Growing Blueberries: Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving trip to my parents' mountain home in Cashiers, NC was Allie and Harper's first vacation. The Tuesday night before Thanksgiving we loaded down the car with all the necessary baby gear, and I don't know if we could have fit anything else. Then, about 30 minutes down the road, we realized we had forgotten the pack-n-play -- their portable crib. We couldn't stomach turning around and adding more than an hour to our trip, so we forged ahead and figured we'd cross the where-to-sleep bridge when we got there. Except for one bottle each, they slept through the entire 2.5 hour drive.

After some brainstorming, our best idea for a baby bed was one from the olden days -- a drawer. Wish I had gotten a pic of them sleeping in it. They liked it just as much as their crib.

The holiday gave us a nice break because there were so many loving arms to pass them among. On Friday, our family friends, the Moores and the Smiths, arrived for another HuffSmithMoore throw-down. The house was packed with 22 people. Because babies and new parents need their sleep, we missed out on the night-time festivities, but did get to hear everything through our door, including a 2 hour game of Salad Bowl (similar to Charades, but louder, especially with 18 people) and a 1am-3am dance-off. I came out during the dancing to get bottles ready for the babies and saw furniture moved out of the way and parents and kids in a circle breaking it down. They danced the fuzz out of the rug, literally.

Here are pics of some of our baby-care helpers who relieved us over the week:

"Lovey" as she wants to be called, and Harper

"D" and Allie (commiserating over their hair-loss issues)

My childhood friend, Kaki Brown, and Harper

Chrissy Smith, mother of six, was so refreshing. She held and soothed my babes the whole weekend and brought me snacks and water when I was nursing. That was the life!