Thanksgiving, 8 Month Update, etc.

I hope each and every one of you had a very happy Thanksgiving (to God) Day!  We definitely did.  Everything is so special this year since it's Riley's first.  We started the day with breakfast at IHOP (that, we've decided, is going to be a Brown family tradition), headed home to cook and play with Riley, and then went to my aunt and uncle's for our Thanksgiving dinner.  There were about 30 of us including grandparents, cousins, and spouses/dates.  It's really nice (i.e., not stressful) because not everyone has to cook the whole meal; we split things up.  My mom makes sweet potato casseroles and green beans, I make mashed potatoes and a dessert, and each family brings a couple things so no one has to cook for days before hand (I'm sure Martha and Kirk do the most).  I'm always interested to see what edible "craft" my cousin has made with her kids.  This year it was a turkey similar to this one.  It was very cute.  I can't wait until Riley's old enough to enjoy activities like that.

Sometime between my last post and Thanksgiving, Riley turned 8 months old.  It makes me feel sad and excited all at the same time.  She's doing so many fun things.  Waving, saying bye-bye, crawling, etc.  She laughs and waves at random strangers, kisses herself in mirrors, and loves playing with her toys (especially this little stuffed banana that came in a "grocery" set).  She screeches when she sees David across a room and starts laughing and reaching for him, she has learned the "I drop it, the adult picks it up" game, and she eats like whatever she's getting might be her very last meal.  She's getting very good about responding to no.  If she really wants to do what you've asked her not to, she starts crying because she knows we're not going to let her do it.  All in all, just like every other stage, this is our favorite.  

We've also been updating our house.  We've been up late many nights during the past two weeks painting, tiling, etc.  I'm excited to show pictures of our kitchen, but I'm going to wait until it's finished.  The picture to the left shows the paint choices.  I will tell you that we ended up going with "Inch Worm" (top) and it looks great!  We've painted our bathroom a chocolate brown (I know, I know... drastic) which looks really nice against the white counters, white shower curtain, etc.  It was definitely a big change from our pale green, but David and I both love the way it turned out and how it coordinates with our bedroom (which is blue and brown).  We wondered if Riley would notice the differences, but so far, she seems totally unfazed by the new paint colors and other changes.