Today I'm thankful for...

1. Sleepy "I love you's".  The kiddies and I had a late night last night.  I tried to get them to bed early tonight, and all three of them fell asleep almost instantly.  After I finished singing the bedtime songs I laid Liam in his crib and he was totally zonked out.  He didn't even roll over when I put him down.  Then I went to kiss the girls good night and say, "I love you."  On most nights they are still wide awake and they ask me several times what we're going to do the next day or they tell me all the things they want to do and who they want to play with, then they ask if I can lay in bed with them.  Not tonight.  Both of them were already half asleep and they didn't even open their eyes when I kissed them.  What was so tender was that each of them responded with, "I love you too," in a half-awake, half-asleep mumble whisper.  It made Mommy's heart melt. :)

2. The law of gravity.  Liam has discovered that if he drops something it will hit the ground.  He likes to take objects (spoons, cups, stuffed animals, ba-boos, food, anything really) and drop them over the side of the high chair, crib, couch-- any elevated surface-- and watch it fall.  Then he will peek over the edge, point to said dropped item, raise his eyebrows and open his eyes big and wide and say, "Uh-ohhh!" until someone picks it up and gives it back to him so he can do it all over again.  It's fun to do just to hear him say "uh-ohhh" over and over.

3. Flat Stanley.  Lillian read about Flat Stanley in her kindergarten class.  She made her own Flat Stanley and shipped him off across the country to her Great Grandma.  He was only gone a week, but every day she exclaimed how much she missed Flat Stanley and she couldn't wait for him to come back.  She wanted to make a "welcome home" banner for when he returned.  ;)  We didn't actually make the banner, but he had a warm welcoming when he arrived home safe and sound.  Great Gma showed Flat Stanley a great time around town, at her work, and he even got to play with Great Gpa and some cousins.  She sent pictures of his adventures and got Lillian a cool sticker.  We're so thankful that Great Gma took the time to host Flat Stanley!

4. My memorabilia pack rat tendencies.  I used to save every birthday card I ever got.  I would even deflate the mylar birthday balloon from my mom each year to save in my "memory box."  I'm not quite that bad anymore, but I still save meaningful notes and cards from the people I love.  No, they are not in a cute scrapbook or other crafty form of presentation.  Rather, they are shoved in a manila envelope and stacked in a closet.  Sydney found one of the envelopes today and wanted to see what was inside.  She had trouble opening the clasp, and by the time I was able to help her open it she had forgotten about it, but I decided to peek inside anyway.  I spent the next few minutes totally engulfed in reading cards and notes from past birthdays, anniversaries, Mother's Days, and just random notes of love and support.  Most of them were from Bobby.  It was a nice reminder to read the tender things he had written over the past few years, and to see how our relationship has developed.  He often jokes that he doesn't know how to be romantic anymore because he's always too stressed and sleep deprived.  We definitely aren't in the "honeymoon" stage of our marriage anymore (it'll be 8 years in a few weeks!!), and having kids often gets in the way of romantic moments, but he's still my best friend and a great guy and I'm glad that I have him to go through life with.  And if he ever really forgets how to be romantic, I can always whip out my memory box full of old cards to remind him of all the mushy romantic things he used to say. ;)

5. Sydney's crown.  It says "I am a child of God."  She got it in her Sunbeams class at church but she didn't have time to color it, so she finished coloring it at home.  I stapled it together and she wore it proudly all morning!

6. Gma and Gpa's surprise visit!  The girls put on a pop star show for them, Liam showed off his walking moves, and we all got to send Lillian off at the bus stop.  It was a fun morning with them!

7. Cupcakes with Auntie Audrey!  Yes, she and Lillian have red dots on their foreheads.  No, they are not sniper marks.  They are bindis...Lillian wanted to be a princess from India.

 

8. Silly faces.  Uncle Nathan and Aunt Kate had our family for Secret Santa this year.  They got us this cool game called About Face.  There are different cards of pictures of household items, natural things and other random stuff for hair, eyes, nose and mouth.  Lilly and I had a lot of fun putting them together to make some goofy faces! 

