Happy Thanksgiving!

Even with all the holiday festivities, I need to take a second to show off my new kitchen knobs. We had to get some adjustments made to our counters a few months ago, and the guy who did it does handy-work on the side. He put in all the knobs in our kitchen and bathrooms for next to nothing, when compared to how much it would have cost to purchase the same knobs myself and install. He is currently quoting crown moulding on the tops of the cabinets and a buildout in the office. I'm so excited!

Here's Turtle in his new puffy jacket that we had to buy for him yesterday. He has the cutest little bomber jacket, and of course, just when we needed it, we realized he outgrew it. We got this at the gap on sale. I love it. Turtle's undecided.

Wake up, everybody!!!! It's Thanksgiving!!! Yay!!!

Little known fact: this is my first official turkey. DH did it last year. Another little tidbit: I despise touching raw meat of any kind. I was sick to my stomach the entire time I was prepping the bird. DH thought my facial expressions were hilarious and just had to snap me in action. Thanks, pal. Love the fact that I'm not wearing makeup either. Hot.

The appetizers: stuffed shells, stuffed mushrooms, olives, brie and raspberry jam in pastry and cheeses and crackers. Oh, and wine. Yes, lots of wine :)

Today was also Turtle's first attempt at turkey. He seemed to like it.

The table settings with the beautiful centerpiece that DH had delivered for me.

The proud co-turkey fryers.

The main course: roast turkey (in butter and wine) with bourbon gravy, fried turkey breast, homemade cranberry sauce, stuffing, smashed potatoes, sweet potato souffle, bourbon gravy, green beans with almonds, spinach patties and a salad of field greens with apples, almonds and cider vinaigrette.

Yeah, I don't know how I missed photos of dessert, but I did. I made an apple pie, mini pumpkin and chocolate bourbon pecan pies and butter cookies. Take my word for it, it was wonderful.

And finally, the chef gets a break with her sweet boy. Whew. What a day! We have so much to be grateful for this year - DH and Turtle, our home, our health, wonderful friends, great family... It's something we should remember to appreciate every day. Hope you all enjoyed your holiday!

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Week in Review

Before all the Turkey Day photos start, I figured I would run through the week in pictures.

First up, A's 1st birthday party. Where we played with friends and toys. And practiced sitting.



And taught B all about the joys of thumb-sucking.



And refused to look at the camera like a good boy.



Next up? Some pug-loving.

Turtle tells Molly exactly how he feels about her.



Molly, you are my favoritest puppy. You will get first dibs on all my high chair droppings.



Not pictured? Five seconds later when Turtle tried to put Molly entirely in his mouth. Molly's patience and tolerance is to be commended. She gets extra yummies for her efforts when Oscar and Bentley aren't looking.

Moving on to a visit from little Miss S.



S is clearly smitten with our boy. Our boy is clearly smitten with whatever is off in the distance. We'll say he's playing hard to get. Of course, judging by the next picture, Turtle only realizes what he's lost when it's gone.



S, are you in there?

And finally, sitting in the grass. He liked it. Apparently, grass is funny. Who knew?





Happy Thanksgiving!

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Why We Are Getting Coal for Christmas

Need I say more?

We thought it would be nice to take Turtle's paternal grandparents to see Santa when they got into town - for his first time. Santa was "feeding his reindeer" when we got there, so we chatted with the very nice "elves" and Turtle was in the bestest mood ever.

Of course, the longer he waited, the more the mood deteriorated. By the time he got to the big guy's lap, we were in full raspberry mode.

And what do we have to show for it? A big old tongue sticking out. Classic. :)

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Restaurant High Chairs & Sippy Cups

That's what we tackled today.

We had such great success with the shopping cart cover in the actual shopping cart - why not try it out for the highchair? Turtle hates sitting in the stroller for meals, and I don't love having him on my lap for meals (makes eating kind of tough, especially with Grabby McGrabberson trying to snag my food). While DH was changing his diaper, I had the waitress bring the highchair, set it up, and we popped him in.


Ok, this is different...


Daddy seems to think it's ok, so maybe...

I have my book, my chair... no sweat!

Next up, the sippy cup. Turtle has started holding his bottle, but not well. Someone suggested trying some water in a sippy. Well, the pedi okayed water, and we had some sippies in the house, so...

As you can see, he took right to it. He was able to get a little bit out, but he's on the right track. Way to go, buddy!

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A little about the Turtle-Monster

I really just want to take a moment to blog about my Turtle. I cannot get over what a big boy he is - how fast he is growing and developing, and how much I love him more and more each day. It's like nothing I ever expected.

