Baby R celebrated her first Thanksgiving!! And it was exactly how you’d expect Thanksgiving with a baby would be– joyful, special, and a little bit stressful.

We hosted Thanksgiving this year, with Jake’s family. It was our first time hosting in our new apartment which was exciting. Because the space is a bit bigger than our last place, it didn’t feel as cramped as the last time we hosted for the holidays. Still, it was pretty tight quarters.

Cindy’s sister and her sister’s fiance also came. Because we had all the siblings together, from both sides of the family, Cindy wanted to play some freeze tag. We played one round before everyone was done with it. We then moved on to a game of basketball. Since we had exactly 8 people, we were able to play a full court game! Everyone got such a workout in!

Afterwards, everyone headed back to our apartment for dinner! This year, instead of a turkey, we opted for Peking duck! It was a hit (for some people). Baby R experienced her first “American” Thanksgiving meal. She tried some ham, mashed potatoes, and stuffing! She seemed to enjoy it. After dinner, we played a game of Fish Bowl.

The night was capped off with a Pie Contest! This seems to be our tradition now… the last time we hosted for the holidays we had a Pie Contest. Only Jake, his dad, and one of his brothers participated then. This year, we had double the number of pie entries!! Cindy is not a baker, but she really found the idea of entering a chicken pot pie hilarious. So she went through the trouble of making it just to see everyone’s reaction when the first slice was cut. Surprisingly, she didn’t place last. Jake did. Which must really say something about his pie. Just kidding. Jake loves baking and is ready to redeem himself the next time around.

We were so beat by the end of the day. We had fun, but it was HARD hosting while managing a baby at the same time. Our attention was split in so many different directions and we were very distracted and frazzled which made it difficult to truly be in the moment and enjoy it all.

Despite all that, one thing is for sure, it was a memorable and special first Thanksgiving with Baby R.

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Thankfully, we didn’t have to host again with Cindy’s family. Although, traveling with a baby came with a host of other challenges.

We drove out to Cindy’s parents for some hot pot!

Baby R almost made the entire drive without crying. The last 20 minutes of the drive was a constant state of trying to distract Baby R from crying. When we arrived at Cindy’s parent’s, it was nap time. Baby R wouldn’t nap in the Pack-n-Play, so Cindy ended up holding her for her nap…which lasted almost 2 hours. We keep finding ourselves at the same junction whenever we go out. Sacrifice a good nap to be present but have an annoying whiny baby or hole up in a separate room for a weirdly long time and miss out on the fun but reappear with a happy pleasant baby… It seems like no matter what decision we make, we just can’t win.

We were so excited for hot pot! It had been a while since we’d had it. Except, we couldn’t fully enjoy it… Baby R kept getting mad because she wanted to eat with us, but there weren’t a lot of baby-friendly foods to share with her. Everything we gave her turned into a choking hazard because she’d end up ripping off large chunks. What can we say… we have a baby who loves to eat!!

Cindy’s parents gave us the leftovers, so we ended up getting to enjoy hot pot the next day… after we put Baby R down for the night.

Overall, our first Thanksgiving as a family of 3 looked less rosy than how we imagined it to be. But we’re still thankful for it all: one thing having a baby has taught us is to enjoy every moment!