the most thankful thanksgiving

We celebrated an early Thanksgiving with my family in Augusta this weekend, and I can honestly say that that the thankfulness wasn't limited to a meal this year. From the minute I got there until the minute we left, my heart was just overwhelmed with gratitude and joy over how many good things we have to celebrate this year.

I've wanted a baby for quite a long time (understatement). My sister also wanted and prayed for a baby- and when she got pregnant and I was still heartbroken and waiting, it broke her heart. I will never forget how hysterical sad and apologetic and happy and angry she was when she had to tell me that her dream had come true and she was pregnant. It took a long time for me to convince her that I really WAS happy for her- and I was! But I loved how honest she was- she'd always dreamed and imagined that we'd have kids growing up together. And she was mourning the loss of that dream the same way that I was.

And then we met J, and we were expecting, and Camilla was born, and then our adoption finalized, and then Laney was born...and in the space of a few months, our mourning has turned to rejoicing and our tears are long gone...and this weekend, we celebrated that. We both have babies. Girls. Cousins two months apart in age. Against all odds, we became mommies together and will get to experience our greatest joys (and struggles I'm sure!) together. It's so wonderful I can hardly stand it.

Blurry but beautiful to me anyway. And obviously we dress the girls like twins as much as possible because that is our love language. We dressed ourselves like twins growing up, despite the fact that our five-year age gap meant that we weren't really fooling anyone for a long time...but we didn't care. Dressing alike=love. So the girls will be twins until and unless they develop their own opinions and want otherwise.

Jake, Emily, and Carley were with us all weekend as well which meant lots of together time for all the cousins! Carley loves her baby cousins and really loved helping with their bottles and their pacis. And trying to steal their pacis. 

Laney: This is lame | Millie: This is so sad and scary! | Carley: I've got a boog to take care of...

 My parents were in Grandparent Excitement Level Code Red. And we can thank Mom for the awesome matching jammies. She understands the importance of dressing alike, clearly!

Millie and Laney are not impressed.

Jake (my brother) and Carley, Mark (my BIL) and Laney. You oughta know Matt and Millie by now...

I love this picture of all the dads and babies!!! Eeeeeekkkk!!

It just made my heart so happy to watch everyone loving on and holding and passing around the babies all weekend...and to finally be a part of it. To watch my own daughter be passed from grandparent to uncle to aunt and to see my siblings snuggle and kiss on her and tell her how much they love her and gaaaaah I am going to start crying. It's just that so many things smack of redemption these days, and this is yet another. For every holiday I spent crying in a bathroom, now I get to have a holiday watching a sister-in-law or grandparent rock and sway and comfort my baby, and it's just too much. It's perfect.

She hasn't quite figured out the art of selfies yet, but I'm sure we'll get there!

 We had a quick photo shoot in the backyard to try to get a good Christmas card photo. There aren't any photographers in the family, but I figured I'd put the good camera on auto, assemble some semi-coordinated outfits, find a decently lit spot, and hope for the best. And it went pretty well!!!

This is not the picture we put on the card (which I ordered approximately 15 minutes after the photo shoot concluded, hahaha...I am not a patient woman sometimes!), but it is basically the best picture ever. EVEN LOLA IS LOOKING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION!!! I am in love with this picture and plan to plaster it everywhere. You wanna talk about heart-healing?? Looking at this picture does it for me. I feel the broken pieces mend together a little tighter every time I look at it.

This is my family. My family. Forever.

(I'm gonna cry now, so bye!)

pretty pictures: in a field

I realized that I never shared the 'posed' photo session Kristina did when she visited in September! I was so in love with the real life pictures, I barely even paid attention to the Posing In a Field ones. (Side note, but I swear- one day in 50 years our grandkids are all going to be like why were all of your pictures always in fields? Did you live in the country? Were neighborhoods not invented? And we're going to be like...ummm, yeah. It was 2014. TAKING PICTURES IN FIELDS IS WHAT WE DID. People drove good distances for the right field, sonny!)

Luckily, the field we posed in is less than a mile from our house. There are certain advantages to living in the sticks. Such as...you live in the sticks. There are fields.

We are happy in a field! The light shines blissfully upon us!

Oh look, a baby! In a field!

Stop it, I can't even mock this one. That is damn precious.

Someone told me that your arms look skinnier in fields if you put your hand on your hip. Can't hurt, right?

Good thing there was a bench- standing in that field was getting exhausting!

Awww this was before Mills went bald on the back of her head...

