Thanksgiving

We had a fun Thanksgiving here at home. The festivities lasted pretty much all week, ranging from basketball games for Chris, shopping for me, outtings for Alec and food for everyone! We made dinner with a few friends but planned on having it after bedtimes so we could actually sit and enjoy the meal. So, in order to give the kids a fun Thanksgiving we went to the free dinner for Stanford's graduate students at a nearby building. They had a guy dressed up in a turkey suit for the kids. Our friend's boy said, "Whats that monster?" when he first saw the turkey. Yes, it was that scary. Alec had to be looking at the turkey at all times whenever it was in the room with him. He was quite concerned about it.

We contributed rolls, jello, mashed potatoes, gravy, apple and blueberry cream cheese pie to our Thanksgiving dinner. Everybody's everything turned out really good! That might be in large portion due to the fact that we were starving and exhausted by the time 7:45pm rolled around. The house was clean and the company was really fun. After dinner we sang Christmas carols around the piano and talked till late. It was almost like being home with family. I just love the holidays!

favorite things

With a new baby in the house, there are many things that quickly become new favorites. Like a full stack of clean blankets, diapers, wipes and burp rags in every room, or the baby swing to put Charlie to sleep in when I need to play with Alec, or Easy Mac, and canned Costco chicken. The new favorite thing that I really wanted to blog about was my wrap. Ok, actually its my friends wrap, but who cares? This thing is awesome.

I love it for the following reasons. Charlie usually falls asleep whenever he's in it. It keeps my hands free to do things like the dishes or dig in the sand with Alec. Its way more comfortable on my back and shoulders than any other carrier I've used. There are no 'digging in' places, since the wide fabric is evenly dispersed around me. There are many different ways to put babies of any size in it. I like the way it looks on people. It fits Chris just the same as me, no altering straps. However, like most things, there are some draw backs. It does take a little bit more time to put it on, and... and what? That's it. That's the only thing I don't like about it.

Speaking of favorites, a non-baby-related favorite is homemade scones. Growing up, sometimes Chris' mom would make bread and save some dough to make scones for dinner. They put BBQ beef, like a sloppy joe mix, inside some for dinner then jam and honey inside others for dessert. Yum, Yum. We tried making them on our own this past week and they actually turned out pretty good! We'll definitely add them to our list of favorite dinners to make often.

Picture Post

and the answer is...

It was fun to read people's guesses on my 10 random facts. I do love wind, and I actually do love heights, and my friend in high school almost took me skydiving for my birthday once, which I probably would have done if it wasn't so expensive and if my parents had been ok with it. :) I know this seems weird coupled with my fear of falling down grates, but falling into tight, closed, dark space completely unexpectedly just petrifies me, while purposefully jumping into the opened sky with a parachute (and probably a skilled instructor) strapped to my back intrigues me. So the answer is 6. While I do run for exercise and while I am hoping to do a half marathon this summer, I have NO desire to run 26.2 miles in any one sitting. If the chance ever comes to do one someday, I'll probably turn it down. I just don't like running that much. Thanks for playing the random facts game. I'm hoping to convince Chris to do a post like this of himself. I think that'd be fun to read.

10 things you may have not known

As a break from blabbing about my two adorable boys, I thought I'd try one of the random "things you didn't know about me" posts. I enjoy reading these about other people so maybe someone out there will enjoy this.

1. I've pet a cheetah, held a monkey, and ridden a camel.

2. I have a strong preference for Colgate toothpaste, but in order to not waste I'll use other kinds if we're given them and then practically gag my way through my brushing routine.

3. I'm afraid to walk over grates and avoid stepping on anything that could possibly have a huge tunnel to fall into and die from.

4. I have an unusual passion for wearing capes, especially purple ones.

5. I went through a phase where I wished to be Native American so I could run through a forest in bare feet without making any noise. Also so I could marry a man with little if any back/chest hair...turns out you don't have to be Native American to get that wish. :)

6. One lifelong dream I've had is to run a full length marathon.

7. I often have a recurring nightmare where I'm in a public setting, (like teaching a class) needing to speak to a large group but my mouth is FULL of gum which I'm forced to try and discretely scoop out by the handful.

8. Related to number 7: I HATE gum, and will not allow it in my house or car.

9. I absolutely love wind and heights...therefore skydiving has always seemed tempting.

10. I'm a binge reader. I usually have to read a book cover to cover within a day or two or else I don't finish it.

If you've read this far your entitled to know that one of the above "facts" is actually not true. If you like this sort of game, try and guess which one is false.

Grandma Dixie comes!

Yay for grandmas! We've been so happy to have Grandma Dixie, Chris' mom, stay with us. She's been such a help with dishes, laundry, house cleaning, food and most notably: Alec and Charlie. She came with such fun gifts including a gorgeous baby quilt for Charles. Today after giving our bathroom the deepest clean its ever had, she showed me how she makes her home made, home ground wheat bread. We saved some dough to make scones for dinner. Yum, Yum.

Also we've finally put some pictures from our camera on the computer so I can post them here. There is a fun video of Alec talking to Charlie. Somehow, he knows to raise his voice and say everything in question form when talking to babies. Its pretty darn cute. Despite how it looks, Alec did not hurt Charlie when he tried to hold him, it was just funny timing on Charlie's part to start crying at that exact moment. :) Enjoy!

Happy Halloween

The weather here has been perfectly fallish. Thursday night, Chris and Alec carved the pumpkin. We really pumped up Alec saying, "we're going to carve the pumpkin tonight" all afternoon. When the time finally came, Alec ran to his toy drawer and got out a car and started driving it all over the pumpking...."car the pumpkin." It was totally cute. He wasn't into putting his hand inside the pumpkin but he liked using a spoon to get out the seeds and gunk. He used a butter knife while Chris had the sharp knife and liked putting a face on the pumpkin.

Friday had all the look of a cold, spooky Halloween, yet the wind was warm and so enjoyable. Chris stayed indoors with Charlie, while I took Alec out for our courtyard Halloween party. We decorated cupcakes, made lollipop ghosts, ate pizza and entered our pumpkin in the jack-o-lanturn contest. Turns out we won for "scariest!" Good job, Chris. I had to feed Charlie by this time, so Alec went trick-or-treating with our good friends and neighboors. I am a bit sad we missed his first time, but what can you do? He got a handful of candy and seemed to enjoy himself. Alec was a frog and I threw together a witch costume last minute using, of course, my beloved purple cape.

Here is a video of Alec carving the pumpking with Chris: