We enjoyed a tasty Thanksgiving spread yesterday afternoon. You know--the usual. Don't you add Texas pecans to your Mirgh Malai Korma, Bindi Masala, Pudhina Pahadi Kabab, Aloo Gobhi, Pindi Chole, and Butter Chicken? Come on!

Okay, just kidding. That was Wednesday's dinner! For Turkey Day, we stuffed our faces with Greenberg smoked turkey, cornbread dressing, pecan and craisin stuffing, sweet potatos with toasted marshmallows, roasted asparagus, cranberry salad, and rolls. I just didn't take a picture! The attendees, however, were documented.

Eric, Chisty, and Grammie:

Remember to give thanks for all the turkeys in your life!! We sure like this little one:

(Although I worry he's headed towards a life of jewelry theft)

The Brookster had a day full of adventures with his uncle Geoff...

There was some table-dancing:

Some Chick-Fil-A eating (or attemped drinking, as the case may be):

Save for our last swim class and an exercise walk with Jen & Molly, yesterday was spent furiously trying to get the house a bit more in order for the arrival of the Moore clan. Geoff got in late last night and my parents were supposed to arrive at noon today--but AA called them yesterday and said their flight was cancelled! My dad was able to get them on a really late flight tonight so they'll arrive sometime around midnight and stay at a motel near the airport. It's a bummer that we lost an entire afternoon and evening of visiting, but I guess that's the price we pay for doing business with the airlines. Nicki will then arrive late Wednesday night and we'll all be here for Turkey Day.

Several of you asked about the fabric crib-rail guard. I bought it at a local children's shop but can't remember the brand name. It was packaged in a rectangular shape like sheet sets would be. The only reason I knew to search for it in the store was that one of the display cribs had it attached. There's actually a smaller one for traditional cribs (since the front rail is a lot smaller in circumference) and then the larger one for convertible cribs. I wish I'd know about it sooner, but I'm sure happy I found out about it when I did!

His name is Brooks.

Here's what I find when I go into his room in the morning:

I was very excited recently to find the soft, velcro-attached, crib bite guard:

I only ever took Packard Physics so I don't really understand bottle mechanics, but every now and then we have a malfunction and this happens:

"Hey, whadda we have here? Some sort of pointy, plastic object?"

"AAAAHHH! It's alive! It's attacking me!"

Some friends who shall remain nameless (cough, Emily2, cough) have been giving me a hard time lately about my magazine-induced stress. See, I get a bunch of magazines. And it stresses me out when I get behind in reading them, which has been happening a lot lately!

I thought it would be fun to have a subscription confessional-- what do you read on a regular basis? Please vote in the poll on the right, and feel free to leave some recommendations in the comments section.

I'll start. We receive:

• Entertainment Weekly
• Newsweek
• Cooking Light
• Parents
• Texas Monthly
• Washingtonian
• Consumer Reports
• Discover (Seth)

We also have a daily subscription to The Washington Post. All of these together with the regular magazines from Baylor, Zeta, Phi Beta Kappa, AAA, NEA....see why I always have the shakes?

One of my greatest fears about having children (um, other than the 87 or so I had during pregnancy) is that they will be picky eaters. Other than olives, I pretty much have never met a food I didn't devour and I am thankful that the tall guy who lives here is equally easy-going in the culinary world. Needless to say, the recent phase of Brooks not being too keen on eating what is fed to him has been a bit stressful. I know it's "normal" developmental behavior, but who wants to be normal? (Said the person who stood alone in the face of THIRTY-SIX opposing poll votes!)

Thankfully, my embracing of finger food preparation has led to more pleasant eating experiences. I'm still not anywhere near as industrious as I should be in fixing tasty morsels but B has seemed to enjoy the assorted goods I have presented to him. I was really excited to make a Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese for dinner the other night but found it way too dry. But not for Mr. B...he likes it with BOTH hands:

He's also finally learned how to tilt up the cup. Funny how it works better that way!

We have a long-standing joke in our house that I should be the Biology teacher since I actually took AP Bio in high school, unlike a certain someone. (To be fair, it wasn't offered at his school at the time.) About the only thing I remember from the AP exam was a free-response question about the importance of water. I was reminded of this concept yesterday.

Brooks LOVES to pull himself up on anything and everything, and the household object that's at the best height is the kitchen trash can. It's really not a good habit any way you look at it, but especially not when it's full and there's a container of residual Roasted Red Pepper sauce right at the top for prime garbage picking:

(At least it was from Wegmans! Big D, remember how the store was out of the sauce we wanted for that pasta recipe? They had it back in stock when we were in Corning!!)

Sorry-- we're talking about the importance of water. Thank goodness it was swimming day so B could get a proper cleanse!

Apparently I'm crazy. (I know, I know-- not a huge surprise!) So much confidence was instilled in me after the "If You're Happy and You Know It" poll results that I figured I wasn't a weirdo...so much for that. Yes, dear readers, I'm the one vote on the poll to the right. Wonder where along the way the words morphed into my lovely version that NO ONE supports??

