Thanksgiving '09

This year was not Jax's first Thanksgiving, as you may recall. Here he is last year, just a few weeks old:

And here he is a whole year later, looking handsome as can be and ready for some turkey:

Look at that belly :) And we hadn't even had dinner yet!

Thanksgiving Day was spent in Vermont with JDubbs's family, and then we headed down to Massachusetts Friday morning. No pictures of the events down there--it was a whirlwind of family visits, shopping, and enjoying each other's company--and we had a great time decorating Grammy's tree (after Jax went to bed--hence no pictures). So here is how Jax spent his Thanksgiving Day itself:

We arrived at Nana and Papa's looking our best, with Baxter in tow, hoping to get a good picture for a potential Christmas card. Sadly, I had my camera on manual settings and did not compensate for gray November light, so the pictures were overexposed. Jaime did her best to improve them using her fancy photo software, and here are the best ones.

It's really too bad because they came out really well! Oh well, I think it's God's subtle way of telling me that pregnancy is a good excuse not to send out Christmas cards. We'll just send you all telepathic holiday wishes instead.

So after JDubbs took Baxter home, we tried one more time to get a family photo, and this one really did come out well, I think:

But sorry, already made up our minds about the Christmas card issue. So print one of those out for yourselves and admire it as you will.

The afternoon was spent playing cards while Jax napped, and then the eating, and all of Jax's fun, began. JDubbs and I are pretty used to it, but I think even we were a little shocked as to how much food this kid could feast upon. He couldn't even take time out to look at the camera--he is all concentration when it comes to food.

He did learn a handy little trick that will serve him well in the future.

Cheers!

After the delicious meal, courtesy of Nana, we had to clear our plates immediately because Jax would not stop eating off of anybody's plates if there were still morsels in front of him. So we cleaned up and let Jax on the floor to play.

Well, there was one embarrassing moment, of which all evidence has been erased, but let's just say that we were right when we kept saying, "Where is he putting it all?" as Jax kept eating and eating. Apparently what must go in, must come out, as it did in a hilariously slapstick manner. I will not go into further details, but he was quickly stripped of his dapper outfit and eventually dropped in the tub. Not before a little more playtime to burn some calories, though!

It was a wonderful holiday weekend, with so much to be thankful for and appreciate, not the least of which were the delicious food we ate, the healthy family we love, and the Christmas gifts we bought and look forward to sharing with friends and family soon! Next year we'll have a five-month-old and Jax will probably need an entire turkey to himself. We'll be thankful if we can carry him to bed!