Holiday Plans

I know that Thanksgiving follows Ada's birthday in short succession -- at least in theory. But I somehow didn't realize that this time next week, we'll all be in the throws of Black Friday. What are you guys doing for Thanksgiving this year? The last several years have been quiet for us. Our travels one year were even stopped due to a snowstorm, so I'm hoping that won't happen again.

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This year, we plan to go to my hometown, Wellsboro, PA, for Thanksgiving. I'll be honest: I'm anxious about it. Eloise's sleep arrangements are downright weird right now. I definitely need a dedicated post on it. She sleeps in a moving swing exclusively for her naps and for the first part of her sleep before the dream-feed each night. Then she's in the Rock 'n Play for the rest of the night next to our bed. I had wanted the co-sleeper to work, but her reflux ended up being awful, so I sold it.

So, yeah. We will be staying out of town with her for the first time since July (when she was a sleepy newborn and, though I never did a recap, the trip was not the easiest). And I'm pretty sure I'll need all the coffee to power through not sleeping. For those of you who have followed a while, YES! I am now drinking coffee. Did I just see a pig fly by? Just a single cup each day in the early afternoon. I've needed it, and hazelnut with a splash of unsweetened coconut milk is my favorite.


My family goes out to eat for holidays. That might sound sacrilege to many of you, but it's tradition for me. In fact, I love cooking so much now that I'm older. But I'll tell you something -- I feel at home getting all gussied up and going out to eat with my family. It's fun. The place we went my entire childhood is this gorgeous old hotel in the center of the Main Street area. There'd be a buffet, live piano music, and I'd see many of my friends. Then the family would come to our house and visit for the bulk of the afternoon.

That being said, we'll be returning from our trip on Friday. My brother and his girlfriend will also be coming with us to stay a night or two (so excited!), and I'm hoping that we'll get a fresh-cut Christmas tree from the farm up the road, make some good food, and maybe even go ice skating. There are some shops that are having small business Saturday sales that I want to check out. Most of our Christmas shopping is done, though.


I also want to take a new Christmas photo over the holiday break. You guys know I do all of them with self-timers and such. I don't know how that is going to work with two kids. (One of these days I'd love to schedule real family photos! UPDATE: I DID SCHEDULE SOME WITH A PHOTOGRAPHER FRIEND BACK HOME!!!) We have our outfits picked out, though. That's half of the battle! Now we just need a location, good weather (which -- for me -- means cloudy diffusing of light), and cooperation from the little ones.

Anyway, that's what we have on tap in the coming week or so. What is on your Thanksgiving menu this year? Though we'll be going out to eat, we always do our own dinner of sorts on the weekend. I will be sharing some of the stuff we plan to make early next week!

Happy Friday!

PS: Don't miss this year's gift lists! I'll have the last two up next week as well.