Thankfulness ... Day 22

I am thankful to be able to worship with our church family again! Just being gone for a few weeks feels like eternity.

We are blessed to be a part of Grace Bible Church!

Thankfulness ... Day 21

I am thankful that the H1N1 virus that reared it's ugly head in our home over two weeks ago did not infect another single person in our family! Hallelujah!!!

Thankfulness ... Day 20

I am thankful for a car that starts ... a home with air conditioning ... and a really comfortable bed.

All things that I have not always had ;)

Thankfulness ... Day 19

I am thankful that my girls can read music and help my son with his piano practice ... and I am thankful that when I have to help him instead, that my daughters never laugh at me.

The second part was me being sarcastic.

Thankfulness ... Day 18

Thankful that our sweet baby skipped her three-hour fuss session last night which is regularly scheduled between 7 pm-10 pm. Thanks for the break little girl!

Thankfulness ... Day 17

I am thankful for Benjamin ... baby number 4 ... a heart's desire fulfilled.

There are truly no words to describe how much joy this precious boy brings to our life each and every day. I am also thankful to God for reminding me (again) that His grace is perfect ... and so is His timing.

Thankfulness ... Day 16

I am thankful for my camera ...


... and friends who help with my little photo shoot (thanks Erika!)

Thankfulness ... Day 12, 13, 14, & 15

So I fell behind. Boy am I thankful this doesn't count as a grade ;)

I am going to bullet some things that I found myself grateful for in the past few days in no particular order or importance ... just my thoughts

• Church! I missed going to church these past few weeks and we made our first trip as a family of 7 this past Sunday. Everything went really well and we even made it to early service which meant leaving the house at 8:20 in the morning!

• Good nights with the baby! Cause I think I was taking those for granted until we actually had a bad one.
  

I mean a really bad one.

As in, she didn't actually fall into a restful sleep until about 6:00 AM. I told her I was very sorry for my lack of gratitude for her very peaceful evenings and I promised to never ever take them for granted again ;)

• The sunshine is here! After so many days of cold and wet we are so grateful for the sun! We plan on having some outside time this afternoon after a very productive morning.

• The vibration feature on the bassinet is working again!
  

What on earth did they do before the invention of the vibrating baby product for goodness sakes?

Thankfulness ... Day 11

I am thankful for all the wonderful meals that have been prepared and brought to our family these last few weeks! What an awesome blessing it has been :)

Thankfulness ... Day 10

The dog pooped on the rug.

Benjamin used/ate an entire tube of chapstick.

Hannah's sweater had a security tag on it, so we had to stop at Kohl's on the way to co-op this morning ... in the pouring rain ... when I was already running late.

Today, I am thankful for joy that comes from Jesus.

And a sense of humor ...

Thankfulness ... Day 9

When we brought Clara home from the hospital, there was quite a bit of kicking and scratching to get to her and smother love on her with great affection.

Seriously, I had to keep track of who held her and for how long because the kids were lined up and ready to argue their case for why it should be their turn next!

Benjamin mostly wanted to identify her "MOWWW!" (mouth), "EYE!" (eyes) and "NOOOOO!" (nose) by gouging her with his grubby index finger ... But of course it was done with great affection ;)

When I tucked Sam in that first night I will never forget his sweet face and these words that he spoke as his big brown eyes filled up with tears:

"Momma ... You know Momma, sometimes people cry when they are happy ... You know?"

(as tears spilled down his cheeks)

"And Momma ... I am real (sniff) happy ... and I just ... just ... I JUST LOVE BABY CLARA SO MUCH!"

(as he burst into tears)

I am thankful for this sweet little boy who has a gigantic heart that gets so full sometimes ... it makes him cry with joy.

A blessed baby sister just minutes old with her big brother ...
An old soul

Thankfulness ... Day 8

The laundry is piling up at an alarming rate.

I am more than two weeks behind with school.

I haven't made my bed ... and I'm not sure when I will again.

Of course of I am grateful for the multitude of blessings that keep me burning the candle at both ends but today I am also very thankful for ...

Caffeine.

Nuff said.

Thankfulness ... Day 7

Today I am thankful for a visit from Chris' brother Curt, his wife Cinda, their 1-year old daughter Addison and Gigi!

Curt and Cinda are moving from Jacksonville, Florida to Pennsylvania and made their way through Virginia this weekend. We had a sweet time together on Saturday night where we were able to have a mini-celebration for Addison's birthday and enjoy some time together!

I'll post more pics later, Gigi ;)

Thankfulness ... Day 6

You know what I have realized from this short little week of gratitude? That when you start to dwell on the things that you are thankful for, the list seems to grow by leaps and bounds!

I find myself trying to decide which things to post about, which that in itself is such an overwhelming reason to be thankful!

I am thankful today that Chris has registered for Together for the Gospel! What a privilege for him to sit under the teaching of such an awesome group of pastors who love the gospel! This conference is not until next year, but registration has already begun and the plans are underway for a group of men from our church to head to Kentucky together and share in the wealth of teaching that will take place there.

I also know a couple of these guys and I suspect there will be a good portion of tomfoolery and shenanigans going on too ...

Neil
(I stole one of these from you Jamie!)

Brian

And I'm grateful for that too ;)

Thankfulness ... Day 5

I am thankful that Hannah has the H1N1 flu ... right now.

Thankful because it is this week and not two weeks ago! Although she is a very sick girl and has spent the last five days in her room in almost complete isolation, it appears that she has turned the corner.

In a moment of concern and/or panic, I sent Chris to Patient First last night with Hannah at about 9:45 PM. Her chest felt tight and she complained that she was short of breath. Thankfully her X-ray came back clear as well as a swab for Strep. The swab for H1N1 came back positive which came as no surprise to us.

Looking back it appears to have started with a sore throat at the end of last week but we assumed it was allergies because the fever did not show up until later on Saturday. Hannah is almost never sick so this has really gotten her down emotionally as well as physically. The worst part is the loneliness that has come from keeping her quarantined and it has brought each of us to tears more than once. Seeing Benjamin stand at the bottom of the stairs and yell up for his "Nanna" is just about more than I can stand :(

Still, I am so very grateful! God is gracious and His timing is perfect. Had she picked up this nasty bug just two weeks ago, she would have not been present for the arrival of sweet Clara and I would not have been able to care for her. In addition, His perfect provision allowed for me to have the opportunity to be immunized while I was in the hospital (which I almost did not do) but since I did, I have been able to care for her better without the fear of getting sick myself.

Our house smells like hand sanitizer and Lysol and my poor big girl is in desperate need of social interaction! She has watched about 10 movies on her laptop and lives for the interaction through her cell phone ... but these sort of days are not commonplace for us and I am grateful to be rounding the bend.

Thankfulness ... Day 4

Two weeks today! Sweet Clara Hope is two weeks old already!

There are so many things that fill my heart with gratitude when I look at this sweet baby. Each time I am blessed with a child there is such a rush of emotions and I am reminded that the God of the universe has made a unique selection in choosing me as their mother.

And I am such an unworthy choice ... yet He still makes this provision and declares His sufficiency through my weakness.

I am grateful that in the midst of my insecurities and failures, His grace is enough.