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Thanksgiving 2011

We hosted Thanksgiving this year with all of David's family and had such a great time. We volunteered for the job looooong before we knew the bambino was on the way and I was afraid that we would have to cancel the festivities when I was oh-so-sick and dead-dog-tired during those first few months of pregnancy. It all worked out perfect, though, and I was neither sick nor feeble.

I was still a little tired and did not have it in me to bust out the camera. I took not one single picture the whole time.

But I did cook three meals a day over the weekend for 13+ people and Thanksgiving dinner for 24.
And I'm growing a person in my belly.

I think you can cut me some slack, right?

I managed to steal these pictures from some guest's Facebook pages.
I didn't ask. I just took.
Sorry.

Anyway, you can tell we had a lot of fun.



I have no pictures to prove it, but on the morning of Thanksgiving, David organized a family Turkey Trot 2 mile race. He mapped out a course and marked it with flour. The winner was promised to be first in the Thanksgiving dinner line and bragging rights. Some people were thrilled with the idea, some were hesitant participants, and some declined to participate at all. I Turkey Trotted because I love my husband.

There may or may not have been some cheaters who took a short cut.

That night a lot of people ate a lot of food. I don't have any pictures of the food, but it was plentiful and delicious. 

 

I brined my turkey this year Pioneer Woman style and I was not disappointed! Brining is super fun and makes a really good bird! Viva la Turkey Brine!

I did scrounge up a picture of the dessert table. I think I may blog the recipe for the the Oreo Brownie Trifle that you see in the middle of the table...it was a big hit! And I love using my trifle bowl, don't you! I get the biggest kick out of trifles.



The father of my child.



 Over the weekend we played a lot of basketball in the driveway...



We went antiquing on Black Friday...



And played a mean game of Ultimate Frisbee in the park behind our house.



Please look at this crazy pregnant woman diving for a Frisbee. Who is she?



If you missed a pass, you had to do a cartwheel. I may have instigated this rule. 
I had to really be on my "A" game.
'Cause I'm in no position to do a cartwheel.



 On Saturday, we went to Stone Mountain.
And we climbed it.
I didn't even know you could do that. My Stone Mountain experiences were limited to this.

I will give you a word of advice.
Maternity jeans were not made for adventure.
Please do not try to climb a mountain in your maternity jeans.
You will regret it. You might sit on a tree stump halfway to the top and cry about your lot in life.



David's brother and his family were able to come from Texas to spend Thanksgiving with us, and we were all so happy to get to spend time with their kids. His sister and her husband came all the way from Chicago and the rest of his family from Florida. It's quite a feat to get all of these peeps together.



We all had such a great time together. We spent a lot of time sitting on the porch and sitting by the fire chatting and laughing. Because our family is spread so far apart, we do not take times like this for granted. I'm always happiest when my house is full of people that we love...and especially when it's overflowing with people like it was this Thanksgiving!

Now on to Christmas!
mel

Baby Dark

Hi friends.

Thanks for all of your kind words about our little announcement. We are super excited! (...After being super surprised, super shocked, and then super scared. Just keepin' it real.)

Baby Dark is due May 4th but is already making itself known even now via my expanding waistline.

I have so much to fill you in on from the last few months. Here are a few tidbits:

We found out that we're having a baby. Duh. Old news. But you know you want to watch the video again. Go ahead. You know you want to...



David and I celebrated our 32nd and 28th birthdays, respectively. I made David his traditional age-shaped pancakes to celebrate and on my birthday we spent the day with my family. (David also shaved his head for some sort of cross country team bet. The kids did it in the art room. Nice.)

My friend Sarah came to visit us for a few days and we had an amazing time. We went to see Wicked at the Fox together and "I have been chaaaaaaaanged for good." It was awesome.



Jack found out that we're having a baby and has starting acting out by chewing up all of our possessions that we hold most dear. Here's hoping that he'll come around to the idea.

I've have pondered how people with foreign accents can sing without any trace of said accent. Keith Urban, what gives?

David Dark has started riding his bicycle to school everyday. What could be cuter than a bow-tied commuter, I ask you!

Now, since the announcement of itty bitty Baby Dark, we've gotten a lot of questions. Here are the answers to the most common ones for you (and for me to remember all of the weirdo things that I've been doing.)

Have you been sick?
Yes, indeed. I was very sick for about 6 or 7 weeks. I felt really nauseous and tired. I almost tossed my cookies every time I brushed my teeth. I was begging David to go to bed at night and I'm usually a huge night owl. He would make me wait until it was at least 9 p.m. I'm 19 weeks now and feeling much better. Thanks for asking.

Are you going to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl?
Yeppers. We find out December 22nd.



Any weird food cravings?
Unfortunately, yes. The only things that baby wants to eat is pizza, fried chicken, and cheeseburgers. David is skeptical of the authenticity of the cravings and claims that those foods are what I would choose to eat normally, if I could have anything I wanted.

I don't care what he thinks as long as he orders my pizza.



Are there foods that you usually like that are grossing you out?
Eggs. Bleh.
Sorry, chickens. It's nothing personal.

Do you have names picked out?
No, not really. I think we'll buckle down about a name when we find out if it's a boy or a girl. I kind of feel like I may need to see the baby before I name it...is that weird?  I think our family is troubled by our nomenclature strategies.

Any nursery plans yet?
Not really. I'm really excited to get to work on it, though. You can check out my Baby Dark Pinboard and see what ideas I've been pinning!

Hopefully, I'll be a little better about updating the blog now. For the past few months looking at the computer has made me feel si-ick. Thankfully, I think I'm over the hump now.

Thanks again for being excited with us!
Mama Mel
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