happy thanksgiving

today was our first thanksgiving with just our family since the kids were born, so it was a little different. it was also different because all my recipes and small appliances are already packed which limited our meal options. i also made the smallest turkey i ever have (10.5 pounds). but it was still a very nice meal and we had a great day spent in our pajamas.

we watched the macy's parade and football and relaxed (obviously i worked on blogging while the turkey cooked). surprisingly both kids took naps today; mason slept for his normal two hours and madelyn slept close to four. she has been really tired the past few days and even went to sleep at 5:30 one night (sleeping until 7:30am the next day!). i think between being sick and having company, they are both pretty worn out.

they were inspired by the parade and played "cymbal band" for a lot of the day. mason would even follow madelyn around as they marched in their own parade. i don't really think that the video captures how the sound can make your ears ring. enjoy.

when we sat down to eat our thanksgiving dinner (which madelyn insisted needed fruit because that is what they had at her school "feast" on monday so i opened a can of mandarin oranges as her contribution to the dinner) we asked the kids (okay just madelyn) what they were thankful for; madelyn said that she was thankful for baby maddux and friend. mason did point to maddux when we asked him so i think that he was thankful for maddux too.


madelyn often shushes maddux when he cries and tonight mason got up from the table to "shhhh" maddux when he started to cry. it was so cute. i wish that i could have reached the camera to get some video because mason has never shushed before. he curls his lips out in an exaggerated way like when he says "choo-choo" (again i need some video or picture of this). he just went over to maddux laying in the swing and kept saying "shhhh" very softly and crazy enough maddux would stop crying for a few moments each time. i really can't express how much mason shows his love for maddux. it just makes me melt with love to watch them. madelyn is cute too but there is just something about mason's silence that makes it extra special to see it so clearly.


eating dinner reminded me to mention a few things about mason. he loves holding hands to pray and even closes his eyes and/or looks down. madelyn has always struggled with holding hands to pray because she wants to use her hands to eat, but we never even said anything about it to mason. we just offer him our hands and one day he started putting his hands out first. he actually first started with holding madelyn's hand. i just think that it is sweet.


mason also loves to use a napkin to wipe his face while eating. sometimes he will walk around after meals still wiping his face with his napkin. he will also use a napkin to wipe off the table. we even had to move the wipes off the table because he will take them out just to wipe the table.

matt and i have so much to be thankful for but we feel extra blessed this year. God has been so good to us and, as always, meeting all our needs and some of our wants. we hope that you all had a wonderful thanksgiving with your family and loved ones today too. love.