Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful and lowkey Thanksgiving celebration this year. For the first time since they lived in Texas, my parents celebrated with us. Usually mom and dad go to Rochester to spend the holiday with my grandma, great-aunt and great-uncle. They decided to stay in town this year, and we reaped the benefits.

Everyone gathered at Dan and Nancy's house, contributing a dish and some drinks. Nancy cooked up a delicious turkey and we had a fabulous meal. Nathan enjoyed it and the company so much that he decided not to take a nap at all that day. Surprisingly, this did not end in complete disaster! He did sleep in a little bit on Friday. :)

Reading with Grandma Gail

Yummy!

This turkey was delicious, and HUGE at 28 pounds!!!

Going for a ride in Great Grandma Fowle's walker. :)

Dishing up the meal

The whole gang! (well, except for me)

Pumpkin pie is on the approved list.

Our little family. I am so blessed to have these two in my life.

Dinner with the Andersons

Becky, Andy, Hannah and Leah were in Kalamazoo for the Thanksgiving holiday. We were lucky enough to have dinner with them on Wednesday night. It is amazing how much kiddos grow, especially when I don't get to see them very often. Leah especially has gotten tall and articulate since the last time I saw her--she's such a little girl now! Hannah is a very good big sister, and was really sweet with Nathan, playing with him and serving as a negotiator when N and Leah were both after the same toy.

It was really nice to catch up with Becky and Andy. Have I mentioned before that I miss them???

The Andersons just moved to New York City for a year. I'm hoping that we'll be able to get out there to visit while they live in a place that has tons of stuff to do, and there are often cheap plane tickets available.

Me, Becky, and the kiddos (Nathan, Leah, Hannah)

Hanging out while the kids run around like maniacs.

Nathan was SOOOO sleepy, but forced himself to stay awake because cool Hannah was playing with him. :)

Nathan Update

Nathan gets funnier and funnier every day. He is so tall now! I think he had a big growth spurt over the last few months; it will be interesting to see what his stats are at his two year appointment.

I thought I'd do a post of little things he's been doing and saying lately.

• Grilled cheese is "cheese toast"
• He's been interested lately in who is a girl and who is a boy. Yesterday morning after much contemplative snuggling with Lambykins, we had the following conversation:

Nathan: "Mama, you a girl?"
Me: "Yes, buddy, Mama is a girl."
Nathan (after thinking about it for a minute): "Dada not a girl."
Me: "You're right--Dada is a boy!"
Nathan: "Nathan not a girl too."

• Current quote coming over the baby monitor as I type this: "You have owie, Lambykins? I sorry. You feel better? You have floppy ears? Put your shoes on."
• He's really interested in what Todd and I are doing, and what our routines are, especially Todd. Lately I've been getting Nathan up just as Todd is washing his travel mug and pouring his coffee before leaving for work. As soon as I walk in his room, Nathan greets me with: "Dada washing coffee cup? I want out. I want go see Dada's coffee."
• Ever since visiting Todd's shop back in October, Nathan has been really interested in what Daddy does while he is at work. Several times Todd has taken pictures of the projects he's working on for Nathan to see. A popular project was the repair of an ambulance! Most days N will get a status report from Todd about the latest projects: "You fix ambulance, Dada? You fix minivan?"
• Every night when tucking Nathan in, I sing him "You Are My Sunshine." Now he can sing along with me! He knows all the words, and it's so cute to hear his little voice chiming in with mine (usually a half second behind).
• After our song, I put N in his crib and we exchange a round of "Good night! Sweet dreams! I love you! I'll see you in the morning!" This morning when I went in to get him, the first thing Nathan said was, "You have sweet dreams, Mama?"
• N has started using Mommy and Daddy lately. He started sprinkling it in a few weeks ago, and now it's about 50/50 Mama/Mommy. It makes me kind of sad, as I love to hear his sweet little voice say Mama, but it's just another step on the path to him becoming a little boy!
• I am forgetting approximately 400,000 other adorable/hilarious things that he says and does on a regular basis, but this is at least a little update!

Little Artist

Nathan really loves doing art projects. Crayons, sidewalk chalk, stickers, you name it, he's almost always game for a little creative expression. On Sunday he and I were hanging out with no agenda (so nice!!) and we decided to do some finger painting for the first time in ages. Stripped down to his diaper for easy cleanup, we let the fun begin. Nathan had a blast telling me where to put the globs of paint on the paper, and then smearing it around.

Day with Grandma Gail

On Thursday evening Nathan got hit like a truck with a sudden fever and upset stomach. Poor little guy was miserable! :( The only upside to N being sick is that he is super snuggly. Of course, this was a bit of a disadvantage when he threw up all over me! haha, have I mentioned that motherhood is glamorous??

Sick, snuggly, sweet boy.

Obviously, Nathan was not going to be heading to daycare on Friday morning since he was so sick on Thursday night. Luckily Grandma Gail was able to come down to spend the day with her favorite little boy, and luckily for Grandma, Nathan woke up feeling much better so they were able to play and have fun all day.

One of the main activities of the day was an intensive dishwashing session, in which N spent a solid 45 minutes completely silent and focused on the task at hand. A silent Nathan is a rare, rare mode!

Playing with Grandma and Grandpa

On Saturday Nathan went over to Grandma Nancy's house and had a slumber party while Dan and Zeke were visiting Jordan out in Colorado. I don't have any pictures (obviously) but they had a great time together! Todd and I enjoyed a date night (dinner at Olde Peninsula and the movie RED) and a leisurely Sunday morning.

After we picked Nathan up, my parents came over for a relaxing day at the house. Nathan was super excited about spending so much time with so many grandparents.

Watching airplanes out the window with Grandpa John.

Snuggling with Grandma Gail and Shadow the puppy dog.

Getting ready for winter

This week I finally got Nathan a hat, mittens and snow pants to get ready for the snowy days that will soon be here. Much to my surprise, N was super excited about his new stuff, and had a blast playing in it.

Doesn't everyone mow the lawn while wearing hat and mittens?