10 months

This post is a few days late- November 26th sneaked right past me with all the Thanksgiving business going on! Palmer is getting more mobile day by day. He does a pretty good army crawl on the wood floors when there is a tempting item beyond his reach (aka, cat food & water). A few times a day he gets up on all fours too, but doesn't stay this way for too long. In other news, I think it's time to retire the beloved Bumbo til baby #2 before Palmer tips it over! He leans waaaaaay over sometimes while sitting in it and I think disaster is imminent. It's on to the high chair full time now. We'll just be carrying it back and forth to the dining room since Palmer and I spend a lot of time in the kitchen during the day!

Palmer's mobility is not the only thing increasing lately. This little man is getting an attitude! He cried, real tears, at dinner the other night when he didn't like his "mac & cheese" dinner. What a hard life he has :). The other incident that comes to mind is the little fit he threw when we took an iPhone away from him on Thanksgiving. He did not forget about it for a good 5 minutes and tossed aside all other toys offered to him! Although his newly forming opinions may be an inconvenience on occasion, it's still really neat to see him making decisions and becoming a little individual!
Oh, and one last thing. Palmer now has EIGHT teeth!

thanksgiving & beyond

We had such a wonderful turkey day with family! The food was yummy and plentiful. I roasted a turkey with no lid for the first time, and I think it turned out great! I rubbed it with an herb butter made with our own parsley and thyme, plus store bought rosemary and sage. I basted with warm chicken stock from the stovetop every 20 minutes or so and got a beautiful golden brown color. Check it out!

I did tent the turkey with foil once it got brown so it didn't get too dark on the very top. Nate and Tyler did the carving so we didn't have to pull it apart with our hands :)

Let me say I don't know how Thanksgiving dinner gets finished without double ovens. I guess everything just has to wait its turn! It was nice being able to have two free ovens while the turkey rested since dinner rolls, mashed potatoes, and stuffing need different baking temperatures. Other sides we gobbled up included salad with avocado and gorgonzola, green bean casserole, creamy corn with green chilies, deviled eggs, cranberry sauce, and probably more that I'm forgetting!

My mom brought 5 pies, (pecan, apple, cherry, chocolate, and pumpkin), and Tyler's mom brought a caramel pie, so we had plenty of dessert! During coffee and pie after lunch, we engaged in a few rounds of Mexican Train dominoes, and since we didn't keep score I can claim victory, right :) ? My mom took a bunch of family photos, so head to facebook if you want to see more!
Sweet Palmer was very happy all day with lots of hustle and bustle around him. He is a people watcher, so 10 extra folks at the house was a treat! Palmer ate the Turkey Dinner flavor of Earth's Best baby food for lunch, so he was in on the flavors of the day. I may or may not have given him some melted Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla later in the afternoon. . . what the heck, it's the holidays!

wreath on the cheap

I have been looking at wreaths in all the holiday circulars lately, and very nearly bought this one on sale at Target for $20. . .but missed the sale, drat! This particular wreath was $25 regular price, which I probably would have paid if I hadn't stumbled upon the 50% off Christmas floral sale at Hobby Lobby last week.

I started out looking at Hobby Lobby's pre-decorated wreaths, but couldn't find one I really liked. Next, I went down the aisle filled with pinecones, glittery branches, festive berry sprigs and more that are meant for decorating your own garland and wreaths. I was sold on making my own after this!

I got a plain wreath with bendy pine twigs like on an artificial tree, some red berry sprigs, a pretty gold bow, and some flamboyantly glittered pine needley things. The bow was a little pricey, but I didn't really want to buy a whole roll of wide, wired gold ribbon that I would only use for one bow. (Plus I didn't want to make the bow. . . I had enough of this in 2008 for our wedding :) I love the look of red berries in Christmas decor, and got the gold glittery things to tie in the color of the bow.

Here is the breakdown on prices. . .

plain wreath $9.99
fancy gold bow $5.99
3 red berry twigs @ $1.27 ea- $3.81
2 gold glitter pine sprigs @ $2.27 ea- $4.54

TOTAL- $24.33
after 50% discount for Christmas floral sale- $12.17!!!

My mom helped me place the 3 berry twigs in a clockwise spiral, following the direction of the wreath needles, with the bow centered on top. I cut the glittery pine sprigs into individual, err, needle bunches, and dispersed them evenly over the whole wreath. We used floral wire to secure everything to the metal wreath frame, and ta-da!


Pretty good for $12, dontcha think? :)