Happy Thanksgiving

I have SO much to be thankful for today and everyday. Of course I'm forever grateful for my little family:  The two most precious children of God who have been entrusted to the care of Erik and me. I love that I get to spend every day with these three people!

I'm grateful for this guy. He dedicates his whole day to our household. Erik spends all day at the office working hard to provide for our family. The moment he walks in the front door he is greeted by his tired, frazzled wife who is ready to hand over all the "kid controls." I could go on and on...He is a HUGE blessing in my life.

I'm thankful for Thomas who was/is my practice dummy when it comes to being a mommy. I could go on and on about all the reasons I'm thankful he's mine. I'll love him forever, I'll like him for always. As long as I'm living my baby he'll be.

Next up, Nora Mae Pretzy Pie. She make me happy when skies are gray. Her blossoming personality makes me fall more in love with her everyday. I'm thankful for her huge cheeks that are SO fun to kiss.

Of course I am also grateful for all our family: parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. All the people who provide love, support, guidance, and entertainment for our family. XOXO-love you all!

I am thankful that I have the opportunity to stay home with  our kids. We make sacrifices to make it possible but it is worth it to me. I love that I can be available to snuggle for hours reading books, kiss all the bonks, make breakfast, lunch and dinner...

 wipe up all the spit up....

 make messes and clean them up

 and watch these two develop a beautiful relationship.

I am thankful for the kind stranger I met in the parking lot of the clinic this morning. A car that parked next to me got a little too close to my side of their parking spot. I couldn't get my door open wide enough to get Nora's car seat in the car. A kind lady saw me struggling and offered to stand with the kids while I backed the car out. She gave me 30 seconds of her time but made a huge influence on me, and I am inspired to pay it forward.

This post could be about ten times longer. I am thankful for so much more than what's listed in the post. I Wish I could go into further detail but it's midnight, and my husband just finished vacuuming and is now running dish water. I must pitch in or he may ship me out.
 Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours.

Nora: Six Months Old

Sweet baby girl is half a year old! To us she is so precious and perfect in every way. She is such a blessing to our family and all three of us have learned so much from her.

Eat: Nora enjoys mostly orange vegetables, not so much the green ones. Too bad for her, I will continue to feed them to her. She still nurses every 3-4 hours. I'm not exactly sure how much she eats at a time. (I've been slacking in the pumping department)

Sleep: After a month of stuffy noses, teething, growth spurts, etc we are finally getting back on track in the sleep department! She gets up once anytime between 1:00 and 4:00 and sleeps until 7:30 or 8:00. I think she is starting to make the transition from three naps to two. She has skipped either her morning or evening nap the last few days.

Play: It seems as though Nora wants whatever Thomas is playing with. She likes her bouncy seat which comes in super handy while I'm making dinner. She started sitting on her own the end of October which is so nice. I can sit her down next to a box of toys and she'll spend 10 minutes pulling everything out. I am happy she can entertain herself while I read Thomas a book, switch loads of laundry, or wash my face and brush my teeth in the morning.

Measurements: Nora is 18lb 9oz. (75th percentile) 27.75 inches (99th percentile). We noticed her first tooth erupted last weekend! I'm sure others aren't far behind.

Brother: Thomas recently accompanied Nora to the doctor for some shots. I knew her reaction would bother him but the tears in his eyes when she started to cry were tears of genuine concern and love for his baby sis. When I picked her up to console her Thomas gave Nora a big kiss and said "It's ok Nora, all done." I love that Nora has Thomas as a big brother. He may not always be kind and gentle with her but when she really needs him he'll be her biggest protector.

Daddy: "I love seeing Nora come into her own personality. She has been so smiley the last few weeks, and she loves to cuddle (which is nice). I can tell that she is going to be bigger than her brother one day, so I hope (for his sake) that her memory from the first handful of months is a little cloudy."

Mama: Six things I love about Nora Mae: her joyful spirit, her patience, her chubby cheeks &
dimples, her giggles, her red hair and her ability to melt my heart just by looking into her big, beautiful, brown eyes.

The next 30 days will be full of traveling, gatherings, celebrations, and many firsts for little Miss Nora. I hope I can do a great job of documenting all the holiday cheer!

Sunday Brunch

A few weekends ago we had a lot of family come to town for a Husker/Gopher football game. It was an opportunity to get together, catch up with everyone, share a meal and celebrate a couple birthdays. They all met us at Mass then came to our house for brunch and birthday cake.

 

A bit blurry but I had to get a picture of the two red heads, Mitch and Nora.

Grandma Christine had the Nora controls!

Not sure what the deal is with all the blurry pics but I like this one of the Chief.

It was a tight squeeze but we will always make room for family. I think we served 14.

Not sure why, but I love this picture of these two.

Thomas requested a picture with Rob.

Lauren, Jay and Hannah.

The Graham Fam.

We celebrated Mitch's 28th birthday and Tanya's 30th!

Drew, Hannah and Erik and I were missing Lauren and Mathew.

Tanner and Thomas tearing into some candy.

The whole group! What a great day to gather together.

This was the last nice day of the season. It was so great to spend the afternoon visiting outside, playing catch in the street and Thomas had plenty of people to push him on the trike.

Wish these people would come to town more often!