Month of Gratitude: Day 29

I'm thankful for our families. We live close to almost everyone, with a few exceptions (who we miss dearly). We're fortunate to have these people in our lives, and I am so grateful that our children are close to their grandparents and even great grandparents and many uncles and aunts and a handful of cousins. This time of year becomes a bit hectic trying to figure out the logistics, but it's such a blessing.

Month of Gratitude: Day 28

I'm thankful for the season of gift giving. I love Christmas. I love celebrating Jesus and spending time with family. I also love giving gifts (it probably helps that my love language is gifts, something my husband neither shares nor really understands). I love homemade gifts, but I also like to shop. And I love a good deal, which is why I stalk Amazon's lightening deals and scour ads, because let's be honest, I'm on a tight budget here and as much as I'd like to spend hundreds of dollars on hundreds of people, that's not going to happen. I know that in some circles this is an unpopular opinion, that conspiracies swirl about the evil plans of Hallmark and WalMart manipulating us to overspend and commercializing gluttony. I get that. But, on the other hand, I think it's a really nice opportunity to give a gift that tells someone you care about them and you think they would enjoy or appreciate this thing you're giving them.

Month of Gratitude: Day 27

In light of a horrendous loss last night by our beloved Bruins (and more heartbreak from the Chargers today) I thought it would be nice to remember all the reasons I do love that place. Also, Denver was 27 degrees yesterday while we were basking in 80 degrees.

I am thankful for UCLA!

Who wouldn't love this gorgeous campus?

As I look back at my senior year of high school and college years, it is so clear to me that God had a plan for my life that included UCLA. I didn't want to go there. I didn't even really intentionally apply there. I was applying to Berkeley and since the UC application is the same for all schools, I checked the UCLA box on a whim. I wanted to go to Boston University, and my parents were somewhat against that due to the outrageous cost. I was heartbroken at the time, but now I'm glad.

I made lifelong friends at UCLA, I learned how to live alongside of people very different than me, I loved my classes (I majored in Sociology) and within a few weeks of arriving on campus, I met the man I would eventually marry. I grew so much as a person.

I am just so thankful for the years I had there, for all of the experiences, good and bad. And in 16-18 years, I'm hoping my children will be Bruins, too!

Month of Gratitude: Day 26

I'm thankful for leftovers. My baby weight, which is still clinging on for dear life six months later, is happy, too, because those leftovers mean it will be sticking around a little longer. But dang, this pie is good.

Month of Gratitude.

I've been once again slacking on the blogging, but thinking about my blessings.

November 22:
So thankful not to be one of the 42.5 million Americans travelling for Thanksgiving. We only traveled about 15 miles, and the production and schlepping  accompanying that trek was more than enough!

November 23:
I'm thankful for a holiday with healthy children. Other thank Avery working on teeth  number 3, 4, and 5, both kids were pretty good. Carter always seemed to get sick for a holiday and would be hacking or dripping snot for one of the few times our extended family got to see him. He had a cold his first Thanksgiving and several holidays after and pneumonia last Christmas. I held my breathe as the days ticked by watching closely for the first sign of a sniffle, but they made it through!

November 24:
On a day devoted to giving thanks, we had so much to be thankful for. We spent a great day with family and ate too much delicious food and even more desserts.

November 25:
I'm thankful my children and I survived Black Friday. Carter, Avery, and I went to Target, Toys R Us, Cost Plus World Market, and various stores throughout the mall, including an absolutely insane Bath and Body Works. Whew.

Six Months of Avery

Dear Avery,

Today, you are six months old. Again, I can’t believe it. As I was thinking about this letter, I could not believe I would be writing your six month letter, I kept thinking my math had to be wrong. Somehow we’ve made it through half of your first year of life.

This month you have continued to show us more of your personality. You are LOUD. Most of the time you are happy and content, but over the past few weeks you have been vocalizing your displeasure very emphatically. You do not like to be ignored (or think you’re being ignored), you do not like to sit still, and you do not like it when your food is gone.

You have much more likes than dislikes, though. You adore your brother. He gets more laughs out of you than anyone else. You like to just watch him and listen to him. You’re probably laughing wondering how one person could have so much energy, and we wonder that, too. You are rolling so fast we have had a few instances where we actually could not keep up with you. We’re slowly succumbing to the reality that we just can’t leave you anywhere ever. Yesterday we moved the coffee table, rearranged the pillows to cover up a few edges, and let you roll around with a few toys. You have never been happier! You rolled from one end of the room to the other, throwing blocks and then recapturing them, for a solid hour. You also love food. I suspected that you were ready for food for a few weeks before we really started solids, and I could not have been more correct. You get so excited when you see the spoon. You love cereal, you like sweet potatoes and pears, and you are warming up to apples. Our biggest battle feeding you is to maintain control of the spoon and trying not to let you grab it and wrestle it in your mouth as soon as possible.

