I am grateful for....

My handsome hubbys (and the pastured 27 pound turkey he carved up for us to eat),

My beautiful, bouncing, banana-rama baby girls,

My family,

My mom,

My brothers and his awesome new family,

Our feast (which would look tastier if Eric had used the flash when photographing),

Our "grown up" house which we miraculously were able to remodel into a super comfy place that offers more than just shelter from the storm (well, from the fog and drizzly rain that we had today)

We hosted our very first Thanksgiving this year--what better way to break in our spanking new "grown up" kitchen than by hosting Thanksgiving???  We ordered a fresh, local, pastured turkey at the end of October and picked it up Wednesday along with a few final ingredients (whipping cream, eggs, apple cider...).  Fortunately for us, although we were the hosts, my mom didn't make us do all the work.  Since Chip and his fam needed to leave by about 4 today, we needed to eat around 1 which meant someone had to get up at 6 to prep and stuff the turkey.  I quickly yelled "not it!" and put my finger on my nose.  Mom ended up being "it". Whew!! Close call.

I'm loving having my mom here--an extra hand with Hannah is fantastic and it's just nice in general.  We don't talk as much since I've had Hannah and expecially not since I went back to work.  I'm having a hard time finding time....Tomorrow she is going to help us make turkey pot pie and broccoli soup (ended up with a lot of broccoli). 

I loved having Chip and his family here too. I've only hung out with my nephew once since he was born (again, lack of time) and also since Hannah screams in the car, driving the whole way to Hagerstown is painful.  I end up stressing out because I can't fix it and before I know it I'm gripping the steering wheel and driving 85 mph.  I catch myself and slow down and take deep breaths, but still, not fun. I'm okay with being housebound if that's the alternative.  Fingers are crossed that she grows out of that before our spring break drive to Tennesse...If not, maybe I can rig a lawn chair to the roof of the car...

Speaking of Hannah, she is trying to finagle her way out of yet another bedtime...She goes from exhausted and screaming at 6:00 to bathtime to eating so much that she passes out on the boob to WIDE AWAKE when we put her in her crib.  I try the tough love thing, but she screams those screams that women in B horror movies would envy; I can't ignore those for long.  So she's intruding on grown up time again.  This is the next bad habit we need to break.

Happy Thanksgiving!