Vicky's First Thanksgiving Meal was...

...not quite what she thought it would be!

Well, that's what you get when you "guestimate" the cooking time when the Reynolds Oven Cooking Bag doesn't have your size turkey on their cooking chart. Boy, that turkey cooked WAY faster than I planned, so I overcooked it. Oh well. Nothing a some turkey gravy couldn't fix!

What else was on the menu? Onion and chive mashed potatoes, homemade stuffing, a greenbean dish, and cranberry relish. All homemade! For dessert I made pumpkin pie and apple crisp.

And as usual, I have pictures of the food and not the guests, ha ha ha! David's eldest sister and her husband joined us (Donna and Greg). Then later that evening one of his other sisters, Gayle, came along with her youngest (of five!), Joanna. They literally hopped on a plane from Dallas right after their own family Thanksgiving celebration.

All the family in town made for a great Thanksgiving!

Ask This Old House---Snyder Style

With David off this week, he decided to tackle some home improvement projects he had long been meaning to finish. Like the back of this closet we recently had installed over the summer. With the scrap drywall and some elbow grease, David finished covering the unsightly wooden beams. Trouble is, we still have some unsightly-ness to look at! This video is an ode to one of our favorite shows, which has certainly inspired my aspiring handyman husband :)

Festival of Trees

What was intended as a merry precursor to the holiday season turned out to be much like pulling teeth! As some of you may recall, ever since Halloween Ethan has exhibited fears of all sorts of things. The latest in his scare craze? Snowmen and mice. There weren't any mice at the local Festival of Trees, but there were snowmen, big and small. We did a shortcut straight to the kids section in hopes of warming Ethan up to the holiday season. Unfortunately, Ethan didn't want to do much of anything, not even take a ride on a kiddie train! Here's a little video summary of our outing...

By the end of the morning, at least he was happy and we were able to finally walk around the decorated trees without Ethan whining and wanting to be carried! And nothing makes a kid's day like having a happy meal at the golden arches!

Flutterby dreams swing

Thank you, Marla and Rob, for lending us your swing! As you can see, it has quite the effect on Kate :)

*yawn*...'night 'night!

Growin' up

Now that I'm caring for a newborn, Ethan looks bigger and bigger each day. He's like a little man.

A few moments of peace

With Kate napping and Ethan sitting in one place, I can breathe a little...



He's even happy :)

Kate's Do

Kate was born with a good deal of hair. Trouble is, I can't seem to tame it...

There are some big differences between the two siblings. Kate is VERY gassy, toots a lot, and spits up even more. You should see her laundry bin! As such, she requires lots of soothing and holding. That equals to lots of work for mommy and daddy.

One month old

Fall photos

It's been hard enjoying the fall festivities this year with me being really pregnant or taking care of a newborn. But we finally did get to go out last weekend for a scenic drive (well, as scenic as central Illinois can get).

Last year we had gone on a drive and happened upon this pumpkin farm out near Chilicothe. Situated between the Peoria river and the "bluffs" of that river valley, it proved to be a very scenic location. This year we wanted to find it again. And we did!

It was a little late in the season, and the pumpkin patch was mostly brown and dead with several pumpkins. But there was enough to keep Ethan occupied like hopping on this tractor.

Ode to the Grandmas

A whole month has passed since Kate's birth, and surprisingly I've had some time to reflect on how far we've come, thanks to the help of Grandma Cuesta and Grandma Snyder. My mom came in to town for two weeks prior to Kate's birth (we all thought she was going to be born really early). She was a big help playing with Ethan and watching him while I rested or did last minute preparations for the baby. He loved to rough house her, unfortunately, and mom was a big sport in wrestling with him! We're also grateful for her watching him while David and I had a few date nights :)

We're just really glad that Kate came before Grandma left! They had two whole days together...

Grandma Snyder came four days after Kate was born. She did a lot of work watching Ethan for two weeks while I recuperated from the delivery and worked on breastfeeding Kate. She also insisted on doing chores during Ethan's naptime! We are really grateful for her keeping the house in order :)

In fact, she put us all to shame! Despite her age, she can outdo me any day. In addition to the long walks with Ethan in the morning, she would do the regular chores and even some yardwork!

Ethan had a great four weeks with his two grandmas. I'm afraid he's been quite spoiled with all the attention! We can't wait for them to visit us again :)