Thankful Thanksgiving

Another holiday has come and gone!  I cannot believe the year is almost over!  This Thanksgiving was special, as is every Thanksgiving where everyone can get together.  I'm quite proud of the fact that David and I power through and see as many people as possible over the holidays.  It might not always be this easy, but it will always be important to me.  So, we'll try as hard as we can, even when we have the lil' nugget.  Wednesday night, we were home so we took a rare opportunity to go out to eat (b/c we practiced that morning) and we went to eat sushi.  Yes, prego police, I was careful but I did indulge in one of my favorite foods with pregnancy safe stuff inside the roll.  It was delish to say the least.  I honestly cannot wait to eat the Spicy Tuna Salad from Filet's when I'm allowed.....my mouth is watering just thinking about it.  Thursday, we got up and hit the road for Clinton.  We ate lunch at Ann's house and Granddaddy  was able to join us.  It was so nice seeing him WALK (with Cody helping) through the door.  He sat down and visited with everyone and ate like he hasn't eaten in months.  After lunch, he had to "digest" and undo his belt and the button on his pants. HA!  You never know how many more of these moments there will be so I cherished every minute I got to see him.  

Granddaddy & Ann

Granddaddy, Dad, Jimmy & Gary....Andy is the only son missing!

nom nom

Love this big family & this certainly isn't all of them

"Digesting"

Granddaddy and a pregnant Becca

David and I left Ann's around 3p and went straight to Soo Soo's house for round 2.  It was also fun and delicious and special in itself.  Soo Soo, Jen, Curry, Liza, Margaret, Janet, Lee (Curry's parents), David and I had dinner together.  My parents were going to join us but left Clinton a lot later than expected.  They joined us after dinner and everyone enjoyed watching the girls play so well with each other, stay up past their bedtime, manhandle a smart phone, and keep us on our toes and laughing.  We left there a little while after dinner and dessert and enjoyed a relatively low key night....stuffed to the gills with food and full of love that only family can provide.  

Margaret & Liza

Liza working my droid better than I can

Liza took the camera and this pic of Jen & Curry is great!

As is this one of Mom & Janet

The girls playing in a doll stroller

Friday,  Mom, Dad and I tootled around the house and town.  We don't get into the Black Friday shopping craziness, so we decorated for Christmas, got some things organized in the boy's room and David did yard work.  We DID venture out once to check out some mattresses at the new Mattress Firm in town and pick up a couple groceries.   Thankfully it wasn't too bad at Walmart and we got in and out with no issues.  Friday night, Dad went to Clinton to stay with Granddaddy and Mom, David & I drove down to Alex & Becky's condo in Myrtle Beach.  We hung out with them (A,B, Nic, Karina, Paul, Kileigh & Macy) until the girls got back from the "hot pool" and were ready for bed.  Starving at this point, we decided to order pizza on the way home and call it a night.  Saturday, David hunted again while Mom and I braved a sliver of what Myrtle Beach has to offer by way of shopping.  We hit up Sears, Old Navy, Target, Walmart & McAlisters Deli for lunch.  We had to get back to Little River by 2pm because we were doing the Steve Fort side of the family Thanksgiving at 3:30pm.  We got to Steve & Julia's house and enjoyed great company all night and some amazing food.  Some pork, beans, slaw, collards, and too many desserts to name.....needless to say, we were nearly in a food coma again.  Around 5pm, more folks came over for the annual NMB Flotilla.  The boats were fun and the kids enjoyed all the lights, Santa appearances and yelling back and forth with the boats.  The Cameron crowd joined us and Kileigh, being experienced on the boat, seemed concerned that people were standing on the boats and she couldn't see the life jackets on some of the Santa's.  Liza yelled "Merry Christmas" and hooted and hollered at every boat.  Eli got into the action as well while Ean got passed from one person to another.  Dad came back from Clinton and joined us for the festivities and took little cat-naps every chance he could get.  I'm sure one effort to nap on the dock swing turned into entertainment when all the little girls joined him on the swing. Bekah, Shane & friend Russ came also and it was nice to catch up with them (& Shane's sweater).  When Bekah & Shane decided to go to Poo's to find Russ a woman, we took it to the house.

  

How cute is she?

Chillin in Aunt Becca's sunglasses

Liza being silly

Liza, Margaret & Ean....a glimpse of things to come when our Lil' Fort comes along!

Mags & Bop playing

Dinner is served

Curry, David & Dave staying close to the pig

Eating a rainbow cupcake

Liza & Victoria joined Dad on the swing....so much for the nap

Now Margaret & Rachael joined them!

Sunset over NMB Bridge

A little later with the sunset

Night shot of the same bridge

Alex, Becky, Nic, Karina & Kileigh

Julia & Ean

The Wallace's....Love that sweater...hahaha.

