Happy Thanksgiving!

On Wednesday, Henry and Miss R were taken to school early so that I could make it to school by 8AM to teach my grad seminar (as it was the day before Thanksgiving, the class wanted to meet early). The kids were fine at drop off.

Grammy and Poppy picked up the kids in the afternoon and took them to Barnes and Noble. The kids had a great time as usual. Jeff and I went to see "New Moon" (which was hilarious...unintentionally). Then, Jeff picked up dinner while I got the kids. Henry didn't want to leave Grammy's house. He wanted to watch Peanuts...the scene where Charlie Brown gives the little red headed girl a kiss. Henry insisted that we read a book before leaving. That ended when he thought he heard Uncle Brian's voice and ran to back door. Turned out it was Poppy. We then headed home. We stopped by the gas station to fill up the car. When I was done, Henry announced that he wanted to "go to the gas station again." Not sure what the appeal is with the gas station.

On Thursday, we went for a family walk in the morning. Henry convinced me to hold him a good part of the way. I'm not used to Henry asking for so many much Mommy holding...it was nice. We took a family trip to Basha's to pick up some last minute groceries. As we passed the blood pressure machine, Henry insisted that I take my blood pressure. Then he wanted Daddy to "take blood pressure."

After lunch, we gave the kids a bath. We have to put plugs in Henry's ears while he has the tubes in them. He did better with them than anticipated. The kids had fun "swimming." They took a long nap while I got some cooking done. Jeff got the kids dressed while I got ready. Then, it was off to Grammy and Poppy's house for Thanksgiving dinner.

My Aunt Gloria (my dad's sister) got to meet Miss R for the first time. Our dinner party consisted of Grammy, Poppy, Aunt Gloria, Uncle Brian, Aunt Erin, Jeff, me, and the kids. Miss R was in a rejection mood. I managed to get a spoonful of potatoes in her mouth, however, at which point she realized that the dinner was pretty good. Miss R found Henry's dump truck. She put her Mickey and Minnie toys in it and pushed them around the house. I don't think that I've ever seen her move so much. Henry joined in with his bike. The kids loved the pie. They wanted second helpings. Of course, once I brought them to the kids, Henry announced that he didn't like pie, having stuffed his face 2 minutes earlier. He did, however, managed a couple more bites of the second piece.

I think that it would be fitting to end today's post with a list of things for which I am thankful.
1. Henry is amazing. He continues to dazzle us with his quick wit and verbal prowess.
2. Miss R is very loving. We began our year with a strong feeling that it was important to use the skills that we'd gained being the parents of a child with special needs for other children. We put that feeling into action by going through foster parent training and getting licensed. We are thankful that Miss R melded so seamlessly into our family and that she has thrived with us. Being Miss R's mom has been very rewarding. And I confess that it is nice to have one child in the house who is slightly more mommy-centric than Henry who is a complete daddy's boy.
3. Jeff is a fantastic father and fabulous husband. I simply couldn't keep up with my work without him. The kids adore him.
4. My parents are wonderful grandparents. It is a joy seeing how much our kids love them and want to spend time with them.
5. I am thankful for the support that we've been given by our family and friends. Jeff's sister Jennifer has been supportive through calls and emails to Jeff throughout the NICU ordeal to the present. We are lucky to have several gems of friends too.

Happy Thanksgiving!