So much to be thankful for

We had an awesome Thanksgiving. Calla kicked off our weekend by taking her VERY first steps on Wednesday. Much like her brother, Calla's not really taking her time learning how to walk. All of a sudden, she's taking steps every chance she gets. She's mastered getting from the ottoman to the couch, or from the couch to Daddy. If I had to guess, I'd say we'll have a full-fledge walker on our hands by her birthday - definitely before the new year gets here.

Thanksgiving morning, Bryan got up early and cooked us an awesome breakfast. We watched the parade while eating breakfast. At one point, we saw a commercial for St. Jude's Children's Hospital that said "Give thanks for the healthy children in your life..." So, I commented, "I'm thankful for my healthy children." Brick responded, "I'm thankful for my healthy Mommy and Daddy." It was so heartwarming.

After breakfast, I was laying on the floor watching the parade, and Calla was hovering over me. Out of nowhere, she did a big belly flop right on top of me. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard.

Since it's just the four of us, we've kind of made a tradition out of visiting the Hyatt Hill Country Resort for our Thanksgiving feast. This year's spread didn't seem quite as impressive as it's been in years past. For one, they were lacking two Thanksgiving staples: mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie! We're already making plans to have Thanksgiving at the house next year.

On Friday we braved the malls and did a little Black Friday shopping. We got some great deals on toys for the kids, new jeans for Daddy, new boots for Mommy, and let's not forget the best Black Friday deal of all ... DIAPERS.

Saturday we headed downtown for the Chuy's Children Giving to Children Christmas Parade. It was a perfectly chilly but sunny day, and we were running late, so our spots for viewing the parade were pretty limited. Luckily, we ran into some friends of ours and got to hang out with them.

And since no post would be complete without a few pictures, here's a couple of the kids' (first) visit with Santa this year. We've been trying to prep Brick, getting him ready for the idea of telling Santa what he wants. With us, he's been alternating between "Bob the Builder" and "Handy Manny". Well, when the big man finally asked him what he wanted, Brick totally froze. You could see the wheels turning in his head ... "Bob the Builder or Handy Manny. Which one should I say?" Finally he blurted out "Handy Manny!" I think it's safe to say Santa was listening, and there's a Handy Manny toolset in Brick's future.




On the other hand, Calla wanted nothing to do with Santa.



I guess when you're this beautiful, it's okay not to like Santa.

Family photo-swap

Over the weekend, we met up with another local photographer and traded out photo sessions. You can view the pictures of our family on Scott's website: http://scottstater.com/fun/tucker

I especially love the way he captured Brick. If only he were equally cooperative when it was MY camera in his face.

In return for Scott's time, I took some pictures of his family. We found all kinds of cool little locations, but most of my favorite photos were taken in front of this cool, funky, blue-green wall.

Ra Ra

Still catching up ... Almost a month ago, we headed to Dallas for the Texas State Fair. We ran into some Dallas Cowboys' cheerleaders again. As the photo shows, Brick's demeanor was a little different this year than it was last year.



Yes, he had a black eye. He had a run-in (literally) with another kid at school. It's all healed now. As you can see here.

More photos to come

We went downtown today and had a photo-swap with a photographer friend of mine. Believe it or not, we haven't had a professional family photo taken since, well, Calla's birth. Scott shared so many great little spots with us. I can't wait to see how the photos come out.

In the meantime, here's one I grabbed of Brick. He's been a much more willing subject these days. Maybe it's because I'm taking fewer pictures, or maybe it's the mounds of Halloween candy I suddenly have to bribe him with.