"Christmas Face"

"Shell Face"

9. The face Liam makes when you tell him, "Say cheese!"

Lots of Little Joys

Today I'm thankful for...

1. Rocking Liam to sleep.  Normally Liam likes to be held upright so he can lay his little head on my shoulder.  But the past two nights he has let me hold him like a little baby (not that he isn't still a baby, cuz he still is and he'll always by my baby no matter how big he gets).  It's been sweet to hold him and rock him and watch him fall asleep.  I should probably be letting him learn how to fall asleep on his own in his crib, but I'm a sucker and I like to hold him to help him fall asleep when he's having a hard time and wailing his eyeballs out.  I won't be able to hold him forever, so I'm going to take advantage of it and enjoy it while I can.

2. Orion's belt.  It was shining brightly above our house the other night when Bobby and I were bringing the kids inside.  We took a moment to point it out to the girls, and helped them find the rest of the hunter's constellation.  I'm grateful to my dad for taking me out many a-nights to go stargazing and for teaching me where to locate Orion's belt.  Every time I see it in the night sky it reminds me of him.  And of star-filled skies twinkling over farm fields and cow pastures.

3. Musical talent.  No, not mine.  I dare say I have very limited (if that, even) musical abilities.  I'm just thankful for those who do because I am very much enjoying myself at this moment, sitting on my couch and listening to my Mormon Tabernacle Choir channel on Pandora.  It's a good mix of the MoTab singing and hymns played on guitar and piano.  There's even some Enya, Josh Groban, and Jim Brickman thrown in there, too.  It really invites the Spirit.

4. My big brown boots.  They are as high as the entire length of Sydney's legs, but somehow she manages to get them on and tromp around the house in them.  Today she was pretending she was a pop star putting on a show.  She kept looking at her paper to see what she had to sing.  I tried to get her to strike a pop star pose, but she was a little camera shy.

 

5. Three afternoons.  I try to read scriptures with the kids every night.  We have scripture books with lots of pictures and very simplified text.  Tonight we read from the Old Testament stories about Jonah.  When I got to the part about Jonah being swallowed by the big fish, I read, "Jonah stayed in the big fish for three days and three nights!"  Lillian piped in and said, "And three afternoons!  Three days, three afternoons, and three nights!"  She is very detail-oriented...just like her mama. :)

6. Root beer bubbles.  I splurged for New Year's Eve and bought fixins' for root beer floats.  We still have some Root beer left over in the fridge, so Sydney and I busted it out for lunch yesterday.  After Sydney took her first sip she smiled and said, "It's so bubbly in my mouth!"  Yay for soda bubblies!

7. Snow.  We got a few inches of white stuff a couple weeks ago.  Lillian and Sydney were so excited to go outside and play in it.  Lillian wanted to make snow angels, build a snowman, and have a snowball fight.  Sydney just wanted to eat the snow.  Like every good mom does, I warned her about the yellow snow.  ;)  Liam tried to figure out what all the white stuff was that was falling from the sky.  The only view of snow he got last year was from a small opening under blankets in his car seat, and that snow was all crunchy and icy anyway- not big and fluffy like these flakes.  It was fun to see the kids have fun playing, and Bobby brought the girls across the street to sled down the neighbor's little hill.  I was inside feeding Liam lunch, but I could still hear Lillian squealing with delight every time she went down the hill.

 

 

8. Gma and Gpa!!

Today I'm thankful for...

1. Olive Garden lunch with my sister.  Soup and salad- yum!  Sydney and Liam joined us.  Audrey rocked Liam to sleep in his car seat like a pro-mama and Sydney ate all the "crunchies" (aka croutons) out of the salad.  We were going to get a giant piece of Italian chocolate cake for dessert but the service was a little slow so we went next door to Acme and bought Haagen Dazs and Ben & Jerry's ice cream instead.  I'm grateful for my sister who gets me out of the house for some good sister-sister time (even when the little ones tag along, too).

