November was a great month – we celebrated Thanksgiving with family, reflected on just how grateful we are for our life, decorated for Christmas and are only 6 weeks away from holding our sweet baby boy in our arms! 

“I can’t remember all the times I tried to tell myself to hold on to these moments as they pass.”

Welcome to “Moments” here on JoyFoodSunshine. At the end of every month I share a recap of our family’s favorite moments!  So here it is for November 2020! 

Life with my tribe

November was a great month – we celebrated Thanksgiving with family, reflected on just how grateful we are for our life, decorated for Christmas and are only 6 weeks away from holding our sweet baby boy in our arms! 

Baby 34 weeks (6 to go)!

We’re getting so close to meeting our little guy – and I’m sure the next month will fly by with all that comes with the Christmas season. I am still feeling really great. SO MUCH better than I felt with babies 4 and 5. I have next to no pain (which was a constant for me by now with the last two), still have a fairly decent appetite, and am just overall in great spirits. 

Ritch and I spent an evening reliving all five of our births. Each one has been so different (read Keilah’s birth story and Mara’s birth story), from having Bethany literally 14 minutes after we got to the hospital (not joking), to being in labor with Gabe for 2 days, and everything in between. I have been blessed with being able to naturally deliver all 5, and am hopeful we’ll close it out well and be able to do the same this time. 

Decorating nursery!

I decided to decorate the nursery! One morning I just ordered all the things I had been eyeing and now I’m just waiting for it all to arrive. I’ll share it once it’s done! I’m just trying to decide if I should paint the wall behind the crib (it’s currently white), or just get a really large, interesting piece of art to put there (easier). 

Preparing for labor

Now is the time when I start preparing for labor. I drink copious amounts of raspberry leaf tea and take evening primrose oil.  I’m a huge advocate for exercising up until the very end of pregnancy. At this stage for me it means mostly long walks and modified workout videos (Fitness blender is my favorite). Giving birth is the most intense physical experience you will ever have in your life – “training” for it by exercising helps the process go smoothly. 

Keilah – 21 Months

I’m still not ready to graduate Keilah from baby to big sister. She is the sweetest and spunkiest little nugget and I just adore her. She is still requesting to be a “kitty cat” most days, and has turned herself into a princess kitty cat by adding a crown! 🙂 

She is speaking so well, and can repeat any word (or gives it her all and tries), she is asked to say like a cute little parrot. 

I am a little nervous because she loves her bottle. I still give her a little bottle before nap time and bedtime. None of my other kids had a bottle still at 21 months, but it calms her down and we get some great snuggles and I’m just not ready to take it from her at this point – nor do I see a reason why I should force myself to?! LOL!

K has decided she can’t sleep without three things: her blankie, her lovey, and her lamby. She is so cute snuggling them I can barely handle it. 

Thanksgiving

We were so blessed to have family come visit us for Thanksgiving this year. We don’t live near any of our family, and I often lament that my kids don’t get to spend more time with their cousins. Well, this year my sister-in-law and her family traveled to our home and spent the week with us. It was so fun to get to spend the holiday together while our kids played. They were troopers and joined us in our annual tradition of running a 5K on Thanksgiving morning (even though it was frigid and they’re used to CA weather)! 

We maxed out our dining room table (LOVE IT) and enjoyed a delicious meal with the best company. (Check out all our favorite Thanksgiving Recipes)! If this year has taught us anything, it’s that when the world is spinning out of control we need to focus on the things that matter – and family is at the very top of that list! 

Ritch and I reflected on just how blessed we are with tears in our eyes. We have to pinch ourselves sometimes to make sure our life is real. We love each other, our kids, our church, our home, and the list goes on and on. I am so grateful for such an amazing man to do life with, and our pile of sweet kids! 

A few of my favorite things…

Here are a few products and other things I have loved in November!

Klorane Dry Shampoo

I’ve been using this Klorane Dry Shampoo for many months now (maybe even a full year, I can’t remember haha), and I LOVE IT. It’s the first dry shampoo I’ve used that really works and doesn’t leave any residue on my scalp. Plus it’s made with natural ingredients. 

Laundry Baskets

After years of wicker baskets and cloth hampers that were difficult to carry I finally bought one of these rolling laundry baskets for every person in our family. They are really well-made, easy to roll and I love that I can do a separate load of laundry for each person (or each room full of people) and not have to sort through it. I wish I bought these 10 years ago!

Foodie Gift Guide

I put a TON of work into creating this post on the best kitchen gifts, and I make sure to update the links/items regularly. It’s a one-stop blog post that contains all my favorite kitchen items, perfect to get for the foodie in your life – or to put on your own wish list!

Recipes I’m Making on Repeat

Here are a few recipes we enjoyed in November! I made most of the recipes on this Best Thanksgiving Recipes list! I only snapped a few pics (busy enjoying my family), but some honorable mentions not shown are sweet potato casserole (so easy Ritch prepared it LOL), mashed potatoes, balsamic roasted Brussel sprouts, and the best flourless chocolate cake!

Apple Crumble Pie

The BEST Dinner Rolls

All-butter pie crust

 

IF YOU MAKE SOMETHING FROM JOYFOODSUNSHINE I WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOUR CREATIONS! DON’T FORGET TO RATE THIS RECIPE AND LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW! ALSO, FOLLOW ALONG WITH ME ON INSTAGRAM, PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE AND  TWITTER FOR MORE RECIPE INSPIRATION AND A GLIMPSE INTO OUR EVERYDAY LIFE!

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase a product through a link you clicked on here, I receive a portion of the sale. Thank you for supporting JoyFoodSunshine!