Thankfulness- Big and Small

I have been making a little list this week of all the things that I am thankful for....the big things and the small things. The small things are just things that make me smile or things that I truly enjoy. As you read through my list, think about the little things that just do your heart good. If you have time, share a portion of your list with me in the comments section.

Here is my list, starting with the big things.

Jesus. My salvation. Gene, my best friend. Reagan. Gracen. My mom. My dad. All of my family...immediate and extended. My home. Food (you will notice that food comes up a lot on this list). Friends. My church family. Quiet mornings. Coffee and International Delight Coffee House Inspirations-Caramel Macchiato (creamer). A big coffee mug. Orbit Sweet Mint gum. New white socks. Flannel pajama pants. Colored gel pens. A new journal. A new leather Bible...I love that smell. Orange tic tacs. A new Parenting magazine in the mail. Date nights. Skittles and a sprite (yes, together) at the movie theater. James Bond movies. Jeremy Camp CD's. Chocolate. A child's laugh. Family movie night. Butterfingers. Seasons that change. Candle of the season....especially Pumpkin Spice. Fall...my favorite season. Chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven. Walks around my yard. The smell of grilled meat. Swinging on my back porch. Jeans and a big cozy sweatshirt. The smell of Cinnabon at Eastdale Mall. Praise and worship music. Target. Books. Breastfeeding-to burn calories. Key lime pie. The sunrise. Sunsets. The beach. The mountains. Rainy days. Rainbows. The smell of fresh cut grass. Strawberry fruit smoothies at Sonic. Chicken Ceasar Salad. Potato Soup at O'Charleys. Clean sheets and Gain Fabric Softner. Cheese Ravioli at Olive Garden. The feeling of clean teeth after a dentist visit. Shopping. The beauty salon.


I am sure that I could think of so many more things that just make me take a deep breath and smile. These are the things that just came to my mind easily.


I need to remember to give thanks to the One from whom all blessings flow.


Psalm 92:1-2 "It is good to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night."


God is the creator of all things. He made every single thing that puts a smile on my face. If there are so many things that make me happy here on this earth, can you just imagine what heaven will feel like? It will be a place of infinite joy. In heaven there will be no more sadness, no more tears, no more death, and no more pain. We will just experience complete perfection with the ONE who is perfection. Our hearts will be happy all the time. I can only imagine. I know how content I feel when I sit outside on my back patio in my cozy sweatshirt, flannel pajama pants, and new white socks, drinking a steaming cup of coffee, while watching the sun come up. Multiply this feeling times 1000 and you get a small measure of how I might feel in heaven.


Thank you God for all the things that make my heart happy in this life and the life to come.

Gracen Rae

Today was Gracen's 6 month check-up and thankfully we had a uneventful day. I must confess that I HATE going to the doctor. I get a little nauseous when I walk into a hospital or doctor's office. This is probably because I have a weak stomach and you just never know what you are going to see in places like that. The last time I went to Dr. Simon's office, an entire family walked in with bowls. You know what that means! I started praying immediately for God to keep their stomachs settled until I was out of the waiting room. Is that terrible? If just one of them threw up I would toss my cookies, plain and simple. But, if the entire family started throwing up, you might as well sedate me. It makes my skin crawl just thinking about it. Anyway, I try to be very calm anytime I have to take one of my kids to the doctor, because I do not want to freak them out or put my irrational fears on them in any way. I think I do a pretty good job considering I would rather take a bullet to the head than sit in the waiting room with all those germs, etc. Luckily today, the office was very quiet. There were only 2 other children in the office and neither of them had a bowl with them. My mom met me there, so I had some back up, which is always comforting, and we didn't have to wait too long. That is always a good thing.

Gracen was very sweet, as she always is...well at least until the nurse started messing with her. She didn't like being measured or weighed. She weighed 15 lbs 3 oz, which is in the 45th percentile, and she measured 25 1/2 inches long, which is also in the 45th percentile, so she is right where she is suppose to be. She received 2 shots and only cried for a few minutes. We did not have to have a chest x-ray today. We are going to wait a little while on that....spread out the radiation exposure a little bit. I was relieved.

