I made Eden's Thanksgiving Day outfit. I was really proud of it. Not because it was hard or anything - it was actually incredibly easy. But because I SEWED IT! Two years ago, I thought sewing was the dumbest thing in the world and couldn't understand why people wanted to sew things when there were stores to buy things at! Then I got pregnant, and all of a sudden I had an urge to sew and to make Baby Girl stuff. So my dad and stepmom bought me a sewing machine, my aunt showed me some basics, I practiced a little bit, and I've started making some simple things here and there.
Getting ready for Thanksgiving, however, was not easy as I continue to learn what life with a ten month old is like:
On Tuesday night, I started getting ready for the week ahead. Dustin had a Thanksgiving lunch at work on Wednesday that he wanted me to bring a broccoli, rice & cheese casserole to, and I had promised my brother that the next time I saw him I would make him pistachio ice cream. So I put Eden to bed and got to work. I managed to get the casserole put together and into the fridge for the next day no problem. Then I went to work on the ice cream. I needed crushed pistachios, so I figured I would just put them in the blender and pulse them. Well of course the blender woke up my super light sleeper even though she was upstairs in her room with the door shut and her sleep sheep on. Okay, so upstairs I go, and I rock her back to sleep. Thirty minutes later, I'm outside on the deck in the dark pulsing my pistachios. Back inside, I'm in the process of cooking the milk, eggs, blah, blah when Eden decides to wake up again. Dustin's in the shower. Hmmm... I don't want to overcook my milk... Maybe she'll fall back asleep (I always hold out hope that she'll fall back asleep once she wakes up... I don't know why... It has NEVER happened!) I've waited too long, now she's hysterical. I go get her and hold a sleeping baby in one arm while trying to get the ice cream mixed up with the other until Dustin gets out of the shower and takes her. I get the mixture made up and put into the fridge. My kitchen is a disaster, and I NEVER go to bed unless my kitchen is clean. But now Eden is awake and cranky and Dustin convinces me to just leave it until the morning. FINE! We all go to bed.
On Wednesday, Eden of course wakes up at the crack of dawn. Our morning goes something like this:
I put the ice cream mixture into the ice cream maker and start doing dishes while Eden crawls around on the floor.
Eden has crawled over to the pantry which I have stupidly left open and pulls a box of waffle mix off of the bottom shelf and spills white powder everywhere. In the blink of an eye she crawls around in it and manages to drag it into two other rooms before I have time to do anything about it.
Eden has now pulled herself up to where she is standing and holding my knees and looking at me and whining, so I give up on cleaning, and we go play for a while.
Ice cream done. My kitchen is not much cleaner than it was last night, but it's Eden's naptime, and she's getting fussy. We go upstairs and read a book, and I get Eden to sleep. After a twenty minute cat nap, she's wide awake and full of energy once again.
I make her breakfast, and while feeding her oatmeal, I notice that it's already after 10. Crap.
I put the casserole into the oven.
I drag Eden's exersaucer into the bathroom and put her in it while I take a shower. In my rush, I only shave one leg.
I take the casserole out and sprinkle cheese on top. I go to put it back in. I forget oven mitts. Cuss word. Using oven mitts, I put the casserole back into the oven.
Where did Eden go? Oh good, she's in the bathroom playing in the trashcan!
I get Eden dressed. Casserole done.
I try to blowdry my hair. Eden now wants to be held and cries whenever I put her down. I give up on my hair and we go into the living room to play. She seems happy. I try to sneak out to finish my hair. She notices after 60 seconds that I'm not there, and crawls frantically to find me.
I look at the clock. How in the world is it after 11:30?
I attempt to put on makeup with one hand while holding Eden. I rush upstairs to get dressed.
Off we go to lunch. My hair is still damp.
When we get home, Eden takes a nap in her swing, and I manage to get the kitchen clean, and I finally sweep up waffle mix.
Dustin comes home and starts cooking the prime rib that he's in charge of for dinner at my grandma's. Eden wakes up. I have to make potatoes. The afternoon goes pretty much the same as the morning did. My kitchen is a disaster once again, and off we go to my grandma's.
It's comical now. Trying to accomplish anything these days can be pretty difficult. But that's okay. She's so worth it. Preparing for Thanksgiving may have been hard, but it's all okay when I see my family passing her around and loving on her and playing with her on the floor. At one point on Wednesday night, I didn't know where Eden was. I found her outside with my uncle. He was trying to show her the moon. That makes my heart hurt so good. When we're all sitting around the table eating with Eden's highchair squeezed in between me and Dustin, I forget all about the frustration I felt when she was destroying my kitchen while I cooked. My heart swelled when I watched some of Dustin's family members who were meeting her for the first time ooh and ah over her and her little outfit on Thanksgiving Day. A weekend spent with my mom and an afternoon spent at the beach watching Eden crawl around in the sand and try to chase baby birds is totally worth that super fun three and a half hour drive I had with a ten month old and two labs. She is worth EVERYTHING.
I have much to be thankful for.
Next up... Eden's first CHRISTMAS! The Christmas songs are playing, and we are going to go get a tree and decorate this weekend. Just thinking about the month of December makes me so happy that I feel like I could burst. Eden got her picture taken with Santa this weekend too.
I think she looks SOOOOO CUTE all sad like that. Does that make me a bad mom? I was actually kind of happy that she cried because I think it makes the picture cuter. How horrible of me!
