Christmas lights in Ruckersville...

We took the children out to see the Christmas lights on Tuesday night and we all had a blast.
There is a house in Ruckersville that decorates all out for the holidays and the homeowners allow people to drive into their yard, park and walk around. They even open up there house and show off a beautiful collection of angels the woman has.
There was no one there when we pulled up and we got a chance to talk to the owner... he's not find of publicity and especially not Pat's paper. We were careful not to tell him we had ANYTHING to do with a newspaper and it kept me from asking him if he would like to tell his story.
Here are some pictures from our night out.

Our future linebacker...

I took Julius to the doctor yesterday for his ninth month check-up. First, it's hard to believe Julius is already nine months old. I can remember this time last year when he was moving around in my belly (like a hard bowl of jelly - sorry for the pun!).
He's such a sweet child, but he is all boy and certainly doesn't know his own strength.
He weighed in at 25.6 lbs. (in the 86th percentile for kids his age) and measured 31 inches in height (97th percentile for kids his age) and with a head circumference of 47 (in the 90th percentile).
Dr. Mayo, our wonderful doctor, said Julius was doing great and looking good. When she walked into the room he was standing and playing with the toys under the patient table.
He also received his second flu shot for the season and his first H1N1 shot... and he and Savannah have to go back later this month to get the rest of the shots (Julius will need his second H1N1 and Savannah will need both flu shots).
I can't believe how fast the children are growing up! Time is flying by!

Julius - The 10th (and cutest) Reindeer

Savannah thought it would be funny to put her reindeer ears on her brother the other night... this was after she put them on her own head and ran around. You can see that once I got the camera out, Julius was the only one to model the ears... Savannah refused to put them on her head again.
Isn't he adorable... such a heartbreaker!

Thanksgiving Day feast...

I wanted to post a few pictures from our dinner today. We had a yummy feast before we sent Pat to work and I wish you had all been here to enjoy it with us.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. Pat and I are so thankful for our many blessings.

Thanksgiving Day...

Our little family will be home on Thursday for Thanksgiving as Pat has to go to work that night. This will be a rough week as he will work six days straight and on a holiday week as well.
Life in the newspaper business has always meant giving up some of your holidays to put out the newspaper. When I was a working reporter, I spent many of those 12 years writing on how others enjoyed their Turkey Day (at least 10 out of the 12).
I think it's an easier pill to swallow when you're single or live far away from home. Although I was disappointed when I had to miss a Thanksgiving meal with my traditional family, it was part of the job and I accepted it. It is sad to think that Pat and I have never spent an entire Thanksgiving Day together as he's worked every one of them.
We're hoping the next career fields we enter will be ones that have holidays off.
As Pat looks at his newspapering days coming to an end, we are looking forward to having next Thanksgiving Day together as a family.
In the meantime, I'll share our Thanksgiving Day dinner plans (which I'll be serving around noon and sending Pat to work with a dinner plate.)
Menu for the day is as follows:
Roasted Turkey Breast (no one eats dark meat in this house so we're giving up the whole bird for the best part)
Cornbread dressing (not just stuffing as no decent Deep south Southerner would serve that at their dinner table)
Stove Top stuffing for Pat (because he asked me to)
Green Bean Casserole
Loaded Mashed Potatoes
Rolls
Pumpkin Pie
Cherry Pie

Yummy indeed!

Wiped out...

Pat took this picture of two generations of Fitzgerald men relaxing on Tuesday afternoon as we got ready to come home from Virginia Beach.
I know Savannah is special to Dad Fitzgerald, but I also know how long he's waited for a Fitzgerald grandson. I think there was an instant bond that has only increased as the months passed and Julius has gotten his own little personality.
This is such a sweet photo and I had to share it with you...

Photo with Santa...

We took the children to the Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach on Monday to have their picture taken with Santa.
This has become a yearly tradition for the past three years although we were a week early this year because of Pat's wacky work schedule.
I'm so excited we were able to get both children to smile in this picture... the last two times Savannah was less than enthused to see Santa, but she was very happy to see him this year (much to my amazement)!
Santa told me he tickled Julius' foot to get him to smile... thank goodness we stopped to see Santa before we got Julius his new shoes! He's already wearing 5.5 W... one size less than Savannah and what she was wearing earlier in the summer!