Here are a few current pictures of her.

She is sitting up all by herself now. We still have to stay close by because if she reaches too far to the left or the right she will fall over. She is learning to catch herself though. Here she is digging in the toy bucket. Too cute! Doesn't she look like such a big girl?

Here she is playing with Daddy. He is tickling her belly. She just laughs when he does this. It is adorable. Reagan, on the other hand, doesn't think this is too cute. She really prefers for all of Gene's attention to be on her.

I am still breastfeeding her. She eats every 4 hours starting between 7:00 and 8:00 in the morning. We have added some solid food to her diet. She eats cereal in the morning and I am about to add some fruit to this. She likes sweet potatoes and squash and will tolerate a few bites of carrots. We have given her sweet peas on two different occasions and she dry heaved both times. It was pretty funny.

She is a great sleeper. She started sleeping through the night at 8 weeks old, sleeping from 8:30 to about 7:00. If she wakes up in the night, something is wrong. She also naps pretty good, usually taking 2 good naps, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, sleeping for 1-2 hours. Sometimes she will take an early evening catnap around 6:00, but I am trying to eliminate this.

So hard to believe that she has been here for over 6 months. She has brought so much joy to our lives. We love you Gracen.

Thanksgiving Week

It is so hard to believe that it is already time for Thanksgiving. As I woke up this morning, I had such a feeling of expectancy for the week ahead. It is going to be a busy week, but a good one nonetheless.

Today was Reagan's Thanksgiving program at her preschool. She was dressed like a little Indian and sang 3 songs with her class. She was adorable when she walked out onto that stage. She immediately started scanning the audience and when she saw Gene and me and her two grandmothers, her little face lite up like a light bulb. She waved at all of us and blew us kisses. It was precious. I was so proud of her. I told my mom that moments like that make all the trials of motherhood worth it. My heart just swelled with love for that little girl.
Here she is on the stage with her class.

Late this afternoon I am going to buy groceries. I am making some desserts with Reagan since she is out of school for the rest of the week and I am making a hash brown casserole to take to my mom's on Thursday. I like to cook a little around the holidays. We usually do some special breakfasts with Gene off work too. Reagan has put in her requests for strawberry muffins and blueberry pancakes....not on the same morning, I don't think. Gene wants pigs in a blanket and french toast. We also usually make homemade waffles with a waffle maker that Gene gave me for Christmas. We eat pretty good around here when holidays roll around....no packaged granola bars for sure.

On Tuesday, Gracen has her 6 month well visit with Dr. Simon. She is actually 6 months and 3 weeks old because if you'll remember, we got off track when she was 2 months old, when my doctor went on a two week vacation. Anyway, this little outing will probably take all day. Gracen has to have shots of course, and then we have to go and have a chest x-ray done because the doctor saw a "suspicious" spot on her last x-ray. He said he wasn't worried at all....so I haven't worried at all...just wants to double check it. I'll let you know tomorrow how her visit goes, how much she has grown, etc. And pray that we don't pick up the swine flu that is going around. I really think baby well visits should be done in your home during flu season. I am not sure how the doctors would really work this out, but it would be nice wouldn't it? Or maybe they want you to bring in your well baby so they will get sick, which means you have to bring your sick baby back in to the office for another $30.00 co-pay. Hmmmm. Something to think about.

On Wednesday, Gene gets off at lunch and I am going to get a haircut and color, and maybe get my eyebrows waxed while I am there. I have to look somewhat presentable to see all the family. I love going to the salon. While I am there, I get to sit and actually read some magazines...in peace and quiet. It is very relaxing.

Wednesday night we will be having Thanksgiving dinner with Gene's side of the family. The food is always delicious. I can taste the green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, turkey with gravy, dressing, corn, rolls, English peas, sweet potato pie, and pecan pie now. It will also be great to visit with everyone. Gene has one brother who is married with two children. Reagan loves to play with them. We all live right here in Holtville, but only see each other on the holidays really. It will be nice to catch up with everybody.

