Thanksgiving

I find that I am perpetually a couple of weeks late in my posts. So here, finally, is what we did for Thanksgiving. We made our first long car ride with the baby (5 1/2 hours) to Alexandria, Louisiana, where Scott's Aunt Jo lives. We've been there twice to visit since we moved to Dallas, but the last time was a couple of years ago. It was high time to see her again, and we had a wonderful visit.


We arrived in Louisiana pretty much just in time to go to bed on Wednesday evening. We had our Thanksgiving feast on Thursday afternoon. I don't think you can see all of the food she had prepared in the above picture, but you can get the general idea. It was probably enough food to feed 20 people, but there were only 6 of us. Even Madeline ate her fair share of the food. She loved everything but the mashed potatoes. That girl will NOT eat potatoes in any way, shape, or form.

After dinner, I was talked into something that I'm slightly embarrassed to reveal. Scott, Madeline, and I went for a ride around Aunt Jo's land on one of their four wheelers. And, no, my child is not wearing a helmet. I'm probably a bad mom, especially considering all of the children I take care of in the hospital that have sustained horrible injuries from ATV accidents. There is only one person in the world I would trust to take my baby on a four wheeler, and that's my husband (who is so safe, it's almost a fault of his).

We had a great time seeing the horses, hunting dogs, forest, and lots of huge fire ant hills.

On Friday I got talked into something else I wasn't so sure about doing. Aunt Jo wanted to take care of Madeline for a few hours that day so that Scott and I could spend some time alone. I was nervous about leaving her for so long in the middle of the day with someone she doesn't really know, but it ended up working out well for everyone. Scott and I drove an hour north to Natchitoches, which is the oldest town in Louisiana. It's where the film Steel Magnolias takes place. It is a beautiful town with a French flair. We went window shopping on Front Street in the Historic District, which overlooks a river. There were lots of fun, quaint little shops to browse through. We went to lunch at a delicious cajun restaurant. It was so nice to spend some time with my husband alone!

On Friday night I spent a very relaxing evening reading, watching old movies, drinking wassail, and thinking about how glad I was to not be at work. We left Saturday morning feeling very renewed.

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On a different note, we've spent this past weekend taking care of a sick baby. Madeline came down with a fever on Friday afternoon, and remained febrile until this (Monday) morning. It actually made our weekend quite pleasant because we spent most of it snuggling with our sweet baby. She is usually not cuddly at all, so it was a nice treat for us. She spent many hours on Saturday sleeping on Scott's chest on the couch. I spent many hours rocking with her on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoons. It gave me a chance to admire what a wonderful little person she is becoming, and to reflect on how much my life has changed over the last 9 1/2 months with her in it. I am so grateful for all she has taught me, and the joy she brings to our family.