Giving Thanks...

Well I'm back to update on the last few weeks. It's been so hard to face losing Cactus but I can tell that time helps. We had a great time with family and I want to update all about that.

As soon as we arrived in Atlanta we headed to the hospital and Jason's family drove straight there as well. All the kids went with Aunt Barbara or "Beba" and Aunt Maria and they had a lot of fun. Everyone else stayed at the hospital with me.

The night with the Aunts went well...I had briefed Beba on Riley's routine knowing that Riley would remind her of anything I forgot...and that she did. Riley was stoked to see Bubba and Gaby and they all had fun playing and eating dinner.

From what I remember Bubba and Gaby were fast asleep before Riley and the Aunts followed her routine until they came to a halt when Riley asked for her music. That's the one thing I forgot to tell Beba and I had planned on using the playlist on Riley's iPhone (my old one) for her music. Maria started singing to Riley while Barbara quickly got some music going on their computer since we were staying in the guest bedroom / office. It all worked and they were able to get Riley to sleep...everyone survived and had fun!!! Riley is one lucky girl to have such great family!

The next day we laid low...it seemed like every day while we were in Atlanta it took me until noon to get me and Riley dressed but luckily we did a lot of relaxing and chilling so no worries.

We did have a special birthday to celebrate...Bubba turned 14...craziness! I have known this boy since he was 1 and now he's 14...how time flies!

We had dinner at Pappasitos and it was delish...I was sad Jason missed it because he's always trying to get in a Pappasito's fix when he can!

Here's the LoRusso kids with Grandpa Joe...CJ, Lance, Frank, Maria, and Joe.

Here's the rest of us gals...Barbara, Gaby, Desiree, Michelle, me, and Riley

It was this night that Riley discovered the magical powers of a napkin turning her into Super Riley...she loved it!

When we got home we had to sing to CJ and eat some ice cream cake!

I'm pretty sure these girls were excited about the cake!

We were all talking in the kitchen and I peeked around the corner to check on Riley and caught her in the act...I love this girl!

The next day was Thanksgiving...Riley and Gaby did some painting on the porch that morning!

This was Riley's picture...when I asked her what she was painting she said "I'm making a picture of Cactus for you Mommy"...so sweet!

Lance and Barbara did a great job of feeding us...I didn't really help much as I was just trying to keep myself together and get dressed before we ate...again so thankful for our family!

Here's some of the gang before we ate...

The LoRusso fam...

After our Thanksgiving meal Riley decided she wanted a horsey ride...glad Bubba was there to play horsey instead of me! :)

That evening we all hung out around a nice fire outside...it was a perfect night for it...roasting marshmallows was a must!

Maria helping Riley roast her marshmallow!

Lance got a proper introduction to Caillou and endured an entire episode with Riley on the couch...we exchanged a few funny emails with Jason while this was going on because Caillou is not Jason's favorite!

Thanksgiving in Atlanta always means doing some shopping the day after...we are never crazy enough to get up early though! We headed to some outlet malls this year and it was fun.

Here's me and my shopping buddy!

Gaby and Riley did great shopping with the big girls all day...as a treat they got to ride this tow truck!

All of us girls headed to Applebee's afterwards for dinner and then home to snuggle and get warm as it got super cold that day!

Obviously it was a rough couple days for me but I am so thankful for the great family we have and we really had some good times with everyone.

I love this girl and she loved all the attention!

Next up...our trip to Little Rock!