Happy Thanksgiving Eve

We are at home as is our tradition starting last year in our new house. The excitement for the holiday is mounting especially when Angie (Duncan's sister) and Chuck arrived early this evening from Little Rock. My phone is showing a cool 46 degrees outside with temps in the high 30's in the morning when Duncan goes out for his traditional Thanksgiving round of golf. Just a great, great time of year!

Aunt Angie distributing gifts

Some things we've been up to this past week...

On Friday, Ron and Elaine took the girls to Legoland. They had gotten a deal on the tickets. Originally they wanted to take Brady too since he was free but I convinced them that it would be a lot better without him since he can't go on most of the rides anyway. I didn't tell the girls about the outing until the night before just in case something happened and they didn't go but also so that they wouldn't have a bunch of time to talk about it and have Brady feel bad he wasn't going. Of course, it's not like he even knows what Legoland is so it really wasn't a big deal for him when he was left behind. Plus, he was happy to go to yard sales to look for a new airplane (he is into airplanes right now and always wants to find one at the yard sales). The foursome had a great time.

Aubree driving. Much better job at four compared to last year at three.

That city behind them is made of Legos.

Her "driver's license"

Riding the roller coaster with Grandpa. When they saw her face, they just had to buy the picture.

On this roller coaster, they figured out when the picture is taken and smiled accordingly.

Sabbath afternoon I stayed home with the boys while Duncan took the girls to Pack the Forest at Forest Lake Academy. This was the same thing that I had taken Calleigh to last year where you put together bagged meals of lentils, beans, etc for underprivileged kids. This time Aubree got to go but we were sure to take a stool for her to stand on. They both enjoyed it and saw a bunch of friends there so that was an added bonus.

Saturday night I went to a movie with Jennifer and Tangie. This was my first time away from Colby for any amount of time. He eats his last meal of the day between 7:30 - 8:00 so once I feed him then, I'm free for the rest of the night. I was a little torn about going to the movie because I had been contemplating going to CVS at midnight when the week of "Black Friday" deals started. I knew going to the movie would preclude that. In the end, I went with the movie. I got home about 12:45 and then after pumping (trying to get some milk for the next evening), it was about 1:15. Colby woke me up at 3:30 and I ended up on the couch with him (didn't feed him though). He was back awake about 6:15 and since CVS opened at 7:00, I put him back in the swing after he was done eating and it was off to CVS.

There weren't any other customers so I had the store to myself. I got almost everything that was a freebie in the store although they were out of a few things. Just a little annoying since the sale started that day and I was the first one there so clearly they weren't sold out of it. They just plain didn't have it in stock.

Sunday evening was the Gala down at the Coronado Springs Resort at Disney. I had gotten a dress before last year's Gala from Jennifer's mother-in-law that I didn't wear because Jennifer had worn the same color and I had already gotten something else. It was in the back of my mind that I would wear it this year. I waited until Thursday night to try it on hoping that my workouts would have worked enough so I could squeeze into the dress. That was a big giant NO. I sucked in as much as I could but there was no way Duncan could get the zipper up. Shoot! So I ended up Sunday morning at Ross looking for something suitable. Not that I spend much on my Gala dresses anyway but I especially didn't want to spend much on something that I would hopefully be de-growing (the opposite of out-growing...I just made that up) and never wear again.

Ron and Elaine came over to watch the kids and we took off with Allen and Tangie for our night on the town. We were sitting at the same table which was nice compared to last year when we went with Bruce and Jennifer but were at different tables. The entertainment this year was Smokey Robinson and Gladys Knight. Unlike in past years where there is a) Only one entertainer and a) It's at the end, this year there were two and the first act was before dinner. Now, no disrespect to Smokey Robinson but when was the last time you said "Gee, I really wish I could go to a Smokey Robinson concert?" I pretty much figured that we were not the target market of the Gala organizers. But honestly, once you got past the plastic surgery, he actually was pretty funny and good. The vegetarian meal was delicious this year although, being the always starving breastfeeding mother that I am, I couldn't help but notice the vegetarian meal was like half the volume of the meat meal. Perhaps that's why I ate my whole dessert while most others left portions of theirs on their plates. At least, that's what I told myself.

Ran into some friends there. Weird seeing us all without our kids.

Smokey, pre surgery?

At age 73.

During this event, another event was happening. The Patriots and Broncos were playing each other in Sunday night football. In case it hasn't been mentioned, Allen and Tangie are big Denver fans since Tangie is from Denver. I made Allen swear under no uncertain terms that he would NOT get updates on the game because I was recording it and were were going to watch it upon our return. I did not want any inadvertent clues being shared. Thankfully, he complied although it was probably hard. I made sure I didn't get any updates either. Everything was going just right. And then, as we snuck out after Gladys Knight's second song, I ran into some people I knew in the lobby and what do you know, "Hey it's a great night. The Patriots are losing." Ahhh! So maddening. None of my three companions heard it though so at least they were spared.

Allen and Tangie went home and put on their pajamas and came back to watch it with us and Ricky (their kids were in Avon Park with Allen's parents). The Patriots couldn't have started off any worse with three straight fumbles and were losing 24-0 at halftime. I said it would just make our comeback all the more exciting. And if they didn't come back, I figured it was still a win-win because I was so stinking tired and I could go to bed before the end of the game. But I hung in there and slowly but surely, we made our way back into the game....and Allen and Tangie made their way home. Allen got too nervous and couldn't watch it here any more. I did feel bad on his behalf because the Patriots ended up winning with only two minutes left in overtime. It was seriously one of the most exciting games I've seen. Not to mention that it was like 20 degrees during the game and was very windy. What can I say but Brady is just plain better against Manning. If only I could say the same against the other Manning brother...The only thing I was mad about was that of all the games to go to overtime, why did it have to be the one we didn't start until 10:30? We didn't finish until 1:40 which made Sunday night another VERY short night.

