Thankful

Today I'm filled with thankfulness for...

a wonderful time traveling to visit family for Thanksgiving.

the opportunity to take Colin on his first trip to Michigan-to the state and to places where I remember taking many trips as a child with my own parents.

a baby who travels well and sleeps when we're on the road.

a fun surprise of being the "guest of the day" at the hotel we stayed in.

another surprise of walking into our hotel room that was upgraded to a suite. It included a microwave and refrigerator and gave us plenty of extra room for a pack n play. I planned in my mind for weeks what we might need to take. I worried about what it might be like to travel with a baby. Sure, packing everything but the kitchen sink helped in creating a home away from home. But my nervousness was also eased by knowing we were in a hotel filled with friendly people ready and willing to meet any needs.

two nights of no 4 a.m. feedings! Colin slept through the night two nights in a row while we were traveling. We're trying to figure out how to keep this miracle continuing at home. I'm loving how it feels to have sleep that lasts longer than 4 hours at a time!

a welcome invitation to watch Colin so C and I could enjoy going out. The offer was made and I look back and laugh at how quickly we accepted the invitation and disappeared only seconds later to go eat dinner.

Colin's first snow, a light dusting which was just pretty enough to enjoy but not enough to stick on the roads.

special, special times with our wonderful family. How lucky we are to have each other. Our times together are limited but the love, support, and closeness can be felt despite the many miles between us.

being able to introduce Colin to his great grandfather (whose first name is Colin's middle name-thank you to my aunt who expressed what all of us felt when I placed Colin in his honorable namesakes' arms-something along the lines of "wow oh wow". Colin seemed to feel it, too as he stared up in wonder and seemed to hang onto every word said to him by his great grandfather). It was so special to introduce Colin to his family of great aunts, great uncles, cousins, second cousins, and even his great-great uncle. What a wonderful welcome to the world and welcome to our family they gave him. Colin is surrounded by so much love. There was much playing of "pass the baby" and Colin was quite the charmer, gazing and smiling at each new face.

the interweaving of the generations, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and additions of spouses and children who have joined in and become part of our family. I found myself in awe bringing in my own child to the home where my dad had been a child and where my aunts, grandparents and even a great grandparent lived. Photographing Colin on the same front porch of my grandfather's that has signified such a place of stability for me over the years, where I myself had my picture taken when I was little, seems to bring feelings that I can't seem to find adequate words to describe. Walking into another home filled with my mom's side of the family brought awe as well. There were so many layers of feelings going on as I talked to my now grown up cousins who I remember holding when they were babies. One cousin asked right away to hold Colin and waited patiently throughout the day for her chance. I loved seeing how excited she was when it was finally her turn. More babies are expected in the family next Spring and it was fun to be the parents who have now "crossed to the other side" of having our own experiences and ideas to pass along. My future brother-in-law got to meet many of our family members for the first time and I felt proud thinking about what a wonderful family we have, kind and caring and welcoming. Through life's ups and downs and in betweens, they hold out their arms with a smile on their faces, ready to accept, support and love each and every one. I am proud of my family and feel very blessed to call them mine.

time to get away and re-energize. I realized how much I'm in the day to day routine of caring for a baby's needs and I enjoyed "taking a break". It was nice to feel supported and cared about by family. They took turns lovingly sharing in Colin's care, talking to him, singing to him, playing him music and holding him. When Colin started to fuss, aunts and great aunts, grandma and great grandma seemed to appear out of nowhere with offers to hold him or rock him. Family shared stories of their own experiences with raising or being around children. Even the family dogs welcomed Colin. One (Scottie the collie) seemed to adopt him from the minute we entered the house. Every time Colin cried, his canine friend appeared to be sure he was alright. When we went from the main floor to the basement for a diaper change (the ping pong table worked well), we're told this same friend was seen sniffing around in the place we'd been sitting, frantically looking for Colin. He appeared downstairs to offer his help. He also seemed relieved to find us and to discover that Colin was just fine.

a stop on our way home at the Carter's outlet store. Shopping for clothes for Colin is so much more fun than shopping for clothes for me. There were so many cute things and everything in the store was 50% off!

a brother-in-law and sister-in-law who kindly look after our animal family members when we travel. We are able to leave knowing our pets are being well cared for.