Blessed

Thanksgiving is my FAVORITE holiday.  It always has been (well, at least since I stopped believing in SC).  So, the past couple of years I've had so much to be thankful for.  I've been thinking about what I've been doing at this time of year for the past 7 years:

• 7 years ago at this time, our house was finished and we moved in.  We were preparing for our wedding (on 12/20) and had my bridal shower here the week after we moved in.  :)  We were so excitied and so loved our house.  I still love it....however, there's just not enough storage space here and I regret not paying the extra $10K for the 4th bedroom!  :(
• 6 years ago at this time, I was still mourning the loss of the baby I miscarried at 13 weeks.  And had been going through lots of infertility testing.  I was getting ready for the "final" test (on 12/13) - the laporoscopic surgery to see if I had endometriosis.....that "test" turned into major abdominal surgery and a punctured colon.  But no endometriosis and still no definitive (medical) answer to why we were unable to conceive.
• 5 years ago at this time, we had finally accepted that we would not be able to have a (biological) child of our own.  We started the adoption process the week of Thanksgiving.  We mailed in our application (and $1500 fee) to the adoption agency we had decided on. 
• 4 years ago at this time, we were in Russia.  We left on 11/18 for "trip 1" and met Brady in person for the first time on 11/20.  We spent Thanksgiving day (11/23 that year) on a plane coming back from Moscow.  We were thrilled to eat our Thanksgiving meal at Burger King at the JFK airport after spending 4 days eating Russian food.  Thirteen days later we went back to finalize the adoption and bring Brady home for good!
• 3 years ago at this time, I was 7.5 months pregnant with Zachary!  And so thankful to have an almost-2-year-old Brady running around all over the place - happiest little baby ever!
• 2 years ago at this time, I was 20 weeks pregnant with Easton!  That's right - 2 years back to back.  And I actually spent the weekend before Thanksgiving in the hospital with a horrible stomach bug that left me completely dehydrated.  I found out that Easton was an Easton (and not a Reilly) the following Monday and kept that secret for 19 more weeks!  Zachary was almost 11 months old and Brady was almost 3!
• 1 year ago at this time, I was still nursing Easton who was 8 months old; Zachary was almost 2 and Brady was almost 4!  Last year was a big one.  We had so much to be thankful for after almost losing Easton when he was only 4 days old.  Easton is now 19.5 months old, Zachary will be 3 in January and Brady will be 5 in February!!

We have so much to be thankful for.  What we went through to start our family was so hard - but I really think it makes us appreciate our family more than most people do.  The struggles we went through made us stronger people and we are grateful for that.  It could have been so much worse.  And we're lucky that it wasn't.  So, this year and for all my years to come, I will think of that.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Weird things about me!

I don't know what made me think about it but there are a lot of weird  unique things about me....mainly things that my "friends" make fun of but when you think about them all at once it's kind of weird.  Here are some examples:

1. I don't like to eat any food that doesn't have to be chewed (apple sauce, jello, etc.).  Imagine anything you could eat if you DIDN'T have teeth - I won't eat it.
2. I'm a control freak.  I ALWAYS drive whenever we go anywhere as a family.  I hate the way my husband (and everyone else) drives. 
3. I don't think that hand-washed dishes are ever really clean.
4. I hate public bathrooms.  I got a bladder infection in high school b/c I refused to use the bathroom until I got home.  :(
5. Speaking of bathrooms, I won't take a drink or any type of food item into the bathroom.  I feel it's tainted if it's been in a bathroom.
6. I won't let my lips touch the utensils at a restaurant....or any utensils other than my own.
7. I hate going to/watching movies.  I prefer TV....especially reality TV.
8. I still sleep with my baby blanket and it has to be touching my face at all times.
9. I can't sleep with pants or socks on.
10. I'm 35 years old and I still call my parents "Mommy" and "Daddy".
11. I have really small hands.  My 4.5 year old's hands will be bigger than mine with in a year or two.
12. I hate massages.  I will not pay a stranger to grope me.  ;)  Freaks me out.
13. I eat my fries with mayo - not ketchup....and my boys have picked up on this strange habit - they dip EVERYTHING (raisins, bread, etc.) in it. 
14. I've given myself shots in my stomach, my husband has given them to my in my hip and I've had tons of blood drawn but I absolutely hate getting a shot in my arm.
15. I love to make lists and fill out questionnaires (hence this post!)

I'm sure there are tons of others but I have to get back to cooking.  Brendan's parents and my parents are coming over for round one of Thanksgiving tonight!  And I'm pretty much making everything myself which is scary - it's only a ham....I'm not crazy! 

 Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

5QF....a day late

Okay, so I'm a day late but Laura at My Little Life does a "Five Question Friday" blog hop every week and I haven't done it in a long time but I love to fill out questionnaires for some reason so here we go!

1. What Christmas song do you loathe?  I can't say that I loathe any song in particular but I do not like the "contemporary" songs.....I only like the traditional, religious songs and my absolute favorite is 'O, Holy Night'.  Love that one....'Silent Night' is probably a close second!  However, I do like the contemporary versions of the religious songs???  I know that seems weird - I guess I just don't like the "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" kind of songs....



