Thankful a Day Late

I'm thankful for a toddler tornado in the kitchen. 

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I'm thankful for tantrums while I bake.  
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I'm thankful for multiple explosive diapers in one morning.  
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I'm thankful for a husband who agrees to eat my "Crustless Chocolate Pie," that wasn't intended to be crustless when I expect no one else will. 
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I'm thankful my husband can compare the intro song of Dinosaur Train to that of Sons of Anarchy. 
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I'm thankful for squirmy dinners. Not the kind of  squirmy where you are uncomfortable because someone asked you an uncomfortable question, but the squirmy where you are eating with your left hand because you have a toddler balancing on your right knee squirming around while holding a spotless spoon in one hand and stuffing his face with the other. 
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I'm thankful that all of those crazy things mean that I have a toddler I can toss leftover pie crust to like my mother used to do with me, a sweet newborn to snuggle with, and a husband who is just the bee's knees.

We were so blessed to be invited to spend Thanksgiving with Chris' best friend's (the one who edited the footage of our wedding to create this!) family in a Chicago suburb. We adore them! It is so relaxing to spend time with people who love children and their quirky ways. Let's see, how can I describe how wonderful they are? If Ryan and Conor were about fifteen to twenty years older, I would be praying non-stop novenas for one of my sons to marry one of their daughters. I think that means a lot, doesn't it?

Seth Morris Photography

The food was delicious, the house decorated beautifully and the company was divine. We had a great time. Watch out, our favorite Chicago family ... you know we will be back!

This boy who used to scream and scream and scream in the car can now sleep most of the trip and then when we are almost to the destination, can try to act as a makeshift pacifier for the new baby all while assuring, "Almost. Almost." 

Where's Ryan?

Ryan running with his team.

I think Conor was held the whole time. He was happy!

7 Quick Takes (Volume 3)

It's time for 7 Quick Takes Friday...which means 7 Quick Takes Sunday for me! I blame a very hectic Thanksgiving weekend which I am about to describe in quick take fashion. Head over to see Jen at Conversion Diary to see more.

1. Fifteen and a half hours in the car. We spent 15.5 hours in the car from Wednesday night until this morning. With a baby that detests his car seat. Fun, right? 

2. 62 year old wedding china and treasured applesauce.  We spent Thanksgiving day at my grandma's and twenty of us passed the day away eating lots of scrumptious food on her wedding china. Isn't it beautiful? Props to my Aunt Ann for the table setup! One of the dishes that graced our holiday table was defrosted applesauce that was made from the Macintosh tree that used to shade Grandma's porch. It was the perfect climbing tree. My lips are sealed on how long ago the tree was cut down. For the record, I enjoyed the applesauce! 

3. Thankful for - my clarification Every year at Thanksgiving, after we pray the usual, "Bless us, O Lord, and these, Thy gifts..." we go around in a circle saying what we are thankful for. Now, I may enjoy writing and being overly descriptive, flowery and verbose, but I'm  not that great at creating a thought in my head and consisely delivering that thought in a understandable sentence on the fly. Surprise! (not...) I need time! So when it came to be my turn during our annual circle of thanks, I blurted out my confusing sentence followed by a few stammered corrections before finally just conceding my defeat by confessing, "It made sense in my head!" Hmph. So! Here is what I meant to say:

I am thankful to be part of such a big extended family in which a holiday spent with just twenty relatives is considered quiet and small even though it would be considered huge to anyone else. 

Cliffs notes version: I am thankful for my big extended family. Thank you, Grandma, for having thirteen kids!!  

4. My cousins are four time state champions! We traveled to Indianapolis on Friday to watch my little cousins (okay, okay, they tower over me now...) play in the state football finals for the fourth year in a row. And they won! I am so proud of them for all of their hard work and for taking care of business! 

One of the champion cousins on the big screen! 

5. ND Fan extremeness? So, in case you can't tell from my excessive mention of Notre Dame, we love our alma mater and her football team. How much? Well, after my cousins' football game, we stuck around to watch Jaylon Smith, ND's five star recruit and the third best high school senior in the country, play in the state final for his division. Welcome to the ND family! Hope we don't scare you with our fervor...

Less than a year old and already following ND recruiting

6. Will Smith is stuck in my head. Why? Because...well, sing it with me! WE ARE GOING TO MIAMI...WELCOME TO MIAMI! Notre Dame is #1 and is going to the BCS Championship game! Go to 1:16 in this Manti Te'o interview for my favorite clip from the post-game interviews. I love seeing players who have worked so hard being giddy with happiness. I'm sure Manti was hoping to be described as "giddy." 

7. Please send in your advent wreaths! For Advent, I will be featuring Advent wreaths from my readers on the blog. If you would like to submit yours, please send a photo (or photos!) and a little bit about your family's Advent traditions to cedarsandtinyflowers {at} gmail.com. I hope to post one every day starting on December 2 (the first Sunday of Advent) in addition to my regular posts. Can't wait to read about your wreaths!

What I Wore to Thanksgiving Dinner

Well now that I am comfortably on my parents' couch and watching football, I'm linking up with Grace over at Camp Patton for What I Wore to Thanksgiving Dinner. The weather was unseasonably amazing today so instead of the normal wish that I make to be able to take off my chunky sweater after a scrumptious dinner has left me burning up and grabbing napkins to fan myself, I was perfectly comfortable in my short sleeve dress. When you add the fact that the dress was nursing-baby-access friendly and that leggings didn't remind me that I may be eating one piece of pie too many as moving up a belt notch would, I could see this becoming a Thanksgiving uniform.

Dress: ASOS
Leggings: Target
Cami: don't remember!
Belt: from a dress from H&M
Boots: Aldo
Earrings & scarf: borrowed from my sister as usual

Happy Thanksgiving, again!

Thankful for Mama's Milk and Daddy's Shoulders

Ryan's list

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! We have been so blessed this year. Off the top of my head (because I need to stop writing and bake!) I am so thankful for our faith, a safe birth, a loving husband for a birth coach, Chris' job so I can stay at home with Ryan, our parents who are the most excited grandparents, our siblings who are obsessed with their nephew, the fact that South Bend is the Irish mecca and brings us visitors, baby laughs, Notre Dame football players and coaches for all of their hard work, a memorable trip to Ireland, my brother's courageous service to our country, nap time, blogs, any baby carrier so I can do things with two hands, La Leche League, our friends who all turn into big soft teddy bears around a chunky baby, our aunts, uncles and cousins, my girl cousins, my new South Bend mom friends, and jarred jellied cranberry sauce. And that is just a small sampling! Off to bake!