Teryn's Mommy: Thanksgiving and Christmas Card Rejects

This was of course Teryn's first Thanksgiving. But it was also a first for James and me. This was our first year not being with our families. My parents went to visit my brother out of state. We would have loved to have accepted the invitation but didn't think Teryn was up for the long trip. James' parents had a huge gathering at their house that we would have loved to attend but we are still very wary of the germs that may come from the cats. (They have a feline sanctuary where they take in and breed exotic cats---we are talking cougars, bobcats, servals, panthers, and many other breeds.) So until Teryn is older and stronger we have to be cautious.

So, we decided to cook ourselves. It was actually kind of nice not to have to get up and be anywhere. We could be lazy and cook when we got hungry. We did still miss our families though.

Teryn was super cute in her Thanksgiving shirt.

Anticipating the flash on the camera again.

This day was also another first for Teryn. It was her first experience with REAL food. She got to try some mashed bananas. She wasn't quite sure of the texture at first.

But then agreed to eat more.

We decorated the house for Christmas the weekend after Thanksgiving. Even though Teryn passed the light stimulation on her EEG we still aren't too sure about all of the flashes in a professional portrait studio so we decided to do her Christmas card pictures ourselves. We set everything up and began clicking away. She was anything but ready to be involved in this insanity.

So instead of smiling, she......

did her nails......

tried to get out of the seat.......

and stuck her tongue out at mommy.......

After taking literally over 100 shots there were no usable photos. As mentioned before, she closes her eyes when she sees the big camera because she knows it will flash. Unfortunately this is the camera that takes the best photos and does not do as well without the flash. So we decided to let her take her nap and then we would try again with the smaller camera that does not flash.

Look at this beautiful smile. Aww, it makes my heart melt. You know, this sight still brings tears to my eyes. I can honestly say I have never taken even one of her smiles for granted. One of the blessings of all that we have been through is that we appreciate every amazing moment like this to the fullest. I hope that you will look around this holiday and see all of the little things around you that are the tremendous blessings in your life.