2. Do you and your significant other cuddle at night or sleep on opposite sides of the bed?  One of the  keys to a happy marriage in my opinion is a king sized bed.  I need my space.  He has his space, and I have mine.  Now, if I couldn't only figure out some sort of sound barrier to block out the snoring I'd be in heaven!


3. Have you ever had surgery?  Oh, yes let's see.....I broke my arm when I was 10 and had to have it surgically repaired (including 4 pins); when I was 29 I had exploratory laparoscopic (sp?) surgery to see if I had endometriosis....the doctor noticed that my left ovary was attached to my colon with scar tissue and while removing the scar tissue, he punctured my colon - they had to open me up to repair the puncture (and no, I didn't have endometriosis!); and of course, I had two c-sections!  :)


4. When do you typically have your holiday shopping done?  Oh, I don't know....but definitely before Christmas Eve.  My dad and my husband always wait until the last day (literally) to do their shopping and it drives me crazy!!



5. If money were not an issue (and you HAD to pick something), what would your ultimate luxury item be?  A Corvette I guess???  Oh, no wait - I would adopt another baby.  And then get a Corvette.  ;)  And of course, some lypo and a tummy tuck!  ;)

19 (1/2) Months Old!

Easton, you're 19.5 months old now!  I can hardly believe it - you're growing so fast.  :(  You had your 18-month check-up today (a month and a half late).....you weigh 27 pounds, 15 ounces (60th percentile) and are 35 inches "tall" (95th percentile).  Let's see what else you've been up to:

• I can still squeeze you into a size 4 diaper.....mainly because that's the size P&G is always doing diaper studies on  ;)
• You wear 24M and 2T clothes and a size 5.5 shoe (little feets like Mommy!)
• You sleep a good 11-12 hours at night and nap for 2-3 hours each day
• You LOVE to eat.  A lot.  I hope you continue to be a good eater because your brothers definitely grew out of this phase
• You still won't drink milk.  We really need to work on this!
• You still use a paci (AKA pa-pa) at bed time - I hate this but I love sleep so I'm waiting a little while longer to put an end to this
• You talk a lot - very little of it makes any sense (to anyone but you) but you seem very passionate about whatever you're saying
• You still love Blues Clues
• You love lemonade and have recently started requesting water (AKA wah-wah)
• You have very little patience and you do NOT like to share OR take turns  :(
• You throw a mean temper tantrum
• You like to dance - it's pretty funny stuff
• You're still a Mommy's boy (thank God) and you'll always be my little peanut!  Love you tons!

Now....how about thoses brothers of yours......


Zachary James......you are 2 years and 10 months old.....let's see what you're up to:

• You weigh around 28 pounds....that's right - within ounces of your baby brother!
• I would guess you're around 39-40 inches tall
• You're a skinny little thing and could wear a size 4 diaper but you wear a 5 most of the time
• You're finally wearing a size 3T....I think you must've gone through a growth spurt recently because you were able to wear size 24M just a couple of months ago!
• You are not a good eater.  :(  It's a struggle to get you to eat anything - breakfast is definitely your best meal of the day
• You still sleep in a crib but you have a normal sized pillow and sleep all covered up just like a big person.  I hope you stay in your crib for months to come!  :)
• You have a "baby froggy" that you LOVE to "nuggle" with.  You ask us to swaddle him in his blanky every day and you carry him and around and take care of him (and worry about him) like a good little "mommy"!  ;)
• You talk really well but you still pronounce Y like a W.....so you say 'wes' instead of 'yes' which is adorable!! 
• You say you're a Momma's boy but I think you're probably 50/50
• I honestly think you're one of the sweetest natured little boys EVER.  There's not a mean bone in your body.  You're a great big brother and I love you like crazy!!

Now....how about Brady Boy:

• You are 4 years and 9 months old!  I can't believe you're getting so big!
• I think you weigh around 45 pounds and are close to 4 feet tall!  You'll be taller than me before I know it
• You wear a size 13 shoe
• You're wearing a size 6/6T in shirts and pants!  So big!
• You're doing really well in school but your handwriting and toe-walking are still a problem; however, your teacher says there's no reason to hold you back so off to kindergarten you'll go next year!
• You absolutely love riding the bus to and from school
• Your teachers think you're just the smartest (and sweetest) thing ever and, of course, we agree!
• You're a pretty good eater....well, not really.  It's a struggle to get you to eat, too.
• You love your brothers so much - I'm so glad we were able to give you siblings! 
• You talk constantly.  If you're not talking, you're singing.  If you're not singing, you're asleep.  Seriously. 
• You go 90 mph unless you're asleep.  Seriously.
• Luckily, you're a good sleeper and very rarely have accidents (very impressive - I would say never but I don't want to jinx it)
• You're 100% Daddy's boy.  :( 
• 4 years ago tonight, Daddy and I were at his company Christmas party but were sooo excited because we were leaving to meet you the next day!  I can't believe it's already been 4 years!!  We love you, big boy!