's Thanksgiving is superb. I love the tradition and our time together. I love Grandma's rolls, Dad's deep fried Turkey(s), Mom's homemade mashed potatoes, Grandma Wilson's fantastic sweet potato casserole, Stacie's Pies (even if they aren't homemade :), my french onion rice and other various goodies, and soooo much more. What can I say, I love food!

• Black Friday

Let's be honest, what girl doesn't love to shop? Black Friday is just an excuse to do it all night :) I do love the whole experience of it. The crowds, the Christmas Spirit (until you get an elbow in the chin), and of course the deals. It is just so fun.

• The Twilight Saga

Need I say more? :)

• The... the... the... The Grinch!

My Favorite Christmas Movie in the World of all time!!

• The Wood Connection

Even though I feel like I am at a zoo when I come, I love having a place to find such adorable stuff to make!

• Our Health

We may not be participating in any marathons in the near future, but our little family is in good health. I am very grateful for something so simple as being able to function and live such simple lives not restricted by any type of debilitating illness. On that note, I am very grateful to have health insurance. I can't imagine not being able to take my sick child to the doctor without having to worry about the financial stress. I am so grateful Matt has the great benefits he does!

• Our Home

I am so happy we have a place to call home. No, we don't own a house or live in the biggest apartment in the world, but its still a home, our home. I love the area we live in, I love that we are not tied down and stuck in some upside down or huge mortgage for something mediocre. I'm grateful we decided not to jump the gun and buy a house when we first got married or when we found out I was pregnant and end up settling for something less then perfect. I am grateful that we are not house poor, that we don't have to spend an arm and a leg just to have a roof over our head.

• Life!

What can I say I love life. I love living the life we do.
Happy Thanksgiving!

happy day

One year ago today my world changed forever. My biggest dream came true and I learned I was going to be a Mom! As explained in this post, Matt and I had been trying for some time to become pregnant with no luck. I had become frustrated and sad that it was not happening for us. I had made an appointment with a doctor to see what the hold up was and what we could do. Being diagnosed with PCOS means having children is not an easy task. I had heard all the things the doctor was telling me- hormone therapy, fertility treatments and when all else fails, in vitro. I was about to leave the appointment even more frustrated and sad with a handful of new medication to try when my doctor said she wanted me to take a pregnancy test, just to make sure. When the doctor came back into the room and told me I was already pregnant, I was ecstatic. I will never forget that day, that feeling. As I left the appointment and drove to work the whole world looked and seemed different. Everyday with my little girl is such a blessing. She is the greatest gift in the world and the best thing to ever happen to our little family.

<3

Tonight I am going to see the new Twilight movie with some of my favorite ladies and I am sooooo excited! I cannot believe next week is Thanksgiving and my little babe will be 4 months old. Where does the time go? And of course, following Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days.... Black Friday! Can't wait!

Trick or Treat

We had lots of fun celebrating Olivia's 1st Halloween. Our little cupcake had a major growth spurt last week and completely out grew her costume. So mom had to find a new one last minute, and I actually like the new one better and spent a whopping $3 on it.


We started the day at cousin Kylee's school for the Halloween Parade.
Liv loved watching all the kids in their cute costumes. Then we went to visit family and friends.

cousin KyKy

Daddy & Liv

Happy Family

Seesters

Aunt Mckell

Liv & Gav

It was a big day for little Liv, she was so happy to be home.

Time to start getting ready for Christmas! ;)