25 weeks + 2 days: Thanksgiving Dinners & Black Friday

As tradition goes, Nick and I visit both of our families on thanksgiving day. The advantage is that we get two delicious meals out of the day but the disadvantage is that we don't have left overs on Friday.

First we headed to Cocoa to visit Nick's parents. Mary prepared the traditional thanksgiving dishes: turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing (the best I've ever had), sweet potato casserole, green beans, corn, and a small meatloaf for those who didn't feel like having turkey (instead we all ate turkey AND meatloaf).

Nick and I were discussing how we needed to make a plate to take to Baby since this is the one time during the year where we allow him to eat table food. Mary prepared a beautiful plate for Baby with samples of every dish.

Around 3pm, we headed to my parents for dinner. On our way, we picked up Baby so he could spend the rest of the day with us. I felt guilty leaving him at home since this will be the last holiday season he'll be able to travel with us. After having dinner with my family, it was time for Baby's small feast.

Our favorite picture... we can't tell if that's a smirk but he was a happy dog.

Baby did not try a sample of my mom's cooking because he got a hold of a turkey bone from the trash and I was afraid that would do enough damage on its own. On our way home Baby was so content, Nick said he must have been thinking "today was the best day ever."

Black Friday:

I have never participated in the black friday chaos before. Nick and I had browsed through the sale ads and found a few things we "needed". The plan was to wake up at 5am to be at Joann's by 6am, then hit Target, Home Depot, and Movie Spot.

I have been OBSESSED with the Cricut (it's an expensive scrapbooking tool) for about a year now. Well, Joann finally had it on sale for 50% off. I had told Nick that we were to "divide and conquer"- I would go straight to the aisle where they normally stock the Cricut while he would go straight to the customer service counter where they usually keep them in a locked cabinet. There was no need to do this since they were all stacked by the front door and Nick spotted them right away. There were about a dozen people in front of me and I honestly thought I had no shot of getting one because I thought they were ALL there for the same thing. As it turns out, apparently I'm the only scrapbooker without one because only one other lady stopped to pick one up. I was ready to fight for the last one- hoping they would give in since I'm pregnant- but there was no need. I am now the proud owner of a Cricut Electronic Personal Cutter machine. I am scrap happy now!

We moved quickly through the rest of the stores and bought everything we had on our list.

Here's a picture of all of our Black Friday deals:

Christmas Tree (I gave in to the "un-green" option of a fake tree, out of convenience and cheapness- who can say no to a decent looking 7.5 ft tree for $49)

Poinsettias .99 cents/ea - should've bought more

Outdoor Christmas Pathway lights

The Office- Seasons 1-3

Cricut Electronic Personal Cutter

Two cricut cartridges - I bought these on Thanksgiving NIGHT at Michaels- such a good deal!

Nick and I felt guilty that we didn't buy anything for anyone else. However, we rewarded ourselves for having stuck to and lived well below our budget for this month. Now, we've spent our surplus money but at least we're not in the hole.