Firsts

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Ours was wonderful - relaxing and eating....what could be better?! I spent time reflecting on last year as well. You see I was hugely pregnant last Thanksgiving, past my due date and waiting for labor to begin. Lucky for my Mom (who is always in charge of Thanksgiving dinner), our baby waited through dinner but decided to come early the next morning. How nice to let Mom get all nourished before the labor marathon, right?

I'm sure all women look back at their births and when that first birthday rolls around it makes it all so nostalgic. The first time you notice a contraction, the first time you tell your husband "it's time", first time you hold that precious miracle in your arms and the first time you gaze into each other's eyes. Then all the "firsts" of that first year! I love watching my girls grow and the first year is filled with wonderment as a baby looks at the world for the first time. The first year has flown by for us this time but it never fails to be a wonderful time even though it is not our "first" time around.

So Happy Birthday to our little Sweetness! We can't wait to see what the world has in store for her and we feel so blessed to be her parents.

Family - ahhh....

Normally when I take all my girls to the grocery store with me we get all sorts of comments from strangers. Most of them, well....they just aren't very nice. We get a lot of "Are they all yours?". Of course they are, but I have yet to come up with a snazzy come back to that one besides the "Oh no, I just picked up a few on my way here!". We've even had a few "OMG! - They can't be all yours?!" - well then who's are they then?! lol

Today we decided to snag Grace and Jessica from school on our way to lunch, we've just been missing them now that Mel is homeschooled full time. We needed to stop by the grocery store. I sort of keep up a guard and am ready for the comments now. So in the produce section are several older ladies doing their shopping. I try by best to keep my broad under control and out of the way - sometimes it's easier than others. One of these ladies catches my eye and I can see it coming - but she is smiling so that was a good sign! She asks "Is this your family?". "Yes, it is.", I say. "What a beautiful family you have", she says. Ah....that was so nice. My family. Yes, they are all mine and my beautiful family. That was so refreshing and helped to put my mind and heart where it needed to be today.

Halloween is over but the candy remains. Need I say more??? Allie has a huge sweet tooth - she's in heaven! The girls had a blast trick or treating this year and some surprise friends showed up to go around with us. Allie was too cute racing door to door in her princess costume. She calls herself "Princess" these days.

From the top - Grecian Princess (M), Fairy (J), Witch (G), Lil' pumkin (A), Princess (A).