Thanksgiving...

This year Ted and Ceara hosted the big Thanksgiving feast...

My mom has always hosted the meal,

but when Ceara got married she claimed the holiday

for her own...

and my mom happily obliged!

Ceara planned the meal, cooked and decorated...

and it all turned out pretty perfect!

~

When we first walked in the door,

we were greeted with the sight of this big glass vase...

Everyone was instructed to drop their

smart phones in the vase for a nice peaceful meal of

no texting, facebooking, instagraming...

I thought the vase was a good idea!

 Everything was set up so pretty...

 They even moved all the living room furniture out

and set up tables and chairs for the

big group!

Ceara lined the tables with brown paper and had crayons

strewn about the table

so everyone could doodle while eating and visiting...

a fun idea!

And we even had fun little games to play...

thank goodness for pinterest!

 My sister Ana and her little crew made the 4 hour

 trip north to celebrate Thanksgiving...

and to see Angelina for the first time!

At the sound of the first little whimper from

Angelina, Ana and her boys were right there

to take her out of the carseat...

not that they were anxious to hold her or anything!

 We make it a point to not decorate for Christmas

until after Thanksgiving,

but James just couldn't contain his Holiday enthusiasm any longer

and he had to wear the mistletoe headband

to dinner!

 A week before Thanksgiving Elsie and James

helped Ceara make some little place cards...

Love that they even made one for Angelina!

 No one went away hungry!

Ceara did a whole new menu...without the traditional foods...

no stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc.

She did serve baked potatoes with all the toppings,

lots of veggies, wild rice, turkey, sweet potatoes...

all so yummy!

 Dinner is served...

 It was a fun meal...

lots of laughter!

 After the meal we all did a

little more visiting,

a lot of pie eating,

shared plenty of laughter,

the kids enjoyed a quick romp outside

in the freshly fallen snow...

 Angelina was a pretty happy girl for her

first Thanksgiving...

she slept for awhile, nursed a whole lot,

cried a little, had a massive poopie diaper

and stained up her new dress and tights!

 Play time for

Ana and Gus...

 Ceara read the kids some books...

all the kids love

auntie Ceara!

She always has a ton of exciting energy

and the kids feed of that!

 We had a very fun Thanksgiving...

the kids fell asleep on the car ride home

{and it was just a few blocks!}

Now that Thanksgiving is over...

let the Christmas festivities begin!

Our house is fully decorated and we have even pulled out the

jingle bells earrings!

All the Holidays, the family gatherings,

the little details and rituals...

it all makes this my most favorite time of the year!

Thanksgiving Prep...

Thanksgiving prep is almost just as exciting

as Thanksgiving day.

When I was little it was a big thing to help prepare

the food for the big day...

My kids are no different,

they waited and begged to finally begin the food prep!

Since becoming gluten/dairy free,

my contribution to the big family dinner

has always been pies!

 We use the pie crust recipe from

Jon's mom and just use the GF flour.

Turns out perfect every time.

This year we made 2 Apple and 2 Strawberry.

We did cheat though and use an

apple pie filling instead of making our own.

Everyone still ate it though with no complaining!

 The dough is far too delicate to use a rolling pin...

{GF is just like that}

so we pressed it into the pie plates.

{See how lazy I was this year, throw away tins even!}

 The kids did a super job pressing the dough out

and making sure the thickness was even.

 I love the enthusiasm the kids have

for simple joys...

 And I love rolly poly 2 year old fingers...

 4 pie shells waiting for filling...

yum, yum!

We also made over 2 dozen baked potatoes

to bring for the meal.

And Elsie was able to go help Auntie Ceara

with more food prep.

Love that my kids are old enough to

enjoy and appreciate all the

little things that make

holidays special...



5 Weeks...

My blog has been pretty quiet lately...

typically I blog at night after the kids are in bed,

but lately I have been focusing on

Christmas shopping at night...

in the comfort of my pj's with the baby

sleeping peacefully in my arms.

I love online shopping!

Happy to report though that the shopping

 is almost done!

I've never been done so early!

~

Somehow my little Angelina turned

5 weeks old on Monday...

 She is still the best baby.

very contented...

she loves to lay on the bed and just

look around,

all wide eyed!

 She has also become pretty good

at spitting up...

We brought her the chiropractor last week,

and they found that her jaw was out of place.

It was causing her to 'click' when

nursing and get air, thus spit up.

Since the adjustment, the spitting has gotten so

much better!

I guess an out of place jaw is very common for

babies born so fast.

The rest of her spine looked good,

so that was good!

 And I'm sad to say that her sweet

little high pitched newborn cry

is changing...

She is growing up...

 She is growing up so much

that tonight I packed away all her

preemie and newborn clothes...

She needs a size 3 months already!

Which means I get to go on a little shopping spree

for new clothes for her...

For some reason I didn't buy any clothes bigger than 0-3mo

before she was born!

Guess I was hopping she was going to stay

little tiny for longer than she has!

 Everyday as I sit and nurse little Angelina,

I think to myself,

How did we get so lucky to be

blessed with 3 perfect little people...

