Other November Gems

 Thea slept in the much loved (by me!) moses basket. I love it's portability that brings the baby some consistency wherever she sleeps-home, hotel, grandma's house, etc.

 Sage never really had bed head.  Her hair got longer and longer and still nary a rat's nest. But, it did start to tangle and she would scream bloody murder before commencing weeping and wailing if you hit a snag when combing it. I didn't want to cut it and neither did she (because she didn't want to look like a boy!). We tried braiding at night to limit the tangling.

This would turn out to be the first of many, many times throughout the winter that Ian would be afflicted with a 24 hour stomach flu that resulted in vomiting and diarrhea. Sage would soon join in this party, unfortunately!

Mid-November brought our first snowfall of the year. We hadn't even gotten the trampoline taken down. The boys had a great time jumping in the snow!

While this picture has already been featured in Chris' birthday post, I am taking this opportunity to recognize the amazing artistic skills of my three year old. Never have the likes been seen in this house at that age. (Not that I am making comparisons because that would be bad parenting. But she draws....like at all!  And she holds the crayon just like you are supposed to with no coaching or instruction!  And she draws pictures rather than scribbles!)

So, while I was in the depths of sleep deprivation life went on and it was different and good and bad and sweet, just like usual.

Black Friday First

For the first time EVER I went shopping on Black Friday. And not only did I go out on that dreaded day, I went at the crack of dawn!

I thought it would be incredibly hard to get up and that I might actually change my mind about going when the alarm went off...but the alarm turned out to be a baby's cry so I didn't have much choice about getting up.

By the time I finished feeding Thea it was about 4 am-the time I had planned to leave anyway.

I just had one stop planned and one item on my list.

What could it be that would really motivate me to shop on a day I swore I never would? What could possibly get me out of the house so early in cold, frosty November? (Because you know it didn't occur to me to be warming up the van while I was feeding Thea! My brain doesn't work that well that early!)  What could really entice me to try and navigate a totally unfamiliar area in the dark pre-dawn hours?

Here is a little Christmas preview (one of the advantages of updating the blog after the fact:):

The whole experience was surprisingly peaceful.

And totally worth it!

Thanksgiving in Huntley

The October that we moved to Greendale also brought a change of location for my brother, Ian, and for my sister, Elise, and their families. Ian moved from Minneapolis, MN to Huntley, IL and Elise moved from Houston, TX to Flower Mound, TX.

We have been able to have Thanksgiving in Huntley with Ian and his family for a couple of years now. This is has been a special treat since Chris and I have never really lived close to family.

 This year we got to enjoy more than just delicious food! A few more family members than usual showed up! Mom and Dad and Elise and her family came up from TX!

 We had a great time visiting and eating.

And cooing at the baby, of course!
 Thea was almost two months old.

 Elise was there so we had to try and get a few family pictures too.

 But it was super fun to see the cousins spend time together!

 Mostly we saw the backs of them-they were always on the move and it was always fast!

 Some things brought back memories of days gone by...

 And some set us firmly in our wonderful present, where we are blessed beyond measure with our beautiful families and the opportunity to be together and help us look to our future, when we hope we will be a forever family!

Thea's First Month

October 12-3 days old

October 13-4 days old

October 14-5 days old

October 15-6 days old

October 16-7 days old

October 18-9 days old

October 19-10 days old

October 21-13 days old

October 27-19 days old

November 1-24 days old

November 5-28 days old

November 6-29 days old, 3 days shy of 1 month