Thanksgiving

We are back in Colorado, from a week long Thanksgiving trip to Minnesota. It was a good trip, of course we are all happy to be back at home.

We celebrated family and friends this Thanksgiving. Like always, Thanksgiving makes us stop and appreciate what we have in life. We give thanks for some much. This thanksgiving however, was a little different in my eyes. Yes, of course we all have so much to be thankful for, but I think this year especially, Thanksgiving brings more meaning because Garett is here happy and healthy. And Jack has given me an entirely different perceptive on thanks, true gratitude for what we have in our lives. Funny how that works, sometimes in life, we have to experience true grief to experience true, undeniable gratitude.

It was one year ago on the 24th that Garett came home from the NICU. After 54 days, he came home the day after Thanksgiving...fitting I think. He came home to family and love, lots of love. We had absolutely so much to be thankful for last year. This year is different because we can breathe, relax and give the thanks that is deserved. I think that we did a good job this year. It was a wonderful, albeit tiring week, full of family of all kinds. There was good food, good wine, good conversation, lots of laughs, a couple tears and of course love. I feel blessed and lucky to have the family I do, and to that I am thankful!

Thought I would leave you with a before and after picture. Garett last Thanksgiving and Garett today...pretty amazing isn't it?

The day Garett came home from the NICU, all 4.3 lbs of him.

Garett on Thanksgiving this year...looks a little different doesn't he?

Pictures

Nothing much has been happening here...we are headed back to Minnesota for Thanksgiving. We will make the trek at night, so the drive should not be too bad! Thought I would post some recent pictures. Enjoy!

Helping outside

Playing the key board. There is no batteries in it, but he still likes to bang on it!

Playing in the leaves.

Simplicity

The Iverson household had been pretty quiet lately (figuratively, definitely not literally!), and I like it that way. I find that Hans and I both relish in the simplicity. Of course the day to day stuff, work, cooking, cleaning, bills, all that stuff can be tiring. But it is the evenings, with Garett that is so nice. And that is the routine that we have gotten ourselves into lately...and I love it. Every evening we play on the floor with Garett. We take turns playing, and sometimes we all are on the floor together, yes of course, Lucky is there too. With a one year old, really that is all you can do is play. There is a need for constant stimulation and interaction. He is learning and becoming such a little boy, a toddler really, full of personality and emotion. Each day there are emotions that I realize he is showing us. He doesn't have to talk yet to tell us what he wants.

I noticed the other day, he was trying to put 2 simple puzzle pieces together. He was having a hard time making it fit, and I saw blatant frustration on his face. He was ticked he couldn't put them together. He kept trying though, I saw determination too.

When he eats, he now shares his food with Lucky, he is really good at sharing with her. One for Garett, one for Lucky. And when he is done eating, he takes off his bib. He might as well be saying, "I'm done."

And boy, can he be silly. He loves the "roll it" part in patty cake. He loves peak a boo, especially when he can be the one peaking. He blows bubbles in the bathtub. He will bang on anything. He giggles and makes faces all the time. He opens and closes drawers and takes things in and out just because he can. He likes to have fun...that is until he gets tired and than you quickly realize he needs his sleep.

Best of all, he knows his mom and dad, and gets so excited when we get home. He runs (well crawls fast) to the door to greet us and in his eyes is joy. And there in lies the simplicity to our days...coming home.