Day 29: Super Muscles

Heh, I am bad about skipping a day on the weekend. Too much football I suppose.

Smart and quirky. Fun and lovable. Carefree and hilarious. My Super Muscles is a boy after his daddy's heart. From the way he thinks to the way he talks to the way he dances... it has his dad written all over it and I LOVE it. He is super intelligent and talks like hes 15 quite frequently. He loves puzzles and reading and writing and art and math. He adores showing off his new tricks and the new knowledge he has gained. He has brown, thick hair and amazing, intense blue eyes. His nose and cheeks are starting to be dotted with freckles (which is one thing he is getting from me!). He is getting long and lean and starting to look like such a boy and not so much a small child. He is timid to try new things until he has conquered them in his head first. He wants to work it all out in his mind and have a firm grasp of a new skill before attempting it. And... it works for him. Once he tries something, he usually gets it very quickly. He isn't great at pretend play and sometimes has problems relating to other kids... those are also things he gets from his parents. I am not exactly socially skilled and Daddy is admittedly an introvert and he likes it that way! And so far Super Muscles likes it that way too :) He is not much for cuddling but he gives some of the best hugs ever. And I LOVE that he pulls arms fulls of books onto my bed in the morning and reads to me and his brother. Today I am thankful for Super Muscles! He is my first born and the boy who changed my whole entire world at first glance. A lot of the selfishness I had before he was born just melted away upon his arrival and I am so thankful that he has taught me what love and selflessness look like.

Day 27: My Slobber Rocket

Blonde hair, hazel eyes, 30.5 inches tall, 19.5 lbs of... pure energy! My Slobber Rocket is a complete and total blessing. He is very animated and happy. Nearly always laughing or trying to get laughs out of others. Funny and ALL boy. Crashing cars, riding bikes, throwing balls. He has a big personality. He shows all of his emotions in a huge way. You know exactly what he feels and what he wants. He is a super communicator. He has the cutest stink face I think I have ever seen and he gives it to people he is unsure of all the time. They can't help but laugh because even though hes trying to be mean, its so cute. He is very adventurous and curious. Always climbing and jumping and spinning. He keeps my heart in my throat if you know what I mean. He is social and sweet. A cuddler. He loves his mama and daddy and bubby so much. When he is scared or wary of the situation he pats my leg and tells people I am his mama and just tries to make sure I am close. He is stubborn and refuses to listen at least half of the time. My husband says his stubborn is all me. lol. He is probably right. But the point is, I am absolutely in love with my youngest son. He has added so much joy and fun to our family. He has taught us a million and four lessons. Patience and how to adapt being two of the biggest. He has had some struggles with sensory problems and with growing "normally" but even those things have taught us so much. I can't imagine life without those bright eyes and his big, fun personality. So thankful for my littlest boy today.

Day 26: Motherhood

Life changing, world shifting, huge responsibility... children. I am so thankful today that I have had the opportunity to be a mommy to my two fabulous sons. I will talk about how thankful I am for them in the next couple of days but motherhood seems a bit different to me than being thankful for them.

Becoming a mother has taught me so much. It has sent me on a path to try and find healing for myself which is one of the biggest gifts I can think of at the moment. It has taught me care and concern for others. Love and compassion. Selflessness. It has made me face so many fears. Trivial fears and huge fears. It has made my heart jump out of my chest when I have thought something was wrong with those tiny people. It has taught me about the words *I choose to use and how they come across to people. Gentleness. Strength. Courage. Enthusiasm. It has made me evaluate what I want out of life and from the people around me. It has made me stand up for myself numerous times in an effort to protect my little ones. It is like there are these things inside of you that you really never knew were there. This strength that being a parent has brought out of me. Lessons I would have never in a million years learned without my sons. Laughs that I would have never had. Tears I would have never cried. Love that I would have never known.

So thankful and blessed to be a mama.

