Can anyone tell me how they made the really cute blog banners that everyone has? I can't seem to figure out where to find them to make them. The first place I found it was going to cost money and I knew that people weren't paying anything, or at least not as much as these people were asking, to add them to their blogs. Would someone please help me? Also, if you are looking, I'm going to post photos from Thanksgiving once I get a chance to go through the many, many photos!

Today Sophie is 10 months old. The last 6 months of the first year seem to go by the fastest and I can't believe she will be a year old in just 2 months! She crawling faster than ever and walking along every piece of furniture she can. Her hair is getting thicker and longer and looks really cute when she lets me put a bow in it. She's starting to slim up a little, but still has her lovable, kissable chubby cheeks. She loves making Christopher laugh and playing peek a boo with anyone. She is most definitely a momma's girl and would just sit on my hip all day if I could hold her that long. Happy 10 months, baby girl!

I thought I'd get the blog in the mood for some turkey! I'm headed back to Montgomery this week with the kids for Thanksgiving. Brandon is working nights for 2 weeks, so he'll miss another holiday. But we get to spend a week and a half seeing friends and family, which I am psyched about!!! We are going to spend Thanksgiving with my in-laws and we can't wait to have the kids together again. Christopher and Cameron are always silly and the babies, well, we will just have to see what they think of each other! We will also attempt to brave the "day after Thanksgiving" shopping crowd. I did this two years ago with my mother-in-law and we had so much fun, but we also didn't have any kids with us. This year we'll have Brandon's sister and at least 2 kids joining us, hopefully not all four or we won't get anything done. But it will be fun regardless!

I know I'm not the only one out there who reads blogs from people she doesn't know, but I am guilty of reading great ones and then forgetting how I found them. So, I decided to just add them to mine as I came across them again and that way I can get there faster! I changed "Our Friends" to "Favorite Blogs" b/c well, I know most of blogs on our list, but a few of them I don't, so I can't technically call them my friend, even though I'd love to know them! Feel free to check them out and you'll quickly see why I keep going back.

I went to pick Christopher up from MDO this afternoon and had great news when I arrived. He went on the potty TWICE while he was there!!!! He's been following another little boy into the bathroom the last few weeks and mentioned his name when he would go potty at home, but he's never been away from home before. (Wait, he went at William's house last Friday night.) I was so proud of him!!! He goes back and forth every day on how much he wants to use the potty and I am not allowed to mention it (still), but he's still going so I'm not going to mess anything up now. Brandon is so excited he asks him constantly and I try to tell him to just leave him alone b/c I'm afriad it'll scare him out of it again, but I understand his excitement too. Now I'm just not sure how much I need to push him to really get him out of diapers before he goes backwards or whether I just leave him alone and let him keep going at this pace. It would be the greatest Christmas gift in the world if I didn't have to buy diapers for him anymore!

Here are some photos from this week:

The kids playing in the bed one morning. I had gone to wash my face and when I came to get Sophie out of her crib, I found Christopher in there playing with her.



Sophie loves playing in the dirt with Christopher (which I absolutely love!!) and when I came outside I saw Brandon had put her on the tractor. She loved it! The other day she was pushing one of his toy cars around while going, "brrrrrrrr."

We attempted to take Christmas photos, but it was just way too bright outside, besides the fact Christopher refused to sit still. Sophie on the other hand, loved the camera. Not sure if we'll get one this year of both kids, but we're going to try again later.

I added a new link under our favorites list. It's one that my sister found. It's a mom that has great tips on how to save money, something we all need help with during this time! She also gives tips on how to clean with products you probably already have under your sink, but aren't toxic. My son is like hers and wants to help all the time (thank goodness!) so I'll probably start trying her ideas. I thought you might want to check it out too! It's the "Great tips" link. Enjoy!

She said it! The day after she said "dada" Sophie finally said "mama." I was so excited! Now she crawls around the house saying it. I love it!!! We thought she'd said it before, but we weren't sure if it was intentional or not. Also, she is cutting another tooth. This will make 7 teeth for her and she's only 9 months old! I have never known a child to get so many teeth in such a short period of time. (First one came in only 3 months ago.) I guess it helped that she got 3 of them at once, but seriously! I'm curious to see how many she will have by the time she's a year old.

Just as big, Christopher was actually excited about Mother's Day Out on Friday. He has been very upset the last 2 months about going and it's been really hard for both of us. I think staying home more has also played into this b/c he talked about how happy he was to go and play with his friends. When we got there he walked right in, went straight to the digger toys and never looked back. I'd been picking him up an hour early, but I thought I might try stretching it out some. This time I went 30 minutes later and he was doing great! They said he never cried and his lambie was still in his backpack. That's never happened!!!

It has truly been a great week!!!