Today...

picture source HERE



Undies...

A few weeks ago the kids I ventured into town...

My first time shopping with all 3 kids alone...

We just went to the

grocery store and Target.

The baby did perfectly and slept the whole time.

While we were at Target we found some

undies for James!

He had been saying he wanted Cars undies...

and that's just what we found!

We haven't started potty training 100% yet...

We are just kinda starting to play at it a bit...

some days he wants to be potty trained and wear undies

other days he wants a diaper.

Overall he does pretty good on those potty training days...

He is very good with telling us when he has to go poop...

it's the peeing we need to work on  a little more.

I'm in no rush to potty train him though!



 There is just something about a little size 2t butt

in little undies...

too cute!

{He was waiting for the mail lady...both kids go

bonkers when the mail lady comes and they stand in the

window to watch for packages she may be dropping off!}

4 Weeks...

If any of my readers are not a fan

of lots and lots of

sweet baby pix,

you better stop reading!

I have a feeling there will be no end of

Baby Angelina pictures for a long time!

~

Today Angelina is 4 weeks old!

It seems unbelievable that just

4 weeks ago Angelina wasn't here...

what did we do without her?

 These pictures were all taken when she was

two and a half weeks old...

One morning, before breakfast even,

I did a little photo shoot of the baby...

We have the best morning and afternoon light that

shines in on our bed...

the perfect spot for Baby pictures!

 The kids are still just as in

Love

with her as the day she was born.

No sibling rivalry here...

just love.

Well, just love for the baby...

James and Elsie can fight like there is no tomorrow.

We are working on that whole

showing each other we are thankful for one another thing.

Not going over so well!

 Angelina is a little cuddle bug!

She loves to be rocked and cuddled.

She snuggles right in.

Her favorite position is either up on my shoulder

with her little face nestled into my neck,

or facing outwards...

the kids love her facing outwards

because they think she is watching them play.

 Just this past week her 0-3 month clothes

have started to fit her better.

I think she has long arms...

All her newborn sleepers look like

short sleeves on her!

 I find it funny that there is only

1 person who she will take a bottle from...

Daddy!

I am like a cow and can pump sometimes

4oz after a feeding...

so you can only imagine the milk supply we have

in the freezer!

Elsie has tried a couple times to give her a bottle

and so have I...

she refuses it.

But Daddy comes home and offers her a bottle,

and she takes the whole thing just fine for him.

Talk about favorites!

 Sweet little babe...

even though she has only been here 4 weeks,

I can't imagine life without her...

My Babies ans Me...

Embrace the Camera again!

Our days seem to be flying by lately...

I suppose having a newborn in the house

and being that I am trying to savor every moment

of those newborn days

has something to do with the days flying by!

Angelina is three weeks old already...

how can that even be possible?

 Yesterday I got out the trusty

tripod and attempted to take some nice pictures...

 Angelina is such a calm baby...

now that she has longer periods of being awake,

she loves to just look around.

 We used to use the tripod all the time and

the kids loved it...

it got shoved to the back of the closet while

I was on bedrest...

So the kids were super excited to see that I

pulled it out again!

 Girl time!

James is in the picture too...

but all you can see is his feet!

He randomly decided to lay down for the picture,

so Elsie and I squeezed together in front of him!

I Love my kids.

I truly feel blessed.

Even when we are having a bad day...

{like a "terrible two'' kind of day}

I still have a deep down kind of joy and happiness.

Being a mother is what I am meant

to be doing.

I am in my happy place.

That said, I don't walk around with a smile on my face

all day long...

my mom gets far too many exasperated texts from me!

because being a mom is hard work...

especially when one child is 2, one a newborn

and one you are supposed to be homeschooling!

I guess the trick is to find contentment in the little

things and cherish those

little moments of pure happiness...



Loved...

Angelina is one very loved little girl!

The kids fight over who is going

to hold her first!

Elsie could hold her all day if let her!

James begs to hold the baby...

then is done in about 10 seconds.

He holds her just long enough to plant

several very wet kisses on her head!

And one day he even had to give her a

wet willy in her ear!

I love watching the kids with Angelina.

I love how gentle James is with her.

When she is napping in her moses basket,

James will often put one of his toys in the basket with her...

like a car or a tool.

Because she likes it, he assures me while

nodding his head!

James is very protective over his little sister...

If someone else is holding the baby, he is

quick to point out that is

Our baby!

I think he must be afraid someone is going to walk off

with our baby!

Elsie is like a little mother already!

I love watching her gently talk to her sister...

and stroke her fingers.

She is very proud of the fact that she can put the baby

to sleep, and she always stays sleeping so

peacefully!

More than once I have heard Elsie telling Angelina,

"I prayed for a sister, and look who God gave me, you!"

Melt my heart!

I have also heard Elsie telling

Angelina about getting her ears pierced...

and how Angelina will get her ears done when she older

and they can share earrings!

I can only imagine all the primping and girly things

these two will do together!

I think it's safe to say

this girl is

Loved...

After all,

We all prayed for a perfect little baby...

and look how that prayer was answered!