Oh, where to start?

Ben is joining me today!!!! I know, I know...it's been a loooooooooooooong time since you've seen him around these here parts, but as he says, "Hey!  I've got to make the money for the family and pay for all of your outlandish blogging..."  Which I guess is true...especially since he forgot to call AT&T this month....

Ben, baby and I flew out to see my family on Tuesday, so we're writing this from the great, albeit snow-less midwest.  My parents have some really comfy couches...all we need to complete the cozy picture are Ben's very famous chocolate milkshakes and the roaring fireplace...only it doesn't roar...or crackle...but it's warm and that is all that matters, right?  Of course right.  

Ben says, "Thank you, Yente." From here on out, Ben's comments will be in italics.

As I stated in a previous post, these pictures were from Thanksgiving...sorry for the lateness of the post.  Enjoy!

 Because we love food, we thought we should post this of our dinner one night before Thanksgiving. This was a last minute "We whipped it up in 30 minutes" meal. Alfredo pasta with reduced spinach and sausage.

 Lilyana loves food, too.  She's our foodie baby.  I need to find a bib that says that.

Someday she will get better food than mashed veggies.

 My new toy...we love having camera wars...I always win.

I beg to differ...

I mean, who's finished products do you usually see?!?!?

*grin*

Humph!

I  love carrot juice.

 Do you love carrot juice?

 I love carrot juice.

 Boys and their........oysters.

Yum?

Okay, so oysters are good in the Oyster Dressing!

 Is that a pirate ship?

What do May-flowers bring???  Pilgrims!!!

 

 I have no idea what Ben was making here...but as we all know, he's a fantabulous chef, so it must have been something tasty! I don't remember either, so no comment.

 PIE!!!!!!!!!!!

Someday, baby...someday.

 Lilyana was being entertaining, as usual, and when we looked up from our seat, we saw the three wise men.

Not even a year old, and already hounded by the paparazzi!

 Baby: You messa with me, you messa with my papa....

 Ben: You betta listen to the kid, if you don't wanna get hurt. (said in his best Italian mob voice)

 April Fools!!!!

Yeah, it's a little late....

 Baby: Dad...you're strange...

 Say cheeeeeese!!!!

 Ben: Baby, you're weird...

You read too much into facial expressions, Tiff.

 Next to Oyster Dressing, pies are the best part of the Thanksgiving dinner. (I think the pies are best!) This year we only had a few different pies...apple, pumpkin, apricot...

 ...and a first for me, this year...Cherry Pie!!  Definitely a hit... It was probably the port that did it.

Great.  Now that I've seen the pictures I'm craving it now...

 I'm not a huge fan of apple pie, but it's an American tradition that must be kept. I love apple pie!

 Ben's famous apricot pie.  Ain't it purty?
All art is autobiographical. When you figure out what that means, let me know.

 Lilyana is still too young for pie, so she got smushed pumpkin!  Yay? Ugh, small consolation...

 Uncle Thomas thinks so.

I think it was good training for him...he'll be doing this with his own baby next year!

 Lilyana was teaching Aunt Lindsey that resting time with babies usually means getting whacked in the face...or scratched...or another something violent along those lines.

 Upon arriving home, Ben and baby got really sick. The only thing worse than being sick is being sick at the same time as your child. 30 minutes of sleep at a time is almost deadly. We had our diffuser running 24/7 with different essential oils and applied Frankincense and the Thieves blend regularly.  I called my mom for other suggestions and placed a quick order through Young Living.  I'll be writing a review for the Raven and R.C. blend pretty soon...those are oils that I definitely cannot live without!

 As is our tradition, the Christmas tree up right after Thanksgiving.  Since we won't be in our home for Christmas day, we don't have a real tree...but it's still cute!  Lots of stories behind our ornaments!

Lilyana enjoyed watching her daddy put the angel on the tree...one day she'll be "helping" him.

 See?  Isn't it cute?  There are presents under it now!

It's still fake.

 One of the perks to living in the Golden State is that when the citrus is in season, we drink LOTS of FRESH squeezed orange juice!  Okay, now I'm craving that....

 "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" or "All the leaves are brown"? California dreaming.....

Our yard...well, before it was raked. We didn't have a rake! We now have a rake. It is a cool rake.....

And so that brings y'all up to date with our doings...stay tuned for vacation pictures!!! Bye everyone. Don't forget to floss!