Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving-- it really kicks everything off into the whirlwind that is the "holiday season". I've been blasting the Christmas music in the car and singing along, driving down streets to find house's that have lights on them so Evie can "ooh" and "aah" over them and tonight, we finally got our tree up and decorated!! Josh and I both were fortunate that when we got married and moved out, our mom's sent us away with our childhood ornaments. I put some of the unbreakable, fun ones on the bottom of our tree and I cannot wait for Evie to wake up in the morning and experience our Odgers family Christmas and begin our traditions!!

As I decorated the tree tonight I pulled out an ornament that I bought for her first Christmas, one that we will send away with her when she is an adult and moves out, and I bawled. It was like I could see myself, opening that ornament for the next 18+ years and one day, not having a baby but an adult, and a memory of the young girl that I carried in my arms would be a blur, and the adult before me would be my reality. I'm excited for Evie to grow up, don't get me wrong. But I feel like I just can't get enough of her each and every day. I constantly run into older people who tell me "cherish this time" and I want to cry every time they say it to me, because I am trying! I am trying to soak it in and live in the moment and just BE her mommy, enjoy her each and every day. And it is still going fast... and so this time I cherish, I honor, I hold dear in my heart. Because being her mommy is who I was made to be.
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Okay, kleenex moment over... We had a GREAT thanksgiving!! We are so blessed by our families during the holiday! This Thanksgiving my Aunt Barbie made a feast that we were grateful to partake in. Turkey is one of those foods, that no matter how much you ate, you still could probably fit more in your belly! So after feasting at Barbie's we went home, took a nap, and headed over to my inlaws and ate... MORE TURKEY and some ham! Yummy!

We spent a lot of the weekend hanging at my 'folks. We actually even spent the night there a couple of nights- it was wonderful! Since both our parent's are in town, we don't leave the area much for vacation or holidays, so staying at their house was like a mini-retreat and vacation! My sister was in town on break from school, so it was so nice to have some time with her!

Here's our family on Thanksgiving:


Here's my growing belly, I really popped over the holiday. Couldn't have anything to do with all that turkey I ate... LOL


And here are some Evie photos:

Going down the slide, thanksgiving morning...


Alone on the bench


With my dad, who Evie has figured out is.... "PAPA!" every time she sees him :)

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Oh, and only 1 week from this Friday until we have our ultrasound to find out if this baby is a son or a daughter!! Can't wait to find out!!