The only thing better than a turkey dinner...

...is having TWO turkey dinners on the same day with both sides of your family! So says Sweet D, anyway, but he didn't have to do any of the cooking.

We always pat ourselves on the back at this time of the year for buying a house within 25 minutes of each of our parents' houses. The holidays are hectic enough without having to deal with airports!

So I seem to be making a habit of taking Baby Rut's Holiday outfit pictures on the day AFTER the holiday. As you read in the last post, he received his first round of shots on Halloween and, thus, was not exactly in a smiling mood when mommy pulled out the camera to commemorate Baby's First Boo! So, I bundled him back into his Halloween outfit on the morning of November 1st and captured a few shots. This past Thursday he was, of course, all decked out in his cute "Gobble, Gobble" onesie, khaki corduroys, and green argyle socks in anticipation of his first Thanksgiving until Sweet D forgot to... *ahem*....'cover all the bases' during a routine diaper change. Mommy had forgotten to pack extra clothes, naturally, so Baby Rut spent the rest of the time at the Wells Family (my side) Thanksgiving in a rather feminine-looking (although not nearly as feminine as the one offered by Aunt Jen!) Gerber onesie that, even though it was a 6-9 month size, was rather snug. 4 PM found us at our second Thanksgiving dinner for the day, this time with the Rut clan. Very relaxed atmosphere and several food items that hadn't been featured in the earlier meal, namely some delish mashed potatoes made with heavy cream (oooh, the decadence!), pumpkin pie, and a squash & zucchini casserole made by yours truly! Don't worry, I delivered for the first meal, too-- my roasted vegetables (butternut squash, brussel sprouts, asparagus, carrots, yellow squash, zucchini, and onions) and sauteed spinach were well-received! Peeling and cutting the butternut squash was quite a culinary adventure, by the way, but the results were supreme and I won't be nearly as intimidated next time! All in all, a wonderful Thanksgiving filled to the brim with yummy food and family fun. It was a good thing we didn't go around saying what we were thankful for at either gathering, because I know I would have absolutely lost it. Sweet D and I have never felt more thankful than we do this year, having been blessed with our sweet, healthy, and happy baby boy.

The rest of Turkey Weekend passed in a flurry of football and "flumpiness." I did NOT join the masses shopping on Black Friday. I spent almost the entire day in my PJs, in fact, because it was cold and rainy and yuck outside. We did go back to the Rut's that afternoon so Baby could say hello to his Great Uncle Gary and his Godparents, Uncle Kerry and Aunt Renee. Sweet D also celebrated A&M's win over Texas and the retirement of A&M's head football coach. When we got home that night we kicked off the Christmas season by having our first viewing of Love Actually, our absolute favorite Christmas movie.

We accomplished the square root of nothing on Saturday. Well, that's not true-- Sweet D spent a couple of hours at the office and got a haircut. Then he got into his Homer Simpson jammies and joined Baby Rut, Otis, and me in our rainy Saturday wuss-pile. That night we watched Reign Over Me with Adam Sandler, which was only so-so but had some pretty impressive character development.

Sunday was church and lunch at Casa Ole, then more naps. Business as usual, you might say. Absolutely smashing Thanksgiving Holiday weekend for the Ruts, altogether.

Last Sunday was fun for me, too-- I visited the Brookwood Community for the first time with my friend, Jeny B. We had good time for girl talk on the drive there and back, yummy lunch in the cafe, and a nice time shopping the festively-decorated gift shop. I bought a few ornaments and a book called The Next Place, which I have yet to be able to finish without getting all weepy because it makes me think about my grandfather, for whom Baby Rut is named.

Baby Rut updates, then those pictures I promised:

• He still is a card-carrying member of the Hairclub for Babies, although he's no longer the president. Lots of hair at the back, oddly enough, and starting to gain some more 'baby chick' fuzz on the top and sides.
  
• He fits comfortably into Carter's 6 months clothing. I have a ton of newborn, 0-3, and 3-6 month clothes to put in storage for the next Rut Baby.


• He's very close to outgrowing his size 2 diapers. We prefer Pampers Swaddlers, they're soft and I like the stretchy tabs on the sides.


• He has really started to fall into a nice routine. He gets a last good stretch of sleep from about 8:30-10:30 am or so, then he takes little cat naps after each feeding. While he's awake, he is perfectly content to hang out on his play mat or in his bouncy chair while I piddle around with laundry or dishes or just reading the paper. He also is starting to enjoy his Jumparoo a little more. He's especially fascinated by the blue lizard and the red parrot that hang from the leaves over his head.


• He is a very happy baby! I get lots of smiles and "aw shucks" from him all day long. I can hardly wait to hear him laugh out loud for the first time. Right now we get lots of cooing, babbling, and semi-giggles.


• Baby Rut loves his bath! He splashes and smiles and just has a jolly good time, in general. Sweet D is head man in charge of bathtime, and I often hear him laughing from the upstairs bathroom after Baby Rut has done something especially cute. He also still loves his cradle swing, although he's getting dangerously close to outgrowing it. Never fear, though, as I found a new one for him to enjoy until he's a little bigger.

Okay, pictures:

1. Baby Rut's first visit to Eagle Lake, with his nifty zebra rocking chair. See his brown corduroy overalls? They have little weiner dogs embroidered all over them! How stinkin' cute is that? Beba found those at the Katy Moms of Multiples sale just after Baby Rut was born. Moozie also bought him the rocking chair at that sale. We take that chair everywhere, it makes for a very happy baby.

2. Baby's first Boo, taken on November 1st. How cute is that expression on his face?

3. Wearing the cute little red plaid outfit that Mommy bought this past summer when Pottery Barn was having a big sale on baby clothes. It was the only outfit I bought for him before he was born, and I'm proud to say that he was able to wear it at least 5 times before it finally got too "cold." If the temps get back into the 80s, though, he's totally going to wear it again! Notice his cute "shoe socks", which were given to him by Moozie's friend, Betsy.

4. *Sigh* I love it when he smiles like this! Enjoying his jumperoo.

5. Baby's first Gobble Gobble, taken the day after Thanksgiving. I am determined to take a picture of him wearing his holiday finery ON Christmas Day! In fact, Baby Rut is visiting Santa on Monday with Aunt Jen his twin girl cousins. Should be quite an adventure! Oh, and note his cute green argyle socks. Who doesn't love a baby boy in argyle socks?