Once we got back from our Thanksgiving trip to Nonna and Papa’s in Alabama, as we were walking through the front door of our house, I put my arm around your shoulder and said, “You did so good on the trip. I am really proud of you.”
As I was saying those words, it’s like it hit me all at once: You were so independent. You didn’t really need me for much the whole time. I didn’t have to worry about you.
Though I was in the same house as you, and often the same room, you and I were interacting with other family members instead of each other; compared to the norm.
So you and I didn’t really have much quality time together, though we did with other members of the family who we don’t see as often.
We did the right thing. After all, the holidays is for catching up with people you don’t see as often.
Yet, I suppose I still somehow experienced some guilt over it. Because as we settled back in after Thanksgiving, I realized how much of my time is required by your sister Holly.
For me to be a good husband and good parent, I have to be holding a baby most of the time we are all together at the house. While I am proud to take care of your sister, I recognize that the days of you and I just being able to hang out anytime are sort of on hold for right now.
Before your sister was born, we could just easily run upstairs and watch a stupid movie together or go outside for a hike.
But these days, my mobility is greatly restricted by me taking care of your sister while Mommy concentrates on the majority of the housework; like cooking and laundry.
I miss our time together. Things will eventually get back closer to how they were before. But honestly, I think it will be another 5 months or so, when your sister turns a year old.
You’re such a good kid. I don’t want to miss out on truly living every minute I can with you.
You turned 7 months old on Thanksgiving, which was your very first Thanksgiving, by the way. It was a larger gathering than normal for us, as your Uncle Andrew’s parents were in town. Plus, your Great-Uncle Al and Great-Aunt Sharon visited us as well.
Something I officially realized about you during this holiday is that you genuinely love being passed around to different people. It’s a win-win. You love being held- and people love holding you.
In particular, you like to test people out and their cuddling abilities. It’s hilarious to watch you just lay your head down into a person’s shoulder within a minute of meeting them. You naturally assume that everyone wants to be your friend- and you’re right!
You automatically smile real big anytime you see a new person, so naturally, they want to hold this smiley baby girl.
As I look through these pictures, I love seeing the obvious difference in skin tone, comparing yours to pretty much everyone else in our family. I know I probably mention this a lot, but it really is fascinating to me how you have collected the rarest of genes from the family tree.
We had a vegan Mexican feast for Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, you were introduced to a new baby food: applesauce and prunes. Fortunately for your digestion, you liked the combo. I am so happy you are able to rely less on formula and more on solid foods.
Your brother was happy because he got some birthday presents; a Lego set and an electronic board set.
Before everyone left, we took some family pictures. We should do that more often.
So there you go- that’s what you did during your very first Thanksgiving! And now we’re less than a month away from your first Christmas. I’m really excited about what Mommy and I got you for your main gift…
You’re likely reading this because you fall into one of two categories: Either you’re a fellow vegan like me… or you’re simply curious to see what a Thanksgiving looks like without the traditional turkey and dressing.
Well, I can’t speak for most plant-based families out there, but I can definitely tell you what our family did for Thanksgiving this year.
We had a very vegan, and Mexican, feast.
Why Mexican? The main reason is because it was the easiest menu for my wife to plan and prepare; not to mention, we were travelling with the food for 3 hours from Tennessee to Alabama.
The other reason, though it could arguable be a coincidence, is that my side of the family is part Mexican; so it simply seemed natural to do so.
When we drove in the night before Thanksgiving, my mom made some homemade Michoacán style “tacos” for my wife and me to try. The recipe was one that my Grandma (who was full Mexican) passed on to my mom.
Plus, we made vegan pancakes. Not to mention, avocado toast. And some breakfast muffins, using chia seeds as part of the recipe.
The next day for our actual Thanksgiving Day feast, we had a taco bar. My wife cooked up 3 pounds of Beyond Meat (made from pea protein) for the main filling. Plus, my mom prepared black beans, pinto beans, and refried beans. We of course had veggies to dress the tacos, as well as avocado, which serves as a high-fat cheese substitute. There was also some really healthy black rice with almonds; so hearty!
My mom also made some bean salads for sides and pumpkin pie for dessert.
There was so much food that we still had enough left over to have the meal again the next day. Both times we had the meal, we had guests over. We didn’t tell them it was vegan, but they seemed to enjoy it just the same.
So, there you go. That’s what we had for our Thanksgiving feast. And it worked so well, we plan to repeat our menu again for Christmas!
Whatever brings you to this blog post today, please know that you are welcome here. No pressure at all for you to adopt the wildly strange and counter-cultural lifestyle I have lived for many years now.
Just enjoy the scenery and scratch your head in wonder. It’s okay. This is a safe place.
On November 26th, the night before Thanksgiving this year, I was driving home from work. Normally, I would have had you in the car with me, in the back seat.
Fortunately, Mommy got off work early that day and she picked you up instead.
As I drove down that narrow, wooded, farm land stretch from Cool Springs to Nolensville, on Clovercroft Road, I made sure to slow down, going under the speed limit because of all the light rain and heavy fog obstructing my view.
Less than a mile from home, I looked over the left hand side of the road to see what appeared to be a skinny white cow running faster than I’ve ever seen a cow run.
As it made its way down that hill, which was part of a farm, I noticed it was being chased… by a deer.
At that point, I realized that actually, both animals were deer.
The all-white one jumped the 4 foot tall barb wire fence. In a split-second moment, I had a big decision to make:
I chose to remain cruising at the same speed and let the deer run into the side of me.
Officially, I did not hit a deer… a deer hit me!
It reminded me of some generic yet familiar scene from Lost, where some big explosion happens and the character wakes up wondering where they are. (That seemed to happen a lot on Lost!)
