#26

I'm thankful for QUIET TIME!

We've had a couple fun filled days with family, laughing and visiting, and kiddies running around in the background making lots of fun loud memories. But at the end of the day, I'm so happy to come home and snuggle with my little baby with some peace and quiet. I sure love my nieces and nephews, but my ears are still ringing tonight.

#25 HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I'm thankful for TRADITIONS!

I love traditions. Something about the memories of years gone by that once again had me reminiscing today. When I was little, we'd travel the 6 hours to my Grandma's for Thanksgiving dinner and while the ladies cooked a fabulous meal, the men took the kids to the fish hatchery. We would take our nickels and feed the fish jumping out of the water. It was sweet to see my brother take the kiddos today to the fish hatchery and have the little ones smelling like fish food when they came back. Ahh, the memories.

It's fun to watch this next generation of my nieces and nephews get the same joy out of rainbow jello that I did, (and still do) and eat themselves full of it with no room for turkey. I recall a Thanksgiving I got sick on Jello...so why do I still make it? Well, it's tradition of course. It wouldn't be the holidays without it. Hope yours was a good one. We've got so much to be thankful for!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Yesterday...

I've concluded that the Beatles don't know anything about "Yesterdays." Doesn't their song go a little something like..."Yesterday, all my troubles seems so far away." Well, yesterday was the day of my troubles. I'm trying to be EXTRA thankful since today IS Thanksgiving, but I was still so riled up from my day that I couldn't think clearly enough to write anything. Looking back on the day, I am now seeing the silver lining.

YESTERDAY, I had to go to the DMV. LOOOONG story. I'll sum it up with my thanks.

My # 24's

I'm thankful for my mom. She came along to watch Avery in the car thinking it would only take 30 minutes. 2 HOURS later she still had a smile on her face. THANK YOU!

I'm thankful for a good baby who slept most of the time while I was at the DMV.

I'm thankful for heaters in cars that kept them both warm while they waited. (Not so thankful for the rock that made a small chip in my windshield on the way up that is now 6 inches long!)

I'm thankful for my brain, and my intelligence. I'm not the smartest person in the world, but seeing all the scarecrows at the DMV made me very thankful my brain waves weren't running on a flat line.

I'm thankful for Birthday Clubs! I got a free DELICIOUS burrito for signing up. I've also got a couple free hamburger coupons, free ice cream. I'm excited! Although, I'm NOT thankful my birthday's so close to Thanksgiving since I'd rather enjoy leftovers than go out for something to eat. It was a fun pre-birthday treat though.

I'm thankful for my home. That I have a home to come home to at the end of the day and it's warm and cozy.

#23

I'm thankful for BABY EINSTEIN & BABY SWINGS!

So I've been running on empty the last few days...I don't do well on empty. I desperately needed a shower longer than the 5 minutes Avery allots before she begins to cry. With a little inspiration, and desperation, I put her baby swing in front of the TV and popped in Baby Einstein. I watched her for a minute to see if she was enjoying herself and then took a leisurely shower. Ahhh, how thankful I am for a nice warm shower on a cold, blustery day...and one longer than 10 minutes. Heaven. The things I used to take for granted...if I only knew how much I'd miss them! I got out expecting to hear a fussy little lady but not a peep was heard. I even got to put some make-up on before I heard her rustling for some attention. It was just what I needed to make it through the day.

#22

I'm thankful for DAYLIGHT!

It's been an interesting week full of 2 hour cat naps all night long. I was feeling a little guilty when our baby girl slept so well (sometimes 7 hours at a time), waking up only once to eat at night. Well, that was VERY short lived and now she's up every 3 hours like clock work. I hate clock work. And how is it that such an adorable baby can be so NOT adorable in the middle of the night? I am so relieved when that first inkling of daylight creeps through the blinds in my bedroom. It's the angels singing my relief that I've made it through another night!...all to be repeated in 12 hours. Sheesh...this is turning into a not so thankful post, but I am thankful for the days--they are MUCH better than the nights.

Yes, I'm behind.

I realize I haven't posted my thanks in 3 days, but I have a good excuse!!

And, I assure you, I have written my thankful leaves for my little tree. It's becoming quite beautiful. While the trees outside are losing their lovely colored leaves, mine is blooming with gratitude!

So here's the recap of the last three days.

