So... this Thanksgiving will not soon be forgotten. My.goodness. It all started on Wednesday. I was feeling uneasy about heading to East Texas later that afternoon for reasons I could not put into words. I was nervous about the imminent temperature plunge and just felt like I needed to stay close to home an extra night. My understanding, flexible family decided to push back their trip to the farm an extra night and make a detour to Waco so we could be together. It was my sweet Mommy's idea. I was SO grateful to not be left out of the fun.
Lolli and Pop were first to arrive in time for a nice dinner. Soon after, Summer and Ryan appeared on the scene to complete our crew. We let Cambell entertain us and started getting desserts prepared to take with us the next day. My Mom required a few more items at 10:30pm, and being the nice, smart daughter I am, I joined her so she did not have to go alone. This is where things got interesting... The entire trip was laden with contractions. They were non-painful Braxton-Hicks contractions, but pretty close together. I thought they would dissipate with a shower and sleep, but instead only increased in intensity and grew closer together. I got in a few hours of sleep before they really picked up. By morning, the contractions were less than 5 minutes apart, lasting a minute each, really intense, and had been so for several hours. This is when they tell you to get on over to the hospital. We had my bags packed, got set to go to the hospital, filled in the family, and then... of course... the contractions slowed down. Since it is so darn expensive to go in to Labor and Delivery just to get checked and have them tell me that I am in fact, not in labor, we decided to stay home. Of course, conditions were not exactly ripe for riding in the car for several hours, and my precious family once again did not want me to be left alone on Thanksgiving day, SO we made our own last minute Thanksgiving in Waco.
Between the Wilkes, Cooks, and Duffies, we were only responsible for green beans, rolls, and desserts at the meal at the farm, which does not exactly make for a Thanksgiving feast. Thankfully, I remembered a sign from the night before that HEB was staying open until 2pm. Off we headed to pick up pre-cooked turkey breast, ingredients for stuffing, sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce. I must say, the meal could not have turned out better if we had planned it weeks in advance. The team effort in our little kitchen totally paid off.
An hour after coming home from the store, our Thanksgiving feast was served!
Lolli and Pop were first to arrive in time for a nice dinner. Soon after, Summer and Ryan appeared on the scene to complete our crew. We let Cambell entertain us and started getting desserts prepared to take with us the next day. My Mom required a few more items at 10:30pm, and being the nice, smart daughter I am, I joined her so she did not have to go alone. This is where things got interesting... The entire trip was laden with contractions. They were non-painful Braxton-Hicks contractions, but pretty close together. I thought they would dissipate with a shower and sleep, but instead only increased in intensity and grew closer together. I got in a few hours of sleep before they really picked up. By morning, the contractions were less than 5 minutes apart, lasting a minute each, really intense, and had been so for several hours. This is when they tell you to get on over to the hospital. We had my bags packed, got set to go to the hospital, filled in the family, and then... of course... the contractions slowed down. Since it is so darn expensive to go in to Labor and Delivery just to get checked and have them tell me that I am in fact, not in labor, we decided to stay home. Of course, conditions were not exactly ripe for riding in the car for several hours, and my precious family once again did not want me to be left alone on Thanksgiving day, SO we made our own last minute Thanksgiving in Waco.
Between the Wilkes, Cooks, and Duffies, we were only responsible for green beans, rolls, and desserts at the meal at the farm, which does not exactly make for a Thanksgiving feast. Thankfully, I remembered a sign from the night before that HEB was staying open until 2pm. Off we headed to pick up pre-cooked turkey breast, ingredients for stuffing, sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce. I must say, the meal could not have turned out better if we had planned it weeks in advance. The team effort in our little kitchen totally paid off.
An hour after coming home from the store, our Thanksgiving feast was served!
I am beyond grateful that my family stuck around and helped create one of the most memorable Thanksgivings ever. The rest of the day was filled with football watching...turkey cookie decorating...
consumption...
consumption...
and wii playing...
By the end of the night, my contractions had come to a complete stop. After an uneventful night's sleep, we headed on over to our original destination in East Texas for 24 hours of family and serenity. It was cold and beautiful... my favorite combination out there. I was so grateful to be with my Grammy and Poppy and felt like we still got to have the full Thanksgiving experience. We spent as much time outside as possible enjoying the beauty of East Texas in the fall.
Cambell enjoyed her little playmate, Maddie.
Poppy even had a hayride for us!
Little bit LOVED it, of course :)
On the tour de farm, we made a little stop to feed the cows. The highlight was when the cows came up to the back of trailer and started eating the hay as we were moving. My ever observant daughter exclaimed, "The cows are eating the hayride!" I was proud of her bravery as the cows were mere inches away as they ate her chair.
When the sun went down, we still found fun indoors.
Cambell enjoyed her little playmate, Maddie.
Poppy even had a hayride for us!
Little bit LOVED it, of course :)
On the tour de farm, we made a little stop to feed the cows. The highlight was when the cows came up to the back of trailer and started eating the hay as we were moving. My ever observant daughter exclaimed, "The cows are eating the hayride!" I was proud of her bravery as the cows were mere inches away as they ate her chair.
When the sun went down, we still found fun indoors.
I am so grateful we got to go to the farm. We are back in town and back in full force baby preparation mode. The nursery is now fully functional... not finished by any means, but I am grateful we have a place for little guy to sleep and have his diapers changed :). We are soaking up this time as a family of three. Not that we aren't SO excited to meet Grayer, because our family is NOT complete without him, but we have found this sweet groove in the past 2 and a half years with our daughter and I am clinging to it tightly in these final weeks. I am cherishing every little moment and conversation with my sweet Cambell. I have such a mix of feelings... readiness for our son to arrive and our next chapter as a family to begin... and overwhelming sentimentality about the chapter that is ending, hoping Cambell feels just as loved and cherished as ever with our new arrival. I so look forward to watching her become a big sister... if only I knew when it was going to happen :) We'll keep you posted!
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