Happy Thanksgiving 2009

Ok,  so I 'm learning as a Mom that we often set our expectations high for things such as holidays.  A great example would be Baileys first Halloween when she was sick and we didn't get to take her out that night.  We were, however, fortunate to have the Fall Festival at church so at least she did get to wear the "halloween tutu" that I stressed so much over.  Case in point, I stressed about the tutu, she wore it to the Fall Festival on the Wednesday before Halloween, got sick on the Friday before Halloween and the tutu never touched her body again.  I was disappointed, but babies get sick and so there you go!

Moving right along to Thanksgiving and if you've read you know that she has been sick for a few weeks now and everything has finally culminated into pnumonia.  So Bailey hasn't felt all that great this week.  She has still been sheer joy but it's quite frustrating for me to have an ill baby as she is NEVER ill and so when she is I don't know how to deal with her.  We've been in Alabama since Sunday and that's along time for this little girl to go without  seeing her daddy, too, but she has become quite the Mimi/Poppy T lover. 

This would be her pre-Thanksgiving snack, right before she decided sleep would be better than her first Thanksgiving dinner!

So, anyway, Bailey slept the best she has slept in a long long time last night, probably because she does feel better.  Which meant that her nap time was not as early as usual.  Which meant right about the time it was time for Pap-paw to say the blessing, Bailey finally sacked out.  We ate Thanksgiving dinner without her.  I sure did want to wake her up, but knew better.  It was a total let down for me to be eating Thanksgiving dinner with my family present and her be asleep down the hall.  She woke up after about an hour, so basically just slept right through eating, but didn't miss any of the chit-chatting!  That's my girl!

I would like to add here that if I had tried to control the situation, such as having a lunch time set earlier or later, just to work around her nap and avoid this disappointment, she would have done something like not taken a nap all day or something to make the stress and worry of it needless.  It never crossed my mind that she might be napping during eating time, so therefore, it happened.

But you know what?  On this Thanksgiving, I am so thankful for this little girl.  I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed us and let Sid and me have her for some time and that He has entrusted her little life to us.  I am so thankful that inspite of her breathing challenges since birth, she is a healthy, happy baby.  I am so thankful for her daycare that loves her and prays over her and treats her as if she were there own, thus encouraging her to grow and develop.

I know this picture is blurry, but her body wants to walk so bad.... her brain just doesn't tell her she can yet.  She can walk all over as long as she has something to hold onto, but if she wants something and there is nothing to hold onto to walk to it, down on those knees she goes.  Poppy T says she is the world's fastest crawler!

Back to being thankful, I am so thankful for my family and for Sid's family and for Sid.  For our health and our house and the fact that we are able to turn on the heat at night during these cold months and have blankets on our bed and we don't have to worry about where the next meal is coming from or if we have shoes to put on our feet.  I am thankful for our awesome God and His ultimate gift, the sacrifice of His own son so that we can have eternal life.  The fact that if I were die today, I believe in that place called Heaven and that I would see loved ones again.  I'm thankful for intelligent doctors and modern medicine that help our children when they are sick.  I'm thankful for all those other little people in my life - Mason, Brady, Erin and Andrew. I'm thankful for Hashbrown Casserole (and a husband who learned how to make it just as good, if not better, than my Mama) and Dr. Pepper! I'm thankful that life is so good that I can be thankful for the small stuff like that.   I'm thankful that I was born and raised in a free country and I'm thankful for that freedom.  I am thankful for the forgiveness of sins, that Jesus saves.  I'm thankful for our vehicles and that we don't have to rely on public transportation or that I don't have to worry when I get ready to come home for a visit. I just get in the car and go. I'm thankful for age old friendships that pick up right where they left off and for good books to read.  I'm thankful for unconditional love from my parents and the unconditional love that Sid's family has accepted me with.  I'm thankful for the love that is bestowed upon Bailey from everyone and for the best grandfather in the whole wide world.  I'm thankful for all the many blessings that I take for granted every single day!  There's just too much to list here.  I've probably already lost you all by now anyway. 

Sid has had to work so much the past two weeks and today was no exception, so he didn't get to come for Thanksgiving.  That made me really sad and I was upset, but at the same time thankful he has a job.  But I don't have any pictures to share other than the ones I already did from Bailey's first Thanksgiving except what I've already posted.  And I reminded myself early today that Halloween was a bust and although today was by no means a bust, she just slept through Thanksgiving dinner, that I mustn't set my hopes too high for that birthday party and Christmas that is jsut right around the corner.

I'm falling asleep typing this but stay tunned because tomorrow I'm going to write all about our Dinner today and post some pictures of the dinning room.  If I didn't know her personally, I'd say Cindy Self hired a decorater to help her with all that she did.  But I know better and you are in for a treat to see some of her stuff.  Check back tomorrow.

We do sincerley hope that you had a great Thanksgiving Day spent with family that loves you as much as we are loved!