Natalia's First Thanksgiving

We're stuffed to the gills over here - tofurky, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, sweet and salty roasted chickpeas, and pumpkin pie. Not only was this Natalia's first Thanksgiving, but it was her first plate of food. She enjoyed playing with the plate more than eating the food off it. After she dropped the plate a couple times, I quit putting any food on it and she didn't even notice the difference; she just kept happily dropping it, smiling every time she heard it go plunk.

We started off our day with fresh baked cinnamon rolls. Leilani ate one and a half, and Jeremy ate three (I ate two, but we're not telling anyone), so I'm thinking everyone liked them. That was kind of sealed when I was told they were better than my moms. That made me happy *grin*.

The tofurky got mixed reviews. I liked it, Jeremy didn't, and Leilani loved the fact that she could call it turkey and yet it didn't need a turkey to be killed for us to have it. Natalia just threw hers on the floor, as she did all her food.

The mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and dinner rolls were a huge success. Natalia actually had a bite of the potatoes, and a gnaw on the roll. The pumpkin pie and coconut whipped cream were a huge hit, too.

I printed off some Thanksgiving coloring sheets for the girls. Natalia pretty much just banged her crayon thing on to the paper and tried to eat the paper, and Leilani lost interest after a while. A very short while, but at least we got a few cute photos.

After dinner, and before dessert, Natalia settled in for the traditional "after Thanksgiving dinner nap". All that plate dropping, crayon banging, watching mommy cook and nursing really wore her out.

We went through our Thankful Tree and saw what we'd been thankful for over the past month. Here's our list (in no particular order), followed by pictures from our day:

Leilani:
-the world
-the sky
-the Christmas tree
-the water, sun, stars, snacks and ants
-the "Jonah" movie
-having a house, my sister & mommy & daddy
-my sister Natalia, my mommy, and Pippin
-our backyard
-for getting the mail
-the backyard
-the trees
-for our Christmas tree again
-for the hike
-the trees
-the sunshine, hugs from mama, and sister kisses

Me:
-schools
-Leilani had a great first week at school
-Natalia napping in the car
-family time, our beautiful hike and the Moby
-Leilani learning and getting worksheet practice
-Leilani's 1st day of school and getting time with Natalia
-doing crafts with Leilani
-my two beautiful little girls
-being able to make choices
-naps
-sleeping in
-my friend and her help and advice about schools and family, right when I needed it
-the amber teething necklace and technology for getting things taken care of
-a good nights' sleep
-putting up the tree