Thanksgiving and the Day After

Cinnabon! Yum.

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year because it has the best overall layout for many people and because I have TWO OVENS. Yes, a favorite feature of the new house are the double ovens. You can cook a whole turkey (18.5 lbs to be exact) on top and stuffing (which I forgot in the oven and it burned), green bean cassarole, and mashed potatoes on the bottom. Additionally, once dinner is done, you can put a pecan pie in the bottom oven to warm and cook a pumpkin pie in the top oven. One tip, don't set your oven to convect. Turns out it will cook a 18.5 pound turkey in two and a half hours instead of the expected 5 hours. Ooops!

About that turkey...I have to say Morgan made the very best turkey I have ever eaten (sorry, Grandma!). He rubbed a variety of herbs and spices under the skin and basted the bird with olive oil and garlic. About halfway through the cooking process I remembered that I had come across a marinade injector when we moved in. Its basically a big, nasty looking syringe with which you can inject the meat with its own juices from the pan or any variety or sauce or marinade. Not only is it an effective tool for keeping the turkey moist and juicy, but it's a lot of fun to use.

Conor got to eat a little of everything on the table and I think we might feed him turkey every night. That tryptophan is great! He slept from 5:45 until 7:45. A new record.

On the day after Thanksgiving Morgan and I have a tradition of going to the mall and getting our one Cinnabon for the year and generally watching the Black Friday mayhem. Conor was, of course, along for the ride and got his first taste of a Cinnabon. I know, I know, its not exactly organic but it's only once a year so I figure, what the heck!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families!

A Cool Panda Bear Rocking Toy at Cost Plus

The table before dinner

The table after dinner

OMSI - An Urban Mama's Oasis

The ball pit.

Playing with the wall of beads

Conor's Newest Trick. Say, YAYYYYYYY!

Just hanging out with Zack.

Conor loves the "big" kids

Conor and I went to OMSI last week with our dear friends, Christy and Zack. Zack is exactly one week older than Conor and Christy and I met at a New Mom's Group that is generously hosted by St. Vincent's Hospital (More on the new mom's group later. I need lots of time to go into just how much I love them) for mom's who have recently delivered there.

Christy and I are similar in that we both need to get out of the house frequently lest we go a little crazy. So she called on WEdnesday and suggested that Conor and I meet her and Zack for a couple hours of good ol' OMSI fun (for you out of towners, OMSI is the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). They have this great room for kids under six and a smaller area within that room for kids under two. It was so great and Conor loved it. He played in the ball "pit", made faces at the fish in the eye-level fish tank, and generally had a good time with his lil' buddy.

Many thanks to Christy for getting Conor and I in on her free pass and getting us out of the house so mommy and baby keep their sanity.

The Lemon

Because we are those parents who think everything our child does is both precocious and amazing, we had to get a few pictures of Conor tasting a lemon. These really don't do him justice because his little puckers were priceless.

Cannon Beach, Part II

After the beach, we headed back into town to eat some fish and chips. Of course, we took the opportunity to catch a few more shots of our adorable boy. Does he have his Daddy's eyes, or what? The first picture is of Conor playing with Morgan's face. He just loves his Dad!

Cannon Beach, Part I

So Conor woke up in what can only be described as a tizzy this morning. We plopped him in the truck and went on a drive out to the beach in an effort to get him to nap. I can't believe we've been back in Oregon for over a year, and today was our first beach trip. The weather was great for November. Pretty warm and not too cloudy or windy.

When we first got to the beach, Tucker went a little crazy chasing the seagulls. We thought he would be afraid of the waves, but he just jumped right in and kept going after the birds. He then proceeded to drink the ocean water and eat the sand. He's cute and great with Conor, but no one ever said he was smart.

It was a little too damp for playing in the sand, but Conor was able to write me a sweet little love note. Then he too, proceeded to eat the sand. Ah well, such is life. Daddy picked out his cute little fall outfit today. Good job, Daddy!

Fall

Its Fall here in Oregon and Morgan and I took the opportunity on a beautiful Saturday to rake the front yard. Considering we only have one medium sized tree, I was shocked by all the leaves. For his part, Tucker loved sitting in the pile of raked up leaves. Such a funny dog he is! Conor, on the other hand, thought the leaves were pretty terrifying. At least it seemed so by the expressions on his face. So much for our idyllic family photo.

We also met quite a few of our neighbors while raking. Its really nice to live in a neighborhood where everyone is so friendly. Most people have lived on the street for a long time, the longest, Herb, having lived here since the late 60's. Since it is a cul-de-sac, there isn't a lot of traffic and everyone hangs out and chats in their front yard. It seems like a street from another era. We love it.

Nine Months Old!

I can't believe it, but Conor is nine months old. It really doesn't seem possible that he can be that old already. Before we know it, he'll be off to college. Conor had his nine-month checkup on Monday and he weighs in at 22.5 lbs (75th%) and 31.25 inches (95th%). Unfortunately the poor little guy has an ear infection which I didn't even notice. Yeah, I felt pretty bad about that one. On the bright side, the antibiotics are making him feel much better and he is back to sleeping through the night. Whoo hoo!

It is so amazing to watch Conor grow and change every single day. He loves to crawl and has even taken a few steps on his own. His new favorite activity is to pull all his toys and books off the shelves and swim in a toy soup. He also loves his bath time and tries to crawl the length of the tub. This boy is just so amazing to us. Morgan and I love him more and more every day.

Oh, and we have teeth! Well, tooth, but we're still excited!