Thanksgiving!!

This is a photo of Rachel's 2nd Thanksgiving (the first, she was too young to do much -- although she did turn over for the first time)!

Wow, what a great time we all had! Drew, The Little Girl and I slept in until 8:30. Then it was bustle bustle bustle around -- luckily, as was the case last year, TLG took a huge nap (in fact, last Thanksgiving was the first time that she did, in fact, nap), so I was able to bake a pumpkin chocolate-chip cake and we got our 14-lb turkey in. Then Drew took a shower, I set the table with the china, silver and crystal that we only use on special occasions, and then I just managed to change into my black velvet top, pants and pearls before everyone began arriving.

We sat down at 5 and Rachel was a most exemplary baby -- although as Drew says, I really can't call her that anymore because of how much she has been WALKING the past couple of days -- not fussing or whining at all, just munching on her challah. (Need to give a big shout-out to Molly, who basically took care of Rachel while Drew & I put the finishing touches on the meal. Molly took Rachel into her room and they read books. When they passed me in the hall and Rachel reached out to me, Molly said sternly, "well, you may want your mommy but she's busy now." Too bad Molly is such a fantastic writer, she really could make a living as a pricey doula or a nanny).

We had enough food for everyone plus a few leftovers -- enough to send people home with food but not enough to unduly crowd our refrigerator. After all the wonderful thank-yous from folks (Molly, Kiki, Jean, Anne, David, Amanda, Jenn, Linda, Doug, Andrew, Jack and Drew), the best compliment of the night was from 3-year-old Jack. After finishing a piece of pumpkin chocolate-chip cake he told me, "this is the best cake EVER!"

I think I'll adopt him.

Happy holidays, everyone, and thank you for making me feel so blessed!