My Happiest Thanksgiving Week

The past week was absolutely fantastic! Jessie, one of my very best friends, had her baby. Casey Shayne entered the world at 10:12 on Wednesday night, and weighed in at 9 pounds. He's got tons of hair and has a lot of personality already. I stayed the night in the hospital with Jessie so that she and Chris could get some sleep, so I had a whole night to get to know my little "nephew." With the possible exception of Sara's son, Cameron, he's the sweetest baby boy I've ever had the pleasure of really knowing. I love him completely already.




Isn't he handsome? Jessie said that we'd have to make a point of going to see our hair stylist soon...she'll go crazy over his hair!

Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, was very nice. Megan, Jack, and their baby, Nicole, came by to see Jessie and Casey. Megan looked incredible...had I not known that she'd had a baby two weeks before, I'd have never guessed that she'd ever had one at all. Nicole (Nikki) is the prettiest baby girl I've ever seen...she's tiny (six pounds and some-odd ounces) and just beautiful. I'm looking forward to babysitting both of these babies! Chris had gone home for the night to get some sleep, and when he and their families came back to the hospital, I went home to freshen up. It was about noon, so as soon as I'd showered I went straight to my parents' house, where, for the first time in years, I didn't cook anything for the Thanksgiving meal. It was kinda nice to just relax after having gotten no sleep the night before (I was holding a newborn all night, after all!) After the meal, I napped on the sofa for a couple of hours, and then woke up to have some of my mom's pecan pie, which she makes with Yellow Label Syrup (something we can only find in Birmingham,) and it was delicious! It's been a while since she made it, so it seemed extra good! After we took my Grandma home, we went by the hospital so that my parents could meet Casey...my mom couldn't believe his hair :-)

Friday was fairly uneventful, but on Saturday after I left the Shoppe, I went to Jessie's house...her mom wanted to go to Walmart to get a few things for her and Casey, and she can't drive Jessie's car, so I offered to take her. While I was there, Megan came in and I finally got to hold Nikki for a while. Megan and Jessie had fun taking pictures of their little ones together, and I got a few, too:







It amazes me how much babies change in their first few days. Casey's little face grew more distinct and his personality started coming out. It also is incredible to me how healing it is to hold newborn babies. So soothing, and at a time that I've really been needing it. They gave me much to be thankful for this year :-)