2. The Book Fair at Lilly's school!  I remember when the book fair came to my elementary school.  I LOVED it!  We went to scope it out tonight and everything was buy one get one free!  Lil and Syd each picked 2 books (a buy book and a free book), but it all ended up being free for us because Grandpa was with us and he said Grandma gave him Book Fair money. ;-)  Thanks, Gma and Gpa! The girls read their new books on the way home.

3. Waitress Lillian.  Here she is listing off the 127 specials at her little restaurant to Sydney who is a most wonderful customer.  They decorated the little white table with all the roses that Grandpa brought all the way from his garden in Maryland.  You can only sort of see it, but Lillian is wearing a little pink apron and holding a pad of paper under her arm to take Sydney's order.  And yes, that is a plastic cake sitting on the table.  That was for dessert. :-)

4. Cross-generational male bonding time.  Grandpa spent the evening with us- picnic dinner on the floor (Daddy is on call), Book Fair, stopping to visit Daddy at the hospital, pj's and brushing teeth back at home, and bedtime.  Most of the time he had Liam in his arms, either entertaining him or rocking him to sleep.  My dad calls him "Willem" or "man child"- "Let me hold that man child," he'll say. :)  It always makes me laugh a little. 

5. Cards from Grandma.  Lillian and Sydney both got mail from Grandma yesterday.  They ripped open their cards and I read the nice little personalized note she wrote to each of them.  I know she misses them, and I know we miss her, too.  

Today I'm thankful for...

1. Thriftiness.  That has been the topic for sacrament talks at church this month, as well as the lesson that Bishop taught today.  I'm thankful for the lessons I've learned from my parents on how to save and how to be disciplined in my spending.  I remember grocery shopping with my mom when I was little and complaining about how it would take her forever to buy stuff because she had to compare prices on everything.  Now it's payback time because I do the same thing, and Lillian and Sydney tell me to hurry up!  I'm grateful for the pattern my mom set for me and for the habits she helped me develop.  Another part of thriftiness is learning how to be satisfied with what we have and not lusting after things that are beyond our means.  It's easy to get caught in the trap of always wanting more than what we have.  But this is indeed a trap- and a nasty one at that.  It can turn into envy, dissatisfaction, resentment, anger, and ingratitude- all of which are things that make you feel down right horrible inside.  For me, feeling gratitude is synonymous with feeling joy.  Hence the blog.  :) 

2. Bobby's battle to stay awake.  He was so tired that he started falling asleep while we were sitting outside with friends after dinner.  When we came inside he played the Snail Pace Race with the girls, then he laid on the floor with Sydney to read the book she picked for story time- "Buenas Noches Luna" (Good Night Moon).  Not ten seconds after he finished reading the book, he fell asleep sprawled out on the floor.  Good thing Sydney managed to squirm her way out from under his arm before he went in a deep sleep or she would've been trapped under him!  I didn't have the heart to wake him up for family prayer or potty-before-bed time, so I just let him lay there.  He woke up when Sydney got out of bed to go to the bathroom again (like she does every night) and then he helped her get back to bed.  He crawled into her bed with her and now he's fast asleep again.  Poor guy.  Tomorrow is the last day of this wretched rotation.  We're going to have a party when he gets home.  And we're going to spend the month of May catching up on sleep.

3. Allergy eye drops.  My eyes have been killing me.  I think it's all the tree pollen in the air.  Thank goodness for the relief from my generic brand drops!

SATURDAY GRATITUDE:
1. Signing our four year lease!  Moving day will be some time in late June!  My dad came with me to do a drive by to see the house and to drop off the lease.  He liked the neighborhood and the park near by (and we like it too!!).  I think we'll be very happy here!

