I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. This little miss made ours extra special this year.
This year I’m thankful for my wonderful family, my little girl, the ability to take 12 weeks of maternity leave, white noise apps, and binkies.
That face! I could stare at it all day.
We had a pretty jam packed Thanksgiving this year, starting with our first family-of-three turkey trot in downtown Tampa.
The Goody Goody Turkey Gobble was a first year event. It started as a group of friends who would meet the morning of Thanksgiving every year to run a 5K in downtown Tampa. As the group began to grow and grow, they decided to make an official race out of it complete with closed streets, a finisher medal, and sponsors.
For a first year event, it was pretty well done. There were a few hiccups with picking up packets and general announcements, but otherwise the race started on time, the roads were closed and safe, and the post-race breakfast was probably one of the best I’ve ever had thanks to the sponsorship of a new local restaurant (Goody Goody).
Derek and I had a blast pushing Annalynn in her first race in the BOB (don’t worry, we speed walked it). In fact, we enjoyed it so much, I’m hoping this will be the first of many.
Annalynn loved it, too. She loved it so much, she slept through the entire thing. I was really nervous I was going to have to stop and nurse her at the halfway mark, but she slept like a champ. Way to go, Annalynn!
Like I said, the post-race breakfast was probably the best post-race meal I’ve been served. The eggs, bacon, potatoes, and coffee crumb cake were all really well seasoned and well done. Thank you, Goody Goody for the awesome post-race spread!
After showering, changing, and napping we headed to Derek’s Nana & Dada’s house for our first Thanksgiving meal of the day.
I was nervous how Annalynn would nap on the go, especially with all the over stimulation of being passed from family member to family member. Unfortunately I wasn’t very successful on trying to get her to nap independently, so I put her in the ring sling and she passed out after about 5 minutes of bouncing and singing (the girl loves to hear my off-key voice). Of course, I managed to get her down right when the food was ready. Since I wouldn’t dare to disturb her beauty rest, I did what any new mom would do – I ate Thanksgiving lunch with a baby strapped to my chest.
Worth it.
After lunch with Derek’s family, we headed to Orlando for Thanksgiving part II with my side of the family.
(I remembered to get a family photo right before the sun set – whoop!)
It was fun to have all the babies together for the first time. Christmas is really going to be fun this year.
The really hilarious part was when 6:00pm hit and all the babies started crying. It was actually pretty reassuring to know that a) my kid isn’t the only that gets fussy at that time and b) my kid wasn’t the only one crying last night.
We hit the road back to Tampa and I turned on the magical white noise app (seriously, that thing is MAGIC). The white noise + binkie = Annalynn slept the whole way home. Woo hoo!
If I’m being honest, as much as I loved having my baby girl for her first Thanksgiving, it was a teeny bit stressful making sure she was getting fed when she needed it, getting sleep when she needed it, and she was happy, happy, happy the whole time (aka no fussing). I’m looking forward to next year when she’ll (hopefully) be eating with us at the table (in a high chair, obviously) and able to semi-entertain herself with toys and playing with the other babies (a mom can dream, right?). Otherwise, I’d say this Thanksgiving was a big success.
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
She is adorable!!! We had exact same agenda yesterday and Siena did a good job of sleeping through the 5k and car rides but I agree it was a bit stressful trying to feed and rock her through the parties! But it was worth it. Siena doesn’t have any cousins her age yet but hopefully soon! Annalynn is going to love having all those cousins to grow up with!
Nicole recently posted..Thanks
I always felt bad admitting that it wasn’t that much fun going out and about with a newborn but it is really stressful! Don’t worry it gets much, much easier. My little girl is 8.5 months old and although it’s definitely still challenging to venture out it is so much easier and more fun now. You will have a blast next Thanksgiving!
I have a 5 month old and everyone keeps telling me that babies only get harder as toddlers, two and three year olds. Gulp….
She looks more and more like you! So cute.
Laureen @Peachylau recently posted..Breakfast ideas to keep you fuller longer.