#19 I'm grateful for THE ARTICLES OF FAITH!

Read them HERE. Wednesday night with my girls we went over the Articles of Faith and I was so grateful for their simplicity in explaining what we believe as Latter-Day Saints. They answer most every question of the gospel in plain ol' English. I recall these posted on our bathroom wall--or was it the 10 commandments? I'm not sure, but they were posted in our home and we were bribed..ehem...encouraged with candy to memorize them. The girls are trying hard to memorize #13 and I decided to make it my new mantra:

We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

Life will be better believing and hoping all things and seeking for virtuous, lovely and praiseworthy things.

I LOVE THE ARTICLES OF FAITH!


#20 I'm grateful for FOOD!

Yes, food. More importantly the variety of food I enjoy. This revelation came while I was feeding Avery and trying to decide what to make for some friends to come over for dinner. I started feeling a little bad for her eating milk for her meals 8 times a day. Poor girl has it rough. Can you imagine having only a cup of milk to drink every 3 hours? EVERY DAY! Or worse, people kibble for all your meals. I'm so glad we have such an abundance of food at our fingertips.


#21 I'm grateful for BATH TIME!

Avery loves the bath. Tonight, after a very long day of church and "pre-Thanksgiving" at Brian's parents, Avery was less than happy. After coming home we plopped her in the tub and she relaxed and put a gummy smile back on her face. It's a nice wind down for me too because she'll sit in their for a good half-hour until her feet are sufficiently pruned and the water has lost it's warmth. She hates getting out though and makes sure we know it by screaming till she's dressed, but then is a cuddly, fresh smelling, happy baby! It's bliss!



She might not look happy in these pictures, she's just playing it cool.

#18

I'm thankful for WEB MD.

Let me explain.

I woke up around 3am yesterday morning to feed the babes and had a weird backache on my right side. It was hard to feed her and started to get super painful so I handed her off to Brian to put her back to sleep. I then tried to go to sleep myself but this odd backache was getting worse. I couldn't find a comfortable position and it started to spread to my front side under my ribs. I got a little sleep here and there but the pain kept getting worse. I even took some Advil to take the edge off and no relief. By 6am it felt like someone had taken a chainsaw and sliced through my body halfway. I started to get really scared and panicked a little as I realized I couldn't handle this getting anymore intense. Well, it did! I couldn't sit up without feeling faint and dizzy and I was getting short of breath. Then the cold sweats came. I was FREEZING and soaking. It was a miserable mess. Thankfully Brian was still home and decided he needed to take the day off, and was deciding if he needed to take me to the hospital so he hopped on webmd. We concluded it must be my gall bladder and my mom and bro-in-law had both had a bout with attacks so I called up my mom to see if she had any remedies for the pain. Through my short breaths we determined I was indeed have a gall bladder attack.
It's the worst pain I think I've ever felt and yes, I did just push out a 10 1/2 pound baby. It's not like contraction pain where it builds, peaks, then goes away for a minute, it's CONSTANT, can't-get-a-breath-in pain. The scariest part was not knowing what it was. It was so painful it made me cry, which then made the breathing thing even harder. I then had a crying hungry baby that I had no idea how I was going to feed. Ugh, it was a mess. It started to lighten up around 9am enough for me to get some rest and when i woke up, it was back to the dull back ache it began as. But I'm thankful for web md that saved me from a trip to the ER. I really don't like hospitals.
After investigating a little more, I read the Gall Stones and attacks are common after having a baby. Why didn't the doctor warn me??

#17

I'm thankful my PARENTS LIVE SO CLOSE!

So 10 years ago, I would have NEVER DREAMED of living close to my parents. In fact, it was everything I could do to continue living with them at the time I'm sure. You know, bratty little teenager. But I love being only 10 minutes away from a shopping trip with my mom or handy man help from my dad. It's especially nice now that I've got a baby in tow as they love to see her. Free babysitting is a great perk!

I do have to share a funny story on the free babysitting note. Avery was about a month old and I had been hanging at my parents when we decided we needed some peanut butter kiss cookies...mmm...don't those sound delicious? We were going to run to Target to get some kisses and my dad offered to watch Avery, who was sound asleep, while we ran out. So off we went!