Not much else to report since I was blog-happy this weekend with 2 new posts. Let's see:

• It's cold
• I feel bad for Polly about the outcome of last night's big game but can appreciate the victory for my Dallas peeps
• After checking to make sure there was no on/off switch for a bus toy I bought awhile back at a consignment sale, I submerged it in a bleach bath--- only to have it sputter its last breath when I pulled it out. Classic Emily. Turns out it *was* electronic after all.

Yep, that's about it. Have a great Monday!

We've got a perfect 10 right here!!

Yes indeedy, Brooks hit the bit 1-0 (months) yesterday. Good thing I did my birthday challenge last month because it's just near impossible to get him to cooperate. Quick as a flash, he grabs the labeled diaper and starts chomping on it!

The best we could do:

I think he looks a bit amphibious here somehow, but this shot reveals the new chompers on the top:

Sometimes people just can't stay away. That was the case with Rosemond this week, at least: she's ba-a-ck!

Timing is a crazy thing. Eric planned a birthday getaway up here for her since they'd never visited before, and then promptly found out he needed to be back in this area just a few short days later for work. They decided that sweet Grace needed to add a new stamp to her US map so they went back to Dallas last Sunday before turning around and traveling north again Wednesday. So after never seeing Ro in these parts in the 6+ years we've lived here, I got to see her twice in 10 days. Crazy!

Since Eric's work project was at the new Gaylord hotel, Brooks and I toodled down there yesterday to hang out and check out the sights. The place is HUGE and totally made me feel like I was in a Vegas hotel!

Grace trying to entertain Mr. Brooks: (And no, we're not at a park; we're in the hotel atrium, and the tall green thing with a bow in the back right of the picture is just the top portion of the metal-and-glass Christmas tree of which Eric was supervising the installation)

B was too busy trying to steal Ro's necklace to smile at the camera:

I just added a poll based on my confusion each week during the singing portion of Swim "Class". Give me your take!

As all my Baylor brethren (sistren? way too close to cistern) know, cotton is king. Not the white fluffy stuff, but rather T-shirts made for specific social "functions." While I'm not a big fan of actually wearing T-shirts, I get a kick out of designing them on http://www.uberprints.com/. I discovered this website a couple of years ago when I wanted to make some funny shirts for my brother for Christmas, and have continued to be impressed with their service. I placed an order on Sunday and it was DELIVERED to me Wednesday evening with just their regular shipping. And the company is in Georgia!

Anyway.... I'll cease the paid advertising portion of this post (ha!). After Seth's last Thursday end-of-season victory, I really wanted to make shirts!!

The basic design for COTY and Big D (Merry Christmas, PawPaw!):

The long-sleeved version I made for Boss Lady and myself. She was so excited when I took her shirt over to her last night that she put it on immediately and wore it to our 1/2 price margarita night. (Hmm--- Baylor girls, is wearing HS gear the same violation as if one has a Ninfarita while wearing letters??!)

The back:

Did anyone else have that "board" game growing up? I never knew anyone else who did, but it was pretty crazy fun... And no, that's not just a random reference. I think Brooks is auditioning for the vampire role:

We had a great time playing with Amedeo, Jillian, and Jack yesterday. I felt like I was feeding the ducks:

Later in the afternoon, Brooks had a walking date with Molly and I made them pose for pictures afterwards:

Anti-veggie crusaders unite! I haven't made you look at our CSA bounty in three weeks! (Incidentally, we continue to get really good stuff. Last night's box had broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, Napa cabbage, acorn squash, radishes, turnips, and apples.) I got out of the habit of taking the weekly pic when I was out of town, so INSTEAD, your picture this morning is of something far more exciting:

No, it's not trash! It's the 20+ bags of leaves that Brooks supervised Seth raking over the weekend! As much as I love autumn, the "fall" part of it is always a harsh reality. Thank goodness we only own one rake! :-)

B and I had a delightful Monday; there were just no photos. We "swam", we shopped, we stood around-- him for a record 12 seconds on his own!

As always, I sleepily begged Seth with this title of this post when he headed to school at 6 AM. Unfortunately, with all the days off they had recently for the Jewish holidays, State Teacher Convention, and Election Day, they don't get today off for Veterans Day. But we are certainly thankful for the service of all military personnel both past and present.

PS-- Brooks was SO excited to get FIVE emails from readers yesterday. Thanks for brightening his day. He is now angling to start buying and selling on ebay, but I'm making him wait until he's at least 1.

B really stepped up his game this weekend in the Jack-of-all-Trades department. I'm printing business cards for him now. Here are a few of the tasks he can help you with, if you so desire:

Getting the trash bags out of the box:

Selecting the proper pot and lid:

Definitely a much busier day yesterday! Had a trip to the grocery store and a meeting before getting Brooks together with Jack for a little boy time with electronics:

This was no ordinary playgroup-- it was serious business. Besides hugging the television and checking out the CD supply, there also was a lovely demonstration of infant choking procedures by Emily2 (please note-- he was not actually choking!):