Thanksgiving

As usual I'm a few days late in posting about the most recent events, but oh well. This is our life.

We had the pleasure of spending Thanksgiving at Seven Springs ski resort in western Pennsylvania with Rob's extended Bedinghaus family. There was no snow at the resort yet, but we still had a fun time and enjoyed the resort. Rob's family rented a huge house and then some smaller sleeping cabins nearby to accommodate all 24 of us. The lodge and property were beautiful and perfect for fishing, walking, lots of games and eating. Additionally, we were able to use the resort itself which had restaurants, a lovely pool, a spa and an arcade.

The main lodge house where we stayed

Part of the pond complete with a pair of swans

Rob and the men went clay shooting one morning. The next day the women went to the spa...it was only fair!

One evening we went up to Pittsburgh for dinner at Buca Di Beppos. All 17 of the cousins sat at the huge "Pope Table". Here the Pope is sampling some of our dessert.

We were happy to welcome Ryan, Lauren's boyfriend with us for the weekend too. He's looking a little orange here and as usual Kayla is looking weird.

After dinner we rode an incline up a hill overlooking downtown Pittsburgh. It was beautiful with all the lights.

Family picture missing a few members.

This side of the family is more spread out with members traveling from Georgia, Ohio, Virginia and San Francisco. I hadn't spent a lot of time with them as a group, but they are a comfortable family who likes to have fun. We spent the evenings playing big group games like OLD (a version of charades and telephone), four on a couch, Pictionary and our version of Minute to Win It. There were many moments of our game playing that were priceless -- my father-in-law trying to get an Oreo from his forehead into his mouth during Minute to Win It by only wiggling his face comes to mind. Fun I tell you.

Unfortunately I don't have any photos of dad doing the game I mentioned, but Rob snapped this lovely shot of me stuffed with balloons for another game.

Aside from the drive and some coughing fits in the night, Liam did pretty well. I think he was a little overwhelmed by all the people and tended to only want to be with "ba-ba" which is how he says "mama" now. So it wasn't so much a vacation for me as I would have hoped, but it was still a nice time. This trip definitely confirmed our decision to drive through the night at Christmas when we go to my parents. When your baby only sleeps for 45 minutes during an eight and a half hour drive you will resort to drastic measures. It's actually amazing I don't need to go to the chiropractor this week to get my neck put back straight after all the time I spent turned around in the passenger seat trying to give Liam snacks or things to play with.

But you know, that is just the season we are in right now. Squirmy almost 14-month olds just don't want to sit still. I'm still thankful we were able to go and spend time with family. I'm thankful to be blessed with such great in-law family members too. I know it's a little late, but what are you thankful for this season? Happy belated Thanksgiving!

Bandana Update

It's day number three for the King of Drool to wear his bandanas and I must say, it's going well. I wasn't sure how he would respond to having something around his neck all day, but he doesn't seem to mind. The bandanas have been doing a good job of catching most of the drool and he looks pretty cute in the process. Yesterday he wore khaki overalls and a blue bandana to church and looked like he was going to a hoe down. (A cute hoe down that is).

All that to say, I'm hoping this drooling is a phase until the rest of his molars break through. It's not very fun, especially when I look under his chin and see how chapped and red his neck is from where the wet shirts rub against him. Poor baby.

We have gray...

And we have blue. Both soaking wet.

Up close and personal. Liam is fascinated by the camera so it's hard to snap a photo these days without him coming right up to me.

In case you were curious, bandanas are the perfect fashion accessory for future drummers who would rather drum on metal doors than their drums. Oh and who think pants stifle their creative genius.

Happy Birthday Rob!

It's a fact. We keep getting older and we keep celebrating birthdays around here. I was especially reminded of how fast a year goes yesterday when I compared these two pictures:

Baby Liam in his confetti onesie and paper hat for papa's birthday. 24 days old!

And this year. My baby is growing up so fast! As usual he didn't want to sit still. This was about picture number five.

Happy that it's papa's birthday

We had a fun day for Rob's 26th birthday. He asked for a Pumpkin Nutella cheesecake which I happily made for him, creating a huge mess along the way. It turned out perfectly though and was very tasty. Thankfully we had some friends come over in the evening to help us eat the cheesecake.

Making a mess in my kitchen.

Earlier in the day Liam and I worked on a birthday card for papa. Liam still doesn't understand crayons; he just wants to take them in and out of the box. And then, I turned my back for one second and...

...there was blue crayon on the wall. He knows how to use a crayon that way! I'm sure Magic Eraser will take it off, but I kind of like it there. Not that it is acceptable behavior to color on the walls, but it makes our house feel more lived in.

Eventually I did get Liam to color a little bit and hold still long enough to trace his hand for the card.

We had a full week so we were thankful for a visit from Rob's parents today so we could have a little date to continue the birthday celebration. It was so nice to leave home and have a relaxing lunch with Rob without Liam. He had to teach in the afternoon, so I strolled around Target and the mall by myself. I honestly didn't know what to do. It was so easy - no carseats, no looking for carts with a buckle, no bribing with Cheerios, no whining. However, I kept seeing moms with their kids and I missed my baby. I picked Rob up from school and we spent the afternoon at home with his parents.

While we were gone though, mom took 80 some pictures of Liam that I uploaded on to my computer. He had a grand time with Mimi and Boppy while we were gone.

Reading a new book with Boppy

Of course, a gift bag. Could a boy ask for a better toy?

Then they took a trip to the park

Swinging!

I love you Rob! You are a wonderful husband and papa. I hope our next year is even better than this one.