The meal.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, it's all food and family and no obligations. My favorite tradition is watching all of the Thanksgiving Friends episodes, so much fun!

This was my 5th year to make the meal, and I think it was my best yet! I did have some much needed help from my lovely friends, Kirsten and April.




Herb & Butter Roasted Turkey Breast (unpictured: Gravy)



Herb Dressing and Cranberry Salad



Sweet Potato Gnocchi in Sage Brown Butter Sauce



Rolls!



Mashed Potatoes by Kirsten



Maple Thyme Acorn Squash by Kirsten



Green Bean Casserole by April



Pumpkin Pie by April



Dreamy Apple Pie (unpictured: Hard Sauce)



Pumpkin Trifle (no beef included)

It was a lovely, yummy day! I hope your Thanksgiving was delicious!


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I am thankful for...

...God; who loves me, blesses me, teaches me, forgives me, and calls me His own.
...my husby; his love, laughter, kisses, and snuggles.
...Liam bird; his life, health, and beauty.
...family; 7 healthy grandparents, 4 wonderful parents, 3 awesome sisters, 3 sweet brothers, 3 adorable nieces, and 3 charming nephews.
...my job.
...the ability to take 12 weeks off of work, and God's provision while I have been off.
...friends; old, new, near, far.
...good food, wine, and laughter.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!



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I promise we aren't bad parents.

It has recently dawned on us that when we take Liam out in public people think we are bad parents for taking our brand new baby out so soon.

However, they just assume that, since he is little, he is brand new. Someone asked me today, "how many days old is that baby," she was quite shocked with my answer of, "about 50."

Other people's reactions are so funny to us because we think Liam is so big and chubby since he started out so small. He looks like a newborn now that he is almost two months old! I know he will catch up soon, he has already grown so much!

(I should mention that we aren't taking him out a lot or to places with large crowds. And, he did not go anywhere except to the doctor's office until he was four weeks old.)

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Neither Can Live While the Other Survives

Last Thursday night, Liam got to go to his first movie! Yes, we took him to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. And, we took it one step further and dressed in costume for the event!




Ryan and I were Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy* and Liam was their house elf, Dobby.




The Dark Mark




Lazy little house elf.




Sisters, Narcissa and Bellatrix

*Please note that we aren't into the dark arts. We just figured that everyone would be dressed as Harry and Hermione. We were right.

We had so much fun dressing up and truly loved the movie. Liam did great, I only had to leave once for about a minute. Otherwise, he slept through the whole thing. I'm thinking we should go to more movies while he is still little enough to sleep through them!

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40 Weeks!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 40 Weeks/Liam is 6 Weeks, 1 Day

Size of baby: 7 pounds, 20.5 Inches (give or take a little bit)

Total Weight Gain: 16 pounds gained; 21 pounds lost (I still look pregnant though)

Maternity Clothes: All of my regular clothes fit; they just fit differently.  My maternity clothes are big, but oh so comfortable.  So I'm still rocking the stretchy waist.  :)

Gender: BOY.

Movement: He wiggles just as much on the outside as he did while he was inside.
Sleep: He sleeps like a champ, but we have to wake him up to eat every three hours so we aren't getting much sleep!   

Symptoms: none!

Food Cravings/Aversions:  aversions have subsided, bring on the chocolate!

What I am looking forward to:  watching this beautiful baby grow!

One Month Old!

November 1, 2010

Happy One Month Birthday!  We are in awe at how quickly the past month has flown by!  You spent the first ten days of your life in the NICU at Baptist Hospital and then you officially moved into your house with Mommy & Daddy!

You are still sleeping the majority of the day, but in the past few days you have been staying awake really well in the afternoons.  We love seeing your little eyes open and you make the cutest facial expressions.

You eat every three hours at 3/6/9/12 am & pm.  You nurse for about 20 minutes or take a 2.5 ounce bottle of pumped milk.  You hate being burped and prefer to pass gas like a frat boy as opposed to burping like a baby.  Since you were premature your digestive system is still developing and you have some acid reflux issues.  Thankfully, the doctor gave us a prescription that has reduced your spit-up episodes and helped you gain some weight.  We wake you up for all of your night time feedings, you have been sleeping so well.  We have had one rough night where you had a gassy tummy but so far, so good on the sleeping realm (probably just jinxed that one).

As of last week you are up to 6 pounds 1 ounce!  That's 12 ounces up from your birth weight and 1 pound 4 ounces more than when we brought you home!  Your little cheeks are starting to fill out, yay!  You are still wearing some preemie clothes but they are a bit short through the leg.  Newborn sizes fit better through the length but swallow your little waist, you will grow into them soon!  I am proud that you have done so well gaining weight and will be thankful when we have the go ahead to stretch out your night time feedings.

Your Daddy and I are big time nick namers and rarely call each other by our first names.  We have followed suit with you and only call you Liam if followed by Bird.  We also call you Littleface, Wiggle Worm, Wigs, Buddy Boy, Little Man, Baby Bird, and Birdy Boy.

We are terribly in love with you Littleface.  You have already blessed our lives so much and are teaching us a little more every day.  Everyone that meets you thinks you are just the sweetest, cutest, littlest baby and we couldn't agree more.  We thank the Lord for you every night and pray that we can be great parents for you!

Love you forever,
Mama