A Tale of Two Turkeys

Alright, so here's the deal... A Tale of Two Turkeys was going to be this GREAT little poem about Caden's first Thanksgiving... first, his stop in Abilene and then, his stop in Waco, BUT it's 9:24...9:25 and the thought of writing a poem ... well it just flat out exhausts me! So please forgive the lack of creativity and enjoy the tale of our TWO turkeys! Did I mention I am also writing this entry from bed... the bed that I have missed so and want so badly to just slip on down into my clean sheets in? And did I mention that I also have a to do list for the week made so that I can manage all the things that have to get done this week before I leave Caden for the first time overnight?!! And that that list has Sunday written next to "Thanksgiving Blog" which means that in less than 2 hours since I made this list that I would be behind if I didn't complete my blog before I went to bed... so this is essential!! Are YOU exhausted yet?! Ha!

Okay here we go! Wednesday we hit the road for Abilene. We traveled light this trip without our doggies... it was kind of nice! They had a nice Thanksgiving back at home with their friends at Happy Paws. We were the first ones to arrive in Abilene so we got to sit back, relax and wait for the excitement to begin...

Which was GREAT for Caden because it meant he got some quality time with his favorite cousin... Kyle! He just LOVES Kyle... wants to play with him, be with him, watch him, touch him. There was this super sweet and tender moment where Kyle was laying on the floor and Caden crawled over to him and laid his head on Kyle's head... and gave him a hug (one of his favorite new tricks). It was SO, SO, SO cute and a bit unexpected since he has only done that to me before... so I didn't have my camera ready! But here are a few cute pics to show you just how interested Caden is in capturing Kyle's eye.

Wednesday was a fun day of hanging out with the family who had arrived in town early. We ate and laughed and played... it was all great preparation for the coming events. On Thursday, TURKEY day... TURKEY number 1 in case you are keeping track... we had quite a FUN day. The rest of our family was able to make it into town late that afternoon and not that we don't LOVE LOVE LOVE our other family, BUT we were SUPER excited for the Wickson crew to get into town, because they have CY... and are really fun and cool people... and they have CY!

Caden had the sweetest little outfit for Thanksgiving that his KK and I found at the outlet mall a few weeks ago! Isn't is precious??!! Lil punkin! He was not havin' ANY pictures though!

Alright so here is where the tale of the first turkey gets interesting and HILARIOUS... are you ready? So a little background is required. I was fortunate enough to grow up with two, yes TWO cousins that are my age. They are twin girls named Amanda and Michelle and I love them dearly! We have literally grown up together... 

When we were little I was a shy, tender, and sensitive soul and they were, well... NOT. And so they made me cry, A LOT. It was common to find me sitting in the middle of the floor, quietly feeding myself Cheerios while they ran around me screaming and yelling, eventually making me cry too. (Just so I am clear, I remember none of this... to me they were wonderful friends who I did have to watch fight with each other more times than I'd care to remember (it used to scare me so), but I always thought they were the greatest!)

Well as it turns out our sons... Amanda and I's... are playing their respective roles in our family drama just perfectly! Caden cried and Cy jabbered! I must say Cy is the happiest little jabber box I have ever seen. From the time he got there on Thursday afternoon until he went to bed that night he NEVER stopped babbling... he has a LOT to say. So he wasn't screaming, yelling and being crazy likes the stories of his momma go... he was just very interested in making friends with Caden and Caden wanted NO part of him! 

Exhibit A: Caden and Cy in matching outfits... a must! Caden cautiously checking out the little tyke across from him... not so sure what to think...holding onto mommy just in case!

Not so sure what to think about Cy playing with his truck... doesn't mind sharing but isn't sure if he's going to get it back...

Uh-oh, Cy got closer... and he is still playing with the truck... what's a guy to do?

TAKE THE TRUCK AND RUN!!! He's on your tail CADEN! Literally!! ON YOUR TAIL!! My aunt has a picture of Cy sucking on Caden's thigh has he is trying to make his escape... HILARIOUS!! Terry please send me that pic!!

Once Caden was "rescued" by his fearless Momma he decided that Cy wasn't so bad of a guy because he shared his toys too! And his toys were MUCH cooler than that silly orange truck!

They even starting playing on the same side... progress... such progress!!

AND THEN... we changed them into their second MATCHING outfit of the night... the Christmas PJ's... and then we tried to sit Caden next to the squirmy little babbler of a boy and he was pretty unsure of it...

And then... as if life couldn't get any worse... my aunt Martha who Caden also LOVES did the unthinkable... she put the Santa hat on Caden's head after he had taken it off of his head about 3 times... he thought he had made it clear that he could see what Cy looked like in that goofy hat and did not want to be part of this mockery! But ALAS... he was...

Hey man! It's really not that bad... all the chicks are diggin' my lid... come back!! I've got another story for you...

I DO NOT WANT TO WEAR THE HAT... I WON'T! And I'm sick of your stories... 

