November

November was a busy month!  We had something big going on every weekend.

We started the month off recovering from our first cold...YUCK!  But we had surprise last minute visitors, which made everything better!  YaYa and Whit came to visit!  We didn't have plans to see them until Christmas, but at the rate that Grady was growing and changing I just couldn't stand it!  And they hadn't seen our house finished.  It was way too long...so I talked them in to coming out.  Besides, who could resist this face?!?!

after beans!

Grady loves beans!  Any kind of beans really.  But he always seems to end up looking like this when he is done...this is one of many picture I have of him after a bean dinner...black beans are the worst!  This boy can eat!  I am always amazed at how much food he consumes.  And after many months of being dairy-free (he and I both), we can now both eat cheese!  Yea!  He grew out of his dairy allergy, thank goodness!

Days after mom and Whit left, Nicole came home...which was great because we were going to be missing her Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

Meg, Grady, YaYa, Whit

Cheering on the Frogs--ESPN Game day

Malin, Nicole, and Grady at Dise and Vince's house

The next weekend we headed up to Mendocino to celebrate our anniversary.  John took Friday off so we could leave early and still have part of the day.  It was such a beautiful time to go...all of the foliage had turned and the vineyards were gorgeous!  We had great weather all weekend...no rain or fog...clear skies, but pretty chilly. We had fun...definitely not quite as relaxing as we had thought (traveling with a baby isn't always relaxing!), but it was great family time together.  We went on lots of walks, picnicked in the back of the truck to watch the sunset over the ocean, had yummy breakfast at the McCullum house, and let Belle run around on the beach and in the ocean...she loved it!  We made a promise to each other that we would make an effort to get up there often.

sunset over the ocean

Morning walk down Main street

Grady's first tooth (bottom left) had popped through the week before our trip and his second cut through on the car ride home...it wasn't such a fun car ride.  This is a picture I took a couple of days later trying to capture his new smile!  You kinda have to look hard...they had just come through!

my new teeth!

Grady was on the move this month...crawling all over the place, pulling up on things, and cruising the furniture.  He was super fast and super curious...kept me on my toes chasing him around!

His favorite place seemed to be under the computer desk.  I tried my best to gather all of the cords and make it as boring as possible, but he still managed to go under there every second he could.  I finally figured out (after the computer and lamp got turned off about 20 times) that  it was the red light on the serge protector that was attracting him...so I found a way to hide it and that has helped some what!  

His hair is really growing in and it is curly!  When it is wet it curls up all over his head.  Daddy normally likes to come it over with a part on the side, but this night after his bath he dried it in a mo-hawk!

This is probably one of my favorite videos of g bear...we had eaten blueberry oatmeal for breakfast (you can see the remains on his face!) and we were playing in our room.  He started this thing where he shakes his head back and forth, normally when he is excited or happy.  Not sure where it originated, but I think it may be from his favorite book, DOG.  One of the dogs is getting a bath and Shakes, Shakes, Shakes!  So, I was trying to get him to do it on camera and I did!  We now call it the "crazy man shake" because he looks just that at the end of the video. (this video was actually taken in October...I just forgot to post it)

The weekend before Thanksgiving, Grandpa John and Grandma Allis came to visit.  Despite the rain, we went to Napa for the day on Saturday and got to celebrate Dad's birthday and Thanksgiving a little early.  That week was Thanksgiving and then the month was practically over!  We had a very nice Thanksgiving this year.  We did the normal Branagh/Bellig huge gathering in the afternoon and saw lots family we hadn't seen in a long time.  Followed up by a lovely more intimate Thanksgiving dinner and Matt and Katie's.  It was perfect...Matt deep fried a turkey for the first time and all the other dishes were delicious!  They did so good that this might be our new family tradition!

Grady kissing Bea...they don't know that they are cousins yet!  His kisses are one of my favorite things!  They are so so sweet.

PS...don't forget to look back at the previous posts...