My Mom came to visit for Thanksgiving. I LOVE it when she comes to visit. As you can see in the background, she brought her cat. She doesn't think she will do that again because the cat (Lighting) was pretty ticked the whole way down. I guess six hours in the car makes him nervous. We also found out over the weekend that Riley is allergic to cats, but only if he pets them and then rubs his eyes. Ben is the same way. They are both okay as long as they don't touch their faces. Malia and my Mom had some more bonding time this trip, or as my mom sais "I'm imprinting." It was funny how much Malia would stare at my mom, like she was studying her every feature. I think it's so neat that they are EXACTLY 50 years apart. I KNOW, my mom doesn't look 50, does she!
I think it's time to buy bigger diapers for this girl. My mom had put this one on and later while I was changing Malia's outfit I discovered that Malia didn't have full coverage! But seriously, check out this baby supermodel! She even know hos to pose and accentuate all her womanly curves.
My mom sais my thighs were very large too when I was a baby (hmm, never went away.) and she told me that she would walk around with me on her hip and sometimes she would squeeze my fat thighs just for fun, but a couple times she got carried away and she squeezed a little too vigorously and I would cry. I know exactly how she feels though...sometimes it's all I can do to stay gentle when I squeeze Malia's cheeks/thighs/belly :)
My mom took Malia and I to TGIF's, and unfortunately for Malia our food came with a lime wedge. This is one of the MANY faces she pulled. Poor thing! I am such a mean mommy. But this is one of the reason's I had kids, to see what funny faces they can make!
Malia with her little tongue out! And notice my shirt (It's one of my faves) it sais "It's only funny until someone gets hurt...then it's hilarious!!!" So true.
Riley had a hangnail. Apparently it hurt "so, so bad." In fact he originally put two bandaid's on it, one over the other, because it hurt so so bad. The next day those bandaid's got replaced with this bandaid. This is the bandage I would use for a 4 cm laceration or a major knee scrape, or I guess a hangnail if I was four :)
Meet big Bertha. She was originally very unwelcome in the home by the Mrs (me). The Mr. (Ben) saw big Bertha on the mountain and immediately fell in love, despite the fact that his wife would be overwhelmed by a 12 foot tall, 7 foot wide presence in her living room. He went ahead and chopped big Bertha down and loaded her in his truck. After all, he now has a truck so his new motto is "Go big, or go home!" The Mrs. (who hates pine needles on the carpet) had very high blood pressure when she first saw the tree and while the tree was being rammed through the front door. But once the lights and decorations were on, courtesy of Ben and his mother in law Cindy, she decided it was a beautiful tree. Welcome, big Bertha.
Amazing but true facts about big Bertha: 1. There is a nest deep inside big Bertha's branches. Some poor bird families Christmas has been ruined.
2. A tree went missing inside big Bertha. Ben had cut down three small trees for some kids, and one of them when missing. Guess where we found it? Inside big Bertha.
3. Big Bertha had to be secured with much wire, including a piece secured to a 2 x 4 in our wall. As much as I hate the fact that the stability of the tree involved damaging our wall, I am relieved that none of my family is in danger from big Bertha.
4. I believe Ben is making up for three years without a real tree. So he has doubled the height and quadrupled the width of a normal tree. This is Ben's fantasy tree! Gotta love him!
.JPG)
Much to my relief, Malia has finally embraced the art of sitting. I hope this will help let the back of her head round out since she hates being on her belly and always rolls to her back. Her pediatrician recommends she gets a helmet since her head is still wider than it is long, but I might wait and see since I think it's rounding out a little on it's own. Plus, isn't she a little doll sitting there like that!!!
Riley was spiderman! This action shot pretty much captures how he was all night....running! He loved halloween this year. He was even happy to say "Trick-or-treat!" which he was too shy to do last year. This year, as long as the people at the door just gave him his candy or let him pick, he was fine. But if they tried to interact with him at all, he just froze :) He especially hated being chased by a big gorilla with a chainsaw. We heard his wrath on that subject for the rest of the night!
SPIDERMAN!!!!!
We are looking forward to the holidays! Ben is determined to get a real tree this year. I am a fan of artificial, but hey why be stubborn when I know Ben will have fun taking Riley to get a tree. My only request is that it be symetrical because I am a freak who can't handle asymmetry in any form. My mom is coming to visit for Thanksgiving! She will join us at the Cooks, and my biggest goal is to get her to embrace sweet potatoes (Kade and Ciara make the BEST sweet potatoe dessert thingy). Also can't wait to go to New Moon with friends this month. I hope we can spend lot's of time with friends and family over the next few months!