A Blessed, Blended Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving, I was truly able to focus on the meaning behind the holiday. I didn't get wrapped up in the stress of cleaning, cooking, traveling, or how I looked that day. I did do all of these things (except travel, what a relief), but I didn't stress about them like I normally do. And everything still happened. But instead of being stressed out about getting everything done for no necessary reason, I got to enjoy the day and be thankful. It felt...fabulous.

Our Thanksgiving this year was very different in other ways, too. My family is separated in many different directions, so I usually have several meals. I'm overstuffed, feeling hurried to get to the next one, and I don't get to relax. I'm stressed about making sure that I seem to be enjoying the lovely preparation that has gone into making the day a success, but I'm honestly worried about making sure I  see everyone  that I'm "supposed" to see on this day and that I'm able to spend a decent amount of time with them. When you have lots of family, it's really hard to get that accomplished in one day. Sometimes it takes two days. And then I don't have as much down time to recover from the craziness of it all and get the house decorated for Christmas before December 1st. Talk about STRESS!

This year we invited everyone to come to us. With two little ones who take long afternoon naps, it was truly essential that we not be dragging them all over town all day. For our sanity, and theirs. When I decided that we would host and invite everyone to come to us in one large gathering of all our families, I was a little worried not everyone could be there. We live an hour away from our original hometown, and everyone else still lives there. But for the first time in my life, almost everyone that I normally share Thanksgiving with, came together. You have no idea how thankful I am - all the pieces fell into place.

All of my parents (I have four, plus my in-laws), all of my siblings (minus my sister-in-law who lives in Seattle), my nephew, an aunt, uncle, and cousins who have basically been like my siblings growing up, plus my own family, were all present. We all sat at a long, elegantly decorated table (if I do say so myself - thanks for the help, Mom!) , with name cards handcrafted by Victoria and myself. We used our china and silver for one of the first times since we married and enjoyed a giant buffet of food prepared by everyone.

How cute are Victoria's little finger prints as the turkey feathers?

SO much food...we are still eating the leftovers! Score!

The entire time, all I could think about was how perfect everything was on this particular Thanksgiving because I felt so at peace. I was truly thankful for having all of my family in my home, enjoying one another's company, laughing together, dining together, feeing blessed together. We even ended the night in hysterical laughter as we played a game of Thanksgiving Pictionary. Watching my mother-in-law trying to draw "stuffing" and my step-father trying to draw "cold turkey" was quite entertaining.

      

Cranberry Margaritas by mom

Trey & my dad

Dad drawing on the Pictionary board

Trying to guess Sue Ann's word...

family love & football!

To my family, thank you for always being so wonderfully loving and thoughtful. I am so grateful for your love each and everyday, and it means so much to me that you all drove an hour to spend Thanksgiving with us so we wouldn't have to travel with the kids. This small gesture was huge for us and I am so grateful that I was able to give thanks without the stress.

Our blessed, blended family

xoxo,

Mommy Practice

This past weekend my older sister, Natalie, came to visit and brought along her two little darlings, Carter (2 yrs, 11 months) and Knox (6 months). Now you know why I haven't written in awhile...having two children at these ages keeps you quite busy! It was also excellent preparation for my future mom plans. In fact, when I would start to look overwhelmed Trey would whisper, "Having second thoughts?". My response? Silence. But no, I assured him I was definitely still ready, but I didn't mind waiting a few years to have another one! 


God bless the mothers who have multiple babies around the same age. What a handful! Especially when the toddler is used to having mommy all to himself and then this new baby comes along, seeking all her attention. This leads to much acting out and behavior issues, which I observed greatly with Carter. I do hope it gets better for Natalie's sanity! 


But we had a great time. Living three hours away from my sister means I only get to see her and the boys on occasion, so I was thrilled they came to visit us. 

two sisters & two brothers, bonding time!

Here's a description of our daily adventures:


Friday night: They arrived around 7:00. We unloaded the van and let Carter roam around the house. We ate some food from the fridge and caught up on all the latest happenings while playing with the kids. At bedtime I took Carter upstairs and read him a story (my favorite) and fortunately I have a book about firetrucks (his favorite). I turned out the light and pretended to fall asleep while he tossed and turned for 20 minutes (I got lots of practice with this when I used to babysit). I finally snuck out and joined the adults downstairs before we all went to bed. 


Saturday: Rise and shine! Carter banged on our door at 7:30, "Lizzie! Lizzie! Lizzie!" (this was an everyday occurrence that I was not used to!). I eventually got up, ate some breakfast while trying to help out with the kiddos, and got dressed in my running gear. My sister and I are training for a half-marathon in November (you may have noticed my new widgets I added with my race schedule) so I wanted to show her this great route I love to run. Fortunately, Trey agreed to watch the babies (see? he's going to make a great dad!) so we could do our thing and have some sister time. 

future daddy getting practice

Once we got back we took turns taking showers and watching the kids/eating lunch before heading out for the day. Carter LOVES "choo choos" - especially riding them - so we took him to the mall where they have one outdoors. 

a happy, happy boy!

Next we went to the Children's Museum where they had another choo choo!! Carter was ecstatic. We ran a few "adult" errands (checked out some shops) before the meltdowns started because the poor kiddo was exhausted. When we got home we grilled out chicken (in this amazing orange/thyme marinade I made), along with corn, and then relaxed at home the rest of the night. 


Sunday: Trey and I were exhausted by this point - having kids is hard work! We all laid around in our PJ's half the day, watching the USA ladies soccer game. It was an awesome game and Carter loves soccer because his mommy plays in an adult league. I baked some blueberry & mascarpone turnovers while we watched (they were delish!) and then we gradually made our way out to a couple shops before coming home for dinner. I cooked one of my favorite dinners, penne with butternut squash and goat cheese. Yum! We were all exhausted and crashed not too long after dinner. 

Penne with Butternut Squash & Goat Cheese

Blueberry and Mascarpone Turnovers

    

                                         recipes courtsey of Giada, source: foodnetwork.com


Monday: Time for big sis & the boys to head home. They got packed up and we said our goodbyes. "Love you Lizzie! Love you Trey! Hugs!" (Carter's so sweet!) 

So, what did I learn about being a mother from this visit? Lots. Here's a few:

1) Don't pack too much into one day when the kids are with you. It's exhausting not only for them, but for you!

2) Make sure the kids take naps on time : with a baby, they can nap anytime, any place. A toddler? Not so much.

3) Take everything you might need with you. Food, bottles, diapers, extra clothes. My sister showed me this awesome little container for holding baggies to put dirty diapers in. Super cool! She has this one:

                                                               source: expotv.com

4) Don't make promises you can't keep. They won't let you forget it! 
5) Be strict. They will be quick to test you (just like with teaching!). 
6) When both kids are screaming and crying while you're driving and there's nothing you can do about it, sing "Baby Got Back". Yes, we did this and believe it or not, things quieted down! Plus, we got a good laugh out of it. (We memorized every word to this song about 10 years ago so it only seemed natural to pull it out at that moment).

I learned loads more, but those are some of my favorites. Now that the kids are gone, it's so quiet in our home which makes me even more excited about the possibility of a new little one in our family. I can't imagine just how much love I will feel for him/her! Natalie tried to explain this to me during our run, but I guess I'll have to wait till I get the real thing. Until then, I'm still a madre in waiting.


xo,