Albert Gregory has Arrived!!

Totally excited to announce the birth of my new nephew and GODSON, Albert Gregory Sturhahn!! He arrived at 8:12pm EST and weighed in at 7 pounds 13 ounces (not small at all for 3 weeks early!) and 20.5 inches long!!! Mom and Baby are doing quite well, although I wish I could talk to them more and be there and I WANT TO SEE PICTURES!!! Amazing to think I now have 5 nephews and 6 nieces....although this is the first niece/nephew on my side of the family and my first GODCHILD!! Can't wait to hug and meet him. And did I say SEND PICTURES??? Thanks to everyone's prayers!!

Thanksgiving Recap

We had a very nice and low-key Thanksgiving this year. It started off first with Mass in our newly renovated GORGEOUS church....will have to post about that later and hopefully have some pics to show. Then we gathered up all the fixins I was in charge of and headed over to my parents house. We spent the day getting food together, doing arts and craft Thanksgiving projects and traditions and enjoying each other's company especially since my sister Caitlin was home from college and my PopPop was there. Of course we had to try and get some pictures...last year we got a great one of the whole family by setting the automatic camera up...so we tried it again....and got a pretty good one after many attempts of trying to get a very confused Emma to look at the camera and the dolly we put behind it...she did not know what was going on. I have some hilarious shots of Jason and Caitlin while I was setting the camera up being silly in the slide show...take a look. Also when we went outside, Emma was fascinated with the birds and Angel was terrified of a dog...so it made for some very entertaining and draining picture taking and some candid shots...also in the slide show. The girls were in heaven coloring and eating and playing all day...yes, they missed their naps and after the delicious dinner....they crashed!! Well, first Angel decided to literally crash and burn over her feet and busted her bottom lip open. So with ice on lip, she fell asleep and Emma decided she was tired as well....and she didn't even eat a lot of turkey!! I made a new dessert recipe called Chocolate Caramel Slice (thanks to my friend Kate for the recipe) and a new potato recipe,Mustard Roasted Potatoes. All the other foods were family favorites and as always delicious. We went around the table that night saying what we were thankful for and for the most part it was the faces sitting around the table....nothing like the love of family and friends, we are truly blessed with that!! Hope your Thanksgiving was just as wonderful....(I posted our crafts in another post below....quite fun..thinking I enjoy it just as much as the kids!)

Thanksgiving Crafts

We enjoyed some arts and crafts for Thanksgiving this year...continuing old traditions and starting new ones. My mom started this first one and Jason and I have done one every year since we got married...it is the We Are Thanksful Poster. You get some of your favorites pictures of the last year and put them on a poster. We do this Thanksgiving Day and it is lots of fun to look through all of them and put it together. Then we have it laminated to protect it. I have found a way for now (until there are too many) to hang them. I punch two holes at the top and connect with a metal ring and hang on a small dowel rod.....We love looking at all the pics hanging up throughout the year and amazing to look through the past ones as well!!

Ever since I got married I have enjoyed making place cards for each person at the dinner table. This year, Angel helped!! We used her little hand to paint turkeys and it was lots of fun....especially putting the googly eyes on them!

This year I made the girls some Indian feather hats....although had trouble keeping Angel's feathers straight and Emma just wanted to pull hers off!I also started a new tradition we hope to do every year. I printed out templates of leaves and we all enjoyed coloring our own sheet....ok we helped with Emma's. Then we all (again we helped Emma this year) thought of things we were thankful for and wrote one on each leaf. Then I put together our "Thankful Tree" on Thanksgiving and it has been our table centerpiece since....yes I know, now I need out the Advent decorations...I am just behind schedule!! Anyways....I hope to keep the leaves in an envelope labeled with the year and look back at them as time goes by!!
Any fun and neat crafts you do for the holiday??

Prayers Please....Baby Sturhahn

My sister Meghan called me at 630 this morning, so I immediately knew it was baby news. She went in for her check up today (her due date is the 20th) to find out she is already 5 cm dilated....I guess that uncomfortable feeling Megs the last couple of days has been LABOR!! (reminds me of how it all happened with Emma...a bad night sleep was active labor!) So the labor nerves are starting....the doc wants her to come to the hospital and will see what happens next....Mom of course (just like Emma's birth) is in Daytona, FL for Caitlin's national soccer tournament....so she is busily making her way to the airport to catch the next flight out to NYC...at least this time she is on the right coast!! So please pray for a safe labor and delivery and a healthy baby boy!! We will keep you posted!! Wish I could beam myself to NYC!!!

A Prayer to St. Gerard for Safe Delivery
O great Saint Gerard, beloved servant of Jesus Christ, perfect imitator of your meek and humble Savior, and devoted child of Mother of God, enkindle within my heart one spark of that heavenly fire of charity which glowed in your heart and made you an angel of love.
O glorious Saint Gerard, because when falsely accused of crime, you did bear, like your Divine Master, without murmur or complaint, the calumnies of wicked men, you have been raised up by God as the patron and protector of expectant mothers. Preserve me from danger and from the excessive pains accompanying childbirth, and shield the child which I now carry, that it may see the light of day and receive the purifying and life-giving waters of baptism through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

*And while I think they have the name picked out, here are the Saints of the Day...hehe.*
St. Bibiana
St. Chromatius
St. Lupus of Verona
St. Pontian