You Broke my Heart

During dinner last night, Andrew and I were struggling to get our very reluctant Taylor to eat a piece of avocado. We had given him a small lecture about it, tried playing games with the avocado, and it had come down to the dreaded choice:

"Taylor, you may choose to eat your avocado, or you may choose to go to bed."

Through soft tears of frustration he responded something that we never expected to come out of our two year-old's mouth:

"Daddy, you broke my heart!"

Where does he get this stuff? Taylor, you crack us up!

Thanksgiving in the South

I think this was a Thanksgiving for the record books. Anyone out there hosted more than 86 guests for Thanksgiving dinner? That was our number this year! My sweet mother in-law possesses the epitome of southern hospitality: I have learned that at the Norris home, every one is always welcome.

There was good food (yes, traditional southern dishes were there, like country ham, corn pudding, and pecan pie), LOTS of good company, and great memories were made. And it was beautifully done, too: complete with glass goblets and real china at every place setting. The only misfortune was that poor sick Taylor threw-up all over the kitchen floor as the large group was dishing-up their dinners. (He did this again over a half-dozen times during our stay there!) Sweet little guy.

Thanksgiving day was just the beginning. We were able to vacation in Alabama for eleven days! This gave us the fun opportunity to spend one-on-one time with each of Andrew's seven siblings and their families and witness some exciting events too. Namely:

Seeing THE RING, THE LUCKY GUY (Drew Downs--we love you!) and watching Rachel try on wedding dresses for the first time. We are so pumped that Andrew's sister is getting married!

Taylor adores him: we celebrated cousin Scott's fourth birthday and met Cindy and Cameron's newest little addition, Cayden, now three months old.

We celebrated Don and Mindi's announcement that they're expecting their second baby--due to join our family in May :), and Don being admitted to the Orthodonics Program at UAB Dental School! It was only after congratulating them on achieving this great accomplishment that we learned what an honor it is: Don was one of thousands of applicants to the ortho program, who then was awarded one of only four available spots at the school. Wow. Way to go, Orthodonny! (Totally love that!)

We were able to attend Grandmother's annual christmas party. Somehow, we managed to dress 19 little Norris grandchildren in festive attire TWICE for pictures that morning: once in live nativity clothing, and a few rushed moments later, in cute Christmas pajamas that Andrew's mom gave to all the kids. I'm telling you, this was quite the gymnastic act! I think the pictures tell the story of our exciting adventures.

Russell riding on an airplane for the first time and Taylor riding on an airplane for the first time as a paid-for-it passenger. They both handled the trip pretty well and Taylor really especially enjoyed that we got to ride in a Shamu airplane on the journey home. (For a 2 year-old, does it get much better than that?!)

I can't think of a better way to spend Thanksgiving than with family, whom we are so thankful for! Making memories with all of Andrew's family together was such a treat, as we don't get to do that very often. In our perfect world, Alabama wouldn't be so far away! We're glad that we have the wedding in June to look forward to when we can be together again. Thanks for deciding to tie the knot, Rach! :)

6 Months Old

Really? MY baby is NOT the newborn baby anymore?? How did this happen?!

Russell Macfarlane Norris

Growth Stats as of 12/7/2010:

Height: 26 3/4" (55th %ile)

Weight: 17 lb. 6 oz. (50th %ile)

Sleep Pattern: 7-9 hours at night

And he's grown so much just in the past 4-6 weeks especially: changed from resting calmly in my arms to wanting to look around for every sound he hears, from remaining relatively quiet throughout the day to frequently testing-out his vocal chords with boyish baby babble, from keeping to himself when I enter a room to insisting that I give him my full attention, from just looking when an object is interesting to trying to rip each new scene to shreds. My baby is growing at lightning speeds...and no matter how I beg him to quit, he just won't!

As Russell has given me the opportunity to be a mother to more than one, I'm really discovering for myself that no two kids are alike. Besides the obvious physical contrasts, baby Ruh-russ is so different from his brother.

Baby Russell, 6 months old (November 2010)

Baby Taylor, 6 months old (December 2008)

My baby LOVES to eat! I remember having such difficulties getting baby Taylor to nurse, eat from a spoon, drink from a sippy cup. So far, little Russell hasn't presented such stressors. It's been so fun to nurse him without any problems, bottle feed him when I need to, and introduce new tastes to his little palate, as he audibly approves with his Chewbacca-esque baby "mmm, mmm" sounds.

Russell is such a sweet, mild-natured baby. His brother enjoyed discovering new toys and body movements at this age, but Russell prefers spending quiet time with others: being cuddled and talked to, and observing people around him. This includes himself. I love it when I catch him quietly rotating his little wrists around in front of his face, as he loves checking-out his chubby baby hands.

Oh, how I love this little one! I can truly feel that a very blessed, Christlike little person has come to our family. One whom I can feel the Spirit telling me has come to this earth for a purpose. It's a humbling, overwhelming, and touching feeling. I sometimes have to pinch myself that I am his mother!