So Much to Be Thankful For

This date last year will forever be etched in my memory. November 26, 2008 was the day before Thanksgiving and the day that Joe and I discovered that we would be parents!

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It had been a hectic and stressful day at work. Joe and I got home, put on our "comfy" clothes and collapsed on the couch with a beer to just relax and talk about our days. We had the pregnancy test, but thought that it could be too early to take it and honestly didn't think that it would be positive anyway (hence the beer in my hand). But as I told Joe about my stressful day, he said, "Just go take the pregnancy test. You'll feel better." I was hoping to be pregnant, but really didn't think that I was, so I wanted to point out that a negative pregnancy test would not make me feel better at all. But instead I went ahead and took it, and couldn't believe the results! I didn't finish my beer.

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The rest of the evening was filled with energy and excitement. We had a lot to look forward to! Here's a picture we took of ourselves just minutes after the test. Look at how young and well rested we look. ;)

I had more to be thankful for that Thanksgiving than ever before. I couldn't stop thinking about how grateful I was to be carrying that tiny little embryo and how excited I was to become a mommy and to make Joe a daddy. I couldn't have even imagined at that point how thankful I could be this Thanksgiving, just one year later. For my wonderful family, amazing friends, and the world's best husband of course. But most of all, this year, for this:

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Dining Room Photo Shoot

Who needs a fancy studio? Shae and I had a little impromptu photo shoot in the dining room the other day. Just a wall, an ottoman, and a little natural light (oh, and an adorable baby), and voila!

I love this baby.

Rollin'

For a few weeks now Shae has been rolling onto his back from time to time when placed on his tummy. This is the easier direction for babies to roll and the one that they usually master first. We weren't expecting him to roll from back to tummy, however, for at least another month. But our little superstar had other plans.

Yes, his arm does get in the way, but I still consider this to be a pretty big milestone. We're so proud of our big boy, but are still in awe at how fast he's growing and changing!

Little Prankster

Joe put Shae to bed last night at 7 pm, laying him in his crib with his head facing the west. I know for a fact that he did because we have a video monitor and I even went into his room before Joe and I went to bed to say one last good night to my sleeping baby, and there was his head right where I expected it to be, facing the west. When I went into his room this morning at 7 am (Yes, our baby sleeps up to 12 hours straight. And no, we don't let him cry in the middle of the night. Let the death threats begin.) he was laying perfectly with his head facing towards the east! What the....?!

Of course at 3 1/2 months Shae is not usually very mobile, but he does do this thing where he puts both of his legs straight up in the air and then flops them down a little off to the side, causing his body to move slightly. In fact, I have found him in his crib laying sideways because he's moved so much throughout the night. But he's never even gotten close to doing a 180! And the thing that really blew my mind was that he was laying perfectly centered in his crib with his sleep sack unbunched, as if someone had just layed him there like that.

What a crazy little baby!

(Oh and don't worry, we had already taken his crib bumpers off when he first started moving around so that we wouldn't have to worry about the risk of suffocation with them.)

1st Halloween

I meant to post this sooner but our pc caught a virus and my laptop went out on me all at the same time! Replaced the laptop and fixed the pc and now we're all good. Whew!

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Shae had a fun-filled first Halloween! He dressed up as a little monkey and we drove around to visit all of his grandparents. The costume only lasted long enough at each stop to get a few pictures and then it was time to come off! Poor little guy must have been wondering what the heck we were doing to him. I tried explaining Halloween to him but he thought it seemed like a pretty bizarre little holiday.

Grandpa making funny monkey sounds with Shae

Grandma Mary

Grandma Lori

Grandpa Mike and Grandma Kathy