This really should be broken up into two or three posts, but since time to blog is hard to come by these days I’m smashing it all together here. So, onward:

The long Thanksgiving weekend was wonderful. So much time spent with the family, especially quality time with Meredith. By the end of the weekend I really felt connected to her again. And she saw Santa:

It was kind of impromptu. We were visiting a Christmas tree farm with David’s family, even though we didn’t get a tree (we’re getting a secondhand fake one this year). But we wanted to go to hang out with them and see our nephews, plus we wanted to get into the spirit of things. It was actually cold out, I drank an apple cider, bought an ornament, and Santa was there. Meredith told him that she wants new carpet in the house before she learns to crawl.

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Oh, so anyway, the long weekend was awesome but going back to work/daycare has been ROUGH. Meredith was fussy at daycare for three days and isn’t napping as well, and at home with us at night she wants to be held constantly. As for me, I’m back to nearly crying when I drop her off, and if I’m late getting home I feel sick about it.

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For Thanksgiving I contributed one dish to each family dinner. For my family I baked macaroni and cheese. My greedy little brothers took all the leftovers home with them and left us with none. For my husband’s side, I made a chocolate sheet cake, mostly because I wanted to eat it. I guess that’s how everyone felt about dessert though, because there was a lot of it. Most of my sheet cake was left, so I just had it sitting at home in the kitchen all weekend. WAY too easy to just eat a few bites every time I walked by it. By Monday, I was kind of disgusted by myself. It took much willpower, but I threw the rest away. And I’ve been eating less this week, and hardly any sweets because I’ve GOT to shake these cravings. I’m sick of not fitting in all of my clothes. Next step is to break out the 30-day Shred.

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Here’s another video I took of Meredith over the weekend:

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Now for some good things that happened in November. Because it’s DECEMBER now!

1 – Watching GG (David’s grandmother) hold Meredith.

2 – In bed by 9:00 p.m.

3 – Day off because of Meredith being sick, lots of relaxing and getting things done, David bringing me flowers.

4 – A really smooth day at work and getting to leave early.

5 –  Seeing Carmen, one of my best friends, and her fiance Steve who live in Austin.

6 –  Lots of (sick) snuggles from Meredith.

7 –  Leaving work early to be with Meredith & the feeling of her needing me.

8 – Meredith is healthy enough to go to daycare; seeing Nicole, a high school friend, and her son James.

9 – Taking care of a “difficult” patient with no problems.

10 – Getting off work early again; David bringing me a brownie with dinner.

11 – Chatting with my parents after work when I picked up Meredith.

12 – Cleaning, massage, pedicure.

13 – Lunch with my parents, our dog Oliver (who they are keeping) lying in my lap.

14 –  Quiet reading time in the evening.

15 – Finishing work early, Meredith nursing a lot.

16 – David’s sweet protective text in the morning.

17 –  An inspiring conference for work.

18 – A first-time chemo patient who was crying from anxiety when she came in ended her day laughing.

19 – A wedding shower for a church friend & seeing old friends.

20 – Dinner at Lupe’s with all the Forbes kids.

21 – Getting to do injections at work & leave early

22 – A glowing report of health from the doctor for Meredith.

23 – Beating my brothers in plasma car races.

24 – Thanksgiving!

25 –  Day of recovery lying around doing nothing.

26 – Cracker Barrel & Target with David.

27 – Christmas tree farm with David’s family.

28 – Back to our routine, Meredith napping in my arms.

29 – Time to catch up on blogs and browse Pinterest.

30 –  Quality time with David after work.