Day 25: Thanksgiving Day

Today is a day to take time out and intentionally and gratefully think about all the blessings in your life. It is amazing how overwhelmed I feel when I think about all the blessings in my life. Most of them are in my house right now laughing and watching "Kung Fu Panda" on tv or pacing around the house really wanting to go outside to be with her master who is starting up the grill to smoke the epic turkey he has worked so hard on. Oh he is very excited about this turkey. It is my husbands first official thanksgiving turkey. He has spent days preparing it. I love how he wants to do everything in his life well. It makes me so thankful and proud of him. The man has an awesome work ethic and amazing integrity.

Children laughing. Loving marriage. Food for our bellies. Friends to share the day with. Healing. Happiness. Warmth, Love.

It is all in my house today. And I am so thankful for it. I am thankful for a day being set aside each year to be intentional about sharing what you are thankful for. To force you to think about blessings instead of trials. Because no matter the trials in your life (and goodness knows my life is chaos right now), there is always hope and there are always things to be thankful for.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with laughter and love.

Day 24: Mentors

I am thankful for the mentors I have had in my life. These would be women who have led me in faith and have taken me under their wing and nurtured me. Been there to give tough advice and help me through crisis in ways only a mentor can. A friend but a different kind of friend. Maybe not someone I see so much anymore but people that I KNOW that I can call anytime and they will make time for me and care for me. These ladies are trust worthy, generally older than me (though one of them isn't much older than me!), compassionate, great listeners, wise, battle tested, strong... So thank you Becky and Amy and Carol... I truly appreciate your role in my life.

Day 23: People who "get it"

I have 3 girlfriends who "get me". One of them is my best friend who I mentioned on another post. She certainly gets me. My jokes, when I am sad and hiding it, when I am frustrated... she knows it. All about it. But I have 2 other friends who get me in a way that is hard to explain. Both of these friends are long distance friends. I have met one of them... once and the other one I have never actually met. They both have kids Super Muscles age.  And they both just... get me. I think we all share some personality traits and life experiences and think in ways that are all similar but its more than that too. They have helped me so much in the past 6 months.. helped me to see myself in ways that others see me, helped me to realize when I was stuck doing actions just because I was used to doing them that way, helped me to try and find courage when I pretty much thought that I could never do the things I was trying to do. They have been there for me through thick and thin. And I have been through some tough stuff with them too.

L and T, thanks ladies for sticking by my side through it ALL. Thank you for seeing the good in me and for being honest with me.

Day 21 and 22

Sorry.. the weekend got the best of me again. Lots of fun to be had with my family and I just didn't get a chance to blog yesterday. Please forgive me :) I am completely committed to getting all of my days in though so you get 2 days worth of thanks today!

Day 21: My peeps who always help me find those important Christmas gifts (or any other random thing I am looking for) for my boys. I posted on facebook about trying to find a duck pillow pet and got loads of helpful comments! I had a good friend call me yesterday to tell me she found one even and would get it for me. See... isn't that brilliant? I have had friends from CA and NC and ME and MD and various other places send me clothes for my boys right at the moment I have needed them the most. It just blows me away how many people I know all over who are always ready and willing to help make my life a bit easier. Help me hunt down bargains or provide something my family really needs. And it is rather impressive the way communication works now that I have a wide network of friends all over the US and even the world (lots of buddies in Canada and Australia and Germany and the Netherlands) who though sometimes we don't KNOW each other we care about one another and help one another. Its really a neat thing. The girls I was in a due date club with when I was pregnant with Super Muscles is about to launch our yearly Christmas ornament exchange... we have been together for well over 5 years now getting to know each other and watching our Feb 06 babies grow up. It is so neat.

Day 22: Work! I am so thankful that in this economy my husband has a job. I have known so many people who have lost jobs and had to switch jobs and all sorts of things. And sometimes I tease him that he doesn't have a "real job" because he is still in school. But the fact is that he works very hard and has a good reputation and is daily proving himself in grad school. But even as good as he does at his job, for many people production doesn't matter. The bottom line matters and people have to be let go to make the numbers balance out. No fault of their own and I realize that and I am very thankful today that my husband has a job and that we are able to provide for our family.

Freebie: this weather is AWESOME. 60 degrees in the middle of November. It is making me seriously happy :)