And I'm not going to be modest either - he's such a great baby. He's so even-tempered and easy, and for someone who never thought she would have the patience for motherhood, it's a blessing. Not saying he doesn't have those days when he decides to shriek himself blue in the carseat for absolutely no reason other than to see if I will put my head through the driver-side window, but those days are few and far between.

It's also so cool to see how he's growing up. It's like everything will be going along and then one day we realize that Wow! He can sit up! And it's so cool. So. Cool. Did I mention how cool it was? :)

Yesterday, I decided to whip out his shopping cart cover. We've been in a sort of weird place, now that we're out of the small carseat and into the covertible. It's tough to push his stroller and shop, and he's definitely not having any more of the sling. So I figured what the hell? He loved it. It was one of the best shopping trips we've had in ages. It was just so easy!

Mom? This Target thing? It's getting out of hand. You need to admit you have a problem!

And we have a sitter! For real. He spent about 30 minutes like this today, just playing and hanging out. He flopped over twice, but that was because of an errant pug tail knocking into him. If he keeps this up for another week or so, I'll be comfortable moving him to the next level of gymboree. Yay.

And finally, it's almost time to start finger foods. The pedi told us at 7 months to start with some puffs to get him used to the motions of picking things up and putting them in his mouth. It will be so cute!

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Happy Anniversary Dinner!

I have to admit - DH was pretty tricky about this one. He set up the reservations and the sitter without once clueing me in to what he was doing.

We went to Morton's. It's probably my favorite of the "big" steakhouses (Boboquivari's aside) because it has the best non-steak options.

The service was outstanding. They had personalized menus printed up for us and absolutely could not have been more attentive. We started with martinis (pomegrante for him and cosmo for me) and he had the onion soup while I ate his caesar salad, along with some yummy, warm onion bread.

He got the filet and lobster tail with asparagus and I had the crabcakes with a baked potato, dressed tableside. Yum. We also split an order of sauteed spinach and mushrooms (which I used the next day in a pasta dish at home). For dessert? A hot chocolate lava cake, on Morton's. Nice.

They even took a picture for us and put it in a cardstock frame, signed by the staff. It was a nice touch. We would definitely go back.



PS - Turtle did great with his sitters. They said they loved having him - we'll see if that's true if they ever offer to babysit again :P

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Turtle Meets Some Family

For the past week, we have been in South Florida, trying to get our tenant out of our townhouse. Because in her world, "end of lease" means nothing. Sigh. That's another story for another blog entry.

So we packed up the car. Me, DH, Turtle and three pugs. Oh, and an entire carload of baby gear and pug gear and assorted nonsense. Sounds comfy, huh? I bet you're jealous. We drove four hours and I had two pugs on my lap for 3 of those 4. Super.

Our friends, N & M were kind enough to provide dog-friendly housing. With their lab and beagle, we were ready to go. The pugs loved it. They loved the yard and the games of chase and snoozing all day long. I can't say I blamed them. It was a little challenging for me to entertain Turtle without some of his bigger toys (like his exersaucer), but he was napping like a champ and no matter where we went, there was someone who wanted to hold him.

When we arrived, the first thing we did was drop off the pugs and head over to my grandparents' house. We haven't seen them since Turtle was born and so it was a huge deal. Needless to say it was a lovefest all the way around. Turtle adored the attention and the presents. It was too cute.





We had a good night's sleep and a few days of good work. We went to DH's old office and met up with his cousin and pregnant wife and enjoyed some nice grilling with N & M.

On Tuesday night, we went with M & C and their kids to Bru's, our old favorite sports bar. It's where DH and I met, so it was only fitting that Turtle should get to go. Our good friend D was able to meet us, too. It was awesome. I finally got to eat something sitting down and hot, because C insisted on holding Turtle. Yay! I'd forgotten how good that feels.

The rest of the week was a little stressful, what with the tenant issues, but on Thursday night, we got a break. M & C took Turtle for the night (and I mean the ENTIRE night) and we went with N & M to the Hurricanes game. It was my first football game since I got my positive pregnancy test and you know what? It was FANTABULOUS!!!! I loved the tailgate (I made ziti and meatballs and chocolate covered pretzel cupcakes) and the crowds, and oh yeah, the big ol' win!

We finished up at the townhouse on Friday morning, stopped at yet one more friend's house in Vero Beach and got home at about 9pm. I don't know how I got unpacked and the baby in bed, but I managed. I still don't think I've caught up on sleep.

A few more things to share:
* N got me hooked on the twilight series. I read two of them that I borrowed from her stepdaughter and picked up the third when I got home. The writing itself isn't brilliant but I like the stories and will be buying the 4th in the next few days.
* I'm a bit of a nerd and am thrilled to say that we ordered the retired Yankee Stadium from Dept 56 for our Christmas Village. I was worried I wouldn't be able to find it, but I did. We ordered one for Mom and Dad and they are thrilled, too.
* I almost took Turtle to visit Santa after Gymboree to give it a test run, but kind of chickened out. I wanted to but I was afraid that DH would be upset that we went without him. On Monday, I might do it. I want to make sure that he's ok with it before I give it the old college try. I'll keep you posted.

