Brian, Dejah, Elliott & Trevor

We spent the day after Thanksgiving decorating for Christmas. Elliott was very excited and kept taking things out of the boxes and arranging them how he liked. He kept saying over and over that he was good at decorating. I had to agree. He was a very enthusiastic helper. We bought a new artificial tree this year and it is much bigger than our old one. Trevor watched us fluff out the branches and start putting on ornaments. He was impressed and kept touching the tree and pulling off ornaments.

His favorite was this blue M&M. 

We called Elliott our decorator and Trevor our destroyer.

This year, we celebrated Thanksgiving with my Aunts at Jennie's house. My mom and Brad were sick so Craig and Holly and family joined us too. We ate a delicious meal and enjoyed chatting and watching the little kids run around. Elliott and Emily and Jeffrey braved the cold and giant dogs to play in the tree house in the backyard. The aunts took turns holding Brianna and playing with Trevor. I am sad I didn't get a picture of us all at dinner, but there was some serious eating to enjoy.

Here is Eileen holding Trevor.

Elliott was terrified to be up so high on his tallest uncle's shoulders. Craig is like an amusement park ride and Elliott is on the cautious side. But he did touch the ceiling so he gets bravery points. 

I have so much to be thankful for this year, like all years. I am grateful for my little family that lets me be a wife and mom and enjoy it so much. I am grateful for our extended family and that we are close enough to see them often and be involved in their lives. I am grateful for my faith in Jesus Christ and the peace and joy that only He can provide. 

Today was a milestone for us. Elliott had his two front teeth pulled out by the dentist. Ever since Elliott's very first dentist appointment at 3 years old, we have known his front teeth might cause a problem. It looks like there was a chip on the back side of his top front tooth. Add in nightly grinding and the root was nearly exposed. The dentist has been watching it at every checkup and I was hoping his tooth would just fall out before it needed any work. Our options were a pulpectomy, a build-up on the back teeth, or pulling them out. Well, on Sunday night Elliott said his tooth hurt while he was brushing his teeth. Uh-oh. Then at breakfast Monday morning, Elliott said it hurt to chew. I knew the little root had been breached. I called the dentist and they could get us in this morning which was perfect since Brian has the day off for Columbus Day. I left Trevor home with him and Elliott and I went to the dentist. At first Elliott was happy to be there.

Elliott thought he was only going to open one gift which was the amiibo figure he picked to go with Mario Maker. It is a 30th Anniversary pixelated Mario. Then we surprised him by letting him open the game he has been anticipating for months. Brian was leaving the next day for a quick business trip so we wanted to let Elliott celebrate his birthday all week. He could hardly sleep that night, knowing he could play Mario Maker when he woke up. 

He has been telling everyone he sees at the grocery store and at school all about Mario Maker, so he was anxious to finally get to play it himself. 

Here is the birthday boy on his actual birthday. I was trying to get him to smile as he waited for his carpool to school.

Birthdays are so much fun, especially when you are a kid! Elliott had a great birthday week and now doesn't know what he wants for Christmas since he has everything he wanted. 

For Halloween this year Elliott decided to be Iron Man. We decorated for Halloween and carved some pumpkins. I tried to toast the seeds, but did you know that if you burn pumpkin seeds, it smells a little worse than burned popcorn? Oops.

On Halloween night, Brian was ready to hand out candy. I fed Trevor so I could take Elliott around the neighborhood. Trevor fell asleep at 5:30 and so missed dressing up and trick or treating early.