Blair's First Thanksgiving

Blair had a wonderful first Thanksgiving. We all slept in a little bit and then woke up to watch the Macy's parade. Nick and Blair stayed in bed and hung out. Mom and I made a few side dishes and desserts to take over to Nick's parents house. We all headed over to have dinner later in the afternoon. Blair showed off her newest ability of sitting up by herself to Grandma and Pop Pop. We had a great dinner of turkey, stuffing, green beans, two styles of sweet potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, garlic cheese grits, cranberry sauce, gravy, coleslaw and cucumber salad. Blair sat in her own chair at the table with us and played with toys while we ate (playing consisted of picking up a toy, shoving it in her mouth then throwing it onto the ground, me picking it up and then the whole thing was repeated many, many, many times). After dinner, we all relaxed and watched a little tv and then ate dessert and Blair took a nap. We came home and Blair ate pears for her dinner. We had a fantastic day. We are so thankful that we have great family and friends and a wonderful little girl that brings joy to our life everyday.

Here are a few family pictures from tonight. (Don't forget to scroll down to the post below to see Blair's first artwork!)

Happy Turkey Day!

Have a great day everyone! We are having our Thanksgiving meal at Nick's parents house. Pictures of Blair's first Thanksgiving will be posted later.

Here is Blair's first artwork!

Food

So far we have tried apples, sweet potatoes, and squash and Blair has loved every single one of them!

Yumm! Sweet potatoes!

Look what I can do!

We have been trying to have Blair sit up unassisted for a while now. She has been able to sit for just a few seconds by herself for a few weeks now. Last night, we tried again and she sat nice and upright for probably about 3 or 4 minutes before falling over. Now that Blair knows that she can sit up, she does not want to lay on her back or tummy. I'm sure that before long, she will be crawling... She is growing up too fast!

Census Testing

So for anyone that cares, here are my testing times and locations for November that I have scheduled. I am going to try to get a Saturday time in December. There are LOTS more times and locations scheduled so if none of these work, let me know and I will find something that works for you. Please tell your friends! The pay is good and work is part or full time.

November 20 10:30AM Princess Anne Library
November 21 3PM Oceanfront Library
November 24 10:30AM Great Neck Library
November 25 10:30AM Oceanfront Library
November 26 10:30AM Princess Anne Library

The test and filling out the forms should take about an hour and a half. It can't hurt to take the test. If offered a job and you really don't want it, then you can decline... Just please come take the test since we have weekly goals to meet!

Mommy got a job...

So I decided that it was time to get a job to help out with the finances. About a month and a half ago, my mom and Aunt had found the US Census Bureau website (http://www.census.gov/). They both signed up to take the test and talked me into taking it as well. I said, "What the heck. I'll take it" thinking that it wouldn't lead to anything. The test is 28 multiple choice questions and is pretty simple. Well to my surprise, I got a phone call a week and a half ago from the Census Bureau asking to do a phone interview. At the end of the call, I was offered a job as a Recruiting Assistant. I accepted the offer! I had two days of training up in Richmond to complete so that I could learn everything that I am going to do for hopefully the next two years when all of the information is complete for the 2010 Census. I, along with 3 other women, are in charge of locating sites to hold testing, administering the test, and also recruiting people to take the test. I am excited to start on this new adventure.

Reasons for the Census:
- apportion the seats in the House of Representatives
- draw state legislative districts
- distribute more than $300 billion annually in federal, state, locan and tribal funds
- evaluate the success of community programs
- identify populations that might be open and responsive to new services
- determine sites for new businesses

Jobs:
- Census Taker (aka. Enumerator)
- Crew Leader
- Crew Leader Assistant
- Recruiting Assistant
- Census Clerk

There are full and part time positions available. Most assignments are 5 to 10 weeks in duration. The pay is very competitive. You are paid weekly. Work hours are flexible. Training is paid. Authorized mileage and expenses are reimbursed.

To register for the test, call 1-866-861-2010, or contact me and I will let you know when and where the tests will be.

Apples!

Blair has not been a fan of rice cereal so we decided that it was time to just start on foods. Apples was the pick. Blair was screaming because she was tired and hungry. The first spoonful went in and the screaming continued. The next one went in and she gave me the look of "Huh, what is that???" The next spoonful was the end of screaming and the beginning of loving food. By the bottom of the bowl, she was leaning in for apples and I think that I even heard a few "mmmm's!"

Exersaucer

Nick put Blair's exersaucer together last night. When we got up this morning, her was very excited to get her in it and see what she thought of it. As soon as she was in it, she started grabbing at everything and smiled tons! She even shreeked in delight while she was playing. I'm so glad that I was lucky enough to get three of them, 2 are hand me downs, so that there can be one at my house and one at each of the grandma's houses. I can now attempt to get a few more things done while Blair is awake instead of having to wait until she is sleeping and then rushing around to get everything done. (Thanks Kim!)

Rice Cereal

Blair had her first meal of rice cereal tonight. I tried to hold off as long as I could to start foods with Blair. I realize that I'm not the norm with that but in the long run, I know it will be better for her. I figured that I would skip the spoon for this meal so that there were not too many new things at once. She seemed to like it and really did not make much of a mess. I hope that maybe starting food will help Blair sleep better and also maybe help with the spit up that is a very annoying constant for the last 4 months.

All smiles!

Here we go!!!

First tasteYum!More please!

All done

Fun day

Blair had a very fun day today. She is really loving getting a bath since she is allowed to kick her legs and splash in the water. She would kick her legs and look up at me to see if it was OK to do, I was laughing at her so she gave me a huge smile and then continued to kick. I'm sure that in someway, letting her do whatever she wants will bite me in the butt later on in life... Blair is also starting to roll from her back to her belly tons. I went to get her from her mid day nap and she was on her belly waiting for me to pick her up. She also rolled 3 times while she was playing tonight. I love seeing her make progress!

Halloween pictures!

Here are some more pictures from Halloween!