This SUUUUUUCCCCKKKSSS!!!!

I tried to keep my note yesterday light-hearted and simple. But in reality, our Thanksgiving has royally sucked!! Thanksgiving is our FAVORITE holiday -- all the food, family, drinking, football-watching & shopping. Yay!

Um yeah, it started on Tuesday with Kendyll. She wasn't herself, looked green and had way too many blow-out diapers to count. We thought she might be having some weird side effects of teething b/c she didn't have a fever and no one else felt bad (and we had no idea where she would have picked this up b/c they pretty much stay in the house most of the time). Wednesday wasn't much better -- she had 3 clothes changes & puked all over my mom. Then came Thursday -- glorious Turkey Day. I wasn't feeling the greatest in the morning, but tried to soldier on. Tim & the guys deep fried the turkey while the ladies cooked the other sides & took care of the babies. We sat down to eat around 1:30 and I looked across the table . . . I could barely touch my food and Tim was as pale and sweaty as I'd ever seen him. To keep this brief (and gross free) we both ended up in bed and didn't make it back out until this morning. Tim now has a better appreciation of what I went through during pregnancy (every day, mind you). Kendyll seems to be better today too. Bennett has only thrown up once (thank God). Nana Debbie & Grandma Angie are both sick today and Tim & I feel a bit better. I have douched every linen & toy in this house and I hope we are all on the upswing soon.
Edited to add: We talked to my dad earlier today (he & my brother went home yesterday and my mom stayed behind to shop - ha!). He's been spending the day in the bathroom & bed as well. Lovely.

So no Black Friday shopping for me (my favorite day of the year!). But maybe we'll make it out for Black Saturday instead. I hope you all had a better Thanksgiving -- I'll live vicariously through you!!

Gobble Gobble!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! We're hosting Turkey Day for the 5th year in a row. We started the tradition the year we got married as an excuse to use our China . . . and it remains the only day of the year we break it out of the hutch. :-)

B & K enjoyed Papa Sam reading them "Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving" last night (thanks Aunt Nanci & Uncle Ted -- we miss you!!!).

Tabasco is already in a Turkey coma:

And our table is ready for us to eat:

Gotta run -- my wine & food plate is calling! A very Happy Thanksgiving to our friends & family near & far. We have a lot to be thankful for this year and are so blessed.

Sitting & the Diva

Let's see . . . lots to update on.

I am going to officially call Bennett a sitter. We're still putting a boppy around him for safety, but he will sit up, away from it for several minutes at a time. Especially if he is occupied with a toy (one that he really loves). I'm sure he'll be sitting "free" by the end of the week. And Miss Kendyll . . . well she has beyond mastered sitting and is now really into grabbing whatever is around her (she's a toy hog). She is also scooting a bit when on her belly. I won't technically call it an army crawl, but she is getting very close.

Bennett is cutting yet another tooth. That brings his total count up to 4 (all on the bottom)!! Kendyll still has two little pearly whites popping through, but I gotta think she may be working on one or two on top. They are both doing really well with brushing their teeth at night. Well technically I brush their teeth and then they play with their toothbrush while their PJs are being put on. Bennett isn't really into playing with the brush too much, but boy Kendyll is. She LOVES that thing. Which brings me to my next point . . .

Kendyll's DIVA ways have really started to blossom. Nine months is a little soon for the "terrible twos" right?? Oh my goodness. Actually, we've known from the beginning she would be the boss. She used to beat the crap out of B in utero. And I'll never forget the time she let out a blood curling shriek in the NICU on her way back to her crib from a bath . . . every single nurse, doctor and parent in that joint turned to look at me in sympathy. Um yeah. Kendyll has thrown three tantrums in the past week. Take the toothbrush away from her and full-on sobs & big tears & red face & screaming ensue. Give it back to her -- big grins & smiles. Take it away again -- repeat. Sigh.

Let's see, what else . . . I'm pretty sure Bennett has mastered clapping. He wasn't doing it in the correct context (well, actually we were watching the Browns game and they were losing, so maybe he was?). But he clapped -- opened hands -- for quite a while. Very cute.

I had a few comments on B&K's gear in the last post. The Poop on Michigan shirt was actually a gift, but I'm pretty sure I've seen it at the Buckeye Corner. And the ND jersey was a purchase on our last trip back to South Bend. We hoped to luck out and find a cheaper one at Blue & Gold Traditions, but we ended up getting B&K new jerseys at the bookstore.

We hope everyone had a nice weekend! Here are a few pics from the last few days.


Bennett in my most favorite shirt EVER (I LOVE Charlie Brown!!):


Kendyll steals EVERYTHING. Evidence of her stealing her brother's sock (and eating it too!):


B&K's favorite toy:


B&K actually smiling!!