The Fort's & Raynor's

Sunday, David and I caught up on things around the house and are sitting here now thinking it feels like it should be 9:30 and it's only 6:30p.  Gah....either we are old or we've been busy and it's catching up with us.....OR it could be because I'm pregnant.  Either way, it might be an early night in the Fort House.  So thankful for a wonderful Thanksgiving!

South In Yo Mouth - 2011

The 11th Annual South In Yo Mouth pig pickin is in the books and although attendance was a little different this year, the fun, food and friends didn't disappoint.  David and I got to Raleigh on Friday around 7pm and enjoyed pizza with JD, Joel, Lance & Katie.  Lindsey (JD's better half) came home later because her brother and his wife had a baby that night!  SO much going on in the Howard/Moorefield houses this weekend!

The boys started cooking the pig with David's new pig cooker (he and Rifton built it) and it was so nice!  They actually got to sleep a little this night because they weren't afraid of the temperature dropping or getting out of control and starting a fire.  The pig (which turned out to be one body & two heads) cooked to perfection and was ready for the tailgating fun that Saturday offered.  The girls hung out inside and caught up on life and stayed up way later than any of us are used to.  Saturday we hung out at the house while the guys went to the game to get set up.  After naps, the girls joined them and the party ensued.  There was also a football game, which I didn't pay much attention to, but I hear that NC State beat the pants of of Clemson.  Katie and I used two of our four tickets during the second half to use the bathroom because the porto-johns were THAT nasty and being pregnant makes using one that much harder.  So, I was in the stadium for 5 whole minutes.  The game was fun....watching the kiddos was great.....and the fact that our house was IN BED (if not already asleep) by 9pm Saturday night.  Ridiculous.  Good times and already looking forward to next year when there are A LOT more babies in the picture.

What's Shakin....

Not too much shakin in the Fort household these days.....other than my ever-growing belly....or the "nesting" that seems to have kicked into a different gear.  I'm not focusing solely on the nursery, but in every other part of the house I'm trying to organize, label and make what has always been easy, just a little easier.  Weird.  Instead of boring you with words, I'll post some recent pictures that I've either taken on my phone or my camera.....so excuse the quality.  Sometimes the camera on your phone and the ability to email/text/post it immediately get the best of me.

First, of all, the above picture was taken yesterday when I was working at my computer.  I had the door open to allow the dogs to go in and out as they please.  Jackson was out for a while and came up and so proudly dropped this little squirrel right there.  He was SO PROUD and wanted me to be so happy for his find.  All I could say was, "No, no, no, no Jackson".  I didn't quite know what to do but knew I had to get a picture of his proud moment before I discarded the poor animal.  

So, my crafty moments over the last two weeks consisted of making Maddie a new dog bed and totally destroying an almost-finished-homemade ornament wreath.  The dog bed idea came when I was home (Southern Pines) the last time and since my parents put another couch in the TV room and thankfully the dogs aren't allowed on it, I took them an extra dog bed that we had.  It happens to be a bed that is sort of small for them to share, so one of the dogs gets the shaft.  I decided to try my hand at making Maddie her own special girly dog bed and it turned out cute!  Not sure how long the "M" will last as she is a "scraper" and rubs her paws along the bed to make the perfect nest for herself.  She really enjoys this bed and since it's still here in my house, she's gotten used to going to it instead of the larger bed that she and Jackson normally share.  

The ornament wreath was a pure tragedy.  I worked for a couple hours on this and really liked where it was going.  I had probably 30 more minutes of work left to do.  It had become rather cumbersome to work with so I was going to hang it on the hanger present in the picture.  Fumbling with securing the wreath to the hanger and the hanger to a hook.....the whole project came crashing down at my feet.  I stood there a good minute trying to figure out if it was real or a dream.  Unfortunately, the next 30 minutes devoted to sweeping, vacuuming and making sure shards of ornaments were thrown away made me realize that yes, it did in fact happen.  I'll give that project another try once I've forgotten how annoying it was to clean this mess up.  

MY BELLY:

26 weeks

26 weeks front view.....my belly button is half way in half way out....the body is weird.

THE NURSERY:

This was Lib's chair (David's grandma) that we had recovered....it rocks, swivels and is just plain comfy.  

This dresser used to be black and I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (Thanks Bekah!) to repaint it....handles are from Anthropologie.  The top of the dresser will be a changing table but is now currently home to random objects (animals, boats) and fabric.  

These are two of my choices for a light pendant that I found either at a consignment store or on clearance.  David's next project is to take down the ceiling fan and replace it with one of these.  

Twin bed that was Soo Soo's bed as a child (I think).  The anchor is wire and was a recent purchase from Pottery Barn on clearance.  That isn't the anchor's final resting place and I will eventually have a mattress in the twin bed.....thinking of setting it up more as a day bed.

