hosting my 2nd Thanksgiving!

And just like that, another holiday has come and gone... this was my second year hosting Thanksgiving and making all of the food.  I was excited to use my new kitchen and finally had a functional dishwasher, so we were ready to go!  My parents and brother were coming up to enjoy the food (and bring my brand new dining room table made by Aaron!).  I got up bright and early, made my coffee, turned on Adele and started to cook.  This year, I opted to brine my turkey for 24 hours to see how that affected the taste and juiciness.  Honestly, I had a hard time telling the difference, but that's probably b/c the last turkey I had was a year ago.  The turkey was really good and so was everything else!  We all fit around the new table and had a nice day of food and relaxation :)

Hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  

emmett- 1 month!

Second baby syndrome... that's what I'm calling it so this poor child doesn't look back at his first year photo album and feel neglected.  I was so dedicated to taking Henry's monthly pics and put a lot of effort into it.  Emmett's?  I slapped the sticker on (after almost forgetting it was his 1 month birthday), snapped a few shots... he started crying and I decided, eh, better luck next month.  And now I'm finally blogging about it two weeks late.  Oh well, it's the effort that counts :)

The upside to second baby syndrome is everything with Emmett seems easier.  Or at least I think it is.  I know there is a certain amount of amnesia that occurs after the first 2 weeks of having a newborn.  If there wasn't, I don't know that we would continue to have kids.  With Henry, I was an absolute wreck.  I had meltdowns, I didn't handle the lack of sleep very well and just felt like I had no idea what I was doing.  Emmett was a different story.  I adapted to less sleep faster, knowing I had to take care of him and Henry each day just meant I needed to get it together with less rest.  Coffee helped a lot :)  Emmett also had WAY less issues.  He eats like a champ, he wasn't jaundice, no eye infections and seemed overall calmer.  Of course he cries for no reason and I finally understand that's what babies do sometimes and you just do your best to console them until they realize they are ok.  With Henry, I often cried along with him.  Another huge difference is that the second time around, you know there is light at the end of that very dark tunnel of newborn-ness.  Everything is a phase and it WILL pass with time.  I wish I had that knowledge when I was a first time mom (or believed it was actually true, lol).  

Henry has been pretty great with his baby brother.  He doesn't like him to cry and requests that I pick him up immediately.  He also demands that I "drop" him when he needs a little mommy time for himself :)  We are still learning what it means to be gentle and quiet...

  It's been a wonderful month and I can't believe we are halfway through month #2.  Now it's time to gear up for what will be a great holiday season!

annual orchard post.

We waited WAY too long to visit the orchard this season.  I suppose having a baby right in the middle of fall throws things off a bit... Regardless, major mental note to self that the end of October is not a good time to get great apples.  The orchard was completely picked over, we barely found any good ones on the trees... such a bummer.  Thankfully they sell bags of apples inside their store b/c I promised Darin apple crisp :)  

Henry was loving our trip as usual... Tractors, animals, apples and pumpkins are a huge hit!  It was a lot of fun to bring Emmett along for his first time, even though he slept through all of the good stuff.  

Looking back on our past trips is so fun (here & here) ... Henry has grown up so much!  It will be great to watch Emmett grow too, as this is definitely an annual tradition for the Miller family.