BEST PICTURE EVER OH MY GOSH THE YAWN IS SO CUUUUUUTE!!!!

Smooching in a field with a baby. Of course!

This one is precious. 

OH MY GOSH WHAT IS THAT THING??? Oh, a hand. Cool.

Oh look, Mom quit trying and took off the scarf and pulled up her hair because IT WAS 10,000 DEGREES OUT THERE.

Okay okay okay. I mock, but I really like the pictures in a field (and it was me that requested it, so don't think anyone dragged me out to a field against my will or something). I had thought that I might pick one of the Field Pictures for our Christmas cards, but now I don't think I will. First of all, my arms look fat in all of the pictures (besides the hand-on-hip one, but you can't even really see Millie in that one and I have a hunch that people care more about seeing Millie's cute face and really couldn't care less about my arm pudge). Second of all, this is so long ago that Millie looks like a totally different person. And now she can SMILE- wouldn't people want a more recent picture where she's smiling? In these pictures, she's about 2 weeks older than in the birth announcement picture. So like...I just think I need a more recent picture for Christmas cards. And I need to wear long sleeves. So it looks like another trip to a field will be in our near future.

As before, all pictures are copyright Kristina Boothe Photography. If you need pictures in a bed or in a field (or by an ocean, since she actually lives in Jax and does most of her pictures on beaches...lucky...), she's your girl!

pretty pictures: everyday life

When my bestie Kristina visited back in September, she took lots and lots of pretty pictures. Having a photographer as a BFF is pretty handy- I highly recommend it! (And if you live in the Jacksonville area, I highly recommend that you use Kristina for your next photo shoot!) In addition to a posed-and-coordinated typical photo session, she also took a lot of 'real' pictures of us- while we played on the floor, changed diapers, snuggled in bed, and gave Millie baths. I finally have all of the pictures back and they are AWESOME! Also, they make me cry, because Millie was SO TINY and ITTY!!!! And now she's BIGGG!!!! But oh well. She's still adorable and now she even smiles, so I guess there are benefits to all stages of babyhood.

Today I'll share a few (ha) of my favorite 'everyday life' pictures. Somehow the way Kristina takes pictures makes our normal activities look a lot prettier and more romantic than the way I take pictures...I dunno, must be the difference between people who know what they're doing and using a nice camera to do it and people who can barely operate their iPhone cameras. Who knows.

Yeah...I've been meaning to put something on the wall over our bed for a couple of years now...ha

Our beautiful Lola even got her picture made! She just loves hanging out in the nursery (or The Room Formerly Known As Lola's Room, as she thinks of it)

My parents showed up about 15 minutes before Kristina left town, so they got a little piece of the action!

Do you think they love their grandbaby??

Surprisingly, this is only a tiny curated fraction of the pictures- you are so welcome!! I'm just so thankful to have all of these pretty photos to help us remember our first weeks of life as a family. 

And there aren't watermarks (which I'm thankful for!), but again- all photos are copyright Kristina Boothe Photography. You can also find her (and more pretty pictures) on Facebook and Instagram (@kristinaboothphotography). 

thanksgiving award ceremony

The rest of the holiday weekend was pretty fabulous. But some things were more fabulous than others...as is the way of the world, right? So that's why they invented award ceremonies. So rather than a play-by-play, we're going to go with another exciting award ceremony: this time, the Thanksgiving edition!

Best Family Group Activity:

Group Naptime!!

Excellent, right?? On Saturday we made an ambitious road trip (read: 6 adults and a baby in ONE TAHOE! Guess which two (tall) adults drew the short straws and got to share the third-row backseat for six hours?? WEEEE!!) down south to my sister and brother-in-law's house. We hardly ever get to all be together, so we really took advantage of our time and...yeah. Fell asleep. Some crazy party animals we are. But for real, that is like the comfiest and hugest couch of all time. So you can't really blame us.

A rare shot of us awake. And with Sarah's doggies!

 Most Badass Award:

Us Fourwheeling!

 

So it turns out that in addition to a scary-comfy couch, Sarah and Mark also own super cool redneck toys!! But let's be honest. I might talk a big game, but that junk was SCARY!!! Ha. I had fun but also I screamed the entire time and thought I was going to die, even when we were sitting still. So it's safe to say I won't be taking up four-wheeling as my next hobby, but it was a fun adventure for a lazy Saturday. (See also: rock climbing)

Best Non-Thanksgivingish Food

Creamy Baked Double Cheese & Sweet Onion Dip

 I happened to spot this recipe while perusing Pinterest on Wednesday night. Turns out that my mom had all of the ingredients on hand, so Thursday afternoon found me making this as an impromptu appetizer AND THEN WE ALL DIED OF HAPPINESS BECAUSE IT WAS THE BEST THING WE HAD EVER EATEN. (I came back from the dead (I'm a ghost!) so that I could write this blog.)

