Thanksgiving 2009 has come and gone, but let's go ahead and be thankful again today, shall we? 2009 has been such a difficult year for so many people. I took the time to count my blessings last week instead of my usual day-to-day complaints about life. This year, I am thankful for:
* My supportive, loving, committed stay-at-home Dad and husband, Mark
* My healthy, wonderful, sweet-natured, 7-month old baby boy, Alex
* My beloved 8 1/2 year old cat, Herby, who has terminal bone cancer and was given 2 months to live in August 2008, and he still has an excellent quality of life over one year later.
* My family from afar who come to visit me, often driving 13+ hours in a 2-day span
* My family who are nearby and support & love all 3 of us
* Health insurance and dental insurance
* My sole household income that somehow still pays the bills, reduces our debt, pays for Mark's school and dentistry work, and adds to our savings. (It boggles my mind that we can afford this. No, I still do not own a house. Yes, I still live in an apartment with rude neighbors. Yes, I still drive my 1997 Camry. No, I do not like my job. But this is why I still go to work every day...)
Thanksgiving Day started with a phone call to Mimi. We had not spoken in quite some time, and I was missing her dearly. Mark and I watched some of Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade with Alex and drank hot chocolate (honoring a tradition of his family). Alex "got the sillies out" while watching Yo Gabba Gabba. I must admit that I now like the show. It's cute. We added Plex to Alex's Christmas wishlist. That evening, we enjoyed dinner & family time at Mark's parent's house. Uncle Scott seemed to enjoy playing with Alex a lot. I'm so happy to see him interacting with Alex. He wore his festive Thanksgiving bib for the occasion as seen in the pic above.
Black Friday started with me at Turkey Burn at the gym. Wow - ouch. A 2-hour class designed to burn off all the food you ate the day before. But for me, it's just another step in my battle to continue losing THIS BABY WEIGHT! Seriously, 8 lbs that won't budge... I lasted an hour in that class: 30 minutes of aerobics, followed by 30 minutes of cardio drills. I wanted to stay for Zumba and Abs, but I just couldn't do it. And those Biggest Loser contestants can run a 26-mile marathon? I am a wimp. In the afternoon on Black Friday, we had our Christmas pictures taken with Mark's family. Alex was very squirmy. I hope some of them turned out.
Nana and Pepaw (and HANNAH!) all came to visit us on Saturday. We took Hannah to the Candy store, and had dinner at the Olive Garden, followed by our traditional breakfast Sunday morning at Katherine's. What a quick trip. I miss my family already!
OK, now about Alex:
He has started enjoying juice from a sippy cup. We started using the sippy cup when he was about 6 months old, but I forgot to write about it. He is also sitting up for the most part - at 7 months old. He helped us put an ornament on the Christmas tree last weekend. We broke out the video camera and made a BIG deal when he placed the ornament on the tree. He likes to sit in his bamboo rocker when I cook. I will bring him into the kitchen, and I will sing: "Watching Mommy cook". ...Another one of my fine, made-up little diddys. He is going through a pinching phase, which I guess is a good thing according to my growth & development books. Pinching allows him to be able to hold utensils, sippy cups, and eventually pencils/crayons. Anyways, he pinches my cheeks, my hair, my neck, my boob, just about anything really. Sometimes it really hurts! He also seems to become scared when a lot of people are in the room at once. When we took him over to Mark's parent's house for Thanksgiving, he became scared with all the noise, chit-chat, & people in the room when we first arrived. And he did the same thing when my family arrived on Saturday.
Last, we must end on a sad note: We have officially retired the cradle swing to storage at Grandma & Grandpa's house. And we sent the family bassinet (that even my Dad slept in) back home to Indiana. We continue to retire items, and I just *sigh* as another door closes. But as they say, another door opens, and Alex opens up new doors each and every day.
