A Very Merry Thanksgiving

With my voice gone, I find I don't spend any time talking on the phone or to Craig or my children. Which leaves me WAY more to blog! I'm not saying I'm enjoying whispering everything (actually, it's driving me crazy), but I may as well enjoy this particular aspect of it, right?

So! Time to tell you about Thanksgiving! Craig had this idea back in July when his aunt and uncle visited here, that we should all have Thanksgiving at their house. Of course, it can be tacky inviting yourself over to someone else's house. So in order to make it easier for everyone, Craig also suggested that his parents could rent a house for us to stay in. He generously offered to share that house with his brother and family (Jason & Jeni and their four children). And Craig's parents were nice enough to actually take us up on it. And his aunt and uncle were nice enough to find a perfect house for us to stay in.

And let me just tell you: it all worked out perfectly.

Lynda and Greg found a house right across the street from their own home. This made everything so nice and easy! When Ryder needed to nap, I could either go to the other house (no car necessary, which was a good thing, since he was pretty sick of his carseat) or Craig could bring the pack-n-play over to the other house. So convenient! And in addition to that, the house was also absolutely gorgeous. We were so spoiled!

Craig and I were both swooning over this kitchen. Craig made good use of it by making a quadruple batch of spritz cookies Thursday morning.

Dining room. It's approximately the same size as my entire main floor!

The living room, which was also huge, and had a lovely view during the day time.

Master bathroom (which Jason & Co. got to enjoy, but we at least took pictures of it!).
I'm pretty sure this shower is the same size as my entire bathroom!

Lovely sunset from our backyard. Nice, huh?

And here's the daytime view! Seeing water always makes my little islander heart happy!

We had lots of time to just hang out and, of course, eat like the complete gluttons that we are. It was a wonderful vacation. Here are just a few of my other favorite pictures:

Bentley and Grandpa run around-- ahem, I mean, play some serious golf!

We visited a fire station. (Well, okay, everyone else did. Ryder and I stayed home and napped.)

Ryder and Eli-- who are just two weeks apart!-- got to finally meet each other, as well as everyone else!

Kamryn took good care of Bentley

Cute Maya

Jeni holding my kid for me

Eli is so cute in his helmet! And unlike my kids, he would actually hold still AND not blink for the picture!

Eli and Ryder got along pretty well, on the rare occasion when they were both awake at the same time

Grandma busy reading to Kendra and Lindsy

Bentley looks so funny here that I can almost forget that he was throwing things at me so I wouldn't take his picture.
Almost.

Love this: the two brothers feeding their sons right before the feast begins

Bentley and I embark on an alligator hunt

Kendra and Bentley gazing at the alligator Daddy found

There, now you can see him, too!

For reasons unclear to us, Kendra insisted on being photographed with this tree.
Um, she chose that outfit when I wasn't around.

Bentley practices his swing

I was a little sad to come home (although my kids, particularly my eldest, were getting bratty enough that I was relieved to get them home and back to their routine again-- but that's a topic for another blog post. Or possibly an in-person rant...). But I'm glad we got to have such a wonderful Thanksgiving. Kudos to Craig for thinking of this, and more kudos to Jason & Jeni for driving two days with four kids just to join us. And tons of thanks and gratitude to Tom & Donna and Lynda & Greg for making it happen!

Thank you, everyone, for a lovely Thanksgiving!!!

Ryder: the stats

Ryder had his check-up today. And he's a bit of a shrimp. But we love him anyway! Here goes:

Height: 28.75" (18.33%)
Weight: 20 lbs (11.89%)
Head size: 51.4%

Make that a shrimp with a decent-sized head.

He also had five shots. FIVE! Usually I try to keep it to three at a time, and my doctor has been very nice about that. But the idea of trying to explain all this with no voice (I've been whispering all day and it sucks-- I actually had to pound the wall to convince Kendra to put her socks on this morning!) and then being rewarded for my efforts by having to come back again for the rest of them was more than I could bear. So he got all five. Poor Ryder! He was pretty hysterical as it was happening; in the middle of it, he was so upset he actually wouldn't breathe. I learned a neat trick for that from a previous round of vaccinations: blow on the baby's face. It surprises them enough to gasp for air! And then the howling really started...! But he calmed right down as soon as it was all over.

While we were there, Kendra and I got flu shots, too. I was totally impressed with Kendra. That girl didn't even flinch when she got hers. That girl is one tough cookie. Especially when she wants princess stickers!

I also realized-- and this is kind of embarrassing, because it shows how prideful I am-- that I was sort of hoping the doctor would be impressed that I've nursed Ryder for an entire year. But if he was, he didn't let on. Oh, well. That wasn't the reason I was doing it, anyway.

Happy Birthday, Ryder!

Yup, today was Ryder's 1st birthday! We actually celebrated twice-- last Friday in South Carolina with all Craig's family (other pictures of that trip to follow, I promise!), and then we had a very small party today at home, which was even shorter than planned because I lost my voice and Craig needed to try and fix our oven. It's been a crazy day!

