A Very Thankful Thanksgiving

I have always taken time at Thanksgiving to reflect on how blessed I am and everything I am thankful for.  This year, there is no need to take time to reflect, my blessings are right in front of my each and every day.  The birth of Vaan has taught me that there are things in our every day life to be thankful for and I do not take these precious moments for granted.  I am thankful for each minute of family time, every smile on Vaan's face, auntie Ericas and Uncle Seans, grandmas and grandpas, big coffees, supportive friends, and so so much more.  AND, to be honest, I have never been so thankful for QUIET, hot showers!

As usual, Justin had to work on Thanksgiving day.  Vaan and I spend this day as I have for the last 28 Thanksgivings, at my great-aunt and uncle, Sheila & Trig's, house.  We were able to spend our Thanksgiving as a family the next day at home.  On Sunday we had another Thanksgiving with the Reese Family.  Lots of celebration and LOTS to be thankful for!

Four Months

November 5, 2012 is four months from the day we were blessed with our little miracle!  The last four months have brought sleepless nights and frustrations with fussiness, but more importantly, they have brought more happiness and love than we could have ever imagined.

At four months, Vaan is a master at rolling over, sitting in his bumbo and highchair, and talking (babbling) and giggling like crazy.  He loves to play peek-a-boo and laughs like crazy at any wild movement you can make (especially at his aunt jumping and flailing around)!  He seems to have outgrown his play gym because laying on his back looking at lights and toys is simply too boring these days.  The jumper with four different play stations is much more fun!  Vaan also enjoys his "workout" each day.  We can barely keep up with his CONSTANT business.  His legs are forever moving in the motion of running, jumping, or biking.  He also does "crunches", with his legs going up and down - toes in his mouth, toes out, repeat! We can barely keep up - I can not even imagine what he will be like when he can crawl, ahhh!!

I know I say this every month, but it is amazing the growth and fun each month brings.  This little man has completely stolen our hearts and we love him to the moon at back.  Cheers to feisty, fitness, and four months!!

Fall Fun

Pumpkins, patches, and police officers can summarize our fall fun thus far!  We went to the pumpkin patch 10/26/12 to get Vaan his first pumpkin.  Justin and I have both enjoyed fall for many reasons in the past, but this by far takes the cake!  Granted, all Vaan could do was sit and look at the pumpkins, but it was so fun!!  It might seem lame, but this family adventure was amazing.  We picked out a big pumpkin for Vaan that we carved a 'V' in and also picked out a few Vaan sized pumpkins for him to "play" with.  It was a typical fall day: gloomy, chilly, and spitting rain, but it was the start of a tradition we can't wait to continue.

The third 'p', or police officer, is Vaan's Halloween costume.  Vaan is a little mini me of Justin, so we decided we might as well have him finish playing the part with this costume!  Vaan was equipped with the hat, uniform, cargo pants, and whistle (pacifier!), just like Dad!  He obviously can not trick or treat, but we had fun dressing him up for a few different occasions.  We went to a play date with the Fuhrmann's where the little boys, Vaan and Jack, put on their police uniforms to match the big boys/dads, Justin and Ben.  Vaan also put on this uniform to visit both grandmas at work, eat dinner with Owen, and hand out candy to the big kids on Halloween. 

Every day and month brings so many firsts.  It continues to be so exciting to watch Vaan grow and spend time bonding as a family.  Enjoy the pictures of our fall fun so far!