Thanksgiving

Our first Thanksgiving in the new house went very well.  It was only my third turkey, but I was happy with the results.  If I could figure out how to avoid the last-hour chaos, I would do this every weekend!  We had a ton of food, and were thrilled that Uncle René could join us.  All in all it was a great day!

The hungry men

Mark puts the finishing touches on his dessert

Speaking of dessert...

It was a nice evening, so we took a walk to burn off some pumpkin pie.  Or at least a dinner roll.

Brady gets some exercise too.  He goes in reverse while riding on the dinosaur...

but has to push it to go forward!

We got a Black Friday visit from Mammaw, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Dustin, and Uncle Daniel.  A much better way to spend the day than fighting crowds at the mall!

Leaves, leaves, and more leaves

This past week Brady and I hit the road for a few days in WV.  Pete was in Alabama and then Calgary over the last two weeks, so Brady and I thought a little change of scenery might be nice (not to mention a little help entertaining the wild man)!

The drive wasn't too bad, now that I've come to accept that Brady won't sleep in the car when I want him to, but he is guaranteed to sleep when I don't.  We had a good time visiting everyone and Brady was able to show off his new walking skills.

Pete came home on Friday to a busy weekend- a new couch, a visit from Allie (and she brought her parents, Suzy & Chris, too), and Twilight.  It doesn't get much better than that!

Outside with his favorite cow

Living it up in the new and improved ball pit!

Some quality time with Mammaw

"Which app is that?  Gotta put it on Mommy's phone."

Driving Mr. Bear around Mammaw's house

Is there room for one more?

Brady teaches Allie the finer points of measuring, just in time for holiday baking.

Time to go for a ride!

Many laps were made around the house that afternoon.

Off to the races!

Getting the mail with Daddy

Team Edward: Suzy, Gayle, & Denise

Big pile of leaves?  Hmmm, what should I do?

Jump in, of course

Well, we said we wanted a yard with trees...

First haircut and a very special friend

Brady had an exciting Veteran's Day weekend.  To celebrate 11-11-11, and Pete's arrival home from Alabama, we took Shaggy, I mean Brady, to get his very first haircut!  Pete has been lobbying for this for some time now, but I have been more reluctant.  Mainly, I was worried for Brady's safety.  Seriously.  He's kind of crazy, and I had visions of scissors going into his precious little eyes.  Also, I knew that he wouldn't look like a baby anymore once he had a big boy cut.  But after a particularly windy day at the park I just couldn't take the messy hair any longer.

We went to a place in the mall that specializes in kids' cuts, so we knew we were dealing with pros.  As an added bonus, they have TV screens at each station where they play cartoons during the haircut.  Brady took it like a champ- the stylist even commented that he seemed like he'd done this before.  Actually, I think he was just the right amount of scared- not too much that he screamed or cried, but just enough to keep him still.  And he looks so handsome now!  Definitely more grown-up, but I'm dealing with that.  I hear it's inevitable.

On Saturday we went to a welcome home party for a very special little boy.  Our friends Doron and Peter were finally united with their son, after a long long wait.  We've all been hoping and praying for him, so it was incredibly sweet to finally meet the little man.  He's adorable, and we know he'll be one of Brady's buds for life.

We hit the park on a warm afternoon

Brady loved watching the kids on the playground

Here we go...

I can totally rock a mohawk

What a handsome boy!

Since the haircut went so well, we decided to push our luck and go out to dinner.



Lookin' good!




Big smiles for the guest of honor



Shannon, the hostess with the mostess

My turn to give Ezra a big squeeze

Amused by his first jack-in-the-box experience

The kid table

Happy to be a party of 6!

Proud Mama

As always, thrilled to see a ceiling fan

Goof ball

Story time with Jessica

After watching the big kids push this around all evening, Brady decides to give it a try

Teamwork

Daddy's boy

Sam is a true fan of Doron's famous cupcakes!

The kids are all eager to help open Ezra's gifts

Katie with double trouble

All partied out from Saturday night, Brady couldn't quite make it through lunch on Sunday.