The moral of this story is that if you don't make this at the absolute first chance you get, you are stupid make bad life choices and we shouldn't be friends. (PS Invite me over to help you eat it.) (PPS. Don't forget, I'm a ghost now. You really don't want to get on my bad side.)


Best Unplanned Twinsie Outfits:

Laura and I!

How fun is that? I didn't even know I would see her (seeing as neither of us live in Augusta anymore), but sure 'nough- there we both were at the same church service on Sunday morning. Wearing the same thing! If this were the prom, we might be mortified (okay, no we wouldn't)...but since we're just super awesome 30-somethings, we high-fived and declared ourselves totally in fashion. Also another girl in the row behind us had on the same thing. THIS JUST IN: If you want to be fashionable right now, go with a flowy off-white button down, jeans (hers are dark blue, mine black), and cognac boots. WIN!

 Best Attempt at Being a Photographer:

Me?

My sis-in-law Emily called in my mad (but extremely rusty) photography skillz in hopes that we could get something Christmas card-worthy. This basically meant I took pictures for 2 hours and got about 4 pictures that weren't vomitrocious. So it was awesome. Bah. But at least we had fun and Carley was happy and super cute! And she didn't spit up on her Santa dress! So it was actually a win. And I really did get a few cute (if not particularly skillful) shots.

 

 I mean...that's cute. That's one cute baby.

After we were done we borrowed Carley for a few pictures with our favorite niece.

 Yeah, that's cute. Dang we look good with babies.

All in all, it was a great holiday weekend. There was some ridiculously freaking awesome football. I ate a ton of awesome food. And then when we got back home, we went and played tennis (for the first time in like 5 months) and I wasn't as rusty as I'd thought I would be! And now it's another week- but more importantly, it's Cyber Monday and we're hoping to get a new computer. So that's exciting. And also it's December and only 10 days til my birthday. OH and we finished the first 5 seasons of Parks & Rec!!!! And it is the best show ever. Amen.

Master Plan success!

 Well, I'm back.

It was a long and glorious weekend loving on my new niece (and my brother and sister-in-law, too). I was none too happy to have to kiss her sweet head goodbye this afternoon, but I can guarantee that my trips home will be MUCH more frequent now than they have been for the last few years. A sweet baby to love on is about as compelling a reason to drive home as I've ever had, so I don' t imagine it will be too long before we hit the road to head back for more baby loving. Jake, my brother, estimated that I wouldn't make it til Wednesday, but I think I'll stay strong a little longer than that...maybe.

I've got some pictures for ya today, at least. Jake's holding a firm line on the 'no Facebook' picture ruling, which I am happy to respect, even though he didn't explain why and also stated that he might change his mind in the future. I asked whether I could pretty please put pictures on my blog and Instagram, though, because my friends were dying to see my new niece. He had no idea what a blog or Instagram was, and no time or desire to figure it out, so he sorta said 'okay, fine,' as long as blogs and Instagrams aren't 'like Facebook,' and left it at that. So that's where we are, but if he changes his mind and issues me a cease-and-desist, then I hope you'll hold these pictures in your memories for all the days to come. Cause my niece is CUTE!

Meet Carley Anne.

This is the dress that Emily, my sister-in-law, wore home from the hospital when SHE was born!

Matt and I visited them in the hospital on Friday morning and afternoon and then helped them pack up and head home. I mostly helped by holding the baby, obviously, and offering my expert advice whenever asked (or not asked). And I hauled a few loads of pink loot about a million miles to their car in the parking deck. And I kept track of what crap went where when we packed up the room so that later I knew where 'that piece of paper with such and such' and 'that thingy the nurse gave us' were located. This was Stage 1 (Make Yourself Useful) of my Master Plan: Hold The Baby The Most. It went swimmingly.

While Matt fetched their car and pulled it around, I videotaped our entourage leaving the hospital. This was Stage 2: Get All The Good Photos & Videos So That They Won't Want You To Leave. Once we were loading Carley into the car and discussing our transportation arrangements, Emily realized that she couldn't crawl up and over across the back seat of their (huge) SUV to sit with Carley.