B & K Say . . .

Bennett says POOP ON MICHIGAN (this one is for Kevin & Sandy):

Kendyll says GO IRISH!!!

And they both say YAY for football (although it looks like in the 2nd one Kendyll is also saying Poop on Michigan):

Happy Birthday Tabasco!!

We don't know exactly when Tabasco's birthday is this month because we rescued him from a shelter when he was two. But the previous owners did tell the shelter that he was born in November 2002. His prior name was Coco and it just didn't fit him; his coat used to be very red (before all the gray came along after B&K!) and so we named him Tabasco to reflect his hot sauce coat and keep a little of the "co" in his name. He is the best dog in the world -- a little high maintenance at times -- but we wouldn't trade him for the world!!

Pop-u-lar

WOW -- I feel so loved! I have been tagged by THREE (3!!) fellow MoMs to play this game (and note: this is my 2nd time playing along). How fun!

Rules:
1. Link to the person(s) who tagged you. - Meghan, Sara, and Justakidatheart
2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about you. - see below
3. Tag 7 random people at the end, and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

And here we go:
1. I'm not a big shopper, but I LOVE the sport of day after Thanksgiving shopping, or "Black Friday". That is when I scored my Kate Spade diaper bag last year and I cannot wait for next Friday. I always seem to buy more for me than Xmas shop. Hmmm.

2. I don't cook. Tim is the chef in our family (although I do like to bake, if he'd ever let me in the kitchen).

3. I work in HR, but I hate people. Ok, that is a little harsh, but seriously, people drive me nuts sometimes (which again makes it ironic that I love Black Friday -- droves & droves of people, but I LOVE it!). Of course I'm nice to people and have been told I'm very good at what I do, but people can still drive me bonkers!!!! :-)

4. I have a knack for remembering people's birthdays. And I try to always send a card (or at least an e-mail). And if I know you in real life and you didn't get a birthday card or e-mail this year, I call for an exemption -- just this one time!

5. The best Xmas in recent memory was two years ago. I feel bad saying that because my family could not be with us. But Tim & I and some of his family rented a house in Florida for the week of Xmas and we didn't really celebrate it. We did a small gift exchange and cooked a fab meal on 12/25, but I didn't put up decorations, didn't really shop, was tan and had a very relaxing week. It was fabulous and may be a new family tradition in the coming years.

6. I had a meeting all day today at a movie theatre. That was the first time I had been in a theatre in months. I used to be a HUGE movie buff (just ask my college roomies . . . the Oscars use to be an event for me every year). I'm a little sad to say I didn't recognize a single movie title or poster in that place today.

7. I'm very sad that the OSU/MI game this weekend means we are nearing the end of the College Football season. That means the bowl games aren't far behind and then the end of the NFL isn't too far behind that. Ugh, I HATE it when football ends!!

I now tag YOU!! If you have a blog, haven't played this game and wanna share, go for it! :-)

Too good to be true

My "deal of a century" continues to be the Kate Spade bag (whew!) -- the car seat order was retracted. If you've spent any time on a discussion board or shopping site in the past 24 hours you've probably heard about the Britax seats for a steal at Target. Oh well . . . our search continues.

B & K had their 9 mo appointment this morning. Updated weights are to the right . . . if you recall they were both about the same (or a little more) a couple of weeks ago when I took them to get their flu shot. I will justify by saying that on that trip they were weighed with their clothes on and had just had some fruit & a bottle before (and they were weighed on a different scale then what they are normally weighed on) -- today they were in fresh diapers only and had just took down a morning bottle. Oh well.

The Dr said they looked great and isn't surprised at B's inability to sit . . . but he believes that some day very soon Bennett will be a VERY big boy and that he will catch up pretty quickly. He was supportive of our decision to not do the RSV shots (long story) and he said he wasn't concerned because they were very healthy, thriving "preemies" (actually, he used another word for the healthy thriving part, but I can't remember what it was). We'll take them back in a couple of weeks for the 2nd dose of their flu shot and then they won't go back until they turn a year old.

Oh, speaking of preemies I keep forgetting to write about this. Two weekends ago Tim & I went out to lunch on our lazy Sunday. As usual, B&K were quite the scene and at one point a lady & her little 2ish year old girl came up to the stroller. She asked the obvious ("are they twins") and stated the obvious ("boy you have your hands full") and then asked how old they were. When I answered 9 mo she replied "WOW, they are huge!!". Never heard that one before. I think it is mainly because they were in their car seats in the Graco stroller and they are SO too long for those that they look like little giants. Yet another reason Santa needs to come early. I'm off to search for the next carseat deal . . .