Even though many people decorated Christmas trees this weekend, and Thanksgiving is totally old news, I didn’t get a chance to tell you about mine yet.  My Thanksgiving actually took place on Wednesday this year, since my sister and her family had to fly out on Thanksgiving Day.  We woke up Wednesday and just treated it as a holiday all day long – it didn’t matter that we were a day early.  Cullen was thrilled to be celebrating his first holiday!

And cousin Jonah was having all sorts of fun playing with Cullen’s toys and checking out his nursery.  New spaces are always more fun.

The constant banter of family, music in the background, and 24/7 action with babies was a little much for Mr. Cullen.  He had to retire for a few beauty rests.  Can you even stand his little pinstripe pants? 

It was miserable and pouring rain outside the entire day, which was a bummer since I had hoped to do a long family walk and show Rebecca and Sam around our area.  Since we were trapped inside, I entertained the family with photoshoots instead.

The Malone family – all smiles!

The Cohen family, who lives way too far away if you ask me.

And three sisters with the next generation. 

My mom wasn’t able to join us this year, and I found myself missing her a lot that day. I know she was missing us too, so we made sure to take a lot of family photos to send her way! I think this one was her favorite.

Between fun with photos and babies, I also had a LOT of cooking to do. 

I hadn’t really considered ahead of time the craziness that was hosting Thanksgiving, cooking all the food, and taking care of a four week old baby all at once.  Luckily I had my best helper by my side, and with Casey’s help we cooked every dish just us two!

We had a lot of fun planning out our menu ahead of time, and it was exciting to watch it all come together into one meal.  This was actually my first time ever hosting and cooking the Thanksgiving meal, and it was made so much easier since our whole group is vegetarian. 

It was also made easier by the house full of baby holders.  We never could have prepped and cooked all that food without all the extra hands to help with Cullen!

I knew that with two unpredictable babies in the house, the chance of us all actually getting to sit and eat at the same time was slim.  But right as the food was finally all ready and being placed on the table, a miracle happened…

Cullen completely passed out in his Boppy pillow, and Jonah took his longest nap of the entire week while swinging away in Cullen’s swing.

Meanwhile, I was setting out hot food on the table.  Our feast included sourdough stuffing with fennel and capers – by far my favorite dish of the night!

Spicy glazed purple and orange carrots…

Mashed potatoes and vegan white gravy…

Cranberry sauce made with local Washington cranberries bought at the market, and apple juice made straight from our juicer – amazing.

And last but certainly not least, sweet and sour Brussels’s sprouts…

When we lived in DC, we didn’t have a dining room and had to repurpose our giant table as a big tandem desk.  One of the things I was most excited about when moving here was getting to use our big table again!

And the only thing better than a big table covered in delicious food, is a big table filled with family.

We ate, we talked, we stuffed ourselves silly.  There was also pumpkin pie, that was eaten too quickly to even photograph.  The babies slept through our entire meal, through the dishes, and well into the night – a Thanksgiving treat indeed.

So much to be thankful for this year, including all of you.  I am so so grateful for all that I have.

For the past month, I feel like I’ve obsessed over every passing day that Cullen has been here.  Somehow with all the craziness of the holiday week and having family in town, and entire week went by and I barely even realized it.  And here it is Friday and my baby is FIVE weeks old!

This has been a wonderful week for many reasons.  Cullen turned one month old, celebrated his first holiday, met his cousin, aunts, and uncle, and went for lots of fun walks and outings.  Somewhere in the midst of it, he also became a baby who is WIDE awake most of the day, and is so much fun to be around.  Baby sneezes!

Even though I tell myself he is still just a little peanut, I had to accept a few realities when he upgraded from newborn to size one diapers this week, and his newborn pajamas started to become too short to zip.  My baby is getting bigger, which is a GOOD thing, because it means he’s getting big and strong on all that delicious milk.  Even though I want him to be tiny and cuddly forever, I feel so lucky that he’s such a good eater, and that he’s continuing to thrive so well. 

You know who probably hasn’t been mentioned enough in these updates?  DAD!  The only thing I love more than staring at Cullen all day long is watching Casey with Cullen.  He had essentially no baby experience going into parenthood, but he’s already so comfortable and great with him.  Cullen absolutely adores him and stares at his dad whenever he gets the chance.  His number one favorite activity is having Casey swing him back and forth in the air!

He doesn’t like when his mom swings him for some reason – perhaps smaller hands don’t feel sturdy enough?  As for me, I made a major turn in the recovery department this week.  Last week I still felt like I was in the late stages of recovery – a bit sore, a little slow, and often uncomfortable.  This week I am feeling…normal?  I barely remember what that feels like, but I think my pain and soreness has finally subsided. 

Still no major exercise beyond walking yet, although I have stepped up my walks quite a bit to 3 and 4 mile loops.  Whenever the weather cooperates I make a point to get both me and Cullen outside for some exercise and fresh air!  I’m only about 3 pounds up from my pre-pregnancy weight now, but my body definitely looks much different.  I call it my new “mom body” and I like it more on some days than others.  I’ll be happier once I lose the rest of the stomach flab, but for now I’m feeling okay.

This week’s big development that has been a blessing to both me AND Cullen has been the huge improvement in his schedule.  Out of nowhere, he has suddenly developed a predictable sleep pattern.  His days are still a bit more varied, but almost like clockwork now, every night around 7:30pm he is ready for bed and falls into a deep, sound sleep.  He sleeps (with short breaks for feedings) soundly through the night, and we both get up around 6:30 or 7am.  Mom and baby are both feeling a bit more rested and happy this week!

His predictable bedtime has freed me up in the evenings for cleaning, computer work, and just enjoying some down time.  As much as I love my little guy, it has been really nice to be able to count on a few hours after he goes to bed where I can focus on the other things that need to be done.  Beyond his bedtime, he has also consistently started sleeping for 5 to 6 hour stretches at night.  I’m afraid to even talk about it because I don’t want to jinx the progress – I hope it lasts!

His personality has continued to grow and develop this week, and I’m amazed at how someone so small can entertain me all day long.  He is goofy, cranky, and everything in between.  I can’t get enough of his big toothless smiles, and I hope he just continues to shine a little bit brighter each week. 

Have a great weekend!