This sure was a weekend of firsts for our new family! On Saturday afternoon we took Charlie out for his first ride in the stroller Grandma Patti and Grandpa John gave him! I don't know who was more excited to get out of the house for a walk in the beautiful weather, me or Abby! We strolled up the block to the park where Abby likes to have the stick thrown for her (trying to kill two birds with one stone, of course). Charlie slept the whole time, but I think the fresh air did him good!
Then that night Aunt Leah came over with some brownies and participated in another landmark first with me. Together the three of us toasted to Charlie by celebrating my first glass of wine in almost a year! Wow, did that taste good!! Anyone who knows me well knows that going that long without wine was a big sacrifice, but our precious little baby was totally worth the wait! Now all I can say is thank god for "pumping and dumping!"
And then Sunday night we took our first (non-doctor office) outing as a family up to Grandma Linda's house for dinner. Most of the evening was spent talking to and about Charlie of course, he sure is an entertainer! He was such a good boy the whole visit, slept through our dinner so that we could all eat in peace and then woke up to play after a diaper change and some dinner of his own. We all joked about how much life has changed in the past year, it's just amazing really! This holiday season will be so much more special than last years now that we get to celebrate with little Charlie. I can't wait to watch him grow through the years and eventually see his eyes light up with the sights and sounds of the holidays!
We have so much to be thankful for this year, but most of all we are thankful for our wonderful family and this week we got to spend time with so many of them! The Thanksgiving festivities started last weekend with a dinner at Aunt Leah and Uncle Chris's house Sunday night. I didn't think much could top the fantastic meal we had there that night, but then it was off to Great Aunt Gail's house for most of the day Thursday where we gorged ourselves on another tremendous meal! The above picture was taken of Charlie (passed out from too much Tofurkey!) with his own personal pumpkin pie, courtesy of Aunt Katie! The week would not have been complete without spending some time with Grandma and Grandpa Berglund, so off we went on our first road trip as a new family, dog and all! Luckily Charlie was a good boy and slept the whole two hour car ride each way giving us the courage to make the trip again for Christmas! We had a great time in Wisconsin, even though Charlie didn't get to see much of it since he didn't ever leave the house. Our time there was spent eating more great food (of course), snuggling by the fireplace, and taking lots of pictures! Below you will see what I have come to understand as the single most beautiful expression in the world, Charlie's smile. He began to smile socially a couple of weeks ago . . . the first time it happened he looked right into my eyes, gave me a toothless grin from ear to ear, my heart melted and tears sprang to my eyes. I now look forward to seeing that perfect smile every morning, it is the best part of my day! And he had plenty of smiles to share over the Thanksgiving holiday with all the family whole loves him! 