You have two teeth now. They broke through last week, and even though they’re not quite visible yet, we feel them when you chomp on our fingers. You’re sleeping better, minus a little rough patch last week. We spent two nights in a row up with you at hours when the whole world should be sleeping. It was like having a newborn all over again. I’m hoping it was those teeth and not a new trend. A few nights you’ve slept from your late night bottle to about 6am, which is glorious. We’re hoping for more of that.

I made one big change to our routine this month. Previously, I had been feeding you and then getting you ready for bed, but that was just too much for you. I think you were getting too tired and then you wouldn’t sleep, and since we were putting you down in your room with your brother, his wild antics were waking you up even more. We started getting you ready for bed and then feeding you and it’s made a huge difference. Now you fall asleep in my arms while I feed you. Those moments at the end of the day are some of my favorite. I love holding your sweet, cuddly, pajama-clad body while you drift off. It’s really the only time you’ll snuggle now, so I cherish those moments and draw it out a few extra minutes before I put you down. I will remember those moments forever.

So much love,

Mama

Month of Gratitude: Day 21

Today my precious baby girl is six months old. I am so very thankful for the blessing she is to our life and how perfectly she completes our family, just the right combination of happy and sweet with enough spunk to hold her own around here. I am eternally grateful that God had different plans than ours for our family!

Month of Gratitude: Day 20

I'm thankful for garage sale finds! Growing up with my mother, garage sales were truly a way of life. No one does garage sales like she does. It seems, for better or worse, I've inherited a piece of that gene. One of my favorite things to do is go garage sale-ing with Carter. This has really only started since Avery was born. Usually I'll wake up with him, feed Avery, and when she goes down for a nap we go out on our adventure. Many Saturday mornings he wakes up saying "Mama, I wanna go on a abenture!" Sometimes we stop for breakfast, it is such precious time with him. Hearing his little voice sing "garage sales, where aaaare yoooou?" melts my heart!

This Saturday was quite successful. For less than $50 I brought home:

This Baby Eintstein play mat in brand new condition:
This tool box, complete with a not pictured work bench:

This book (and another one based on The Wild), for a quarter each!



A stroller similar to this one (it needs a little love, but for $15 I couldn't pass it up!):

Plus a few platters, more books, and clothes. Most importantly, I had a fun morning with my son.  I wish I had a picture of his face when he saw that tool bench. His eyes lit up! All morning he kept talking about the really nice lady with the tools and going on and on about how that was really so lucky. I cherish these little Carter and Mama dates.

Month of Gratitude. Many days.

I'm still slacking. This week was all kinds of busy. So here's a compilation of gratitude:


Day 16:
I'm thankful for other people being willing to be vulnerable and put their lives out in the open, even the hard parts. I think blogging has done a lot for us in that realm and hopefully helped us all realize that no one is perfect and we've all got our own junk in the proverbial trunk.

Day 17:
I'm thankful for easy dinner options. Sort of lame, I know. But I was able to microwave Gorgonzola chicken with baked sweet potatoes and a vegetable medley tonight for dinner thanks to Trader Joes and my microwave. If I had to spend 4 hours a day cooking, I don't know, stew over sticks and hot rocks, I wouldn't last very long.

Day 18:
I am so thankful for Fridays at home. I went back a little earlier than I would have like after I had Avery. It made sense for everyone, and now I get to take off Fridays for a while and use my remaining maternity benefits. It is so fantastic to have that day with just her and I, something really special, especially with a second baby. This week was not so pleasant, little miss is still working on her bottom front teeth and protesting naps, but I still enjoyed the day with her.

Day 19:
This is so strange to post, and I'm sure someday my son will hate me for this, but I'm thankful Carter actually pooped in the potty tonight. This is a big step for him, and it gives me hope that someday I won't be changing 25 diapers a day. Ah, the life of a mother with young children.

Month of Gratitude: Day 15

I didn't get around to posting last night. It was one of those days at work that I was glad when it was over, and then the night wasn't so fantastic either. In conclusion, I'm thankful for a new day. That's the beauty and curse of life, tomorrow is always a new day.