Happy Thanksgiving!

We hosted Thanksgiving at our place this year. We had nine guests total so we got to use the leaf in our new dining room table for the first time! In attendance were (from the Fix side) Papa John, Nana Kerry, Uncle Jason (unfortunately no fiance Heather!), and Aunt Susi. And from the Brockman side, Grandpa Rock, Grandma Melanie, and Aunt Zuni. Notice how I did not call either Susanna by her full name. I did not want to be accused of playing favorites! This was true even on their candle place cards. Instead of typical place cards, I printed everyone's name on vellum and wrapped them around a glass (tea light) candle holder in front of their places. I was pretty pleased with how they turned out.

I was also pleased with how our cheeseball turkey appetizer turned out. This recipe is from my old coworker Cheryl and it is AMAZING. And it tastes even better when it's shaped like a turkey. YUM! Speaking of yum, ALL of our food was incredibly delicious this year. Since we all contributed something, I think that everyone had the time to really make their part of the meal truly wonderful. It was the best Thanksgiving meal I've had in a really long time. Of course, we did miss being with our California family -- the Millers/Colemans/Rosencrantz' clan and Mrs. Miller's amazing wild rice. Alas, you can't have everything.

POP QUIZ - 2 Questions:

1) Who weighed more our turkey or Rock?

2) See if you can spy the difference between the two pictures below. (answers to the pop quiz are at the end of this blog)

1) Although Rock looks bigger than the turkey, he weighed exactly a pound less -- the turkey was 16 lbs. 4 oz. and Rock is 15 lbs. 4 oz.

2) In the second picture, Rock has joined us at the head of the table.

2 Months and growing!

At Rock's 2-month appointment (11/20/07), he was 15 lbs. and 4 oz. This puts him in the 97-99th percentile for weight and makes him the average size of a 4 1/2 month old! In order to be considered 'healthy' doctors like to see babies double their weight by 5 months of age. Since he was 8 lbs. 1 oz. when he was born, we were excited to see that he has almost accomplished this feat in 2 months. What an overachiever!
His head (which we thought was big) is actually only in the 25th percentile. I didn't get the exact measurement, but I had the doctor double check that he was reading the measurement correctly because we couldn't believe that his head is little!
His length was 24 inches. At two feet long, he is in the 70-95th percentile. Don't ask me why that range is so big. Anyway, all this is good news because it means three things:

1) The boy is growing strong and healthy!

2) The boy is growing at a slower rate (good for mom and dad's backs!). In his first month, he gained over 4 lbs. In this second month of life, he only gained 3 lbs!

3) He is on the right track to beat my cousin Tyler's record (in our family) of being 17 lbs. at his 3 month appointment!

Kilts are Fun for EVERYONE!

Uncle Jason is getting married on Dec. 29th. For his wedding, he and his best man (Fix) and his father are all wearing kilts. They had kilts made especially for this occasion in the Gillespie dress tartan. Last Tuesday, we met Uncle Jason and Papa John in Alexandria to get fitted for the jackets and other accessories that they will be renting to wear with their kilts. In the picture above, Jason is doing his best Rock-sad-face impersonation and Papa John snuck in the back of the picture!
Here are all the men getting ready to try on their jackets (by the way, I apologize if there is an official Scottish name for the jacket... I can't remember these things!).
The groom being fitted. It should also be noted that we got extra tartan material for me to sew (unofficial) kilts for Rock and his cousin Caleb to wear to the wedding. If anyone knows of a great kilt pattern for babies, send it my way!

Sleeping with my shoes on...

This picture was taken for two reasons:
1) It was Rock's first time wearing shoes!!!
2) I set him down in his Boppy because his dad was not at home (he was off getting approved for Ordination by the Potomac Presbytery -- which all went off without a hitch so he'll be being ordained this coming Sunday evening at 6:00 at our church. If you are in the area, you are invited! Come one, come all, it'll be a very special evening) and I needed to grab a few things in the other room. Rock did not want to be set down so he started screaming. I walked into the other room and he immediately went silent. Worried that maybe he had fallen off the couch or something, I rushed back into the living room. But when I came back in I saw that everything was okay and he had simply passed out completely in a matter of seconds. Poor tired boy!

Don't Worry -- It's only Water!

And I didn't drink any of it.

Rock and Clip

Everyone loves a good game of "Let's Compare the Babies!" Here Rock and Clip pose again while the adults took a million pictures.
Holding hands.
A close up. The crazy part is how they are almost the same size even though Rock is a month younger than Clip.
Fix you are not a baby. We will not compare you to the other babies.
Aiden and Sophie checking out the growing boys.

Fake Thanksgiving

For our November Monday Night Dinner with the Rabenhorsts, Hathaways, and Brockmans, we had a fake Thanksgiving. Because everyone loves the Thanksgiving meal so much, Annie suggested that we eat it twice this year. Of course we all agreed. Above is a pic of Rock with his favorite Aunt Susanna in Maryland.
Fix is doing his Clip impersonation. Clip has an adorable habit of sucking on his lower lip. It's so cute!
Sophie looking cute (if dazed) in her matching striped shirt and tights.
Jumping on Nana's lap.
Aiden does an awesome "Mater"(tow truck from the movie Cars) impersonation.