Target is one of those stores I go to just for fun and browse all the isles. It was especially delightful since I hadn't been out much...it felt like a whole different world. So, we were enjoying our Target run (for Kisses of course) when my mom's phone rang. It had been on speaker and all I hear is my baby SCREAMING! Then my dad said, "It's been 8 minutes and she hasn't stopped crying!!" He sounded a little panicked. I had to laugh because he had always considered himself a baby soother, but then I felt bad because it was the time of night Avery gets a little cranky and my little girl can really wail. So we wrapped up our adventure and while we were checking out, the phone rang again..."WHERE ARE YOU?? (baby still screaming in the background...)" We assured him we were on our way out and would be home in 10 minutes.

There was another call of "How much longer? and Where are you?" But the best as we were a couple minutes away the last phone call with a very distraught Grandpa saying, "Hurry! I think there's something really wrong with her!"

This actually sounds kinda sad now that I think about it. But I promise, it was funny at the time...for my mom and I anyway. We could hear Avery and knew she was okay. It was just her 'I'm overwhelmed with the world and need to be swaddled and rocked to sleep' cry. So we got home and rescued the Gramps. Kind of an anti-climactic ending but I did need to document the funny phone calls. I don't think he'll be offering to babysit anytime soon. Bummer.

#16

I'm thankful for my LITTLE CAR!

So first off, I'm thankful to have a working car, but I'm more thankful it's a Jetta right now because I parked on the street to get my hair cut last night and got pretty well blocked in. After a 22 point turn (ok, only 9) I finally escaped. Happy for my little car.

#15

I'm thankful for MONDAYS!

I may be alone in this thought, but let me explain. The weekends have become ridiculously busy as I try to cram in as much stuff as I can while I have Brian home to help with Avery. Saturday I'm trying to bring my house back from the shambles it has fallen to over the week or do a quick project...(like finishing Avery's room)...and Sunday I get so stressed about Avery screaming at church that I'm on pins and needles the whole time. So yes, I'm grateful for Mondays when it's just me and my baby girl at home. Ahhh.

Weekend Thanks

So I'm gonna have to cheat a little because yesterday I was so busy getting ready for TODAY and trying to fight off the tail end of this sick bug I've got that I was being cranky and decided I wasn't thankful for anything! bah humbug! It's days like that I really need to remember my blessings and count them up!

I do have to say I was very grateful for number #13

#13 I'm grateful for WARM APPLE CIDER!

In the midst of planning and baking and mixing and washing and cleaning and baby feeding, I had a few cups of apple cider to keep my cough at bay and the irresistible feeling of fall warmed my body and heart. Delicious!

Today I have a lot to be thankful for. But mostly...

#14 I'm thankful for BLESSINGS!

Though I'm thankful for all the blessings I receive, today I'm extra thankful for Priesthood Blessings. Avery had her first blessing today, which was very special, but it made me think about the blessings I've had over the years from my own dad. I always took for granted our start of the year Father's blessings not realizing what a big deal it is to them as well. It wasn't until I saw Brian become a nervous ball all weekend hoping he would say the right things, making sure he could be inspired by the Spirit that I saw the love fathers have for their daughters. So thanks Pops for the blessings you've given me over the years. I sure love you!

#12

I'm thankful for PRAYER!

More importantly, I'm thankful for the knowledge I have that my prayers are heard and answered by a loving Heavenly Father...not just sent out to a vast void in the universe.

Avery got her first shots today. Enough said.


I've been praying a lot today--that she'll feel better--that she'll stop screaming--that I'll figure out a way to soothe her--that she'll calm down enough to eat--that my hubby with come home soon--that I can keep my cool to not throw her out the window. (what, you never wanted to throw your kid out the window?)

It's been an interesting day and although none of my prayers were answered with the swiftness I would have liked, I knew I wasn't alone. And that's a feeling I'm grateful for.

#11

I'm thankful for MUSIC!

