my first turkey

our thanksgiving was such a wonderful mix of food, family, and sunshine!

i made my first turkey, and thanks to my careful planning, i was able to have the meal all on the table at the same time. ;)  my mother-in-law and sister-in-law joined us for the day, and hendrix very much enjoyed playing with them both. 

hendrix learned the words 'turkey' and 'gobble-gobble' as we were trying to keep him in the loop about thanksgiving.....but he wouldn't try any of the food i made.  

apparently his taste buds are more accustomed to chicken nuggets and applesauce.  

he doesn't even know what he missed out on!

aunt kate has a birthday really close to this holiday, so it was fun to share a birthday treat with her.  hendrix really enjoyed helping her open the card and present......i am quite certain that christmas is going to be a blast with this kiddo!

the weather was gorgeous and we enjoyed a nice little walk to the park...

followed by yummy dessert! 

  

grandma had probably the biggest hit of the day though with her iPad.  hendrix really enjoyed the animal sounds app that she downloaded for him, and loved showing us all the sounds that he knows. ;)  it was so cute!

now we can start focusing on the next holiday....christmas here we come!

giving thanks

these two boys are by far my largest blessings.  

i am so thankful for them.

we had a lot of fun having an impromptu family photo shoot to give us some pictures for our christmas card this year.  without unveiling the ones that we chose to have on the card, i thought it would be fun to share some of the other ones with you.  

we took turns with the camera so both of us could be in some of the pictures, and we did use the tripod and timer for some shots......though getting hendrix to look at the camera when there is no one standing behind it is nearly impossible...

in this particular shot, i think he heard a train and needed to turn and try to find it.  ;)  lol

normally at this time on the night before thanksgiving, we would be either travelling to be with family for the holidays, or at the very least getting all packed up and ready to go somewhere bright and early tomorrow.....

but not this year.

this year we are having thanksgiving dinner at our house!

i am very much looking forward to hosting the meal for my in-laws, and i have been doing my research on how to provide the most delicious, stress-less meal possible

the goal is to have fun with our family, and enjoy this little kiddo!  i heard today that the forecast is calling for upper 60's and sunshine tomorrow, so i am planning to fit in a trip to park. ;)

last year at this time, i was in misery recovering from my gallbladder removal, and i didn't get to enjoy turkey and all the fixings with everyone else as i was on a pretty bland clear liquids diet.  

that makes me extra thankful this year.

my menu includes:

turkey (of course)

stuffing with golden raisins and walnuts

mashed potatoes and gravy

rolls

corn casserole

scalloped chipotle sweet potatoes

orange-scented green beans

pecan pie

gooey pumpkin buttercakes

my kitchen is smelling wonderful and my mouth is watering already......

happy thanksgiving from my family to yours!

linking up with project alicia, 5 minutes for mom, live and love out loud, growing up gardner and baby baby lemon. 

what happened to thanksgiving?

i am so thankful for this smiling, happy, toothy grin ;)  

almost a full week later, i think hendrix is finally better and feeling back to his normal self.  

he battled another bout of ear infection and that icky croupy cough stuff right through our weekend halloween festivities.  

he did get to go trick-or-treating, but he missed plenty of other fun events (including a costume birthday party for one of his favorite gal pals).

I can't help but notice that his eighth tooth is finally starting to poke up, and wonder if there is a correlation to sickness and teething?!?  the doc says no, but i have heard many other mothers make this correlation.......

hmmmmm

anyways, this pictures makes me happy.

it makes me thankful.

it reminds me that my life is full of blessings.

and it challenges me to take a few minutes to stop and consider them.

this evening after work i stopped at wal-mart really quick to pick up a can of pumpkin puree that got forgotten on my grocery list last night.  i thought it would be pretty easy, being early november, to find said pumpkin on an aisle end cap or in the seasonal section.

i got all the way to the seasonal section to find that the pumpkin has already been replaced with cranberries and christmas ornaments.  

what?

now, don't get me wrong here, i love christmas. 

i really do.  

i probably love christmas more than the average person, and i can't wait to go chop down our very first real christmas tree this year.....

but

i really would like to take it one holiday at a time, and right now i want to focus on thanksgiving.

apple cider.

pumpkins.

turkey with stuffing.

family time.

red and orange leaves.

pilgrims.

counting our blessings.

so, in honor of my revolt against skipping this important holiday, i thought i would compile a little list of the things i am thankful for today.

