So Many Thanks, So Little Time...

Mothers Goose has so much for which to be thankful, we have to split our Thanksgiving update into two posts. Our cups runneth over with thanks...a bountiful harvest of blessings...a veritable cornucopia of gratefulness... ok, you get the idea.
Before we even laid tine to turkey, we were treated to a visit from our dear friend Schindler and her adorable daughter Annie. This visit went much better for Lucia (you may recall during their last visit, Luce was perfecting her "MINES!" line on Annie). The kids had a great time running laps around the house, jumping on randomly placed pieces of inflatable furniture and of course after dinner treats. All this was a great segue into our trip to Seattle - Luce really threw herself into packing for the trip. We had a fantastic voyage to the Emerald City, but we're still recovering from the red-eye so you'll just have to wait to hear about it!

Happy Birthday TWO you...

I really can't remember what life was like two years ago BL (before Lucia), but I'm pretty sure it didn't involve a tutu cake. Yes, that was the theme of Luce's second birthday -- tutus (Mama Mer is a slave to puns). Somewhere along the line of planning this party, I guess we thought it would be a good idea to host 11 children and their parents at our place. What exactly were we thinking?! While it was a grand affair, we couldn't have possibly pulled it off without the help of Uncle Tony and Aunt Tammie (entertain Luce while we make a tutu cake!), Mimi (we forgot the cups!), Nonne (crockpot of meatballs and eggrolls!), Auntie Cathy (who has frosting equipment?!?) and anyone else I'm forgetting... thanks for keeping us somewhat sane. It's going to take awhile for Mamas to recover from this one... of course until we fly to Seattle next week!

Oh. My. Goodness.*

So thanks to our unofficial team photographer (thanks Amy!) Luce was captured in all her muddy glory the other day at my football game. I wish you all could have seen her, she was as happy as a pig in... mud. Besides splashing around in filth, Luce also enjoys one of the art world's best media - - playdoh. Mama Mer is an expert playdoh maker (ask her for the recipe!) and the family spends hours (literally) of fun attempting to make all sorts of things.
Current random acts of Lucia cuteness:
- Daylight savings is wreaking havoc on our household. Luce has been getting up between 5-5:30 every morning. That is NOT time to wake up. The other morning I went in to get her and thought bringing her back into our bed would be relaxing. Boy was I wrong. The second I put her on my pillow she thew a royal hissy fit, shoving poor Meredith screaming, "Nooooo! Mama Mer out of bed! Nooo Mama Mer!" Finally I said, Lucia do you want Mama Mer to go sleep in Mimi's bed (our guest room)? She replied with an emphatic, "YESSSS!" So off went dejected, pregnant, sleepless Mama Mer. Lucia was then silent as a mouse. Not a pleasant way to start your day.
- Mama Mer overheard this snippet of Lucia's interpretation of motherhood when Luce was carrying around her baby doll: "I rock the baby. I'm baby's mama. We gonna go watch some football." How GREAT is that?
-* This is Luce's phrase of the month. Said with dramatic pauses in between each word: Oh_my_goodness. It is impossibly cute.

And the Winner Is...

Change.
Well done America, well done.