And now, here we are. I've been working hard this week, helping DH with a bunch of things for his business. He's a little overwhelmed and needs the backup. I'm not doing much, so it's ok for me to help out.

So off to bed with me. I'm exhausted. I hate the fact that it's going to be in the 20s tonight without snow, but I guess we'll deal. With the heat blasting :)

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WOEfully behind

Since we've been out of town, I really haven't updated anything. Boo to me. I know.

So first, I would like to talk about the house. Something else on which I am WOEfully behind. We have been so ridiculously caught up in the stuff going on that I just haven't had time to focus on our plans to finish decorating here.

Well, now that things with the townhouse down south have settled down, we have the time again. Yay!

First up, the master bath. While down south, I stopped in Crate & Barrel. One of my all-time favorite stores. The fact that they don't have one up here (or Macy's for that matter) causes immeasurable heartache. I was able to get those adorable colored glass votive holders for about $1 total. The silk orchid came from the Linens N Things clearance sale for about $7. It all adds just the right touch to that room until I can get in there and paint. (PS - I also got a cupcake stand at C&B for about $12. It's gorgeous!)



Next up, the vintage print at the top of the stairs. I've had that frame forever, just looking for the right piece of art. It's not exactly what I wanted but at 25% off, it will do for the time being.



My picture wall. Yay. Michael's is doing a 40% off sale on their photo frames, so I am stocking up like a fiend. I have wanted a picture wall since I saw it about a year ago in the Pottery Barn catalogue, and now, it's in full swing. I'm moving the photo letters to the wall by the front door (you can't really see them, but they are the three smaller frames lined up - because I still have a few more letters to do), and that will make room for some more of our awesome photos. It's hard to tell from this picture, but it looks amazing.



And last but not least, our front room. You all remember my delight when the furniture came. Well, we made a trip to Home Goods for the silk tree, which makes all the difference in the world. I love it. Actually, DH even picked it out - it seems he has a good eye for fake greenery. With the little table lamp on at night, it's actually a very cozy little area.

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Happy Anniversary to us!

Today was our two year anniversary. DH decreed no laptops and no phones. But then he had to turn on his phone in case the realtor called. And then he had to check out something online. And then... well... you get the idea :)

DH surprised me with a card and a cheesecake that said Happy Anniversary on it. He said he realized the irony of giving baked goods to a baker, but the thought was sweet.

The weather was crappy, so it kind of put the kibosh on our fair plans. Boo. Instead, we went to the Town Center, and grabbed lunch at PF Chang's. Turtle wanted an apple martini in the worst way. Yeah, he's clearly my child.

We got home, and this pic of Oscar and Bentley should pretty much tell you how lazy and exhausted we felt.

We napped, then DH picked up sushi for dinner, which we had with champagne. Yum. Now, he's sound asleep and I'm up watching the election results. I don't know if I can make it til the end. It's almost like watching a hurricane - you leave the TV on all night on mute so that you can check the progress any time you might wake up during the night. We'll see how far I get.

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Weekend Update

Saturday and Sunday were anything but quiet. First thingi, we got on Skype to talk to Nana and Papa Bear. DH got them a webcam while we were visiting, and it's a great way for them to see Turtle and vice versa.



After that, we got cleaned up to have a visit with Aunt N and Uncle M. They came up from South Florida, on their way to Georgia to visit M's new neice. Turtle LOVED Aunt N. Bentley did, too, for that mattter. She'll be babysitting him next weekend, so I'm glad it went well.



And now some funny, braggy stuff.

Turtle is hilarious. He's been doing great with sleeping, although teething has given him a couple of rough patches in the night. No big thing. Well, this morning, I heard him stirring around 6. He dozed off, and at about 6:45 or so, I hear him knocking on his crib. I open my eyes and am greeted with the biggest smile. He had turned sideways, stuck his little hand through the bars and put his chin on the top of the rail to see what we were up to. I was so mad that my camera was downstairs, but I was able to get a rough estimate of what it looked like after his morning nap.

And last but not least, here he is, loving on his books. This is how he hangs out while I shower - he's at the entrance to the bathroom. I can see him through the doorway, and just "reads" and giggles til I'm done. It's the perfect arrangement.

Tomorrow is our 2 year anniversary. DH is taking the day off and we're going to the fair if the weather is nice. We didn't really "plan" anything, so this will be nice. I hope we can get sushi, too! Yum!

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