But I just have ONE more... Just one... I promise! It's about a truck!!

So we said FORGET Caden and just took pictures of Cutie-Pie-Cy!! He's a doll!! Really, he is!! No matter what Caden says, I love him!

Names on their booties!! So cute!

So after that night-o-fun we tried to do it ALL over again the next morning before we headed to Waco. Caden, Cy... Cy, Caden... be friends!

As you can see from Caden's expression the morning didn't go much better...and the cycle repeats itself... 

The bench picture... a MUST! Ironically enough Amanda, Michelle and I used to sit on this little red bench and say that we were waiting on the bus to go to San Antonio... to this day NO one knows why we chose San Antonio, no one was living there at the time and it was before Sea World... so who knows... Pace Picante sauce maybe?!! Remember those commercials... this stuff's made in New York City?!!! I digress...

So the bench pics with their new stockings didn't quite make the GREAT photo cut... but we tried... and tried...

And tried... and then we moved to the chair... maybe this will work!!

Well then Cy didn't want anything to do with sitting and Caden still didn't want anything to do with Cy and again... the cycle... that darn cycle...

Caden was about to jump ship! And I do need to pause here and apologize for my child's attire... Cy looked PRECIOUSLY perfect in his little Christmas outfit and Caden looked like Farmer Joe!

Finally someone saved Caden and the drama ends...

And Cy is waiting for someone to sit down and chat with him... 

I think we should try ONE more time... Caden's better now... 

NOW they both had had it... 

We had the MOST fun laughing about the similarities in our children and how fun it was to watch them repeat the past. What goes around most certainly comes around! I am still a sensitive soul but I don't cry when people talk to me... and my cousins are still full of life and energy but they don't make people cry... so ALL is good in world! 

A few other highlights include watching Caden and my Gram, his Great-Gram dance, dance, dance! She gets Caden to dance unlike anyone else! It is so fun to watch! I think I have a guy who like to boogie on my hands... And going down the slide at Martha's house! 

We had a great time in Abilene celebrating with our first of two turkeys!

Then it was onto to WACKO WACO!!

When we arrived there was much fun to be had. Aunt Cori and Uncle Trent had just gotten there too and were excited for our second Thanksgiving celebration to begin. Justin's grandparents joined us for dinner that evening. Caden loves his Great Poppa and Great Gran. This time Caden got to play "Ride Little Horsey" with Poppa... one of Justin and Cori's favorite past times. 

I don't have any other pictures from Friday... our day of feasting and family, but don't worry because the fun continued right on into Saturday with CRAFT TIME!

While the boys played golf, the girls and Caden hit the stores for a few things we needed to complete a Christmas craft a fellow blogger posted last week. In between stores we got to eat at Jason's Deli, a place Mommy frequented in college... it was good to be back! AND Caden got to eat a little ice cream and had a yummy, yummy grilled cheese!!

We successfully tired Caden out with all of our shopping so during his nap we had plenty of time to get crafty...

We made Christmas Wreaths using a wire hanger and tree ornaments. We used about 70 ornaments per wreath and we each made one, so the PILE of ornaments we had on the table was pretty incredible! Before we could string our ornaments though we had to pull the tops off and hot glue them back on, so I was the "puller-offer" and the other two did the gluing... 

Nana and I both have battle wounds from our project but Cori made it out with no injuries... no one said it was easy to be crafty!!

In the midst of our crafting we also spiced up an old wreath of Nana's... we were so proud of our $6 spice-up that we had to take a picture with it... what do you think??!!

After all the gluing and pulling and poking and Cade-man was up from his nap it was PLAY TIME. Caden found a NEW toy at Nana and Paps' house this time... the office chair!! He liked pushing it but it went MUCH faster than he was used to, so I decided to turn it into a "ride!" Aunt Cori LOVED pushing him round and round the house... he went SUPER fast! :)

Uncle Tag was trying to ignore the fun... but we got 'em!

After we strung the balls onto our hangers we found they were a little trickier to get back together so we had to enlist the help of our men... or my man! :) He's so handy... and maybe a bit crafty?! Ha!

Once we were finished wiring them closed we made a bow and were finished! They are each proudly hanging in our respective homes this evening... job well done girls! I'm proud of us! Nana decided that it was going to become a tradition... a Christmas craft at every Thanksgiving... I can't wait to see what we come up with next year!

Before we headed to lunch this morning I got to practice my photography skills on Cori and Trent who were trying to find the perfect picture for their Christmas Card. I thought this one was SUPER cute so I had to post... love!

Today when we got home we had a fun afternoon of Christmas decorating... we even let Caden skip his afternoon nap to help out... his job was putting the star on top of the tree! Good job Caden!

Now our stockings our hung by chimney with care in hopes that Santa will soon be here! :) 

We are so very very thankful for all of our friends and family... we all have so much to be thankful for, don't we?! We love you!!