Happy First Thanksgiving!!

(Hi. I wrote this message on Friday night and have been trying to upload a few more pics to add to it since then. I'm giving up and posting it without the extra pics...boo)

Greetings from the Bluegrass state! We've been here since Wednesday evening visiting with Brian's family and eating a little bit of food now and then. :) I'm happy to report that Katy had probably the best road trip yet. If I haven't told you about our past road trips - they've been pretty awful. Lots of tears, lots of pulling over, sometimes in not-so-safe places, and not much shut-eye at all. But gradually it's been getting better. And this trip, we had 4 hour, that's 240 minutes, of not a fuss. The end of the trip, though, she decided she had had enough, and got a little frustrated. But heck, I'll take that any day.

Hasn't the weather been awesome?!? Who would've thought that we could go to the park on Thanksgiving Day? Well, that's what we did, and Katy had her first experience in the swing - and boy - she LOVED it. She giggled and giggled, it was so adorable.

Then we dinner with all the fixin's with Brian's Mom and John, along with Danielle and her son Jonathan. Katy actually sat at the table in a booster seat and ate sweet potatoes.

Today we were joined by Mark, Kelly, and Katy's 3 cutie cousins. Once again we were headed to the park, for more swinging, as well as some other adventures. Katy also enjoyed some Black Friday shopping in the Baby Bjorn (baby carrier). I purchased the Baby Bjorn at a consignment shop for $20 before Katy was born, and that is the #1 thing I could not live without. Sadly she is getting heavier, and I don't know how much longer I can carry her on my front. I have looked into getting a back carrier, but I'm just skeptical that she will like anything else as much as she adores her Bjorn. And she gets so much attention from everyone we see.

Let's hope tomorrow's drive is as pleasant as Wednesday's... heading home to the Buckeye state...

Now and Then

I forgot to mention in the middle of all this Michigan hype that Katy turned 6 months old. Let's take a look at how she has changed:

May 2006 - 5 days old

Today, November 21, 2006, 6 months old

It's a shame that every time a baby reaches a major milestone, we take them to the doctor and celebrate by sticking needles in their leg. But that's what we did yesterday. She did pretty well. And she weighs 15 pounds, 6 oz., is 26 inches long, both of those are 50%'ile. She's doubled her birthweight, which is supposed to be some milestone for sleeping... speaking of that: the doc said that if I want to, I can try to get her to stop getting up twice a night. The process of doing that, however, seems daunting. As if on cue, last night Katy only got up once, which she hasn't done in a long time. It's as if she heard us talking and said, "that sounds awful, how about I make you a deal and just do it once?"

She has also started babbling the last few days, which is incredibly cute. She does some combination of "Dadada...yayayay...bababab..." etc. I love it when people at the doctor's office, etc., comment on how adorable she is, but you also want to invite them over to your house later that afternoon to get the whole picture. :)

Aunt Mel's Michigan highlights

Mel - carrying the torch. (see previous post for details)

105,785 (a stadium record) fans rush the field

A few students take home a little souvenir from the game...(I'm not going to say whether Melanie participated in such destructive behavior :))

The cops stand 3 deep to protect that precious goal post.