I love the holidays…but for different reasons than I used to. I can remember the anticipation leading up to Christmas. Thanksgiving really just meant we were that much closer to the Christmas holiday…and getting presents.

Things are different now. Now, I look forward to the holidays because of family. It’s a time when we can all be together, leaving behind the stresses of work and anything else going on in our lives that we want to forget for one day. We can enjoy each other’s company, laugh at old times, and look forward to great things for the future.

This Thanksgiving was especially memorable. Dan and I were talking the other day and remembered that we found out we were pregnant right before this day last year. Now, here we are a year later and Brittain is here with us. I can’t remember what life was like without her.
We have so much to be thankful for.

Thanksgiving started at Gramy and Papa’s. Brittain loves her Papa’s lap…it’s where she prefers to sit while she’s there:

The family shot. (I should mention that we took Gramy and Great Grama away from moving. They still looked great despite their exhaustion.)

Next stop was Mimi and Duke’s:

The celebration continued on Friday with a visit from Susan Thornhill and daughter-in-law Brandi Thornhill:

Then it was back to Mimi and Duke’s for leftovers:

After lunch, Brittain, Aunt CC, Mimi and I went shopping around Griffin. Brittain loved the shopping, especially since she was carried around by her Aunt CC in the Jeep carrier. By the end of the day, she was tired so she requested a relaxing bath before she went to bed.

The day ended with a special goodbye from Aunt CC. It was so sweet…I called Cecilia when we got home from shopping and told her that she should come by before heading to Atlanta. She thought she would, but then decided not to when she ended up getting away later than she hoped. About a half hour later I hear her come in the house. She said she had gotten to downtown Griffin and just couldn’t stand it…she had to come back and say another goodbye to her favorite neice.

She got PLENTY of goodbye kisses in:

This was the name of the anthem that we sang at church this morning. I loved it and I especially loved the text. Throughout the anthem, I was thinking of all that I’m thankful for… and there’s just so much. Of course, most of what I was thinking about was this new little life. Lord, we are truly thankful.

So…we took some more pictures today…(I know, surprise, surprise). You must think that we have nothing better to do with our time. Well…

Last Sunday, we made a trip to see 3-week old Ava Parker, daughter of Matt and Jenny Parker and the newest addition to all of the many babies that have been born recently. Just as we suspected, Ava is beautiful and oh, is she loved by her Mommy and Daddy.

While the guys were outside grilling, Jenny and I sat down for a few minutes with the babies and talked about motherhood. It was as if I was talking to myself. She was repeating exact sentences that I have been saying now for 4 months. The one that stood out to me the most was when she said “I just didn’t know how much I’d love her”. I have said that same thing so many times since Brittain was born. Being pregnant was amazing. Having a baby growing inside of you is an experience that is difficult to explain. But, it’s a completely different feeling when you hold your child for the first time. Knowing you made her. Knowing that she’s yours. Knowing that you now have the responsibility to take care of her and make decisions the best you know how. Whew…it’s awesome!

Congratulations, Jenny and Matt. And welcome to the world Ava!