Kaitlyn's First Thanksgiving...

Age of Lady Kaitlyn:  8 months and 3 weeks

Family,

And a good Monday evening to you from the Queen City, where the fire is blazing in the hearth, the weather outside is chilly, and the Munchkin is down for the night after crying out from her crib for the first time since JULY.  We're not sure what the problem was, but she now seems settled - kudos to wife muffin for getting Munch Munch settled back down.

What a week to recap!  It was definitely one filled with firsts, starting on Monday night when I turned on the fire about 6:30 PM.  Normally I don't turn it on until later, but this time Munch Munch was awake and saw flames for the first time.  Now granted, I don't think she fully grasped what I meant when I said "Look, K - Prometheus' greatest gift!", but I think she was intrigued all the same.

The Munch loving her first snowfall - look
at that beautiful smile!  Love my ladies!

On Tuesday, Team Taylor packed up Ellie the Elantra and headed "over the mountain" to the great state of Tennessee.  A few side notes here:

1.  For starters, it is AMAZING how much longer packing takes with a rug rat.  We spent THREE HOURS packing on Monday night, only to spend ANOTHER three hours on Tuesday morning getting everything in place and ready to go.  Between us, JT and I had 1 suitcase.  By her 19 pound lonesome, the Sneetch had the following:

1 stroller the size of a Sherman tank
1 suitcase full of clothes
1 bag full of food
1 cooler filled with refrigerated milk and food
1 diaper bag
1 infant carrier
1 high chair
1 bag of toys
1 bag of additional accessories (monitor, etc)

AMAZING!  But hey, that's life with a baby, and I was just impressed we managed to pack it all into a Hyundai sedan. :-)

2.  The weather was ATROCIOUS for the entire drive.  It was 22 and raining when we started, and the interchanges along the interstates were just horrible.  Luckily the weather was above freezing in Asheville, but still - the 20-35 mile stretch where I-40 crosses the border was ROUGH.  Ultimately what was a 3:45 trip pre-kid was a 6:15 trip on the way over, but I am happy to report that we all arrived safe and sound in Whitesburg, TN about 3:30 PM.

K petting dad's dog, named Helen Keller (YES - the dog is deaf and has
glassy eyes due to juvenile diabetes.  NO - I did NOT name her...)

Tuesday was a totally chill, relaxed day at home with Mom and Steve.  We didn't manage to get in a "nil dog" (code for Spades), but we had an absolute blast hanging out and eating like kings.  Steve and Mom pull out all the stops when we show up, and this was no exception.  Also, the addition of memory foam to our bed was a nice touch... :-)  The munchkin went down about 7:45ish, and we followed suit about 10:30.  You will notice a theme for this week - we definitely, DEFINITELY got lax in the schedule.  However, our angel baby proved quite flexible, and all worked out better than I could have dreamed.

Wednesday was over at dad's, where K got another first - her first time seeing snow fall!  We awoke that morning to a nice dusting on the ground (JT said it was her first snowfall in TN), but by the time we got to dad's it was well and truly snowing.  I really do think K loves being outside - she smiles every time she sees the trees blowing in the wind or feels the wind on her face.  This was no exception, and it was so cute to try and watch her process what she was seeing.  K also got the chance to touch a dog for the first time - she petted Helen!  And of course Jenny couldn't resist the temptation to play with Helen's new puppies - all of which were VERY cute.  We dropped K off about 6:30 or so back home before returning for an early Thanksgiving dinner with dad.  We ate like KINGS, and there was nothing but a vapor trail left of that turkey by the time we were done.

Thursday was the big day - K's first Thanksgiving!  As usual, Team Taylor rolled over to Nanny's, where K slept in her 5th crib in 5 days (such a trooper).  The meal was nothing short of FANTASTIC as always - Steve definitely outdid himself with the brined turkey, and all the sides were their usual version of Heaven.  It was a fantastic (and lazy) day - complete with 3

A dream come true (and a stroll down memory lane) for mum -
K's first bath in the kitchen sink (which, considering it's at
Nanny's house, is probably the cleanest surface she's ever sat on).

pro and 2 college football games.  And now that Nanny gets ESPN (thank you, DirecTv!), I was able to catch the Egg Bowl and lots of NFL action.  As for K, she was SUCH a great baby, and watching her bond with Nanny really was something special.

