The 'Ei's Have It: We Give Thanks

Christopher and I have always felt that we have much to be thankful for. We are both healthy and employed, we are fortunate to have family, close friends and faith that have been a blessing to us, and we still like each other after fourteen (and a half) years together. Mathematically, you wouldn't think that 'adding one' would end up multiplying your total blessings, but Allie's entrance into the family has done just that. Today and every day, we give thanks for the joy she has brought into our lives. Here are some snapshots of the little ambassador of happiness herself and of the friends and family she was thrilled to see these past two weeks.

Even at 5:30 in the morning, I'm thankful for this face.

We got to see our friends the Gonzales' two weekends ago and Brady is a man on the move! We were so happy to see the whole family that we allowed him to take our girl out for a ride, just so long as they were back by curfew...

This way, friend. I know a shortcut to the kitchen. (Hey, these hips don't lie.)

My turn to drive! Hang on tight, Mr. Bear...I haven't quite mastered turning...or stopping.

OK, so two scoops of these makes a cup of coffee for Mama, right?

For Thanksgiving, we packed up Allie in her pjs and drove at night to North Carolina so she could wake up to her Grandmom and Grandpa the next morning. Turns out she was so excited that she woke up upon arrival and started waving and clapping when she saw them. In our humble opinion, she is quite possibly the world's most talented greeter. Fortunately, she went right back to sleep (phew!). Allie loved getting to catch up with the whole family.

Hah! I'm baking with Grandmom in my pjs! This is GRRRRRRREAT!

How can I measure how much I love Thanksgiving? Not possible.

Someone couldn't take her eyes off her cousin Tim!

The A-Team (Allie and her cousin Alice) hanging out in their jammers.

Allie and her Grandpa waiting to wave in the Marines for their Thanksgiving visit. (And wave she did!) We were excited to see the young men and women stationed in Camp Lejeune, NC and get to share our gratitude for their service.

Sporting her 'Tim Original' headdress complete with an age of '0,' although Allie likes to point out that she rounds up to '1' these days, thank you very much.