Here are a bunch of pictures of my little 1-year-old!

Love this picture.
Love those blue eyes.
Love that blonde hair.
Love my little Ryder-Pyder.

He wasn't too sure about the pumpkin pie we tried to feed him

Contemplating his presents

He was a little overwhelmed by everything at first. I think the camera flash wasn't helping, either. He did calm down once I turned that off...

Playing with one of his new toys

And enjoying a ride on his new car

Bentley was all too eager to "help" Ryder unwrap his presents...

Finally! A picture where he's smiling!

An unconventional way to unwrap your presents

This was what happened BOTH TIMES when we put pie/cake in front of him and sang. Craig thinks maybe he's shy. Or just not used to this much attention! Poor baby...

Happy with his stacking toy from cousin Eliot (and Aunt Leah & Uncle Brian)

Happy Birthday to my sweet sweet boy! It never ceases to astound me just how much I love my little Ryder!

And Another (Glee) Thing

And while I'm obsessing about Glee in the middle of other blog posts, I may as well mention that I am officially in love with this week's mash-up of Adele's "Rumour Has It" and "Someone Like You." I've played it so much my kids all know it now (even Ryder likes watching it). (Bentley thought it was "Roomba Has It," though, which I thought was hysterical!)

Anyway. This song. Love it, love it, love it, love it, love it, love it. The dancing, the singing (I don't always care for Santana's voice, but she rocked this one), even the dresses... It is all things fabulous.

The end.

Are You Sure You Aren't Just a Loser?

I'm perfectly happy to admit that I really like the song "Firework" by Katy Perry. (Even better is Lea Michele's version of it on Glee. But now that I'm saying that, I have to go off on a major tangent as I point out that every version of everything is better on Glee. Of the hundreds of songs they have performed so far, only two were not improvements on the original-- U2's "One" and Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." And they still did a great job, I just prefer the original artists' versions. But for everything else, it's Glee all the way. Anyway, back to my actual post...)

But I sort of don't buy the message in "Firework." I mean, the whole point of the song seems to be, "Maybe things suck right now, but when the moment is right, you'll show everyone how awesome you are and it will be okay." And I like that message-- it's inspiring enough for me, considering it came from a pop song. But then I imagine any of the I'm-going-to-live-in-my-parent's-basement-indefinitely-because-I-think-I'm-too-good-for-any-of-the-jobs-I'm-actually-qualified-for (most of whom just finished Occupying some city or other) generation Y type listening to this song and feeling awesome about themselves and I want to turn it off, sit them down, and explain to them that, No, you aren't a firework. Grow up already and do something with your life. Katy Perry was talking about someone else.*

Maybe you should have to prove that you're a productive member of society before being allowed to listen to this song or something.

Anyway, the more I thought about this, the more it hit me that I really know how to take the fun out of a song, don't I?

On a more humorous note, have you seen the Divine Comedy version, "Firebolt?" It's really only for you Harry Potter fans out there. But if you're not a Harry Potter fan, you probably have no business reading my blog, anyway. Check it out! Now!




*Just for the record, if you're reading this, you don't count as one of those people. I promise.

And you thought I posted a lot of pictures before!

Did I mention that my brother-in-law, Brian, is a photographer? In fact, one of my favorite photos that he took is hanging in my dining room! And did I also mention that he was here this week? So would you care to guess just how many pictures he took? Not nearly enough, actually. But it was still a lot. And even with all the shots he got, I'm afraid kids in the 5-and-under crowd are a tough bunch. But still. He took a lot of pictures. Tons. And I'm going to only share my favorites here. But it's still a lot.

You have my permission to scroll through these quickly, if you would prefer. But there really are some gems in here. And some pretty funny shots, too, actually.

Enjoy!

Aunt Tracy with Eliot (who was enjoying a pants-free day. Um, Eliot was, not Aunt Tracy!)

Sister Shot

Do NOT mess with Buzz Lightyear.

Samuel demonstrates his wand skills

It's not often I get a decent picture of myself!

Bentley the goofball. I love that you can barely tell how wide open his mouth is. And Ryder just puts up with it.

Despite the random pillow, I'm pretty sure this picture captures Bentley's personality exactly.

Love this.

Cute Caleb. I used to suck those same fingers!

I love that Eliot is in focus here as he desperately tries to get back to his mommy!

And I love Bentley's look of utter annoyance here.

Now, Bentley looks like he's making up his mind to never have children. Ever.
And can you blame him?

Samuel is always excited to play with Bentley's Buzz Lightyear toy...

Trying to do something with Kendra's hair.

Natalie is already making sure her kids love dinosaurs

Ryder isn't sure how he feels about getting hugs from Kendra

Caleb and Eliot plot to shake down the baby gate together

Who doesn't love a trip to Kidwell Farm?