2. Chilly picnics at the park.  After seeing the house we went to the nearby park for a picnic.  It was a little cold, but we stayed warm with our hats and coats and had a good time.  Sydney and Lillian took turns spinning each other on the carousel, and Sydney had fun getting dizzy.  Then Lillian taught Grandpa how to give Sydney under-doggies on the swing.  Later we set up Lil's tee and watched her hit homeruns around the playground.

3. The Mother's Day card from my parents that I got in the mail this week.  First of all, kudos to my mom for sending it so early.  Usually my Aunt Tricia is the first one to send stuff way early, but my mom beat her by weeks this time. :)  Anyways, inside the card my mom wrote: "Sweet, Beautiful Amanda- You make your mother proud.  Hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day."  My dad wrote: "Love you, Da.  And love all the little darlings who call you 'Mommy.'"  They sure know how to make me feel good.  :)

4. Lillian and Sydney's excitement to get dressed up for a fancy party.  My girls are so great.  After our busy morning and afternoon yesterday we still had a wedding reception to go to at church.  When I told them it was a fun, fancy party they were immediately on board with the plans to get dressed up and go.  Despite our long day (and without Daddy who was on call), they were wonderful and we had a great time being there with friends.

5. Lillian's empathy.  This girl amazes me with her ability to be in tune with how others are feeling.  When we were leaving the wedding reception last night Lillian all of a sudden gave me a big hug and said, "Mommy, I'm sorry Daddy is on call, but I'm so glad to help!"  I just held her in that hug for a bit longer and told her how thankful I am to have her and how she keeps me company and helps me feel better when Daddy isn't around.  She truly is a good helper and she has such a good heart.

FRIDAY GRATITUTE
1. Dunkin' Donuts coupon for 2 donuts for 99 cents.  I took the girls after we picked up Lillian from preschool.  Sydney got pink with no sprinkles and Lillian got pink with sprinkles.  The nice man behind the counter gave them some extra Munchkins like he always does.  I loved the way Sydney ate her donut- she took bites out of the top so she got all the pink frosting off first!   I'm glad simple things like this make them so happy. :)

2. Income Based Repayment (IBR) for my federal loans.  I made some phones calls to change the payment plans on my loans in order to try to save some money.  IBR is a wonderful thing because it significantly reduced our monthly payments.  AND the government will continue to pay the interest on my subsidized loans for the next three years.  How wonderful!

3. Star gazing in Laurel Hill Cemetery.  It was part of science festival week in Philly.  After home-made pizza dinner with my dad at his apartment (now it's 'Grandpa's Apartment' because Grandma is in Chicago), we went to the cemetery down the street to meet up with some amateur astronomers and observe the night sky.  There was hot chocolate and Philly soft pretzels to greet us at the entrance and a nice little crowd of people when we got there.  We set up our blanket between obelisks and tomb stones and took some peeks at the moon through a few telescopes.  Lillian said the moon looked white with spots on it and Sydney said she saw a rainbow (probably a reflection of light off the mirrors inside the telescope).  Sydney wanted to see more rainbows.  :)  Grandpa got out his night sky app and looked at constellations.  Auntie Audrey was there too, and even Daddy was able to come.  It was fun to be out in the cemetery at night and to enjoy some [relatively] peace and quiet amid the busyness of the city.  Looking up always puts our life here on earth into perspective.

4. Big Sister Sydney.  She just loves taking care of her little brother.  She had her first babysitting job this week.  I asked her to watch Liam downstairs while I took a shower.  She took her job very seriously and she came upstairs twice to tell me that Liam was NOT crying.  :)  She likes to read him stories, too.  They're going to be great friends, I can just tell!

Today I'm thankful for...

1. Dessert with Grandpa. My dad stopped by after dinner to share ice cream cones with the girls and to bounce a smiling, drooling Liam on his knee. Lillian played catch with him, and Sydney rubbed the scruff on his chin. We're all excited about our big plans with Grandpa this weekend- pizza dinner at his apartment and star gazing tomorrow night, then t-ball and picnic at the park on Saturday! We will be making more plans to take advantage of Gpa's time in Philly.