Grand Pooh holding the munch for the firs time - he's a natural!

On Friday, Team Taylor stayed at Nanny's, and the highlight for me was another first for the ages - watching Steve (aka Grand Pooh) hold a baby for the first time ever.  They were so cute together, and K was absolutely mesmerized by him.  We took it easy all day (with a few visitors coming and going), and about 6:30 Team Taylor drove to the urban metroplex that is Surgoinsville, TN to watch Benny play.  THIS was a hoot!


So here's the deal - Benny (now 62) started his musical career about age 12 in a band called "the Missing Links."  This group morphed into another band called "The odds and ends," and for the past 14 years they have performed a reunion concert at the old Surgoinsville Hardware Store (NO - you CANNOT make this stuff up).  I had no idea what to expect, but let me tell you - it was PACKED.  The venue was SO CUTE, and when I drove past it an hour before showtime there wasn't a seat in the house!  Seriously - every possible spot to park a car had been taken, and people were streaming toward the only building of any size in downtown.  When we arrived with Benny (shoulder in a sling thanks to recent surgery), the only thing left was a bench on the back row!  But the acoustics were great, the show was a blast, and the entertainment was lively for 3 hours!  And the funniest part?  The drummer was also the current mayor of Surgoinsville - classic.

K LOVES Nanny...and LOVES that gray hair.

Saturday was back to dad's for a delicious breakfast and some football (including the most epic Iron Bowl I have ever watched), complete with a 2 hour stop at Grandmother's.  She was in great spirits, and it was so good to catch up with her.  I hadn't been home since May, and so

97 years meets 9 months in a home that's 65 years old -
pretty amazing stuff.

it was very important that I get some time with her (especially since I'm not sure when the next visit will be).  We left dad's about 7:30 (after the craziest finish ever to the Iron Bowl - one that had the whole house screaming, the result of which was K terrified and crying herself into oblivion :-)), arriving home to find that Mom had laid out a mini-Christmas festivity!  We each had a stocking and a present - how do you argue with that!  It was so much fun - complete with egg nog and more candy than any human has a right to eat in a calendar year.  We then crashed about midnight or so, waking up at 7 AM (K mercifully let us sleep that night, which I desperately needed since she'd awoken at 4:45 AM on
Friday morning at Nanny's) and having a last delicious brekkie before loading the car (there wasn't a millimeter of space left in that puppy thanks to 2 boxes of clothes from the Rice clan and all the stuff from mom) and heading home via a new (and now preferred route) - the old Asheville highway.  Whilst it's got more curves than Bear Tooth pass in some places, it was a GORGEOUS drive, and it was definitely the fastest way to Asheville.

And so there you have it - an indulgent, lazy, WONDERFUL week in the Volunteer State.  Work felt VERY far away the entire time, and we got so many great pictures of a very memorable first thanksgiving that I will have a very hard time deciding which ones to include on this blog (I do the photos after I type it up).  I didn't sleep great at any point - I always struggle when K's in the room with us, and I am finding that more and more I am sensitive to noises on the monitor - but that's nothing that a little Mountain Dew and morning K cups couldn't rectify fairly quickly.  Also, I am finding that I'm now having an easier time with other folks holding and playing with K.  Obviously I think it does become easier as she gets stronger and builds up more immunities, but I think initially I had 2 fears - one that folks didn't always want to hold someone else's child (which I have now learned is almost completely categorically not the case) and second that anything someone does for a finite period of time is not going to undo the programming of the previous 9 months.  I really do hope that my parents don't think I'm an ogre with the schedule I impose on K (and by extension them) or the rules I have in place, but hey - it's a work in progress - I will do better. :-)

OK - time to start trying to wedge in 600 photos.  Chat soon!

Love,

Sam and Jenny