Last week at work we were encouraged to contribute to a Thanksgiving food drive sponsored by our employer. I knew what I needed to donate but it still wasn’t easy to part with. I dug through the cupboards and found all of the baby food that Hannah no longer eats and took that as my donation. Another big part of her life behind me. *sniff*
PS – My dear M3, if you’re reading the labels, that’s French! ;o)
Today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada and I have SO much to be thankful for! First and foremost - my amazing daughter Hannah is here to celebrate her first Thanksgiving with us!!!
This week at daycare Hannah made this adorable little turkey and I almost cried when I saw it. The tail feathers are her little hands and the body her foot. This is a keeper for sure! It is now proudly displayed on our fridge.
Over the years I’ve had a variety of children’s art work decorate my fridge but I can’t begin to explain how amazing it is that now the art work was made by Hannah!
Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends!
Last Sunday Hannah took another big step – she stayed in the nursery for the very first time.
Now that we’ve been home almost a year I am finally ready to leave Hannah in the nursery. For attachment purposes I didn’t want to leave her for the first number of months and probably would have started this transition earlier in the summer but our schedule was so uncertain during the summer that I decided to wait until we were going to be at church for a few weeks in a row so that Hannah could get comfortable with the new routine.
The first week I went in with her and stayed while she played but truly she was great and played happily, just looking over every once in a while to see if I was still there.
Hannah with her new Sunday School teacher.
Last week I stayed for about 5 mins, said good-bye and then left the nursery. Hannah did great!! Mommy cried. :o) I tried not to but I looked into the choir and my friends Carol and Karyne were there winking and smiling at me realizing what was happening and that was it….more tears. This surprised me as I’m so used to leaving Hannah for daycare that I didn’t even consider for a moment that I’d cry when I left her in the nursery.
One of the wonderful things our church has is a number system that flashes in the sanctuary if your child needs you. Here’s mommy with Hannah’s first number and yes, that’s the soggy tissue tucked in my hand from all the tears I’d shed in the service.
I’d asked them to call me if she cried for any longer than 2 mins. I’m sure I checked the boards no less than 50 times in the hour I was in the service but my baby girl was happy to be there and did great!
Hannah was excited to see Nana and I when we arrived to pick her up but it was great to hear that she’d had a lot of fun too and didn’t miss me. As much as I miss her when we’re not together I’m so glad for her sake that she’s comfortable away from me knowing that Mommy always comes back. Here we’re celebrating being together again.
Way to go Hannah!!!
**Update**
This morning Hannah happily went into the nursery again but part way through the service she needed some mommy time and I looked up to see my number on the board. I hurried to the nursery and could hear my sweetie from the moment I stepped into the nursery wing. I went to her door and she was quite upset and reached up for me the moment she saw me. I scooped up my little lamb and after a few more minutes of tears she began to settle. She didn’t want to be put down for the longest time but eventually would get down long enough to get a book and bring it back to me so that we could read it together. By then end she was playing again but I stayed for the entire service to give her the confidence that it was ok to be there. We’ll try again next week and hopefully all goes well. Each week we’ll work on this together until Hannah is completely comfortable there. Step by step….
Last weekend Hannah and I were excited to spend a day at the fair with Auntie K, Uncle J, Chick and Pea. The day dawned as one perfect for a fall fair ~ overcast, cool and trees just bursting forth with amazing colours! Some years we get very little red in the fall leaves but this year they’re breathtaking in their beauty! All the babies needed naps so we took the back roads and drove slowly to the fair allowing them to get their much needed rest and we adults soaked in the fall beauty that surrounded us.
Once we arrived at the fair the babies were well rested and ready to go!
We enjoyed fair food, walking through the midway, more fair food, watching the elephant rides, a little more food followed by a time of play in the straw and hay as well as a visit with some animals. 
The kiddos loved the sand pit.
The children’s play area was by far their favourite part of the day and we spent well over an hour there just watching our children enjoy themselves.In the play area they also had a few of the little plastic homes that (I think)are used for new calves. They made a fun echoing sound when you called out and the kids (and Uncle J) had fun listening to their echoes.
We shared a wonderful day together and finished off with a fair favourite, Tiny Tom Donuts. Yum, yum!!
Hannah with her sweet little sugary face.
Chick airing out her adorable tootsies.
And Pea captured our thoughts of the day perfectly as he excitedly signed ‘more’ from atop daddy’s shoulders.
You’re right Pea….let’s do this again next year!
Disney has started a new program called ‘Let the Memories Begin’. People are encouraged to submit their favourite Disney pictures and videos and many of them are posted on the Disney website.
Rebecca and I have taken a number of trips to Disney and we also took one trip with Victoria and Nana. Great memories were made each and every time so I was excited to submit a couple of these.
You can see Rebecca’s memory here and Victoria’s memory here.
Hannah’s first official trip to Disney is just 32 sleeps away and I can’t wait!! We are blessed to be able to go with my parents (her Grandma and Grandpa) as well as my best friend Sharon and her husband Larry who are Hannah’s honourary grandparents (Nana and Papa). Truly, we are family. What an exciting, amazing trip that is going to be and I’m sure I’ll be coming home with more memories to submit to Disney. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine Hannah being able to go to Disney with 4 of her favourite people let alone all of them together. Wow!!! We are so blessed! I’m looking forward to sharing some of our new memories here with you too.
If you’d like to submit on of your Disney memories, you can do so by going here.