Very cute! Next year she’ll have some turkey, too.
You mentioned white noise ‘app’ a few times; I hope, it is not an app on a smartphone and the phone is kept close to the baby –a smartphone has really strong radiation, especially if it is close to the baby, which can be very harmful. –
http://community.babycenter.com/post/a29400431/iphone_apps_radiation_for_baby
Cell phones function in the electromagnetic spectrum assigned to radio waves. Cell phones emit microwave radiation from their antennas, the majority of which are now embedded in their phones. The most intense field is within the 7-inch diameter range around the antenna while the field itself can be measured about a foot from the antenna.
Do you have her on some sort of a nap schedule at this point? If so, when did you start trying to follow a nap schedule? I have a 3 week old and we just let her sleep when she wants right now.
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Mine didn’t get onto a semi schedule until about 4 months. Even now it’s “eat, play, sleep”
She stopped casually napping on her own around the 6 wk mark. I read Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child and am currently following his suggestion of napping every one to two hours based on cues that she’s getting sleepy. The goal is to get her to sleep before she starts being fussy, but that doesn’t always work! It’s a great book, i highly recommend it.
My daughter was a month and a half at Thanksgiving last year but we only had one stop so things were easier. She sat next me in her little rocker and was an angel. This year she throw a tantrum in her highchair so I had to remove her from the room BUT the fun part was everyone felt bad for me so they kept brining me food and I ate my dinner relaxing on the sofa with my girl 🙂
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Ada was 7 days old at her first thanksgiving. This brought back memories. I hadn’t slept in a week, was still engorged and learning how to BF, and all my family members wanted to pass her around (due to hormones, I ended up crying a lot because I didn’t want everyone hogging my baby — haha). I guess it’s gotten easier, but I’d give anything to wear her sleeping again versus constantly having to tell her to sit and eat and stop playing with her food 🙂
Ashley M. [at] neverhomemaker recently posted..9 Weeks + 1 Day
I love the holidays and so happy that family got to meet our little boy but I feel ya on the stressed part! I also had a c-section and was dealing with recovery him eating, not crying and being passed around. He did great and actually let me eat lunch! Glad to know I am not alone in the first time moms club with being like yeah that wasn’t the most fun/ relaxing holiday!!
Annalynn is just beautiful! She looks like a mini you. 🙂 I can’t believe how many cousins she already has and all around the same age. My son is 12-weeks and has one 20-month old cousin and one on the way. It will make family events and holidays all the more fun in the years to come!. Thanksgiving was definitely interesting this year!
Kristen @ Glitter and Dust recently posted..Winter Training and My First Race Postpartum
She has such a sweet face! Great job getting out there for the turkey trot, you are looking great! I have a 4 year old and a baby, and it does just get harder when they get a little older. You will spend dinner trying to get them to eat something other than a roll and to stay at the table for more than 5 minutes while you gulf down your food. My 4 year old is just starting to get more independent so holidays are starting to get a little calmer, but they will never be the same. The positive note though is that it is so amazing to watch them look forward to them and enjoy them as they get older!
My oldest daughters first thanksgiving was crazy stressful they were 3 weeks old and Premie and I felt so sleep deprived. Next year she will be loving it! Still may be a bit stressful at times! Even though no doubts you are super grateful to have her with you.
Jess recently posted..What do you get outta your bad habits?
She’s adorable ~ Cute onesies, and the pic of all the babies, too cute!
My daughter is 16 months and I’d say this Thanksgiving was waaay more stressful! She is on the run and gets into everything, so when visiting non-toddler proof houses, it is tense. Add in eating a bunch of rich, new foods and she has had a holiday “hangover” for a few days now 🙁
Looks like a blast and I love that you have my friend Mario in one of your photos! Indian at the buffet line.
Hannah Hawley recently posted..7 Sisters 2015 Race Recap
She is so cute! I love her Thanksgiving Day outfit and her headbands.
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