Giving Thanks

A big ol recap post covering Thanksgiving, Baby Food and Grandmothers

1. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. We are so blessed to be surrounded by family members that we love and that love us. The older I get the more I appreciate my parents and T's parents. They are both so giving of their time. My mother in law prepared an excellent feast for us on T'giving day...taking no telling how many hours and trips to the grocery store. And while we were in Montgomery, my mother literally stayed at home inside for 3 whole days watching our baby so that T and I could enjoy a number of outings sans William. We are soooo thankful for family!
We spent Thanksgiving day with T's family  and then headed to Montgomery Friday night after Will's last bottle and at his bedtime, 8pm. Thanksgiving day we ate delicious food and hung out with the Owens family. Here are a few cute pictures of the boy cousins. They are adorable don't you think?

Will is 5 months old now and he feels every bit of the 97th percentile to this weak-armed mama. Jack is 10 months old and as you can see, there isn't too much of a difference in their weight and height. In fact I just ordered his convertible car seat last week because he is about to be too big for his carrier. Our carrier has a 22 lbs weight limit and 29 in length. He is currently 20 lbs and I'm sure he has met the length limit at this point because he was 28 inches at his 4 month appointment. This may be tricky for awhile at least until he can sit up without support. How will I grocery shop? He can't sit up in the cart yet and he weighs 20 lbs so I can't just carry him all over the store? Hum, we are thankful he is growing and is healthy though!

Back to T'giving, we went to Montgomery Friday night and we took Ray with us so our car looked like a hoarders vehicle. Stuff coming out of ever nook! We ended up staying in Montgomery until Tuesday because T had a work trip to Auburn Monday and Tuesday so it just worked out that we would be down south. I stayed with my parents while T went to Auburn during the day and came back at night. We had a great time down south and as I mentioned earlier, my mom stayed with Will most of the time so that we could get out of the house. We went shopping at Sikes and Kohn one day which was awesome! Now if you are from around Montgomery, you grew up up going to the country mall. They always had pretty good shoes but I was super impressed at their clothing selections and jewelry this time. It is like this trendy boutique in the middle of the country with great prices. We got some Christmas shopping done and picked up a few things for us too. T racked up in the shoe department. He never can find shoes that fit him being size 13 and all but they had a good selection so I think he is set for years now. My husband does not like to shop so this is a good thing!
While we were there, my sister and I also went to see the new Twilight movie. For what it is worth, I did not particularly love the book Breaking Dawn but the movie was awesome. They have come a long way producing these films. So i would recommend going to see it. All in all we had a great Thanksgiving and are now back to reality and laundry!

2. Baby Food! Will has been eating solids for about 2 weeks and LOVES food. Did I really expect anything other than loving food...look at my healthy big boy! We started out with sweet potatoes:

He liked them even at the beginning, he just made a mess from thrusting his tongue out after every spoonful. So then he got creative and starting sucking his thumb after each bite just to get the food down.

It didn't take him too long to figure out how to get the food down without using his thumb. My favorite thing about baby food is seeing him sitting in his highchair. He seems so little.

My least favorite thing about baby food is also one of the funniest. Will goes nuts when you put him in the chair. He screeches and yells...impatient! It gets on my nerves because he is actually mad that we are not faster with the food! He also makes this "ummm" noise every time he takes a bite, like he is savoring it and it's the best thing he has ever put in his mouth. Ha! So far he has tried sweet potatoes, green peas, avocado, apples, and banana. He has loved them all except avocado. I am also making all of his baby food which I LOVE doing. It really is easy and more economical for us. And because Will still takes 3 naps a day, I have plenty of time to do it.

3. My grandmothers. I didn't really mention this on the blog but both of my grandmothers passed away this past summer. My dad's mom, Mama Dot died 2 weeks after Will was born and my mom's mom, Nana died 5 weeks after his birth. So we had a lot going on this summer. I have meant to post something about them on here but just had not gotten around to it. While I was at home, I read this memory book that my Nana filled out and it really got me thinking about her and my Mama Dot and what an influence the generations before us had on us. Here are a couple of quotes from her book:

"Some things I hope my children learn from me are to be honest, faithful and patient, to have respect for older people, to enjoy and appreciate what people do for them, to love Jesus because there is never a day when they don't need him.
The most precious gift my children ever gave me was the gift of love and the feeling of being a whole person for the first time because they were part of me. That one thing God gave me and no human can ever take away."

Now maybe it is being a mother myself that made these quotes of hers resonate with me or maybe it was just being able to "hear" her speak again through written words but it got to me. I love that she hoped her children learned honesty, faithfulness and patience from her. They are such honorable traits and I did see her live those out for us all. The last 11 years of her life were spent in assisted livings and nursing homes. She was put there by a stroke that left her physically not capable of living on her own. But her mind was very sharp until the last year or so. What a hard life at the end, to mentally be there but physically not, but she endured with minimal complaining. She knew what was waiting for her after death and she wanted to get there. An eternal perspective if I ever saw one. 
So I think I will remember her faithfulness and patience the most. She was kind to other people and all around a very classy lady. My Mama Dot wasn't as articulate as Nana but I will remember her hard work most of all. We would visit her during the summer down in the "country". It was a new adventure to roam through the woods, get dirty and jump creeks for this "city" girl. I remember so many mornings getting in her el camino (yes, she had a tan one) at sun rise to go check on her chicken houses. We would pile up asleep on the bench seat while she did what she needed to do in the houses at the crack of dawn. She always had something going on it seemed like. Taking care of her chickens, cooking for us and others in the community, tending to her garden, visiting friends. I think I'll remember her for her ability to "get dirty and get it done". While my Nana's hands were smooth and manicured, my Mama Dot's hands were rough, scraped up and knotted with arthritis, but they were both beautiful in their own ways. I am thankful to have had them both in my life and I hope I pass along these traits to my children as well.

And that was the longest post on record I think. I hope to post a little more often but with the Christmas holidays here we shall see.