-Eli had a very pleasant first Thanksgiving. First we went to my mom's restaurant where she gives out free Thanksgiving dinner. It was crowded and fun and all the patrons and helpers were in great moods. Then we went home for a nap (well Eli napped) before heading to my mom's house for actual dinner where my friends Suzanne and Doug joined us. Eli ate turkey, sweet potatoes, and mashed potatoes and was generally fawned over.
-It's exactly one week til moving day and I could not be more excited, I've been picking out decor on ETSY and planning parties-my favorite party idea is for a potluck where everyone brings their favorite dish and their dog.
-Saturday was mini game night at Jen's where lots of delicious cheese filled food was eaten and Adrienne and Suz beat our pants off at trivia. I feel shamed. Jen also got ludicrously drunk and broke her glasses. Christina got drunk and set her purse on fire in the bathroom. Also Christina and I bonded and I have to say she's my favorite of Brian's recent string of girlfriend's.
-Now pictures with helpful captions Here is Eli with daddy before dinner looking somewhere beyond cranky.
Eating and making a mess, he loves feeding himself, at the new place I'm going to have to invest in a heavy duty splat mat to protect the floors.

Pies made and donated by hippies.
Me, Doug and Suz at my mom's after dinner. My mom would happily feed the world if she could afford it.
Eli's foe doll, Mahesh, named after Suz's ex-boyfriend. I bought it at this awesome store about a block from my house called Divertido. A lot of great stuff that I plan on going back and buying after Christmas/Moving.
Sometimes Eli makes this face. It's charming.
Eli eats sharks for breakfast.

So, I've been a bad blogger lately and haven't had picture time for awhile, we'll play catch up after all pertinent business is discussed
-Jason and I signed a lease for a new house on Saturday. This place is like 100x nicer than where we currently hang our hats and I've got all appendages crossed that nothing goes wrong this time. I know I've said I was moving like a gazillion times this fall, really starting to feel like the bot who cried wolf.
-I have triumphantly begun Christmas shopping! I never start this early. Usually I like to wait til the Eve and then run around the mall in a flurry and go home for serious wrapping and tagging. But I don't have the energy for that this year, I also can't imagine dragging a baby to the mall on Christmas Eve. My stroller's so large it wouldn't leave much room for other harried shoppers in some stores.
-I'm obsessed with freerice.com, I get to practice my vocabulary and help hungry children
-FlexCar has come to Pittsburgh and I'm really excited about using those instead of purchasing a car. It's good for the environment, good for my wallet and would force me to continue to walk places when a car really isn't necessary.
-If I use FlexCar I can use my tax refund for new living room furniture! The futon we were using as a couch met it's sad end the other night and will be relegated to Jason's basement lair at the new house. His basement lair which also has a bathroom complete with shower. I may never find razor stubble in my sink again : ) Bliss.
-Eli's newest trick is to sing back when you sing to him, this work's especially well with the lalalala part on the Minnie Riperton song Loving You.

Now Pictures of the boy.
This is his Christmas diaper from his "Aunt" Jenna, so cute I couldn't wait til Christmas to put him in it.
Rocking his wool shortie diaper cover, it's like an afghan for his butt, I love it and want to buy a bunch more.
His other diaper from his Aunt Jenna sock monkeys! We love sock monkeys you know.
And his Thanksgiving dipe : ) Gobble Gobble. To celebrate Thanksgiving I think I'm going to give him his first white potatoes.
It's cold enough here now to use the bundle me on his stroller, it's so snug and warm that he generally goes right to sleep when we put him in here.

He's so good at standing up and "cruising" and his balance is improving so that now when he falls he usually lands on his butt.
I bought a mei tei carrier, which we both love. In this picture (which I took myself in the bathroom mirror obviously) we had just come back from a nice long walk during which he fell asleep. I really wish I'd had this when he was smaller and incapable of entertaining himself.
Daddy taught Eli how to take the lid off his cereal puffs! Thanks daddy.
Here he is trying to get to the av cords in the front of the TV, possibly that new living room furniture should include an entertainment center with doors.
This is Eli when he first realized that he could pull himself up to stand. Watching him learn new things is so amazing.

Random Facts

My friend Bonnie http://bonnkyee.blogspot.com/ has tagged me to blog 8 random things about myself, so here goes.

1. I once worked at Bath and Body Works for 1 night, be nice to those girls they work a lot harder than you think.

2. I love dogs feet. Seriously I love their little pink padded paws and every dog I've ever owned has gotten to experience me falling asleep holding onto one of their paws.

3. My shopping addiction is probably every bit as bad as any drug addiction you can imagine.

4. I can write my name with my toes.

5. I was a girl scout and because of that I love mountain pies and singalongs.

6. Sometimes I eat side dishes on their own for dinner : mashed potatoes and peas and nothing else.

7. One of the drawers in my desk at work holds only shoes.

8. I'm scared of the dark.

I hope that was informative for everyone. On a different note last night Eli was asleep in his bed and I was in my bed reading, he stirred, whined a bit and groped around in his bed until he found Dangles. Then clutching his stuffed monkey he went right back to sleep. The amount of love I feel for that kid cracks my heart open.

Minutia

-I was given some mascara. It is everything I've ever wanted in a tube of mascara. It makes my lashes darker and longer without weird clumps or spider effect.

-Eli is really really mobile all of a sudden. He learned how to pull up and it would seem that now there is no stopping him. I've been crash babyproofing, I had to dismantle my rotating dvd rack monday night in order to ensure that he will continue to dwell on this earth.

-It's really cold. It snowed yesterday and hailed today. I know I was complaining about the weather, but now I'm cold. Bah.

-I found a new favorite place for online shopping, everyone can expect magnificent X-Mas gifts.

-I hate the word X-Mas and an really ashamed of myself for using it.

-I've become resigned to the fact that I live where I live and that for at least the remainder of this year I will continue to live there. It sucks, a lot, but that's how it is. I am zen in regards to my housing situation.
-It's finally started to get cold, Pittsburgh feels like Pittsburgh again.
-Eli had his first Halloween.


This is my friend Suz and I at Jen's party last weekend, we are Ike and Tina Turner. Being Ike Turner is something I've been preparing for for years with repeated viewings of What's Love Got to Do With It.

I was absolutely determined to get Eli to the pumpkin patch, even though I knew he'd have no idea what was going on, I'm a photo-op nut since he was born. So here's Jason and I with the little one on his first hayride on Sunday. See how I'm wearing a short sleeve shirt? I was freezing. My lips turned blue. You can generally count on me to be improperly dressed for most occasions.

Halloween day my sister-in-law and I brought the kiddies into the office in their costumes. Eli's a monkey and Providence is a duck. Cute little guys huh?
Eli after trick or treat, we went to about 6 houses, got a bunch of candy he's not allowed to have (what will I do with it?), and spent the night at Grandma's.

-Last night Jason talked to his mother and she told him they're coming up for Thanksgiving. In fact they're driving up and towing their trailer, which they will be parking and staying in. So, I'm pretty excited that they're not staying with me, but also left with the distinct impression that they're planning on staying for awhile. Pittsburgh is my safe place, I don't want disturbances and unwanted parenting advice in my safe place.

-I'm tired. Stayed up way to late last night to read Empire Falls, which was really really good and ended up someplace I never thought it would at the beginning, but now I'm craving a nap and knowing it's not going to happen. I'll settle for a quiet evening and an early bedtime.