Our small thanksgiving dinner

I worked on Thanksgiving day so we had our dinner the following Saturday. It was our first time cooking turkey and it actually turned out very yummy. Frank made fried corn and mashed potatos. I have to confess the rolls and gravy were pre-made store bought but still very good. And one of the perks of buying a turkey after Thanksgiving day is that it was on sale, only $6! I see plenty of turkey sandwiches in our future! Special thanks to mom (Cheryl) for funding our Thanksgiving dinner! Wish you were here to enjoy the food with us!

Thanksgiving

This holiday season we have so much to be thankful for. Our family and friends have been by our side supporting and encouraging us through some of the tough situations we have faced this year. We welcomed our beautiful miracle into this world on Sept 17. We feel so blessed to have her in our lives and cherish every day we have with her. She brings more joy into our world than could possibly be imagined. She was born with a congenital heart defect called tetarology of fallot. Because of this, she will need corrective surgery in a couple of months. However, she is doing well now and is working on gaining weight and getting strong. I don't know how we would be getting through this challenge without the love, support and generosity of our family and friends. Frank and I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who has been there for us. Your love, prayers, and support are what has helped us through some of the hardest and emotional times we have faced so far and I know that's what is going to get us through the challenges to come. I wish I were better with words because I just can't find the right words to really say how truly grateful we feel.

early thanksgiving dinner

Frank's mother flew down from Utah to visit along with his Aunt Cathy and grandma from Indiana and aunt Mary from Arizona City. It was the weekend before thanksgiving so we decided to celebrate thanksgiving a little bit early. Joy and Randy, some long time friends of the family from Indiana that now live in Morristown, AZ, invited all of us over for a wonderful turkey dinner complete with mashed potatos, deviled eggs, green beans, rolls, stuffing and an assortment of pies and cake for dessert. The dinner was great and the company even better! After dinner we walked around outside and enjoyed the beautiful desert landscape followed by a breathtaking sunset. What more could you ask for?

Aunt Cathy and Mya enjoy some down time together after dinner

Great grandma Wyrick with dinner hosts Randy and Joy

Grandma and Mya playing after dinner

updated pics

Here are a few pictures of Leilani. Some old, some new. Either way she's super cute!!!

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Visitors from the North

Last week my Aunt Gay Ellen and her husband Clarence stopped by to visit for a day while on their vacation traveling accross the country. We haven't seen them since our wedding a little over three years ago. Before that I had not seen them in years. Since they live up in Fairbanks, Alaska, it's kind of hard to see each other very often. It was nice to just sit down and talk. I learned a lot about the family and even asked some questions about my dad (sorry daddy). They treated Frank and I to dinner when they arrived, and then offered to babysit while Frank and I went out the following evening.We were so grateful and needless to say, we took them up on that offer. Frank and I had our first night out since Mya was born. I thought I would enjoy it more but I couldn't stop thinking about our little baby girl. We stayed out long enough to get a drink at Starbucks and some supplies at babies r us, then we headed home. It was nice to have the break but I was glad to get back home. Now I understand what my friends were going through when they had to leave their baby for the first time. That's something I could not comprehend until I had become a mother myself. I am not looking forward to the day when I actually have to leave her for the day or even half the day. That will be a lot harder than I imagined. If anything I will be the one with separation anxiety, not her.

As for Mya, she's doing great. She's holding her head up, trying to stand when we hold her, and interacting more and more with her surroundings every day. She loves our daily walks, always looking around, taking in her surroundings. As far as a good sleeping pattern, that hasn't happened yet. I fear she's taken after her mother in that aspect :-).

6 week mark

So I've heard that babies usually settle into a pattern at around 6 weeks. My friends kept telling me it will get easier after 6 weeks. "6 weeks is the magic number" or "You'll be amazed. It's like a switch at 6 weeks. It will be so much easier after that." Well we've past the 6 week mark and I guess Mya has decided that no makes her agenda but her. Sometimes she'll stay up all day with an exception of a small 20 min nap here and there. At this very moment she's going on her 4th hour of straight sleep, hence me writing this entry.
I don't think I could handle this by myslef. Thank goodness Frank is so willing to help out when he's home. It's almost become a ritual. He gets home, washes up and takes over the baby care while I cook dinner. After dinner, we clean up and I take a nap while Frank watches Mya. When she feeds in the middle of the night, he gets up and preps the bottle and gets me a drink. Because he has to work the next day, I finish feeding her and get her back to sleep. All in all, I think we make a great team!