Happy Thanksgiving! (A day late) - And 23 days of gratitude

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded by the love and warmth of family, friends and a feast fit for royalty.

My goal was to wake up at 6:45, start the macaroni and cheese, get the dough for the rolls rising and make some fudge.  Then, shower, dress, get the girls ready and be in the car with all of our stuff by 10.  Seems easy right?  Unless you wake up tired, want to sleep and put off starting anything until 7:30. 

We left the house by 11:15 or so and arrived at my sisters at 11:45.  There, we celebrated Thanksgiving with my parents, my sisters, their husbands, my sister's step-son, my brother, his long time girlfriend and our little family.  There was WAY too much food.  Like, we could have all had 3-4 plates and still had left overs.  I'm glad that for the first time ever I didn't double the mac and cheese.

We ate, we joked, we talked, we planned, we took pictures, the girls ran around like crazy and eventually we had to leave.  Everything was beautiful, perfect and delicious.

Next, we headed to Dusty's parents house where we we joined his parents, his sister, husband, our niece, his aunt, uncle and uncle's mother.  Even though we were about to burst at the seams from all the food we'd already enjoyed, the food was too good to pass up.  I'm sure any weight I had lost has been gained back and then some.

The girls all got to facetime with their cousins in Alabama that they miss so much.  Kaitlyn and Camaryn played, fought and played some more.  Samantha played, got into markers and then decided she could not keep her eyes open for even a moment more and eventually fell asleep while the adults laughed, joked and went through Black Friday ads.  It was a great end to a great day.

When we got home, I was so exhausted that I could barely keep my eyes open.  The only thing that could have perfected the day would have been to have a certain "should be 5 year old" there with us, irritating the girls and sticking his fingers in the mashed potatoes.  Matthew is missed beyond what simple words could possibly explain.

I am grateful and thankful that we have all of that.  We have strong families on both sides.  We have been able to give our daughter's normalcy even when nothing feels normal.  We are preparing for the arrival of our 4th baby.  We have been blessed with three children, who have all been born crying, who nursed, who were hugged and kissed.  We continue to be blessed with two living children who laugh and play and giggle and scream.  I am incredibly thankful for our life and those that are in it.   I am grateful for the lack of drama in our lives, the peace within our families and the ability to have good times with those that surround us.

Normally, the day after Thanksgiving is a busy one in our house.  I love me some Black Friday shopping.  I also love spending the day after Thanksgiving  decorating for Christmas.  Having a fake tree makes that so easy.

This year is different.  I have been battling an evil cold, I'm 35 weeks and 3 days pregnant.  I'm tired. 

On Tuesday, I finished packing my labor bag (minus the cameras), I moved around the car seats to make room for Charlotte.  I washed all of the rest of the baby stuff and put it all away.

Today, instead of doing what we normally do, we decided to shake it up.  I did a little bit of Black Friday shopping, all online.  Which, actually worked out great.  I was able to get the same deals that are in the stores, minus the lines, the crazies, using gas and standing in line.  Then, I used ebates and saved way more than I would have if I went into the stores.  Yay for that!

I kicked Samantha out of her crib turned toddler bed last night and she slept the night in the toddler bed.  Today, I turned the crib back into a crib and raised it for a newborn.  I added the bumper and crib skirt back (don't worry, we don't even use the crib much until after 9 months), and started to put back together the mobile.  There is a piece of the mobile missing.  I need to look for a replacement part to screw it to the crib.

I cooked breakfast.  I cleaned and organized more. 

We've decided that this year, we're going to wait until the 1st of December to decorate for Christmas.  I see no need to rush the Christmas season upon us.  :)  My plan is to decorate on Saturday and then on Sunday we're going to introduce an Elf on the Shelf to the girls for the first year ever. 

I created all the labels for our Christmas Cards and birth announcements.  I have both created and awaiting pictures, and details in regards to the announcements.  I cleaned up my facebook friends list.  I've made sure Kaitlyn finally finished the last of her thank you cards.  I've rested.  I've listened to Kaitlyn whine because I haven't taken her anywhere yet today.

But, it's been a good day.  A good week.  A good Thanksgiving.