Julia at Five Months

So she turned five months last Wednesday. I finally got around to taking pictures (the naked ones) a few days later to remember the occasion. I also weighed her (me on the scale, then me and her on the scale) on Friday. She is now 13.6 pounds.

"On the road again!" Julia can now reach for her little car toys. She loves her little mousie, but not the bunny so much.

We got this great contraption called the Bumbo. It helps her to sit up without someone holding her there. This picture does not show the "proper" use, since it warns against use on raised surfaces (like our counter top). But she can watch me make breakfast or dinner this way. She is normally position somewhere in the middle of the large kitchen island counter top to watch dinner prep. I never leave her unattended (and she only sat on this small counter top space long enough for me to make 2 1/2 minute Cream of Wheat).

Naked baby alert! Here are a few cute ones. Just Julia and her smiling face. I love this little rocker. It is just her size right now.

Oh how she loves her Exercauser! She can now spin around in it and stand on her feet (or tippy toes). I've already had to move it up one notch since she is growing. (You're not supposed to let the babies stand flat footed in the Exercauser.)

Cute Family Alert

So, all I wanted for my birthday was a family portrait. Dave and Julia humored me and we all went to Portrait Innovations on my birthday. Here are the results of that trip. I love Julia's expression in this one:

But Dave and I look a bit better in this one here:

And here is another cute one. I just love her laughing.

And we also had some cute pictures of the baby girl taken by herself. She is roughly 4 1/2 months, for those keeping track, when these were taken.

And hopefully I'll get one more update (Julia turned five months last week) before Thanksgiving. If not, it will be up soon.

Thanksgiving Details

Ok, so here is all of the pertinent information for Thanksgiving:

Dinner will be served at roughly 3:15 pm. I know this seems like an odd time, but hey, isn't any. For those of you who are always late, pretend it says 3:00 pm (or 2:30 pm for the really late). For those of you who are always early or on time, pretend it says 3:30 pm.

Out of everyone invited the counts equate to 25 adults and 10 kids who have confirmed that they will definitely be here for the festivities. There are also approximately 10 maybes or unconfirmed (of which I think half will show). So the food needs to be prepared for 40-45 people.

The menu is as follows:

Main Courses: Fried Turkey, Roasted Turkey, Spiral Honey Ham, Baked Ziti (or Lasagna)

Appetizers and Extras: Deviled Eggs, Veggies and Dip, Pickle (and Olive) Tray, Crackers and Cheese/Cheese Balls, Turkey Gravy, Yeast Rolls (Handmade), Cranberry Sauce

Side Dishes: Sausage Dressing, Bread Stuffing (from roasted turkey), Candied Sweet Potatoes, Mashed Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, Macaroni Salad, Broccoli Bake, Tossed Salad

Desserts: Pumpkin Pie, Apple Pie, Pumpkin Rolls, Apple Cranberry Crisp, Brownies, and Cheesecake Bites

Halloween

The Great Pumpkin (a.k.a. Paw Paw and Grandma) came by a couple of weeks before Halloween and left Julia her first ever pumpkin. About a week or so before Halloween her Mommy (that would be me) carved the pumpkin while Maw Maw and Julia watched. So here is Julia with her first Jack-o-lantern. Aren't they both so cute?

And here is the cute baby girl in her Halloween outfit. (Not a real costume, but still cute.) Her shirt says, "this IS my costume," and her little hat is a jack-o-lantern. She also had cute Halloween socks, but no good pictures of them.

And here she is with a few of her cousins. First picture is Aunt Stacey, Julia, cousins Addy and Drew, and Stacey' mom Sandy. Second picture is second cousins Emily and Katie and cousin Sadie.

Just wanted to get this posted before it is too out-dated.

Thanksgiving Plans

Ok, so I am planning on doing Thanksgiving at our house this year. Most every holiday we spend running the roads from my mom's to my dad's to Dave's family (or something close to that schedule). This time everyone can come visit at our place and we won't feel as rushed, hopefully.

This means that, by inviting everyone, there may be 50+ people to entertain and feed. I also need to figure out exactly which dishes I want to take care of myself and which ones I would like for others to bring. I am very exciting to be doing Thanksgiving here at home! I am hoping that all goes well and it is not too overwhelming.

And just so no one feels left out or not invited, here is the preliminary list of everyone I'm hoping will show (all single adults are allowed to bring a guest):

Dave's Side: Mary (Mom), Betsy, Ritchie, Dylan, Brooke, Irene, Richard, Andy, Stacey, Addy, Drew, Tim, Sandy, Warren (Dad), Karen, Melissa, Jeff, Michael

Sharon's Side: Carol (Mom), Paul, Daniel, Gabriel, John, Casey, Vicki, Phil, Billy, Bill (Dad), Becky, Joel, Kristy, John, Alyssa, Stephanie, Jordan, Tommy, Jen, Miranda, Sadie

Maw's Side: Maw, Big Aunt Judy, Little Aunt Judy, Uncle Jerry, Ashley, Donnie, Tiffany, Travis, Jake, Aunt Margaret, Uncle Mike, Matthew, Mitchell, Maxwell

I'll add another post in the next couple of days with a list of food for everyone to pick from to bring to the house. Everyone can send me an email or call me to let me know whether you are coming or not and if you'd like to bring a dish or not. More to come later...