Thanksgiving weekend!

our little turkey on turkey day

football, anyone?

Joe looks a little cracked out here, but Jakey looks pretty cute!

my "little" cousins and me

Jake's new toy (a gift from my parents)

little drummer boy

Thanksgiving weekend went by so fast! We spent turkey day at my parents house, and enjoyed a yummy turkey dinner. Jake loved the turkey, cranberry sauce and biscuit, but didn't want to eat anything else - including my favorite part - the stuffing! One of these years he'll learn what the best part of Thanksgiving dinner is! Until then, more for me :) My Nana, Aunt & Uncle and cousins were there, along with my cousin Joey's girlfriend, and Jake was a little overwhelmed at first with all of the people. He warmed up quickly though and was soon showing off for everyone. It was so great to see all of them, and they had so much fun playing with Jake. It's just too bad we only get to see them a couple times a year.

The rest of the weekend was filled with Christmas shopping, a visit from Joe's Godmother and her daughters, dinner with friends, putting up our outdoor Christmas lights, a family photo session, our normal Sunday family dinner, and even a visit to Santa! Jake refused to sit on Santa's lap and tried to run away, but when I brought him back to Santa, Santa offered Jake his big chair to sit on! Jake loved that! Santa knelt down next to him and they were able to take a few pictures. Jake even gave Santa 2 hugs! It was such a big change from last year when he cried and screamed on Santa's lap. Santa was so nice to offer Jakey his chair, and it made all the difference. Yay! Santa success!

December is going to be such a busy month, and then Jake starts preschool on January 3rd! He is getting to be such a big boy. He is rapidly outgrowing his crib, so we decided to get him a "big boy bed" (a twin bed) this weekend. At first, we will put the mattress on the floor so he can get adjusted to the new bed without us worrying that he will fall out! Eventually, we will add the bed frame and box spring. His bed gets delivered next week, but we will probably wait until after Christmas to put it in his room, so that Joe can help with the transition (Joe is taking a few days off between Christmas and New Years). We purchased sheets and a comforter with Jake's favorite Cars characters so that will hopefully help Jake make the big switch from crib to bed. He is such a good crib sleeper, so we really don't want to mess with a good thing, but we know the longer we wait, the harder the transition will be for him, so we're going to give it a try. Wish us luck!

Christmas will be so much fun this year, now that Jakey can understand it a little bit better! We haven't decorated the inside of the house yet, but I'm hoping to get that done (or at least started!) this week. And I will have my #1 helper Jake to help me decorate! We will put up an artificial tree in the family room, and then we will get a real tree for the living room in the next few weeks. Christmas is my second favorite holiday after Halloween, and I can't wait to go full steam ahead into the Christmas season! But first, we will be celebrating Joe's birthday on Wednesday!