On Thursday, we will do a special breakfast at home as we watch the Macy's Thanksgiving parade. We will be home most of the day and will head to my parent's house that afternoon for dinner. My two sisters will be there with their families and I can hardly wait to see all of them. I LOVE hanging out with all my family. We sit around and eat and talk...and eat and talk. The food there will be delicious too. I love my mom's sweet potato casserole. This year we have two new babies to pass around and enjoy. My Gracen was born in May and my younger sister gave birth to Hayden 3 weeks later. We have a lot to be thankful for this year.

On Friday, I will be hanging out all day with Gene. We are going to watch the Iron Bowl on television and order two greasy hamburgers from Dusty' Diner, our local "greasy spoon".

The weekend after Thanksgiving we usually decorate for Christmas, so we will see. With such a busy week and having two children now, that may have to wait until next weekend.

Well, that is my week in a nutshell. Check back late tomorrow afternoon for a report on Gracen's doctor visit. Her appointment is not until 11:00, so my blog update will be much later in the day.

My Friday

I'm just letting everyone know that I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I think about my blog everyday, but I have not had much time to sit down and think about an entry. I have had a busy couple of days away from the house and now I am trying to catch up on cleaning and laundry. It is amazing how fast all the laundry builds up!

On Wednesday, I went to help a friend with her new baby while Reagan was in school. I picked Reagan up at 11:30 and we came home and had lunch and nap time and then had to head to church. We got back home around 8:30.

On Thursday, I lead a monthly Mom's fellowship called momMEtime. We met from 9:30-11:30 and had a great time hanging out. I had to be there early to set up and then had to stay late to clean up. I made it home for lunch and was able to spend a little time with the girls and with Gene, who is off on Thursday, and then I headed to a baby shower that I was hosting for a friend that evening. I got back home around 8:15.

So, basically today I am a domestic goddess....changing sheets, vacuuming, dusting, cleaning bathrooms, washing clothes, folding clothes, emptying the dishwasher, making lunches, etc. You get the idea.

I just wanted to let everyone know that I am O.K......just running around like crazy.

Thankfulness

Man, I cannot believe that it is already time for Thanksgiving. It seems like the older I get the quicker the years fly by...or maybe it is just because I have small kids in my home and everyday is a complete blur. Probably a little bit of both. Well, anyway, this time of year makes me think about all the things in my life for which I am thankful. Maybe your mind goes in this direction too.

This morning I was reading about thankfulness and the devotion started with this quote:

"Be thankful. Cultivate an attitude of gratitude. Thankfulness is much more dependent on attitude than circumstance. When you feel the lack of what you don't have, thank God for what you do have. At any time, there is more going right in the life of a committed Christian than there is going wrong. It's just that the wrong makes a lot more noise than the right." Jim Stevens


How true is that! I know that my wrongs, my problems, etc make a lot more noise for sure.

I am so blessed. But I'm also guilty of becoming so distracted by my blessings that I forget to thank the One from whose hands these things come. Do I see the loving husband I've been blessed with, or do I just grumble about his faults? Do I see the "conversationalist" of a child that I have been blessed with, or do I just grumble that she never shuts up? Do I see the precious gift of the new life we have been given, or do I just grumble about my lack of sleep and energy? Do I see the home I am blessed with, or do I just grumble about the constant chores to keep it clean? Do I see how blessed we are to have food whenever we want, or do I just grumble about having to go buy groceries each week?

I think you know the answer to most of those questions. Why is it so easy to grumble and complain, rather than offer thanks? Why do we so easily lose sight of all the gifts that we have been given, and focus on what we don't have or what we want to change instead?

I heard about one family that has started a Grumble Jar and every time someone in the family grumbles about anything they have to put $1.00 in the jar. All the money at the end of each month goes to an organization that helps needy families. What a great idea! I don't know that I will implement that yet....I don't carry that many bills in my wallet to deposit the money throughout the day....but I think it is a great idea. It would certainly make me realize all the negative comments that come out of my mouth during the day.