I love the way music can change your mood. I can hear "boogie shoes" and instantly dance my way out of a funk by its contagious funk. Carrie Underwood's the best to sing along with at the top of my lungs. And yes, every now and then I pull out the ol' Justin Timberlake as a wonderful pick-me-up. More specifically though, I'm grateful for the piano and the talent I've developed to play it. Now, with my mom as a piano teacher, I will tell you that my sister compared our piano lessons to our household chores, like learning how to do the laundry. While this might have been true, I VIVIDLY remember begging my mom to go over songs with me and hearing her correct me from the kitchen, "Try a flat!" as my lessons seemed to coincide with dinner prep.
Anyway, I just started piano lessons up again after Avery. I kept meaning to schedule them and another week would pass by, and another...It would always slip my mind until I no longer had a baby in my arms and by that time it was 10pm. Oh how I've missed my students! I'm so grateful to be able to share and teach others the joy I feel playing the piano. And selfishly, it's ridiculously rewarding watching their hard work pay off after mastering a difficult song.
My piano is my therapist. I go to it when I'm sad and sing it songs, or happy and play a little ragtime, or bored and just mess around with whatever I happen to pull up.

I think I'm rambling. Bottom line: I LOVE MUSIC!

#10

So I laid down in bed and realized I hadn't posted my thankful thought for the day...

hmm...

I'm thankful for SPARKLY PINK NAIL POLISH!

Pathetic I know, I'm tired. But I told myself last night I couldn't get sick and slammed water with honey and lemon every time I was up with Avery...(which has become more frequent than normal). I convinced my body I was going to be well this morning--and wah-la!--better. Okay, not really, but better than I was.

The nail polish I found today though was totally the remedy I needed for my cold. So tonight, I'm thankful for it.

#9

Is it really November 9th already?

I'm thankful for my HEALTH.

I often take for granted my good health as I really only get sick a couple times a year. But when I do, I really go for it with passion. I thought I've just had allergies the last few days, but I don't think I've ever had scratchy swollen glands the size of golf balls in my throat from allergies. Ahh, the misery. Hopefully I'll bounce back quick--it's no fun being sick!

#8

I'm thankful for MY HARDWORKING HUSBAND!

So, no one wants to hear me get all twitter-paited about my man...(well, let's face it, I'm not the twitter-paited type)...but I do want to share how grateful I am that he found me...and never gave up.

He works hard all day at his office job and comes home and works just as hard at his new dad job, leaving me some MUCH needed relief.

Love you babe--and now everybody knows it!

#7

I'm thankful for RECIPES!

I like to think of myself as a pretty decent cook. Let me clarify. I am VERY good at following a recipe. Without such instructions, my repertoire would consist of bean & cheese burritos or grilled cheese sandwiches. I'm just now learning the art of throwing a few ingredients together and being confident it'll turn out. I've had a couple epic failures--like this morning's eggs with some leftover tri-tip. I thought, steak and eggs, why not? It was weird. Not my best idea.

Anyway, this rainy day made me so in the mood for some warm spicy Indian food...of which I have a single recipe: Chicken Tikka Masala.

Super delicious. I would never have thought to marinate chicken in yogurt, ginger and cayenne pepper to put into a tomato based sauce with serrano peppers and cilantro? So thank you recipe wizards for my wonderfully scrumptious meal.

ps...my two new favorite recipes sites:

Mel's Kitchen Cafe & Our Best Bites

#6

#6 I'm thankful for the TEMPLE.



We had a momentous occasion in our family today. Brian's Grandma received her endowments in the temple! We are all so proud that she made this decision on her own. It was extra special as Brian went through for his Great-Great Grandpa and his brother for their Great-Grandpa. Pretty neat. A little sad I haven't got Avery on a bottle yet because I wish I could have joined them. I love the temple. This past year I've gone more frequently than ever before with my Mom and Grandma and what a sweet experience to perform ordinances that bring families together forever with my own family. We even had four generations a few times with Avery in my belly. :) I could go on for hours about how it blesses my life but I'll leave it at LOVE.

LOVE LOVE.

First Five

So I checked out the leaves on my thankful tree for these first five thankful days and here's the re-cap.

#5 I'm thankful for FAMILY!

Tonight we spent time with some family on my Dad's side including an Uncle I'd never met before and some family I rarely see in the area. My Grandpa has also recently moved to the area and at 90 years old is still kickin'. I've got a friend with a lofty goal of being alive to see 100 of his posterity and I roughly counted my Grandpa's and he EASILY has that many. He started out with 11 children--most of them had a small army themselves and he's got more great-great grandchildren on the way everyday. Pretty amazing. Not only am I thankful for extended family, but for my immediate family and in-laws. We have more fun together than really should be legal. I think I chose wisely when I picked them in heaven.

