Thanksgiving Recap

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Dan's family came here and we hosted Thanksgiving dinner. We started the day out though, by participating in the Run to Feed the Hungry, which benefits the local food bank. Dan, his brother Scott, and I were running and Grandma Kathy and Great Aunt Jennifer brought the kids to watch us run. It was crowded! There were over 25,000 people running and we ended up sitting on the freeway offramp for thirty minutes! We were a little late but there were so many people running it didn't matter. The first and last mile were packed because the 5k and 10k runners were together, but the rest of it was pretty clear for running. I think we finished the 10k in about an hour and ten minutes and Scott, the runner in the family, finished in only 44 minutes!

After the run we headed home, showered and got the turkey in the oven. We did lots of food prep and then rested. The menu included turkey, garlic mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole (my favorite), rolls, cranberry sauce (two kinds) and pie (dutch apple and blackberry).

We did have a couple of notable Thanksgiving mishaps. First I have magnetic tot locks on my cabinets and kept having trouble finding my magnetic "keys." At one point Jennifer was checking on the turkey and said "what is that dripping from the bottom of the turkey?" It turns out one of my magnets attached itself to the bottom of the turkey roasting pan and was melting inside the oven! Then when it was time to take the turkey out we dropped him upside down half on the counter and half on the stove. Turkey juices dripped all down the front of the cabinets and down the oven. But at least it wasn't on the floor. That was the rolls. As I took the rolls out of the oven they started to slide off my cookie sheet and as I tried to compensate the sheet went the other way and all the rolls ended up on the counter or on the floor. We decided a little dirt didn't hurt and ate them anyway! And finally during clean up three glasses were broken! Despite our mishaps we had a very happy Thanksgiving and I hope you did too.

Unfortunately I could not find my camera the entire weekend and so I have no pictures. I remembered the last time I saw it Ava was holding it up to her little face and saying "chee." I knew she put it somewhere, but couldn't figure out where. Finally, just before Jennifer left on Saturday I found it in one of her toy baskets!

Ava Update

Well, something's wrong with her, but I'm not sure what it is. She has a runny nose (mostly clear) and is coughing a little (mostly when she's laying down). Also pretty drooly. No fever and she's pretty much acting like her usual self too. And so far Drew is healthy! This makes me think that maybe its allergies. Can babies have allergies this young? Or maybe she's teething, although I don't see any coming through. So, who knows?

She's also decided that she no longer likes baby food. She refuses rice cereal mixed with any fruit or vegetable. She struggles to get away and blows raspberries. It's kind of cute, but not when it gets on you and all over the floor. So I have started feeding her exclusively finger foods. She loved them yesterday, but today not so much. The only thing she would eat today is cheese and buttered toast. At least she's finally getting 5-6 ounces of formula at each feeding.

Here is a list of things she threw on the floor at lunch:

• hard boiled egg yolk
• tiny pieces of chicken
• tiny pieces of strawberry
• cooked pasta
• toast
• cheese

Also, I've been quite productive today and am feeling a little proud of myself. This morning I went on a one-hour walk, took a shower (trust me this doesn't happen everyday), got both kids dressed, took Drew to the park for an hour, fed everybody lunch, did three loads of laundry, and cleaned two bathrooms. And that was by 3:30! So to reward myself I get to go scrapbook with my friends tonight. I hope I am just as productive tonight!