1. my hubs.  he is my rock. my constant.  i love him so much.

2. my sweet boy.  he makes me laugh, he makes me tear my hair out.  he keeps me young and he makes me feel old.  he is a doll.  he is at an age where the whole world is opening up to him and he is starting to make connections about the way things work - it is so fun to watch!

3. crisp autumn mornings.  the kind that make me want to wear turtlenecks and boots.  (by the way, hendrix tried out his snow boots for the first time this evening, while he was brushing his teeth.....he is a fabulous multitasker, just like his mama!)

4. a quaint, though a bit rough around the edges, house that we have made a home. 

5. pecan tassies and gingersnap cookies (both of which i made this morning) that make an entire house smell delicious for days!

6. big piles of raked leaves that make loud crunching sounds.

7. pumpkin spice lattes.

8. friends.  the kind that stop by when i am still unshowered in my jammies and don't even make me feel bad about it ;)

9. family gatherings. the kind that fill a whole house up with noise and laughter.  

10. my camera.  i love the way i am able to see the world differently when i look through my lens.

but i am most thankful for the life-changing role of mom that was given to me 14 months ago when this little boy was born into our family.  i wouldn't change a thing.

linking up with:

More Thanksgiving Fun

I have been healing up and feeling much better as each day passes.  By Friday I was already done taking the Vicodin and had switched to just tylenol.  I still wasn't holding Hendrix very much, but I felt okay with that since he was getting snuggles from everyone else in my family.  Now I feel confident enough to hold him, but I need to have someone else pick him up and hand him over to me.  I am trying to be very careful and follow the doc's orders.

We celebrated my little brother's birthday on Friday night, and he loved the new briefcase we got for him.  Go ahead and count those candles......he is getting pretty old ;)

We spent lots of time playing games at my parent's house.  There were lots of people home for the holidays since I have 6 younger brothers and sisters, 3 of whom have significant others that will put up with us. :)  Hendrix is getting used to being around lots of noise and activity.  

Saturday night we had our family football game.  I refrained from playing this year, and easily settled into my role as time keeper, score keeper, and referee. 

'The Ballers' beat 'The Victorious Secret' with a score of 5 to 3.

Hendrix slept peacefully throughout the whole game.  I imagine by next year, he will be wanting to toddle around in a jersey of his own. ;)

Today we went to my Grandparent's house for a final Thanksgiving celebration.  This was alot of fun as we have a new member in the family this year (my brother's fiance, Hannah), and also because I was finally able to actually eat all the Thanksgiving foods!  

He enjoyed some special snuggles with his great grandparents, but we had to start stripping him of his clothes, because it was really warm with all the bodies in one room.

When we finally made it home after our long weekend away, we decided to put up our Christmas tree so we can start thinking about the next holiday. 

Hooray!  I LOVE Christmas :)

Hendrix has been so happy to be back in his own home.  He had an exhausting time being passed around so that all his family could love on him, and he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief when he recognized that he was in his own surroundings.  He was so smiley while we changed him for bed, and awfully lumpy in daddy's arms just a few moments later. :)

Thanksgiving in Grinnell

Hendrix celebrated his first Thanksgiving with his Grandma and Grandpa and Crazy Aunt Kate.

Grandpa enjoyed carrying him around in the baby bjorn.

Grandma enjoyed talking to him.

And Kate enjoyed watching him laugh and talk on his playmat.

We had a very nice day at my in-laws.  I felt relatively well for having had surgery the day before, but I just layed around and watched everyone play with Hendrix and eat all day.  While I smelled the amazing smells of turkey and stuffing, I ate chicken noodle soup, jello, and pudding (the joys of the clear liquids diet!).  

We celebrated Kate's birthday, and she enjoyed the sweater that Hendrix got for her.

I am not allowed to lift anything heavier than 5 pounds (until next week when I have my stitches out), so I have spent lots of time sitting on the floor next to Hendrix talking to him and stroking his face.  I am really missing our snuggles and have to have quite a bit of help while feeding him.  

He has been awfully good natured about being passed around, and everyone has been super helpful with his care!  

He did the crossword puzzles with Grandma this morning. 

We are over at my folks' house now for a few days, and I am looking forward to being able to start adding more solids into my diet.  I might even be able to have turkey by Sunday which is when we are going to my grandparents house for another Thanksgiving meal. :)