I do want to be more intentional with expressing my thankfulness. I also want to be more intentional with developing an attitude of thankfulness in Reagan. I can already see seeds of ungratefulness sprouting. So, at night during our devotion time we are going to start talking about what we are thankful for. (Mom, I know I just ended that sentence with a preposition and I am sorry.) While, this is a great activity to do with children, it is also something that we need to get into the habit of doing with God. He loves to hear our praises. I want to challenge each of you to limit your grumbling and complaining and to be more intentional of giving thanks and praise to God for everything in your life...the good and the bad.

I know you will be blessed.

A Visit to the Museum

Thursday is like our Saturday because it is Gene's off day. We try to go do something as a family a couple of Thursdays a month. Reagan has been asking us if we could visit an art museum, only because she saw a cartoon episode of Olivia and Backyardigans where they visited one. Anyway, the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts is free, so we packed up the girls headed to town to bring some culture to our lives. Reagan had a great time running around and looking at everything. She also really enjoyed doing some of the hands-on activities in the children's section called ART WORKS. Gene and I decided that we liked being "uncultured" and do not plan on visiting any more art museums any time soon. It was just a collection of dusty old paintings hanging on the wall. Not really my idea of fun....is that as terrible as it sounds? Oh, well. It's true.

After the museum, we went and had some icecream. We all got something different and then got to share. That was a good way to end the day.

Here are a few photos from our trip.

P.S. Remember our critter problem. Well, we caught the second mouse. Praise the Lord! Those glue traps really work. Now, I just pray that those two mice didn't obey the Lord's command to be fruitful and multiply.

Operation Christmas Child

Yesterday, I told Reagan that we had to sit down and wrap our shoe boxes for the annual Operation Christmas Child Shoebox campaign. If you aren't familiar with it, you just fill a wrapped shoebox with toys, candy, and hygiene items appropriate for either a boy or a girl of a chosen age range, and it is sent overseas to a needy child. We picked a girl, ages 3-5, because I thought Reagan could pick out some things that she would like to have to include in the box.
Well, as I started to wrap one of the boxes, she decided that she didn't want to help me. She wanted to do her own box. I told her that was fine and I would go and find her another shoebox, knowing I would have to "fix" it somehow before we took it to church. Well, she didn't want a plain shoebox. She wanted to find her own "special" box to wrap, so she went to her room to search for a box. She came back with a red picnic basket that her Aunt Lori gave to her. I thought this was really sweet because she loves that basket. (Don't worry Lori, we didn't give it away.)

Anyway, here are a few shots of Reagan wrapping her basket. It took her about 45 minutes.... no joke, which was fine with me. Anytime, I can find something for Reagan to do that requires her to sit still in one place is a gift in and of itself. How cute are these pics? She was a busy girl.

Here is the finished basket. A true Reagan masterpiece. She was very proud of her creation. She went to room and filled the basket with shorts and t-shirts from one of her drawers because she said she didn't need her summer clothes anymore. Then she added some toys. I didn't take a picture of her overflowing basket and I realize this morning that I should have. It was funny.

Here is a shot of her basket (with some paper removed) next to the box that we actually took to church.

Later that afternoon, we went to the Dollar Tree and loaded 2 boxes to the brim. We had to do one for our church and one for her preschool. I would have spent $85.00 if I had purchased everything that Reagan grabbed to put in that box. She has a big heart, using Mommy's debit card. I also didn't think to take my camera to the store to document her selections. Of course, even if I had remembered the camera, I was carrying Gracen in a baby sling, pushing a cart, placing items in 2 boxes, and running after Reagan, I wouldn't have taken any pictures.

Just know that this was a great learning experience for Reagan. We talked a lot about "missions" and the need to reach out to others who are not as fortunate as we are. Hopefully, Reagan will remember activities like these and will learn not to be so self-absorbed. That is my prayer.