Thanksgiving 2008

I know I've been a little absent from blogging, but this happens every December. I cannot find the time to sit down for a few minutes and gather my thoughts because of the holiday specials on TV or Christmas parties or taking Ellie to see the lights someplace. The big problem with extended lapses in blogging is that I usually can't remember what happened yesterday so trying to write about things that happened 10 days ago is difficult. I was home by myself this weekend because Lee went hunting at the ranch with Matt and Ronnie. I thought I was going to have time to blog then, but I actually have less time when Lee is away because there's so many other things I have to be doing when Ellie is asleep.

Ellie had her 18 month appointment last week and these were her stats:
Weight: 26.9 (80th percentile)
Length: 34.25 inches (95th percentile)
Head: 18 inches (25th percentile)

Since birth she has been in the 95th percentile for height but this is the first time she's broken the 50th percentile for weight. Looks like she needs to go a little easier on the Cheerios.

We went to Tyler for Thanksgiving this year. We arrived on Wednesday night and about 30 minuted from the Bright's house, Ellie decided that she was through being in the car and threw a fit. I think she was a little hungry too, but it wasn't pleasant. We swung by a party that the neighbors were having and then relaxed. The next day my parents came to Tyler to celebrate with us. Ellie and I spent the morning at the park while Lee helped his dad get some items out of storage. That afternoon while Ellie was asleep, I saw the movie Twilight with Ben. I felt sort of bad dragging Ben with me to the movies, but there was nobody else who could go with me.

For Thanksgiving dinner, we had Tee, Beth, my mom and dad, Elizabeth, Ben, David and Lissa, and our family. This year Ellie could actually eat the turkey, dressing, and all of the extras, but I think most of the dishes were too flavorful or spicy for her because she didn't seem to like most of it. On Friday, we came back to Dallas and picked up our Christmas tree.

Ellie established a new favorite word - "no". She's known this word for a while, but now uses it with great gusto. I took her for Christmas pictures on Saturday and the poor photographer had quite a time. Ellie, do you want to smile? NO! Can you sit here? NO! Show me your teeth. NO! Or at home: Do you love Daddy? NO! Can I have a hug? NO! Please give me the remote. NO! Did you just poo-poo? NO!! Are you sure because I smell it. I poo-poo? Yes, you did. NO! Seriously, let me change your diaper. NO! Anyway, the pictures were somewhat of a disaster, but the guy got one shot I could use so that's what we're going with. I was worn out by the end of it. We finished up the morning by walking around the Galleria to look at the Christmas tree on the ice rink and visiting the American Girl store. I can't wait until Ellie is old enough to get into the American Girl stuff. I think I'll probably like it more than her. That night, Lee went to poker while I put up all of our decorations and watched part of WALL-E with Ellie. Such a cute movie. She called him "Wah-wee" and she called his little cockroach friend "bee" mostly because she thinks every bug is a bee. She saw the DVD in the grocery store the next day and started screaming "Wah-wee! Wah-wee!".

As I mentioned, Ellie and I were home alone this weekend while Lee went hunting. I had big plans for us to go to the Adolphus Children's Christmas Parade in downtown, but she started coming down with a cold on Friday night and was running a low-grade fever so I thought it would be best if we stayed home. My company Christmas party was Saturday night at a nearby co-worker's house and it was quite possibly the most fun I'd ever had at a Christmas party. It was out of control. We had an ugly Christmas sweater contest and since I helped plan the party, I made an executive decision on Tuesday to rent a karaoke machine and our office parties may never be the same again. Everyone got so into it. I spent most of the night holding my sides because I was in pain from laughing so hard. Some people actually want to buy a karaoke machine for the office so we can sing during the lunch hour. I don't know if I want to take it that far. But I may want one for home enjoyment.

Needless to say, it was hard getting up on Sunday morning for Katy's Christmas brunch. Ellie had fun playing with the three other children at Katy's house and had even more fun carrying around the pink bag that Katy gave her. She showed it off to the whole party. That's my wallflower. We have so many events planned for the upcoming days until Christmas arrives... I'm going to do my best to work in some blogs!