Thanksgiving Weekend!

We hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving. It was a pretty quiet one for this little family. It is hard to believe that this is already Millie's second Thanksgiving and our third in CT. Last year Millie slept through most of it - as you can see above, she was a bit more active this year. We all managed to score a half day on Wednesday, so that was a really good start. Unfortunately, we were not able to be with family on Thanksgiving Day. We thought about a quick trip to Michigan but ultimately could not afford the time or money to do so. Work has been very busy for both of us, so we were looking forward to a quiet and relaxing weekend.

We were lucky to get a Thanksgiving invite from one of Shannon's co-workers, Ine, to celebrate Thanksgiving with them. They get together every year with a group of "orphans" who can't be with family for Thanksgiving. Ine is from Holland (not Holland, MI you Michiganders!) and so were the hosts and another guest A couple that works in a restaurant were tasked with bringing the turkey, which made for a late dinner, but it was worth the wait. We got to relax and meet some new people and it was a very enjoyable time. It was interesting to hear the interactions in both English and Dutch and still have a very traditional Thanksgiving meal! Millie explored the house like it was her own, and tried to hang out with the older kids. She was a little afraid of the 3 dogs that were there, but got more brave as the night went on. Everyone thought she was such a happy and well behaved baby, which is always nice to hear. It was very nice to be able to hang out with other families and enjoy a traditional turkey dinner for Thanksgiving!

Here are some more Thanksgiving shots. We got Millie some books and it came with a backpack. I put it on her and she thinks she is ready to go to school! She played with the blocks at the host's house and left them littered everywhere - much like she does at home.

On Friday, we went to cut our down our Christmas tree, which is a little tradition we started a few years back. It was a pretty nice day here (although the wind was cold) and we found our tree very quickly. We opted for a pretty small one this year since we have pretty short ceilings. We have come to really like Concolor or White Fir trees - no picky needles, the needles do not drop too much, and it has a slightly lemony scent. Millie had fun enjoying the sights and sounds and other people. She had a nice hayride and got to look at some cows (which freaked her out a little bit). Millie had to get some shots that afternoon unfortunately, but she took them like a trooper and walked out on her own two feet. We spent the rest of the night putting up the tree and getting caught up on the Office and 30 Rock while Millie got caught up on her sleep.

Today we ran some errands, decorated the tree and tried to keep Millie out of trouble! Not easy! But not really fair either -- so many new things to explore! She was more interested in taking the ornaments off the tree than putting them on :). We went light on the ornaments this year and packed away most of the glass ones for another year when there aren't 10 curious fingers poking about. No reason to set us all up for trouble... .

We are going to continue to relax for the next couple of days and then back to work and daycare. Boooooo.....

Ride 'em Cowgirl!

Millie is getting pretty good at riding her wheely cow all by herself :)!

Fall Weekends

Things have been pretty quiet here in Connecticut lately, busy, but quiet. Scott and I have both been very busy at work the past few weeks leaving us pretty tired on the weekends. So we've been enjoying just spending time with each other and Millie, catching up on chores and errands, and relaxing when we can. Last weekend Millie got to enjoy her first pancake breakfast. She thought it was pretty great -- Scott did too :). Apparently pancake breakfasts lead to very productive days!






Millie continues to amuse us everyday. She is still incredibly sweet and loves to make people smile. In the mall today she walked through the stores smiling at people and saying "hi" until they looked at her and smiled back. She loves to read her books, play with her Bitty Baby, talk on the phone and play hide and seek in the dining room. She's always on the move and is babbling up a storm. She's added a few words to her repertoire -- eyes, hot, and go. She's still working on some signs too -- milk, mommy and "I love you."

One of the cutest new developments is the way that Millie LOVES her little friend Leo at daycare. She is so happy to see him every morning and when I come to pick her up in the afternoon, she always takes me over to him and proceeds to give him hugs and kisses. Leo is much bigger than Millie even though they are essentially the same age. He has at least 3 inches on her and at least 10 pounds. Millie is not intimidated ;). Leo is pretty tolerant of the hugs most of the times -- sometimes he just growls :). Poor kid.

We're gearing up for winter here. It's actually been quite cold this week which means Millie has gotten to try out her new hat.
We're lucky that her winter coat from last year fits perfectly this year (it was WAY to big last year...).

We are looking forward to the long Thanksgiving Weekend with lots of extra family time. We haven't decided yet if we will be doing a small Thanksgiving with just the three of us or if we will be joining one of my co-workers and her group of orphan families :). Either way, we will have SO much to be thankful for. We plan on going to cut down our Christmas tree on Friday and then just relaxing the rest of the weekend. Then it's less than a month until Christmas! We are all SO excited about Christmas this year. Hard to believe that it's going to be here so soon...

Friends

I know that while Miss Millie is the star of this little blog we have here, many of you also read up on our friends' and family's blogs that are listed off to the side. If you haven't been following the life story of Anna and her parents (Katharine and John), or are not sure how they are connected to us, here it is.

Millie and I met Katharine and Anna in our pediatrician's new mom group when the girls were just a few weeks old (Millie was 3 weeks and Anna was 6 weeks). This group of moms and babies quickly became our life-line in all things family. All of the women are amazing in their own right, not to mention that they are amazing moms. We get together whenever schedules permit, sometimes as whole families, sometimes as mommies and babies, and sometimes just the mommies :). Much to the group's disappointment, Katharine, John and Anna moved to Maryland this summer. We were sad, but it was a great move for their family as it allowed John to travel WAY less and for them to have more time together. Which was important because they were expecting their second daughter in September of this year!

You see, John and Katharine have been working to adopt a baby from China for years. Amazingly, as they were approved, they also found out that they were pregnant with Anna. What a wonderful double blessing! Unfortunately, they have not been able to go and get Anna from China yet due to political red-tape. We are very sad for Katharine, John, and Anna. We know how much they already love Molly and how desperately they want to bring her home. Katharine has reached out to the mommy group for help (and everyone she knows, I'm sure) and now I'm reaching out to all of YOU to help her. Please read their story and take the time to e-mail or write your local representatives in the senate and congress as well as the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law. Katharine has even taken the time to write a basic form letter that can be used by everyone and it is included at the end of her post.

Please join us in the effort to bring Molly home to her family. Wouldn't it be wonderful if they could be united for the Christmas holidays? I couldn't think of a better gift to give to such a deserving and loving family.

Signs

We've been showing Millie a few signs for several months now, hoping that she would pick up a few before her verbal language started. Up until now, she hasn't shown much interest in them -- often brushing aside my hands and finding other ways to communicate exactly what she wanted. This week however, she started using the sign for "more" while eating :)! Her sign is slightly modified, but she's clearly associating it with the spoken word "more" and with the idea that it will get her more of what she is eating. She is SO proud of herself when she makes the sign :).

She's been watching much more closely now which means we've got to ramp up OUR signing and learn more! She's made a mild attempt at yogurt and milk, but we have a ways to go on both of those. All are highly motivating and exactly what any good speech therapist would start teaching :).

Leaves

Fall in Connecticut can mean many different things, among them: lots of leaves!


This is our front yard and our street -- a veritable carpet of colorful leaves.

We started the task of raking last weekend, however, you can't tell now. Millie enjoyed the time outside. She had to be coaxed into the leaf piles, but once she was there, it didn't take long for her to figure out what she was supposed to do :).




Of course, as the leaves fall and the days get shorter and colder, we start thinking about winter. Fortunately, thanks to an early Christmas gift from Lainey and Ric, Millie is ready for the first nor'easter that blows our way!

That pretty much sums things up :)