What a great month of November it was! My parents came to hang out with us, see our new home, babysit, cook, clean, do house maintenance, and enjoy the warm Texas sunshine:
We worked them hard, that's for sure! It was more of a WORKation, than a vacation :) They loved being with us, but I know they were glad to be back to they own environment - with no screaming kids day or night, no mess of toys, no dirty diapers, no cleaning and cooking chores, no need to be quiet when kids are asleep (which is 15-16 hours out of every 24), and people actually cleaning after themselves...
Can't say that the kids didn't like all of the extra attention they got! Ophelia picked up lots of Russian words, but I know she got frustrated a couple of times, not being able to understand what was being said. She had an easier time with Dedushka, but with Babushka she communicated via signs :) Emerson was all about Babushka from the start. He is just a ladies' man, what can I say.
Here's how Babushka and Dedushka worked out their abs:
And here is Dedushka doing his weekly 10K:
Coupled with Thanksgiving, we sure did not lack food or sweets in this house. My Mom spoiled us with desserts at least every other day. Could you resist these beauties? Orange muffins with chocolate frosting:
Ophelia has been getting into dressing up lately. Here she is a ballerina. She loves to dress up as princesses. But once in a while she puts on a red rectangular toy box on her head and pretends to be a fireman (or a fire-woman I guess).
It is next to impossible to have a successful, fun outing with small kids. With nap schedules, meals, snacks, breasfeeding baby... So, while my Dad was here this was one of the only outings we actually did as a family, and it was actually fun! We went to the Inner Space Caverns in Georgetown. It was a small group with our tour guide only one other family, so the kids, meaning Ophelia, got a lot of attention from him. Ophelia learned and remembered his name for months after that. The whole time during the tour, she raised her little hand, yelled out "Matt! Matt!" and asked him questions, like where the bats were. That girl is not shy!
It was super humid and 70 F in the caves. We saw lots of cool rock formations, experienced complete darkness, saw some sleeping bats and their poop. Emerson was pretty much happy for the whole time, while being strapped up to Dedushka.
The first weekend in November we notice little sharp white teeth in this little cute mouth. He cut 4 teeth at once at 9 months of age! Thank goodness for Tylenol!
At nine months Emerson also started crawling! All it took was training and encouragement from Babushka and Dedushka, I guess. So, we arrived at the mobile stage of his development, which I am sad to say. It was nice to just be able to put his by the couch on the rug with toys and walk away to do something in the kitchen, then come back five minutes later and he is still sitting in the same spot. Here is our handsome boy giving "bus'ka" (a kiss) to whomever wants one. I love open-mouth-baby kisses!
My favorite pictures of Emerson and my parents:
It was so cool for my parents to come here in November, because they got to experience their first American Thanksgiving, with all of the delicious traditional food, pies, lots of family and friends:
Here is who also enjoyed their first Thanksgiving:
After dinner walk around Oatmeal:
Loves for Mama:
Thanksgiving family picture: I love it!
Talking about the next picture: Isn't this always the case? 50% of the people in the picture look great, and the other 50%...not so much? At what age do kids start taking good pictures? Even in this digital day and age, it is still hard to catch a good smile, no nose picking, a look at the actual camera, or, in this case, no fingers in mouth.
For the sake of another American experience, I took my parents shopping on Black Friday, actually Thursday night. We went to Walmart, which was insane! I have never seen that parking lot so full! Then we went to the outlets in Round Rock and scored some deals, then we ended up at Kohl's, where we stood in line for 1.5 hours!!!! Why would anyone do that, in their right minds? I don't think we were in our right minds, actually, since it was close to 4 am when we left there. My Dad and I mastered the Bop-It game, while waiting in line, to the annoyance of all the other people around us. Someone else in line had their birthday and we all joined in a "Happy Birthday" chorus in their honor. It was fun, but I don't think I would do it ever again!
Now this is what I would do any time of the day and night! Trip to Krispy Kreme! Did you know they actually have an app to let you know when the "hot and fresh" sign is on? We sure took advantage of that a couple of times. Emerson's first doughnut experience! Mmmm
I guess now that our family is big, it's hard to go for three weeks and not get sick at least once... Well, I'm exaggerating, but we did all manage to get a stomach bug. Everyone, except for my Mom. She has some crazy disease-resistant Siberian genes that are not fazed by any bug or virus. Me, PJ, Ophelia, Emerson, and my Dad all rotated through the bug. Ophelia and Emerson had it worse with all the throwing up they did. Thank goodness for rug cleaner! The day after Ophelia got better and the stomach bug passed through her, she told her Grandma: "Grandma, I pooped out a bug!".
Some pictures from the boat trip down lake Austin to the Hula Hut restaurant. Me and Emerson missed this outing because it happened to be the day he got the bug.
Here is my Dad showing off his juggling skills. Emerson thought it was hilarious every time he dropped a ball! "Circus left town, but the clowns remained" - my Mom.
And another family picture:
It was great having my parents here and I miss them a lot. I wish we lived closer and could visit whenever we felt like it. We had lots of fun, and were very productive around the house: hung curtain rods, made curtains for every room and window, took out a dead tree in the backyard, cleaned all lamps and ceiling fixtures, hung up lots of wall decor, did yard work. Ophelia busted out the funniest thing one morning while my parents were here. She said to me: "Mama, I like your Mama!" :) :)
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