The First Thanksgiving

Ahh, Thanksgiving ... my 2nd favorite holiday of the year.  From the food and family to the football, I just love every second of it.
Elvis and I got married in 2007 and our parents graciously allowed us to host Thanksgiving that year.  The food was - of course - delicious (Elvis is an outstanding chef!), and everyone was a good sport, but honestly the best way to describe the whole affair was "crowded."  Our 1-bedroom apartment just was not designed to accomodate 7 people comfortably.
So, for the next three years we dutifully went back and forth between my parents' house and my in-laws' house for holidays.  Elvis and I are both very close to our families, so even though it was inconvenient and kind of expensive we'd spend Thanksgiving Eve and Christmas Eve with his folks, and then get up early the next morning to make the trip to my parents'. 
Last year when I announced my pregnancy, I also announced that we would be hosting Thanksgiving and Christmas again this year.  No ifs, ands or buts.  No way were we going to subject our baby to all those trips.  As much as we love having 2 days to celebrate our 2 favorite holidays, it was just time for a change.  So, back in September (that's right!  I plan ahead!) I began drawing up plans for how to arrange furniture.  I took "inventory" of all our cookware, serving pieces, and fall decor.  No way was Henry's first Thanksgiving going to be remembered as "the year we had to eat in shifts" or some stupid thing.  Nope.  I rounded up 7 seats and arranged them thoughtfully in the living room.  I thanked God that I had 8 place settings, which meant that we could all eat off our beautiful wedding china.  And then the call came: my grandparents (who ALWAYS go to Houston to spend the holidays with my favorite aunt and her family) will be in town this year, and have no plans.  Aunt Bunny is renovating her kitchen, so there'll be no elaborate Thanksgiving feast this year.  So, it was back to the drawing board.  Now I have to find room for 2 more seats around the table, and - worst of all - I'm ONE place setting short. 
So, even though we may indeed have to eat in shifts, we'll all be together, warm and cozy in our home.  We'll all eat a delicious meal, enjoy some good football, some of us will doze comfortably after eating too much, and - most importantly - Henry will spend his first Thanksgiving surrounded by the 9 people who love him most in all the world.  If that's not something to be thankful for, I just don't know what is.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween 2011 was, as you may imagine, a pretty big deal at our house.  As far as holidays go, Halloween has always been pretty low on my list of favorites.  I prefer the ones that include pie and extended family.  But I do like dressing up, and I LOVE babies in costume.  So it was with great excitement that we began to discuss our child's first Halloween costume some weeks ago.  I'd seen some sickeningly cute costumes, and was hoping to talk Elvis into letting me buy one.  I was partial to the octopus costume I saw online.  How cute is that?  But then my amazing hubby came up with something even better.  In the grand tradition of both our families, Henry's costume would be home-made, and would put all the other babies' costumes to shame.  The weekend before, we went out to buy the pieces and put it all together.  After the hot glue dried we put the baby in his costume, and thus began the laughter.  I hope when he's older, he appreciates the creativity and isn't weirded out: for his first Halloween, my beloved son was a 2-headed baby.

At the last minute, Elvis and I decided to dress up as well, and so the four of us (King Henry VIII, Jane Seymour, Hank and "Hazel") piled into the truck to go out.  We didn't go door-to-door for candy, but we did walk up and down San Antonio Street to show off our little monster.  Sadly, our costumes seemed to outshine Henry's, or maybe people just couldn't see his 2nd head.  Either way, it was a bit anticlimactic.  I was hoping to get some hilarious reactions when people saw our little mutant, but he really only got one: one lady reacted, thinking he was a doll (he IS ridiculously cute, I admit).  The important thing, though, is that Elvis and I had fun, and we made some precious memories to cherish forever.  And hey, there's always next year!

Remember me?

PLEASE excuse my excessive absence.  I've just started a new job (it's part-time, but I've been working a lot lately to make sure I know what I'm doing) and our internet has been spotty at best these past few weeks.  Calling customer service isn't helpful, but going down to the Time Warner building magically did the trick.  Let that be a lesson to you: when they transfer your call to 5 different customer service reps, it's time to hang up and get things done in person!