Thanksgiving

We had a nice quiet Thanksgiving this year.  I was really looking forward to staying home and just snuggling with my boys for the whole day.  

There are so many things I am thankful for this season...

I'm thankful for this silly little turkey...

 And this turkey too...

I am thankful for a peaceful day full of crafts, Christmas music, movies and mimosas.  And a Dean & Deluca feast so I didn't have to cook :)

Lolli and Boobo stopped by to bring pumpkin pie and help with our craft.

I put together these little kits for the boys - tp roll, feathers, googly eyes, etc.

Such concentration.

Sullivan kept saying "Bobble, bobble" instead of "Gobble, gobble." :)

Sullivan digging in to the cranberry and brie appetizer.

Max busy personalizing our Christmas card envelopes with his drawings.

I'm incredibly thankful for the health of these three handsome boys....

 I'm thankful for the ability to see and talk to loved ones we couldn't be with...

FaceTime with our long distance family.

 How precious is my tiniest turkey?!

Thanks for the outfit Aunt Lisa!

 I am thankful for our cozy fire that we light every day in the cold winter months.

Roasting turkey.  He loves laying by the warm fire.

 I am thankful that the big brothers are so sweet and gentle with our new addition.

I am thankful for a hardworking, patient husband who I'm still head over heels in love with.  And the best father for my children I could ever ask for.

How cute are these tired turkeys?

Thanksgiving Part II was spent with my family on Saturday.

Fletcher ready to head over to Lolli and Boobo's house for Thankgiving #2!

 I am thankful for a creative family and the opportunity to share that creativity with my children...

Samantha supervising.

Working so hard on his Christmas tree.  These kind of crafts remind me of my childhood.

I am thankful for my Gram who is incredibly youthful and inspiring.

GG with her buddy :)

 I am thankful for cousins who are close and get to grow up together.  And even more on the way! :)

Watching movies in lieu of nap time.

Aside from missing many of the Murray family we had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  

We're now full speed ahead with our Christmas traditions.  Fletcher is going with the flow and keeping up well ;)  More on that next time!

Before and After

I love documenting change.  Mostly because change scares me, I think.  The present too quickly becomes the past.  And the change I see happening on a daily basis is hard to keep up with sometimes.

Taking before/after pictures allows me to face my fear of the swift passage of time, while preserving the past.  It's my therapy :)

 It's unbelievable how quickly all of these "before" pictures were replaced by the "after" photos.

BEFORE:
I had a surprise for my boys on St. Patrick's Day...

AFTER:

Their gift finally arrived to fill the onesie :)

BEFORE:

"The Proof" -  March 2013 {6 weeks}

"The Countdown" -  October 2013 {36 weeks}

AFTER:

 "The Prize" ;) - November 2013 {1 week old}

BEFORE:

Who will the lucky little one be?

AFTER:

Max and Sully thinking: "Hmm...what's the return policy on babies?" 

(Fletcher was only yawning, but the boys' reaction is hilarious :)

The boys love their new baby brother and Fletcher has taken it easy on me so far by eating and sleeping well (knock on wood).   

A lot of change around here recently, but everyone has adjusted better than I expected.  

Welcoming Fletcher.

The road to meet Fletcher was a long one.  We went into the hospital on 11/11 at 9pm and didn't meet him until the following day at 4:37pm.  As we drove to the hospital that Monday night, Billy commented on how cool it would be to have an 11/11 birthday baby.  I told him I didn't think it would happen THAT fast.  Little did we know how long of a labor we were in actually in for.  

As the sun rose on the morning of 11/12 we were still awake and waiting.  We watched the day become brighter and listened to the news for distraction.  The topics ranged from the number of people getting married in order to have an 11/12/13 anniversary (not a bad day for a birthday either:) to how unseasonably cold the day was going to be.

The steady sound of the baby's heartbeat on the monitor mixed with the sound of music from our playlist in the background.  Billy paced the room and provided me with his silent strength when I needed it.  I instinctively knew we were still hours away from meeting our babe.

After many more hours of waiting, things suddenly went from painfully slow, disappointing progress to my doctor running into the room breathless at the last minute.  Seven minutes later we met our sweet Fletcher "sunny side up" (meaning, he was born face up instead of face down)...finally an answer to why the progress had been so slow.  But he was here.  He was perfect and more than worth the wait. 

Stella and Fletcher right after he arrived.

Special thanks to Stella, my friend and nurse from Max's birth, for checking in on me and encouraging me to get the epidural when I did! :)

A little snooze with Dad on his first night.

Fletcher's first 48 hours of life were packed full of visitors who couldn't wait to meet him:

Lolli and Boobo meeting their third grandson.  Just two hours old.

The Murray's and Jennifer visiting the night Fletcher was born.  

Aunt Jenni came back the next day with Annabelle and Adam to hold him.

Lolli holding him for the first time.

Mimi meeting him for the first time.

GG and Fletcher.  And Sully :)

Boobo and Fletcher.

Aunt Colleen brought gifts for the big boys.  They were so excited!

Mimi and PopPop with the boys.

Huggins and Fletch. 

Erin and Fletcher.

Our hospital stay was a breeze.  I surprisingly felt great.  And Billy and I acted like we were on vacation.  He brought in food from any plaza restaurant I requested and we had quiet meals in our room while we watched our new little babe sleep.

And the care we received from the doctors and nurses was wonderful.  It might have had something to do with the treats we passed out to everyone who stopped by our room :)  We gave out sugar cookies and flavored pink/blue vodka (yes, only we would give out liquor at a hospital) to everyone who visited. 

We usually like to give the nurses a small "thank you" basket at the hospital, but this time we had extra to give out to everyone.  The nurses and doctors seemed to like visiting our room.  Soon even the housekeepers stopped by to see if we needed more towels and nurses who were not even assigned to us would poke their heads in.  Word had spread quickly.

 I printed little stickers that said "It's a...Baby!" since we didn't know the gender.

 Billy had these small pink and blue bottles of flavored vodka left over from an event.  What else were we going to do with them?

 

And then it was time to take our little bundle home.  

The real party was about to begin... :)