 [Rabbit trail: Emily had FOURTEEN STAPLES from her c-section. In addition to the internal stitches and what-not. I'm not sure what's standard these days, but that seemed a little insane. I asked Jake how long her scar was and he holds his hands out about 18 inches apart. And swears he's not lying. But then later on he changes his story and says that the doctors actually had to use the 'pumpkin method' to get Carley out...you know, cut a big circle, pick up her skin, yank Carley out, replace the skin-circle, and stitch? OK, sorry, that's disgusting, but we almost died laughing. So I'm not sure which story is true, but either way, Emily was in a crap-ton of pain from it, and in no condition to be sliding across back seats or doing any sort of movement at all.]

Ever the helpful aunt, I volunteered to sit in the backseat with Carley and make sure she was okay on the way home. This selfless act was well-received by all and I silently congratulated myself for scoring this important job.
 

That's right, suckas-- I'm the one riding with her on her first car ride! BOOM!

 After the slowest and most careful drive of Jake's life, we finally made it to their house. This was when I moved into Stage 3: Make It Seem Like You're Doing Them A Favor.

Emily was exhausted and in pain. She needed to sleep in her own bed. Jake was tired and had loads of sporting events to catch up on. He needed to focus on that. Carley was doing what she does best: sleeping and being cute. I could pretty much handle that on my own. So I made it perfectly clear that everyone was welcome to sleep and I would take care of the baby.

And so they did and I did. And they thanked me for helping them. HAHAHAHAHAHA. No, really. It was excruciating...

I'm not sure if Carley is normal or not, but here's all she does: sleep. She eats about every 4.5 hours, and then she just sleeps some more. She doesn't cry. She doesn't open her eyes. She doesn't fuss. She just sleeps. And does cute little wiggles while she's sleeping. And grasps onto your fingers if you stick them near hers. It's pretty awesome. She seriously doesn't cry. And she has no need for that eat-every-2-hours nonsense most babies apparently need. I guess this is a benefit of weighing over 10 pounds at birth? Who knows. Who knows if it will last, either...heh heh...but it lasted for the 3 days I was there, so that's really all that matters, right? I mean, I think that even Jake and Emily were rather astonished by how easy she is and how little she wakes up during the night.

 So this is basically what we did for three days. Hang out on the couch, pass the baby around, maybe go sit outside for awhile (babies need to tan, you know!)...poke at her and try to wake her up...marvel at how she will make really mean baby faces but never cry...it's pretty awesome.

On Saturday I decided to have a photo shoot with her. Jake and Emily were sleeping, I was in charge, and I decided to put some of the trillions of clothes in her closet to good use before she grew out of them. This was my first newborn photo shoot and I must say, it was pretty awesome. Pretty much she just stayed stuck however I set her, so it was really easy. We did this shoot on their dining table on the covered porch outside.

 I actually got tons of good pictures (Emily cried when she saw them later. SCORE!!) but it takes too long to resize and upload them here, so this is all you get. I thought the yellow dress was just TOO cute!

Later I entertained us by doctoring up the photos a bit on Picmonkey. I think I did a really good job.

Preparing to be the Bachelorette one day!

 Oh, the sunglasses are real, by the way. They were super cute and I thought she'd pitch a fit when I put them on her, but she didn't. Nothing fazes this one, apparently!

So all in all it was a pretty perfect weekend. I would estimate I was the Baby Holder approximately 75% of the time I was there, with the other 25% of the time being shared by the other 7 people who were present most of the time (Matt, my parents, Emily's parents, and Jake and Emily themselves). Those are pretty good numbers, so I feel confident I've sealed my position as Most Favorite Aunt (and sister/sister-in-law) for the time being. Jake and Emily seemed a little panicky when we left town, but we have plans for plenty of FaceTiming and hopefully that will help me out (not gonna help them, since I can't babysit via iPhones...) until we get to be together again in person.

Lest you think I did nothing but hold Carley all weekend, here are a few of my less-notable accomplishments: went to a county-wide yardsale (bought a book and a new bike helmet), ran a 9:34 mile (PR!), spent $$$$$ at Ulta, drank 2 new beers (summer bucket list goal), and uncovered a veritable treasure trove of laughs in my own baby books/'school memory' books my mom kept about me as a child. Don't worry. More coming from that soon. If you follow me on Instagram, you've tasted but a preview...mwah ha ha.

With that, I'm off to get ready for a new week (bah) and -most likely- stare at pictures of my sweet baby niece. And text my brother to see if he misses me yet. Yippee!!