What Kind Of Mother Were You Going To Be?

Before Stella, I talked up what a minimalist mother I was going to be.  Who needs piles of toys?  My kids were going to collect sticks and play with spatulas and rolling pins.  If you want to get them gifts, books only please. 

But a swing is great for a fussy baby and a bouncer helps too.  Before long sitting in a Bumbo provides a different way to see the world.  Then all those excellent mothers I know swore by different baby products.  Then there was that steal on Craigslist and something we couldn't  pass up on the street ("Are they really throwing away that Hotwheels jeep?") and the gifts. 

And before I knew it we accumulated a lot of stuff.  Guess we'll just make a small fortune reselling it after our baby years are behind us. 

HACKED!

what the heck happened to our blog?  is someone playing a joke on me or did i accidentally make it look like this!?

i better get it back to my crisp, clean white background asap.

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving isn't ALL about the food.  But pretty close. 

This year we broke tradition (Thanksgiving at my parents' house) and went out my uncle's new house palace.  Dinner was FANTASTIC.  Ohhhhh, the food.  Jason said this was the best meal he's ever had...or something like that.  Here's a quick run down so I can read this and reminisce in March.  

- french onion soup (my favorite) or italian wedding soup (tough choice)

- fried turkeys (glad I finally got to try one but I may prefer traditional)

- mashed potatoes

- sweet potatoes (not in the usual sugary sauce but still sweet.  loved them!)

- sausage stuffing (i just started to salivate)

- creamed spinach

- artichoke casserole

- peas with onion and prosciutto (you didn't know peas could be this good)

- homemade rolls

- corn casserole (paula deen knows what she's doing.  this dish change you life.)

I regret dressing Anton in his Christmas outfit and not in our pink/blue color scheme.  I also regret not doing my hair.

We stayed over a few days which made it feel like a vacation.  We lounged around, went for a walk on the beach and Stella played with their patient Boston Terriers.  It was lovely.