Happy Thanksgiving!

"It isn't what you have in your pocket that makes you thankful, but what you have in your heart." - anonymous

This year we are thankful for:

our journey over the past year. It has made us stronger, better people and we would not change a single second of it.

our families who have been there for us physically, emotionally, and spiritually through all our trials and triumphs – whether they were across town or across the country.

our friends who always looked out for us and knew when we needed them next to us and when we needed our space to breathe.

having a home to call our own. Even when fur balls can be found in the corners and dirty dishes in the sink, it is ours and is perfect in every way.

the ability to downsize to one income without suffering. We are lucky to have everything that we do.

all of the new people we have met and grown close with over the past year. Our family has grown exponentially and we would not be where we are without each of them.

all of the CDH families whom we have crossed paths with in one way or another. We hope that we have provided an inspiration for you as you have for us.

our camera that is always close at hand that has allowed us to document every moment of our lives. Being able to relive moments time and time again through pictures is such a blessing.

all of our blog followers, especially those who still check in with us now that life is so wonderfully boring. We have always been able to feel your love and support across the web.

our faith in God and all that is good in the world. We have been shown that blessings exist in every moment whether you see them at that time and place or not.

our love for each other – 11 years in the making - that has grown more than we ever thought possible and continues to grow with each passing day.

every month, week, minute, and breath that we have spent with our amazing miracle of a son, Charlie. We never knew we could love this deeply and are so incredibly blessed to have him in our lives.

For all these things and countless more, we are so grateful this year. Happy Thanksgiving!

A Shout Out to my Buddy, Baby C in NC

My daddy says: SU is going to kick diaper tonight.

My mommy says: don't hold you breath; SU has been known to disappoint in the past.

I say: put your game face on Carter! Basketball season has begun! :-)

movin' right along...

The only way I can sum up Charlie over the past couple of weeks is that he moves - and he moves a lot! He has taken very well to crawling and is a champion at it. We had to buy a new "gate" to keep him confined to one area in our living room so that (A) he wouldn't hurt himself and (B) we might actually be able to walk away for a couple minutes in an attempt to accomplish something - even if it is just using the bathroom! :-) He doesn't seem to mind being confined. He actually likes the boundaries it seems. I think he feels a sense of ownership over the area.

We also bought him a new stand up toy because he is a pro at pulling himself up to standing now. It is a super interactive Leap Frog toy that plays all kinds of music and sounds and "teaches" counting, ABC's, shapes, colors, etc. He really loves it! We got it because he kept trying to pull himself up on his bouncer so that he could play with the toys on it. Unfortunately, by its nature as a bouncer, it is not the most secure thing for a wobbly baby to hold onto.

His two top teeth have popped through now - one more than the other. They seemed to bother him a little more than the bottom ones, but it was a fairly brief period of discomfort. Also, it is a little difficult to tell what the cause of his discomfort is these days with all the shots he has been enduring. At this point he has had both his seasonal flu shots and one of his H1N1 shots. He gets the second H1N1 next week and his next set of regular shots at his "9 month" appointment next month.

We are still at a standstill with the Synagis shots to protect him against the RSV. Vince talked to BCBS last Friday and they told him that they have not denied it for him, they are just waiting for a recommendation from a cardiologist or pulmonologist - neither of which he has. So, Dr Bode - our NICU savior - wrote a letter letting them know what a serious situation getting RSV could be even though he looks healthy now. Hopefully that will persuade them to approve him and approve him for shots through the entire season. We have heard that they are bring pretty stingy with how many shots they are allowing as well. So say a little prayer that we get good news on that front soon.

Charlie is in a good eating pattern right now. We still have our ups and downs, but right now we are up. He does not love vegetables, but we have found that if we mix them with a little bit of apple sauce he takes them more readily. Now we are working on decreasing the amount of apple sauce so that maybe he will come to like the vegetables for what they are! :-) We have avoided any dairy up until this point because of our concerns that he might have inherited Vince's allergy. But last week we decided to give yogurt a try and it went over really well. No signs of any allergic reaction and he loves it! We are very excited about that! He loves the organic puffs and we tried the Gerber cheese puff type things which he also enjoyed. Those are the only finger foods he will try though. We have been attempting pieces of banana, canned peaches, cooked carrots, ditalini pasta... He wants nothing to do with any of it - won't even put it in his mouth. We just keep trying though. He will figure it out eventually!