Other than all that, work is fine.  It wears me out, but that is okay.  We have our first meet in a month and I'm hoping that my next two doc appointments go well enough that I'll be able to travel to the first meet.  All levels EXCEPT 9 & 10 will be competing at our home gym.  But, because of my pregnancy, we decided to try and get our "team trip" done before it was too late for me to travel.  So we found a meet in the Bahamas (Atlantis).  I've booked the flights, hotels, transportation and am looking into the fun, non-gymnastics activities we can partake in.

I'm also on the hunt for a place to rent for the Cooper River Bridge Run.  I know I'll have a little one by then and it's crazy for me to think that I'll actually run this year (I've never run it because of other events or meets going on).....but I do plan on being down in Charleston that weekend.  I've found some cool places and am hoping to put down a deposit on one of them soon.  Two places are downtown and the third is an ocean front house on Sulllivans.....oh the choices!

This weekend we are heading to Raleigh for the annual South In Yo Mouth Pig Pickin.....it happens to coincide with the NCSU/Clemson game.....I'm not real sure I'll even make it into the game.  But stranger things have happened.  Either way, if you are in raleigh and want some outstanding pig, stop by the "red deck"....it's in Stadium East, at the pine tree line....and near the port-o-johns.....which is where all foul mouths and drinking liquor straight out of the bottles should occur.

Oh, and we had pictures taken this past Sunday....so fun.  Fuller Royal, from Whiteville spent Sunday afternoon with us and the dogs at Soo Soo's house.  We spent all of our time near the barn, ponds or along the fence line.  At the end, we did get into the soybean fields.  They are fun mixture of maternity pics and the four of us, before we become five.  The dogs had a ball....Maddie lasted all of about 5 pictures before running and diving into the pond, swimming around for nothing and coming back......so most pictures, she is wet, but that is our little Maddie!  Jackson loved it but paid for all the rompin' around the next day when his hip was a little sore.  Poor fella......

Thanksgiving is next week and I cannot believe it.  Time flies.  We will be around the beach with the exception of the probable trip to Clinton for lunch on Thursday.  We all have a lot to be thankful for and although we shouldn't concentrate our thankfulness to just one week a year, it is nice to have a reason to get together with those you love and share in the gratitude.  Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because there is nothing else attached.....family, food, football, and fun.....sounds great to me.  

Family & Football

This weekend I trucked it back to the Pines Friday night....mainly to avoid having to drive straight to Raleigh Saturday morning by myself since David and I were going separate to the game.  I got to hang out with mom Friday night and sleep in a little bit Saturday morning before grabbing breakfast at Mac's and hitting the road to Raleigh.  I met David and we consolidated vehicles to head to Carter Finley for the UNC v. NCSU football game.  The game was less than desirable for me and more than David could have asked for.  Gotta love the divided house!  Thankfully we hung out with another couple who were quite divided....so I wasn't the only odd ball in the crowd.  UNC didn't play well and it was a bummer.....but we had a good time and it was nice to use the tickets that we pay for every year, but rarely get to use.  After the game, David started heading towards Ohio to hunt all week and I scooted back to Southern Pines to meet my parents, and my mom's cousins for dinner.  I haven't seen Rose or Jane in a LONG time and we had so much fun catching up.  Of course we went to Vito's because that is just what you do when you want to go out to eat.  It was as good as ever!  Jane (daughter) brought Rose (mother) to town for a reunion and made time to see family and friends while in town.  We laughed, told stories, looked at pictures, and just really enjoyed each other's company.  Sunday I woke up at the crack of dawn (literally) with the time change and hung out in Southern Pines until dinner.  The dogs and I drove back to the beach Sunday night, narrowly missing a deer standing in the middle of the road and catching up with Scott.....an old college friend that I haven't talked to in 10+ years.  Great ending to a great weekend!  Back to the grind tomorrow.....

Two divided houses....

Ellen & Courtney sandwich....an NC State gymnast and a future NC State gymnast....love these girls!

Me, Jane, Mom, Rose & Dad

In baby news....this kid loves a football game.  Maybe he was pulling hard for the heels and just bouncing around the entire game or maybe he was dancing to the incredibly loud music playing in the stadium, but it was an active afternoon for the little guy.  I'll be 25 weeks along tomorrow.....I took the glucose test last week and hopefully all is well with that.  The nursery is coming along and the crib should be in soon.  I'm on the hunt for a twin mattress/boxspring to replace the bigger bed that was once in that room.  Darn small rooms.  So if anyone knows a place to get a good deal on one (I'm not trying to get anything fancy at all), let me know!  The name game is still just that.  My dad has thrown out some incredibly interesting names that will likely not be used but I do appreciate him trying to be helpful in this process.  David and I like a lot of the same names, but narrowing down what we want to be permanent is a difficult decision.  I'm sure we'll come up with something soon though!  Stay tuned....