#4 I'm thankful for my WASHER & DRYER

I'm in love. The sound of those high capacity steel drums turning are music to my ears. After having Avery, I went from 3 loads of laundry a week which I easily washed and folded Saturday mornings to at LEAST a load every other day...added to the 3 on Saturdays. Before they were merely part of the scenery called in for duty once a week. NOW I jam-pack those puppies nightly with clothes covered in cheese curds from both ends of the baby girl. Delicious I know. But guess what?!? In 40 minutes, with a little oxy-clean, they magically appear as good as new! I can't help but think of living two generations ago where each piece of clothing had to be washed by hand and hung to dry. I can't even keep up with the folding! It seems the laundry goes from the clean basket back into the dirty hamper before I've had a chance to put it away where it belongs. Yes those are dirty clothes on the floor in the laundry room but I won't complain. I've got it pretty good.

#3 I'm thankful for AFTERNOON NAPS

Oh precious dreamland. I know I've been away, I'd love to visit you more often. I did manage to sneak in an accidental nap after feeding Avery. It was pure bliss. I felt so fabulous afterward I could hardly sit still. One problem though. I couldn't get to sleep that night until 12:30 and every night since has been the same story.

#2 I'm thankful for the SUNSHINE

If you recall my last post, I did gush a little bit about fall weather. Well, this first week of November has been anything but! I have nothing bad to say about it. It has been GORGEOUS! 80 degrees as a high is pretty nice. So nice that I picked Brian up from work and we got some sandwiches to enjoy at a park near his office. I love the feeling of the sun's rays on the back of my neck when there's a slight breeze. It was a perfect day, complete with my new addiction: Mr. Pickles. A friend introduced me to their sandwiches a couple weeks ago and I can't get enough. And I don't even LIKE pickles. Well, I should clarify--sandwich--as I've only had the House Combo....4 times. Try it, you'll like it. I'll come!

#1 I'm thankful for a HEALTHY BABY



When I was pregnant and before I knew if I was having a boy or girl, people would ask what I wanted. I always said, a HEALTHY baby. Well, when all 10 lbs 9 oz of her popped out, (well, got sucked out) I was pleasantly surprised by how healthy she was. I was grateful for a baby without an ounce of frailty. Well, last week we thought she had an ear infection...not my favorite day. With Brian having 9 sets of tubes in his ears before turning 10 years old I thought, here we go! Turned out to be nothing and I'm sooo glad it was only a day's worth of torture. She's back to her happy and SMILING self.

I LOVE NOVEMBER!

So, November happens to not only be the month I was born, but also Thanksgiving! Sometimes the days even combine! That's always been fun. The world is then FORCED to be thankful for me. HAH! I do love the gratitude that's in the air and the beginning of the Christmas season where people begin to think of others...Not to mention comfort food and FALL WEATHER! Ahh, crisp fresh air and crunchy leaves. Not much beats it.
Well last year my mom and I took on a hefty craft project copying pottery barn's thanksgiving calendar. Each day you write something you're grateful for and put it in the pocket and on Thanksgiving you pull them out and read them all. You can try and guess who's is who's or just bask in the splendor of all the blessings we receive.

Before pulling this monster out, I had seen a great idea online for little thankful trees. I'm always thinking about good craft projects for my activity day girls and with a little help collecting sticks, we pulled it off nicely. They write on a leaf everyday what they're grateful for and then hang it on the tree. By Thanksgiving, they're trees are bursting with colored leaves!

Looks like they had a good time huh? And they turned out rather cute!

So yes, you counted correctly, I now have two items to fill with blessings. I'm sure I can come up with enough to fill both! But THEN I read my sister's blog (which by the way is fabulous if you need a good read HERE)...and she started THIS:

So I'll be sharing my blessings here as well. Really "recording" them here as I don't plan on keeping scraps of paper leaves for years to come. Grab the button and join in!


I'll be playing catch up tomorrow because honestly, when the bambino goes to bed...I do too. G'night!

Smiles & Songs

So the days keep passing by and I rarely pull out my camera. Today I was determined to catch a smile. I couldn't ever get one in a snapshot, so I decided to put it on video mode. Ignore my voice...please. Am I the only one who thinks their own voice sounds strange when it gets played back? Anyway, enjoy!



I'm totally in love with this sleeping face...



also, what am I supposed to do with all this hair??