The Tanner-Brown, Molina-Stapleton Thanksgiving Extravaganza!

This year for Thanksgiving, we decided to spend the Holiday with our dear friends- the Molina-Stapletons. Lourdes and I both really enjoy food and wanted to make everyone happy so we came up with an extensive menu to satisfy every one's holiday meal desires.

On the menu:
Turkey (duh)
Nutty Cranberry Relish
Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing (One minus sausage for L and babies.)
Smoked Gouda Mashed Potatoes
Roasted Parsnips
Corn Casserole
Green Bean Casserole
Brussels Sprouts w/ Parsley Caper Sauce
Carrot Coins w/ Maple Balsamic Browned Butter
Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Streusel

One thing we forgot was the guy's request for a trifle- a scary layer cake with angel food, custard, jello, whipped cream, and sprinkles on top. The sprinkles are very important apparently- they add crunch. But we forgot. Dessert was out of our hands anyway. Kam, Teri, and Vin were going to stop and bring some dessert. Wednesday, Kam brought over 2 pecan pies (made with pecans from her own yard- which she and Teri slaved over cracking!) and Paula Deen's amazing Sweet Baby Jack Carrot Cake! Luckily she brought them over the day before b/c little Vin didn't nap well and they didn't ever make it over. So after our huge dinner, we stuffed ourselves silly with Kam's baking magic and the pumpkin cheesecake my cousin brought over.

I am feeling pretty proud of myself and Lourdes. We managed to take the kids to 2 stores in order to get the best deals.

Here we are in Newflower Farmer's Market where we bought onions, eggs, pimientos, broth, and wine (the main reason for the trip- Marcus James 3/$10!) The sunglasses were necessary for entertainment purposes but it only worked for about 2.5 seconds as Sienna really wanted Finley's glasses and he was quite set on keeping them for himself.





At Whole Foods they were able to sit next to each other in the rocket ship. They were entertained briefly by stirring water in little cups.
They were hungry so Lourdes gave them some yogurt.

Finley loves Sienna. Every day he says, "Friends, Sienna, friends, Sienna?" And walks around the house singing her name. Here he is rubbing her head.
Lourdes kept the kids entertained with stuffed animals and toys while I ran around throwing stuff in the cart. Total spent for the dinner was $148.00. All that food plus 6 bottles of wine- I think we did well! No cans, no boxes, everything fresh, mostly organic, and so delicious!

So fast forward to our meal. We forgot to take pictures of all of our food but here is my mom- eager to begin her meal. She said the rest of us were too slow. We were! Kevin and Jamie were in the kitchen having a lengthy discussion about Scientology with empty plates in their hands?!?
I think the kids filled up on dinner rolls.



Finley with Uncle Ryan
The kids dancing
Hayes and Finley thought it was great to each put on 1 of Lourdes' high heels and trot around the house.


The chefs!
Everyone minus my mom and brother. My cousin Reed, his wife Heather, and son Hayes recently moved back here from Seattle. We are so glad to have them home!
The kids were not interested in preserving the moment!
I hope your Thanksgiving was as lovely and memorable as ours! It was the perfect start to the Holiday Season- my favorite time of year!

Then and now

I have not had a computer for soooo long. I'm back- with a new hard drive. We just got the device that hooks your old hard drive up to a new one. It's the coolest- I don't know why we didn't get one forever ago! We just got back some pictures that were on our old computer. We were worried that we had lost them.

Now for some recent pics!

Here he likes to take this oar and hit ballls and say "goalllll!" I have no idea where he learned hockey!

He loves wearing my shoes!

Smoothie accident.

He's very sleepy here.

Hopefully I'll get back on the blog track soon. Righ now Finley is at my leg bouncing up and down, saying "eh eh eh eh eh eh!" Meaning- pay attention to me! I guess I don't have time to tell about how I was up half the night last night with a monster saying- nursies, nursies, nursies, nursies...and woke up this morning with poop smeared all over my bed after Finley took his diaper off.

So sad!

Words cannot express my feelings right now. It's not that big of a deal. But it is. Kevin cut Finley's hair. Short. People get haircuts all the time, it's just hair, it will grow back. But I am so pissed! I told him yesterday I wasn't ready. Not just yet. But I came home today and it was all gone. All of his sweet, wispy , curly,baby hair, gone. :(

Happy Labor Day!

I have been taking a little summer break from blogging. I think I am ready to start again- as this is the only way I really document Finley's events and milestones.
I can't believe summer is over! I'm so glad- which is so weird b/c summer used to be my favorite season. We had fun though. We got to the splash park a few times but mostly had lazy days at home, playing in the back yard. The sandbox Kevin built has been a huge hit, and the wading pool helped through the longest, hottest days! I have a lot of "firsts" that I managed to capture on camera~

His first chocolate cupcake! Sweetened with agave nectar- not so awful. But a rare occasion still, don't want to make it a habit.
First splash park day!


Finley's first ketchup experience. Minus the HFCS of course. I'm not sure what he thought. I was trying to make up for the less than tasty veggie pancakes he was eating. They were very bland. He seemed to enjoy it but didn't eat very much.

First time in lake (Texoma.)

Sunset picnic at White Rock
First sunset!
First time to feed self!
First ride in new car seat! He was overdue for nap!
First time to stand in the rain

Now for some random pics!

Hugs for Uncle Ryan!



Finley is saying new words at an astounding rate. It's at least 1 new per day. He says a lot of animals but makes all of their noises- but loves to go "woof" and pant like a dog. In fact, that's how he tells me if someone is knocking on the door- he says door and barks like a dog! He now says "nurse" when he wants to nurse. His favorite words are- more, water, car, mommy, dada, ball, door, what, shoes, and- of course- no. But I never know what he's going to say next. He likes to hang out in the "downward dog" position, and recently likes to kick a leg up while doing it. He thinks the word kick is really funny and likes to do it.

Bye for now~

Finley is growing up so much! He says so many words! 'No' is the favorite- he really knows how to use it! Also he says nite nite when he's tired, nana for banana, apps for applesauce. He says "up" when he throws a ball. He says Booboo for my dad's dog Blue (Kevin says blue blue.) The other day Blue was standing by the door and Finley said, "He wants you open door." It couldn't have been more clear! And, once I said, "Come here" and he said, "Wha you wan?" He has been stomping his foot and saying "Don't!" Which I hate! It's so cute but awful- did he learn that from me?!?

Peek a boo!
Long hair- too long!

First haircut-. Kevin tried to fix my uneven mess and cut it short. He looks funny- super short in front, long in back. Not like a mullett, more like a little girl.
You can kind of see the crazy hair here. He is obsessed with his toothbrush, or at least he was until it went missing.



Obviously these were pre hair cut~

No, he does not watch tv. This was just playing (copying daddy!)

4 years ago today...

Four years ago today, my brother Trey died. This morning when I woke up, this was on my bed.



Finley plays in the little cabinet where I have random "keepsakes." I guess he had been in there while I was still sleeping but this was the only thing he actually removed. Weird.

Looks like me?

See a resemblance?