Thankfulness

Baby's first Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!  This is baby Adyson's first holiday and Jaycob and I have so much to be grateful for this year. We have a beautiful home, food to eat, wonderful friends in Santa Fe, and supportive families across the miles. I am thankful for the mountains and trees and Northern New Mexico sunsets. We are blessed with good jobs that support our professional growth and upcoming promotions that will help us out financially. I gained an incredible sister this year when my brother married Audrey over Labor Day weekend, and I will have a new brother when my sister and Nick tie the knot in 6 months. Jaycob and I have a stable relationship, loving pets, and now a beautiful and healthy daughter. Ady is such a wonderful baby and has brought so much joy to our family! We are so in love with her little facial expressions and baby noises, and I am grateful for the time I have with her at home before I have to return to work in a few weeks.

I have always known that motherhood was in my future. When I was growing up I changed my mind a lot about what I wanted to do for a career -- astronaut, teacher, novelist, doctor, librarian -- but the constant that never varied was that I wanted to be a mother. Our journey to becoming parents was one of patience, loss, and hope, and now it is one of happiness and fulfillment to have a healthy little girl. I am thankful to have had a wonderful pregnancy and a natural labor without complication as we welcomed Ady into the world on November 5th. We have experienced a new kind of happiness and peace, and we recognize that our world will never be the same again. It has been fun to introduce Baby Adyson to a few friends who had anxiously awaited her arrival, and we can't wait for her grandparents, aunts and uncles to meet her in the upcoming weeks. I hold in my thoughts all of my other friends who became parents for the first time this year, those who are expecting, and my many friends who are trying to conceive. Starting a family is rarely an easy journey and we are so grateful that our perfect baby is here.

While November has been a beautiful and overwhelmingly joyful month for our family, it has also been a trying and emotionally difficult month for our country and the world in light of the recent Presidential election. The morning after the election for me was one of shock, disbelief, deep sadness, extreme anger, disgust, hopelessness, and fear. I fear for the future of our country, I feel dread about our role and image in the world, I worry about the economy and the future of healthcare, I feel uncertain about how to raise my child in a nation permeated by hostility and discrimination, and I fear for my friends who are victims of bigotry and injustice. But in the midst of this uncertainty and grief, I feel thankful to have a support system that will carry us through and I am proud of the true leaders who never give up and who will continue to set a shining example for my daughter.

On this Thanksgiving Day we will put our grief and fear aside and be thankful for everything we have, for the people in our lives, and for being able to live safely and securely. This morning we participated in the annual Turkey Trot, where we always see many familiar faces and we feel energized by getting some exercise before feasting. This afternoon we will join our friends for the annual Friendsgiving potluck, which is my favorite tradition of the year. The Ross family contributions to the potluck this year include Sweet Potatoes and Chipotle Creamed Corn that we made the last few years, plus this Pecan Pie recipe from the Food Network!

The Littlest Turkey Trotter

"When I'm worried and I can't sleep,

I count my blessings instead of sheep."