Monday morning the show must go on no matter how tired Mom is. Unbeknownst to me, this whole week is chaos at the JCPenney picture studio since kids are out of school all week and everyone wants to do their Christmas pictures. I didn't know this little piece of information when I made an appointment a few weeks back. Epic fail on my part. We had an appointment at 11:20 and the place was bonkers when we got there. I was tempted to just leave but stuck it out for a bit (afterall, it's a lot of work to get the kids all dressed and spiffied up). Fortunately, the opened a second studio for the busy times and we got back about 11:45 and had our favorite photographer, Liz. Apparently a half year makes a big difference because Brady was completely cooperative this time unlike at his sitting for his second birthday. I got a few nice group shots of the four of them so I left a happy camper.

Waiting for our turn.

We went to see Santa afterwards but Brady kept his distance.

Yesterday we went to Christmas Tree Shops to look for a few decorations for the table and such for Thanksgiving. So yeah, don't wait until two days before Thanksgiving to shop for Thanksgiving stuff. The extent of my purchases were some brown plates. That's it. They had like nothing there. Evidently I am the only one in Orlando who procrastinates. Lesson learned.

We stopped at Costco and CVS afterwards and made it home just in time for lunch. This is where I'm always in a pickle because Colby is also ready to eat at this exact same time forcing me to prepare lunch often times while listening to him screaming. Because I'm so hungry, I eat at the bar while feeding him at the same time. This particular time, I needed some salt for my lentils and because I'm trapped, I asked Calleigh to get it for me. Well, Brady was NOT happy that I didn't ask him and he ran over as fast as he could to stand on the stool and get the salt for me. In his haste, he banged his chin off the counter and I could see the blood. Of course, I'm thinking "Hear we go again." and "Please don't let it be his teeth." I had to yank Colby off even though he had only been nursing for like three minutes and "throw" him on the couch. Upon close inspection of Brady, thankfully it was only a cut lip. We got the blood stopped and cleaned up and he was good to go.

We ran into Allen at Costco who took our picture.

Okay, I'm going to say it. Colby is my worst sleeper. This kid is killing me. We have had a few great nights where he will sleep all the way to like 5:30 but those times are fading in my memory. The last several weeks he is almost without fail waking up at 12:30, 3:30, and then 5:30. I don't feed him at 12:30 or 3:30 and he isn't bawling but he's awake tossing and turning and making noises. I imagine if I didn't address it, he would start crying and I believe he's too young to let him cry it out. So I've had no choice, it seems, but to take him in bed with me or in some cases, on the couch with me. I just don't know what his deal is. Also, he hasn't been taking his long afternoon nap like he used to. He's waking up after about 45 minutes. I think if I laid down with him he would go back to sleep but typically I'm trying to do school at that time and don't have the time to lie down with him. I certainly hope this is all a phase he is going to grow out of. I'm not used to this!

I've had him back in the swing the last week and then that took a bad turn on Sunday night when it completely stopped swinging. The music still worked so I knew it was plugged in fine. I suppose this is what you get when you buy a used swing. Those motors only last for so long (and the reason, no doubt, I've had to get a new one for each kid). I calculated I could get a "new" one at the consignment store on Black Friday for $63 but I really didn't want to. Duncan to the rescue! Monday night he did a little research and low and behold, discovered that the motor in the swing is the same motor used in a Glade Sense N Spray air freshener. I had gotten a bunch of those a few years ago for free with my coupons and I still had some. So see, it really does pay off. Sure enough, Duncan switched it out and it worked! I was supremely impressed. Kind of hard to believe that a baby swing and an air freshener would have the same size motor but indeedy, they do.

My hero!

So I've been noticing that Brady is, of late, displaying some behavior similar to his oldest sister. That is, not wanting to wear certain things. Calleigh went through a bad stage of that and still has problems from time to time. Aubree is pretty good about just wearing whatever I put out. But Brady has had a few times now where he says he doesn't want to wear that shirt or those pants. Now, to back up, let me say that usually he wears a button up shirt to church each week. And usually we'll say "Wow, Brady you look so handsome." On this particular day, I had gotten a button up shirt for him to wear. He took one look at it and says to me "Nooooo, I don't want to wear a handsome shirt."

In closing, I have to share this really stange, coincidental story as relayed to me by Amy Z at the Gala. About nine months ago, I was at a yard sale in Apopka where I bought a little green time out chair. I happened to take a picture of Brady sitting at the end of the driveway at that sale. I very rarely take pictures at yard sales since I'm so busy looking at things but happened to do so at this particular one and posted it on this blog. While Amy was reading it, she recognized that the picture was from the house they were going to be purchasing. What a coincidence. But then it gets stranger. Last week I posted a picture at a yard sale (don't know if I've even posted a picture from any yard sale since that one I just mentioned) of a lady holding Colby. At the Gala, Amy told me that the lady holding Colby was the lady they bought their house from! So she moved, had another yard sale, I went to both of those sales and happened to take pictures at both of them. Strange, huh??