Overall, Charlie is happy, healthy, and just a complete joy to spend my days with. Vince and I are doing well too - have had all our shots and have managed to keep ourselves healthy so far! We love this time of the year and are looking forward to the holidays and all the new things Charlie will get to experience!

"Man, this thing makes my hands too cold!! Brr!!"

"How can it fit this whole cheese puff in

my mouth without mom noticing??"

"Yogurt?! Why didn't you guys let me have this before?!"

"Look ma, no hands!"

Charlie decided to turn his crib rails into a chew toy, so we had to rig this up for the time being in order to protect the crib and Charlie!

Charlie tends to hoard pacifiers lately. One is never quite enough! There is a fourth one somewhere. He is probably lying on it!

Go Yankees!

Sorry Baby C, but I have to go with my girl, Baby K, on this one!

Plus, I am a New Yorker! :-)

And see Ms Kate, I am not a giant!!

I still fit in my Yankees outfit you got me!

Just Monkey-ing Around

It's hard to believe that October has come and gone and that Charlie will be 9 months old tomorrow! Christmas is right around the corner - not that I am trying to rush it at all! There is much I would like to accomplish before then!

I am enjoying being a stay-at-home mom more than I thought I would. As I have mentioned, I was always the first one to say that I could never imagine staying home with a child all day long - that I would never be able to handle it. But circumstances being what they are, demanded that I do just that. It is better than I expected by far. While I still get stir crazy (in part from staying out of the public eye day after day to avoid germs), it is manageable. And I have so many people in my life who make sure I am okay and step in when I need them. I am very blessed. As I sat rocking Charlie in my arms for his nap this morning (not a common practice, by any means - but nice from time to time), I realized that there is nothing that can compare with the time I am getting with him right now. I cannot imagine being anywhere else.

In Charlie news, he is doing well right now! He has just a bit of a runny nose, but we are thinking it is due to teething because there are no other symptoms. One of his front teeth just barely popped through a couple days ago and the other looks very close. He has woken up at night a couple times in the past few days which is very unlike him, so we think his teeth are causing some discomfort.

So far he has received his first seasonal flu shot and his first H1N1 shot. Our pediatrician has decided to wait a full two weeks between each shot, so he will go for his second seasonal flu shot this Friday and his second H1N1 two weeks after that. We are still waiting on approval for the Synagis vaccines (to protect against RSV). I talked to the coordinator at the ped's office last week and she was having some trouble with the paperwork required by our insurance (BCBS). They have very specific requirements for whom they allow to get the vaccines and Charlie is too healthy to fit into any of their categories. While this is obviously a good thing, we would like him to remain healthy and protecting him against RSV is very important for achieving that. So, we are giving our office another couple of days to try and sort it out and then we may make ourselves more of a force in getting it done.

Feedings are on the up swing again. He has stopped fighting us every step of the way for the time being. We had been waiting a full week between introducing new foods, but we have stepped it up to every four days now. We want to allow him to experience as many new flavors as possible in hopes of building a repertoire of things he enjoys as he gets older. He is not a lover of vegetables. We have gotten him to readily eat carrots only if they are mixed with some applesauce. Green beans went okay, but he usually will not finish them and they have to have something mixed with them. We are going to add some protein and some barley to his Super Porridge this month, so we will see how that goes. He LOVES his organic puffs! I don't think he has any sense of how many he eats and would just keep going and going if we let him!

We had a good Halloween. By upstate New York standards, the weather was fairly nice - - no snow or wind chills to contend with! Our nephew comes over every year to go trick-or-treating around our neighborhood, so Charlie got dressed up and came walking around with us! He was nice and toasty in his monkey suit, but was rather confused by the entire thing. Being out walking around at night with oddly dressed people milling around was a brand new experience for him! He seemed in awe of it all. Emanuel dressed up as Michael Jackson and was quite the hit! He did a little show on the front porch before we left. Enjoy the pics!

"I don't know who thought this would be fun guys!

I think you're crazy!"

Just beat it! Beat it!

Charlie is SOOO not into this whole thing!

Charlie gave us a hard time with dinner last night,

so we gave up and let him have some fun. It was bath night anyways! :-)