The Best Laid Plans

Let me preface this post by saying that I realize what I’m about to write about is very trivial and unimportant in the larger scheme of things. I have a healthy baby, a great family, and a wonderful life. But you know what I don’t have? A picture of Matty, Lucy, and me on our first Thanksgiving as a family of three. 

Isn’t there a saying, “You plan and God laughs?” I am a planner in the most extreme sense of the word. As I’ve said before, I make lists for the lists I have to make. I’ve been prepping for Lu’s first Thanksgiving for a while now. I had a cute turkey dress ready for her to wear, I knew exactly what I had to pack to get us ready to head out by 11:45 today, and I knew what I wanted us to be wearing for our first Thanksgiving pic together. 

This morning started off great. Lucy enjoyed some boating videos with Daddy before taking a fairly long morning nap.

Unfortunately, the turkey dress I put her in made her look like a baby from the pioneer days. No big deal, I can go with the flow. I changed her into a super cute new outfit I had for her and away we went! We got to my mom and dad’s and put her in the jumparoo, and she was doing just fine. And then this guy walked in. This is my cousin’s boyfriend, Justin. He is the nicest guy, loves kids, and graciously agreed to let me post his photo. Unfortunately, Lucy took one look and started crying HARD and never looked back. 

We’d get her calmed down for a minute or two, but then she’d start right back up with the crying and fussing again. Bottles, apple slices in her food net . . . nothing helped. I knew she was tired, and I did eventually get her to nap for about half an hour.

What you can’t tell in the above picture is that Lu is not wearing any pants! When I was changing her diaper, she seemed a little happier without her pants on (don’t we all?!), so I left them off her. When she woke up, her cheeks were red and she felt a little warm so I took off her top too. So in addition to having a fussy baby, I had a semi-naked one as well and that doesn’t work well for a family pic. She did look super cute today, though, so I thought I’d show you the outfit she wore:

During the half an hour that Lucy napped, a few crazy things happened. The first is that Aunt Donna tried to figure out how to use the reclining chair, and it was HILARIOUS. I didn’t have my phone ready for a pic of it, so I asked her to recreate it for the blog. She said no and tried to avoid me, and it turned into the funniest string of photos EVER! She’ll hate me for posting these, but they make me smile!

We also did our annual mystery gift card exchange. The clue for the card I ended up with was “One degree Fahrenheit below zero.” Any guess on what the gift card was for?? 

Then I went into the kitchen and saw my dad. I told him I needed a picture of him because he doesn’t appear very often on my blog. He gave me a vehement, “NO!” with the explanation that he’s got people looking for him and doesn’t need his face on the Internet. haha #HeMightNotBeKidding #DontTellWhereWeAre

And then Lucy woke up and the fussiness and crying continued through dessert. I’d had enough and felt like we just needed to head home, so we loaded her up into the car and here she was five minutes into the drive.

During the drive home I got a text from my brother-in-law documenting their first Thanksgiving with Turkey Tom . . . how cute is their little family?!

I love their picture and am so happy for them. But I had the entire thirty minute drive to sulk about the fact that we didn’t get a family pic of our own. It was in the back of my mind all day, but due to the craziness of Fussy Lu I never got around to doing it. Or taking a bathroom break. Again, I know it’s not the end of the world. But, in case you hadn’t noticed, documenting important events with photos is kind of my thing. So . . . Matty was kind enough to take a selfie of us when we got home.

Picture me at a better angle and picture Lucy wearing the outfit I posted above and there you have it, our first Thanksgiving as a family of three. Also, did I mention that Lu was super happy as soon as we got home? 

So Lucy is sound asleep in bed, and it’s time for a Thanksgiving night snack. Isn’t this what everyone eats after a big turkey dinner? Well, it is when it’s a cheat day . . . bring on the dairy and soy . . . and the beer! 

In between the fussiness, I did get to enjoy a delicious meal prepared by my mom. The cornbread casserole was definitely my favorite! But, overall, it was not what I had planned for Lucy’s first Thanksgiving. But that’s ok . . . there’s always Christmas, right?!  😉