A New Thanksgiving

I tell you what, this whole not-traveling-for-the-holidays thing we are doing this year really adds life to your vacation...no packing, no driving, no baby/toddler hysteria when their routines are out of whack. It does feel a little weird to not be with extended family, but it feels a little empowering too, to do our own family thing. Seriously, don't knock it til you try it. I'm not saying it's for all your major holidays. I'm just sayin' - it has its perks.

Heading into Thanksgiving week we took Noah and Anna to Monkey Joe's that just opened in the area. Noah was beyond excited about this. All morning and the day before he would remind us that we were going to "pay Joe's" (play at Monkey Joe's). He remembered having been there several times before with his cousin, Brooklyn, in her hometown in GA. However this time, he was FEARLESS about all the jumps and slides. So fun.



Getting ready for Thanksgiving, Noah got to help make dessert with Daddy: cookies. This is quite fitting because all he ever asks for when I ask him what he would like for breakfast, lunch, or dinner is cookies. :)



Here is Noah's cooking play-by-play video.



This morning, Josh and I were going through the paper (and its mountain of Black Friday ads) when Noah grabbed a book, plopped down beside me and said, "Whoawah wee too" which means Noah read, too. Oh, y'all, the teacher in me just wanted to scoop him up and kiss his little cheeks it was so cute...but I didn't for fear of distracting him. Instead, I put the Toys R Us page in his lap and he read it just like Daddy. Too adorable. Josh taped a sweet little chunk of the action.



Back to the cookies - those bad boys were ALL that we bothered to make ourselves this Thanksgiving. Since we stayed home this year and tend to be busy enough with the kids, we opted to have Publix make our holiday feast for us. Except for the stuffing, we totally recommend it! And cleanup was a cinch too since you just throw the containers away. :) Quick,convenient, and tasty. What more could you ask for? A nap maybe? Well, the angel of Thanksgiving afforded all 4 of us just that at the SAME TIME after our meal! Thank you, thank you, thank you sweet, merciful turkey spirit!

Our Lady Anna turned 2 months old this week. And her pediatrician confirmed that she is a perfect 10....pounds that is. Her doctor wanted to know how I managed to do that. I told him I didn't know, but that it probably had something to do with a Wal-Mart shopping trip from the other day where I spent exactly $100.00 to the penny...I had even used several coupons. It's just been one of those weeks. :) Anyway, Anna is exactly 10 lbs. now and it is wild to me to think I STILL weighed more than her the day I was born! Crazy. But back to Anna - She has really turned into a piece of cake (or sweetie pie - whichever you prefer) and we are counting our blessings for that. She is on a pretty predictable eat, burp, sit, lay on her back, lay on her belly, fuss, sleep, and repeat pattern. I quite like it. Notice that there is no crying on that list (knock on wood). :) Her new interests include chomping on my fingers and craning her little neck like a turtle. She has gotten quite strong and steady with that. She will be sitting in her bumbo seat in no time! What she does not like is Noah's finger in her eye although she accepts his "saw wee, baby" everytime.




As for the rest of our Thanksgiving holiday, we are crossing our fingers that Auburn won't get spanked too bad on Saturday. And we are looking forward to taking Noah to a live Elmo show on Sunday. We have a sitter for Anna and everything! Can't wait!