Miraculously, by the grace of God, the albino deer didn’t crash through my window. It hit hard against my driver’s side door and tire.
However, the impact didn’t slow down my car or knock my car off the road.
When I looked back behind me, I saw no sign of the deer; nor did the cars behind me have to swerve. The albino deer just completely disappeared.
I was able to drive home, with no injuries.
However, when I got home, I was unable to open the driver’s side door, as the deer’s impact had jammed the tire panel into the door.
And for some reason, the battery was dead the next morning.
I ended up having to have my car towed. Please note to avoid having an insurance claim in between the 2 biggest holidays of the year.
Keep in mind the accident occurred on November 26th. Well, I got my car back from the shop just a couple of days ago, on December 30th; about 5 weeks later.
I have to compliment Service King in Cool Springs, TN; where my car was towed. They did a flawless job of keeping me informed via text messages and phone calls on the status of my vehicle’s condition.
Yes, it took 5 weeks to get my car back after the accident, but in no way was the delay because of Service King. It had to do with the insurance inspection in the midst of the holidays, as well as a surge of claims of deer hitting cars.
My car was towed to facility to a place where they total cars; only to eventually learn that, thank God, my car wasn’t totaled.
So after a couple of weeks of that, it was finally taken to Service King, where it was repaired.
Just to be clear, though, it was nothing short of a miracle that my car wasn’t totaled. The state of Tennessee requires insurance companies to total vehicles if the damage is equal to 70% or more of the vehicle’s value.
Looks like I was only safe by a couple hundred dollars.
One good thing that came out of all this is I got to review 4 cars during the past month. For example, here are the stories that came out of the Lexus LX 570:
In closing, please remember my words of wisdom: Never slow down, stop, or swerve to avoid hitting an animal.
Had I done any of those things, the accident would have been billed as my fault. I would have had a $500 deductible, plus my premium would have went up.
But because I chose to let the deer hit me, I remained safe on the road, and my deductible was only $100; not to mention my premium will not increase.
Here in the state of Tennessee, you seriously have to watch out for those albino deer…
Fortunately, your Uncle Andrew and Aunt Dana bought me a deer warner for Christmas.
Last Tuesday when the nice man came to take back the Toyota Tundra(which we used for your monster truck road tripin to celebrate your 3rd birthday), he randomly replaced it with a new 2013 Toyota Rav4. I was totally not expecting that!
But, I’ve learned that sometimes in life, it’s just best not to question things…
With that being said, for the past week now, our family has got to drive around in our 3rd Toyota. (The 1st was the Sienna minivan.)
Therefore, I suppose, by default, I am becoming a car reviewer; analyzing cars from the dad’s perspective, as I see how the vehicle works for the whole family, not just the driver.
I will start out by saying this, the Rav4 is definitely my favorite Toyota I have driven so far in my small list of reviews. The Rav4 is a perfect physical and pscyhological fit for me.
At 5’9″, which happens to be about the height of the average American man, I found the vehicle to have the ideal amount of space for me. If I were an SUV, I think it’s safe to say I could very easily be a Rav4.
Small SUVs have always been my personal preference as far as the actual car I drive: My first car was a 1988 Ford Bronco II and my current is a 2004 Honda Element.Basically, I love a good “commuter SUV.” I don’t need a big engine or a lot of power, but I do like a little more cargo room and height that an SUV offers compared to most cars.
Plus, most importantly, getting good gas mileage is very crucial to me. The 2013 Rav4 gets 24 miles per gallon in the city and 31 on the highway, for an average of 26.
Something else I should point out about the new, 4th generation, 2013 Rav4 is this: It’s feels plenty masculine enough for me. I had always tagged Rav4s as a “girl SUV,” like the Nissan Xterra. (I don’t know why that is, but that’s what I’ve always thought.)
But this newest rendition of the Rav4 looks a lot different than its predecessors, so I want to say “good job” to the people who designed this one. I would very proudly continue driving the Rav4; again, it’s a perfect fit for my lifestyle and personality.
So, what did you, the 3 year-old little boy who is obsessed with cars think about the Rav4?
Well, you said out of the 3 JToyotas (Sienna, Tundra, Rav4), your favorite was actually the Sienna minivan.
You didn’t give me a reason, but I think it’s because the Sienna is “all windows” and you were better able to see all the other cars on the road during the drive to and from school each day.
But of course, you were satisfied simply because of the fact that the Rav4 is an SUV… and that our model has a moon roof. (You love SUVs!)
The Rav4 was our vehicle for Thanksgiving weekend so we definitely had a lot of family fun in it.
Mommy got to drive us to Starbucks on Thanksgiving to buy the newspaper with all the ads in it. She accidently wore your bear hat inside the store and didn’t realize it until she came back to us in the parking lot.
Plus, the Rav4 became the 1st vehicle to transport you “diaper free” to a public place, where you successfully didn’t have an accident. More on that tomorrow; I’m not completely finished talking about the Rav4 yet.
Okay, so, tomorrow the nice man is supposed to pick up the Rav4 and take it back to Atlanta. We’ll either be back in my Honda Element… or we’ll both be surprised and I’ll end up writing another car review about a different Toyota.
Maybe I’ll do this car reviewing thing enough to where people actually start seeing me as a serious family car reviewer?…
Love,
Daddy
Disclaimer: The vehicle mentioned in this story was provided at the expense of Toyota, for the purpose of reviewing.
P.S. Here’s a collection of my Toyota reviews so far; just click on title to read the full story:
Basically, I love a good “commuter SUV.” I don’t need a big engine or a lot of power, but I do like a little more cargo room and height that an SUV offers compared to most cars.
Family Friendly Daddy Blog 