GOBBLE GOBBLE!!!

We had a crazy and wonderful Thanksgiving. Uncle Jim was visiting from L.A. and Cousin Lindsay came from Minneapolis to eat deep-fried turkey with us. Counting them, we had 12 for dinner and it's true: the more the merrier. A whole bottle of Wild Turkey doesn't hurt either. Here are some of the highlights:

Pre-dinner conversation

Cutey Emma! (She looks so much like her mama here. Gorgeous!)

Zoe receives some instruction on the location of the eye.

Check out the pre-dinner spread.
Note the four different kinds of hummus and stuffed olives.
Overboard and ridiculous? Yes, but so tasty!

Emma knows how to handle her liquor.
Maybe we shouldn't drink in front of the kids.
(Relax. It's emptied and rinsed)



Look how excited Zoe is to see Emma.


Rut ro! What happened? The Berry Yamallow looks like it's topped with volcanic rock.


We can fix that. Scrape and re-apply marshmallows.


The turkey is done!

16 POUNDS IN 2 1/2 HOURS!!!



Okay, so how do we get it out?


Success!!!
Just look at the juices on the tray. Everyone should deep-fry their turkey.

All set for dinner

I just have to thank Uncle Rob for giving us this table. Your family was very present with us on this day. We appreciate your gift.

We all had such a wonderful time getting to know each other better and it's in these tougher times that you realize how important family and friends are. For this, I am truly grateful. We are at our best when we love and support one another. Let's hope we can be so good to all.

Fun with Nan D

There is always something to do at Nan D's house. She loves to jump and play and sing and she's very snuggly.








After the peek-a-boo lesson, we had a great time jumping on the bed.

Of course, after all that fun, everyone needs to rest.

Zoe has such a good time with Nan D. I think being away from her is the hardest of all. She always makes up for lost time but it would be wonderful to see her more often.

BATHTIME!

Zoe was taking a bath all by herself when Lily decided to join her. So much more fun. It was just too cute seeing them both in the sink together. It's too bad we live so far away. Bath time is always more fun with a friend. It's amazing to see these little people connect with one another. They just look at each other and reach out to embrace and explore. There are definitely some disadvantages to growing up. Losing that innocence tops the list

I think they missed a spot

Don't fall over Lily

Yeah, we're cute


We're really, really cute.

If you don't believe how cute, just watch this.

A quick trip to Redding

We couldn't make it all the way across the U.S. and not visit Great Grandma and Grandpa Deetz. The 2 1/2 hour drive was a cinch and the weather hung in for us long enough to make it home. Grandma made us some delicious food and we had a really good time visiting. Zoe showed off all her latest moves and I think they were impressed.

Big kisses from GG Deetz

Hey Great Grandpa!

Thanks for feeding me lunch, GG!

That's quite a view you got there

I'll help with the pie, y'all

This is fun but I hope that pie doesn't come back up

We had a great time. Hope to see you guys soon!

Fun with cousins in Oregon

Zoe and I left Dad in NYC and went to Oregon for Veterans' Day. It was a quick trip but so needed. Everyone is getting so big. Lily is delicate little thing and Judah is a bruiser. He only weighs a half-pound less than Zoe and is 7 1/2 months old. All the other cousins are doing all sorts of new things and the oldest are doing well in first grade. Here is some of the fun.

All the babies playing together

Zoe and Judah getting acquainted

Aiden really wanted to sit with the girls

Super Cute


Judah likey yogurt....mmmm


Jon and Sammy


Ben and Sammy


Ben was really into the camera

See what I mean (oh, that's Bekah)

Abigail is getting so big. What a little lady.

Zoe's Movement

So I managed to catch our little action figure on camera. She is all over the place. Zoe never really got the whole crawling posture in the beginning and she still hasn't perfected her form but I am certain that is on the horizon. She does this curious little scoot and when in motion most resembles a hermit crab. Take a look.



When it comes to standing and pulling herself up to standing, she is a pro. She is pretty fearless and has no problem letting go of one thing to grab another. Her newest move is using your pants as a ladder.




I knew this was going to be a lot of fun but this is ridiculously great. Her little personality is shining brighter every day and she could not be sweeter. We are so blessed to have this amazing little person in our lives.

Future Vegetarian?

So I guess it was silly of me to be concerned about the lollipops. Apparently, Zoe has a broad palate. I was cooking dinner the other night and had some mushrooms in a container on the counter. Very often, I have to hold her while throwing things together. I went to get some mushrooms out of the package and she reached right in and grabbed one.

Knowing that everything goes into her mouth, I expected her to taste it and after discovering it kind of tasted like dirt (don't get me wrong... mushrooms are delicious), she would throw it down. Boy was I wrong. Check it out!




Let's hope she takes to all vegetables the same way but I know better than to assume her tastes will remain the same. She hated bananas the first time I fed them to her and know she kinda digs 'em. Ah, the adventures of solid foods.

Lollipop Lover

Over the Halloween weekend, we had some Tootsie Pops in the house. Nana Debbie thought it would be cute to give her one and I have to say it has created a monster. Now when she sees the shape or even the stick in your mouth, she starts to grunt and whine for a lick. Check it out.



We were in the living room and she got into the pumpkin bucket with candy in it. She picked out two Dum-Dums and couldn't really make up her mind about which one she wanted.




So the sucker love will have to be monitored closely. There are all kinds of things you say you will never do with your kids before they are born and of course, you end up doing most of it and looking like a total hypocrite. Luckily, most people aren't keeping score and you are usually doing what's best for them. What more can you ask for, really?

HALLOWEEN!!!

LONG LIVE ROBOTS!!! When Aaron shared his ideas for costumes a few months ago, I was skeptical about our ability to pull off the project. Make our own robot costumes? Dunno about that. We did some research and made many trips to home improvement and party decoration stores and much to our surprise, all the materials we thought would work actually did. We even found some unexpected surprises that made the costumes even better (Zoe's costume actually started as a beer keg hat).

We started our Halloween weekend in New Jersey at Nana Debbie's school. They had a parade and Zoe came to visit in her bunny outfit. She was a hit of course and it was nice to have all Nana's colleagues able to see her in person. We know Nana brags about Zoe all the time.

We spent Halloween night in the West Village at the Annual Halloween Parade. Zoe was the first one dressed and ready to go. She just had to wait for all the slow adults to get robo-cized.

Here we are in all our foil glory.

Zoe had the best costume of all. We couldn't get more than a half block at the parade without someone stopping us for a picture. She was a celebrity with her own paparazzi.

We knew the subway would be a challenge but it wasn't as bad as we thought. Of course, we had to stand the whole way there and back. Hard to sit in a box!

Daddy and Zoe. Quite a pair!

It was an eventful evening for our baby girl. Being famous is exhausting.

We had a blast and are hoping to make it back to the parade soon, although we know that there will be much trick-or-treating from next year on.