Thanksgiving

At long last, Casey got to take her first trip to Memphis to meet the rest of my extended family on my mom's side.  There were several family members that had been patiently anticipating their chance to finally get to meet our girl.  Since Casey's birth, one of the hardest decisions we have had to make has been to keep her in isolation to protect her premature lungs.  As a result, we have had to skip most large family holiday gatherings for the past year in order to avoid the risk of exposing her to potential germs and illness.  Even though we are technically in isolation again this year for the duration of RSV and flu season, our pediatrician gave us the go ahead to celebrate with the family as long as everyone had a flu shot, and assuming we did not take her out in public. We were more than willing to comply, although we were a bit hesitant about  how she would do on our longest road trip with her to date (almost twice as long as our trips to Houston).  Luckily, I can report that despite her new aversion to napping in the car, the seven hour car rides both there and back were mostly uneventful, with only one stop each way (and truth be told, Mommy needed the stops more than Casey). It was really great to spend some quality time with my family just relaxing, indulging in lots of overeating, and enjoying the chance for family to interact with Casey and see her amazing accomplishments for themselves.  Here is a glimpse into our Thanksgiving:

Of course I couldn't resist dolling her up and getting in a little photo shoot in honor of her first Thanksgiving outside of the walls of a hospital.

 

I tried and tried, but she just wasn't going to give up a smile.

 

"Look what I got!"

 

 She was very enamored with the leaves.

 

Love!

 

 Sweet little angel

 

 She didn't quite know what to think when we put a bunch of leaves in front of her.

 Posing with Daddy!

 

 How sweet is this? Love these two!

 

 We got in lots of play time, too!

 

 Casey was pretty impressed with her cousins!

 

 Some of us enjoyed Casey's toys more than others! (Sorry, Will!)

 

 One of my new favorites!  So adorable!

 

 This is how most of my family spent Thanksgiving.  Cheering on the Memphis Tigers!  There were some pretty rowdy fans in the house!

 

 Gigi, Mommy, and Casey

 

 My cousin, Claire, was so excited to finally meet Casey (her CES initial twin). 

 

 Another 4 generations of first born daughters picture.

 

 All the cousins (minus Katie - we missed you!)

 

Our little family! Thanksgiving 2012

 

A lot has changed since last year at this time:

Thanksgiving 2011

 

We certainly have so much to be thankful for this year! Casey had a great first trip to Memphis, and it was a wonderful Thanksgiving.