2. Sweetheart. Sydney's favorite new word is "sweetheart". She likes to carry one of my purses around on her shoulder and talk to her imaginary children. She'll say, "Come on, sweetheart!" Or she will walk over to me, give me a kiss on the forehead and say, "Bye-bye sweetheart! I going to work!" Then she'll give me a little wave. So cute!

3. T-ball. Lillian started t-ball last Saturday. She got a purple team shirt and a matching purple hat. She's #9, just like her mama was! Thanks to Uncle Alan and Aunt Aimee, she's had her own glove for almost a year. I think I was more excited about t-ball last week than Lilly was. When we got to the ball field she got a little overwhelmed by all the people and the noise. Much to my disappointment she refused to participate. So while she sat on the sidelines with Liam, Syd and I played in the infield (on the pitcher's mound to be exact) while t-ball sluggers took the bat to the ball (and to the tee). Lilly has been wearing her jersey and hat around the house this week so I hope she will be more willing to participate this Saturday. I think she just needs to warm up to the crowd and get over her shyness. Maybe having Grandpa (another leftie!!) with her this week will help her.


4. Liam's smile! And his cute outfit that he wore to church on Sunday. Oh my, he looked adorable!



5. Playing in the dirt. This was earlier this week before the chilly, rainy weather came.


6. Bobby's schedule next year. I'm not really grateful for what his schedule entails, but I am thankful to know where he will be at what times. Last night the chief resident told Bobby that he was scheduled to be in Baltimore on a trauma ortho rotation for three months from April-June. Then he will be in Delaware from July-September. That's six consecutive months away. Ugh. However, today, it looks like the plan has changed so that Bobby will only have to do 6 weeks in Baltimore. That's certainly better than the previous plan. And I must add that I requested his Baltimore rotation to be in the spring time- when the weather is nice and I'm usually feeling the best, and it's not during any major holidays or birthdays. The summer rotation in Delaware is written into his contract and there's no changing that. Besides, being able to be in Delaware near family is a whole 'nother blessing in itself. I know his schedule is going to be tough next year- it's what we signed up for when we started in this together. He has made me a part of every decision he has made, and I fully support his efforts. It still stinks that it requires him to be away so much, though. Last night I started feeling really irritated and upset about it. Then I realized that my agitation was just covering up my fears- I'm afraid of not being able to handle things while Bobby is away, of not being a good mom to my kids because I'm too stressed out and overwhelmed, of feeling lonely, of feeling depressed, of becoming bitter and resentful.  I know that in the end everything will be ok. I'm just grateful that we're still in Philly where we have lots of supportive friends and are close to family. I can't imagine how much harder this would be if we were in a totally new city with people we didn't know. Having been here five years already, we've been able to forge some strong and lasting relationships that I know will carry us (me particularly) through the next hard four years. So here's to staying positive and optimistic- and for enjoying the journey even when it's tough.

Today I'm thankful for...

1. Dates with Grandma. Lillian had a special date with Grandma after school on Tuesday. They went to the car wash together, then they walked to the local Dunkin' Donuts to get donut holes for dessert, then they topped it off with a visit to the playground by Grandma's apartment. Today was Sydney's turn. I dropped her off with Grandma on my way to get Lillian from school so they could spend a few hours together before dinner time. They went to the same playground and swung on the swings "next to a baby" (according to Sydney) and went down the slide "a hundred times" (according to Grandma). :) They also went to the grocery store to buy pizza for dinner and an ice cream cake for dessert. Sydney even helped carry the pizza in the store for Grandma. But on the way to the store they made a special stop to visit the horsies at Chamounix Stable. Grandma said that as soon as she started driving across Strawberry Mansion Bridge (which is on the way to the horses) Sydney started talking about the horsies so they just had to stop. I had my own date with Grandma last week when she took my sister Audrey and me to the salon school to get spa pedicures and manicures. Now, not only are we bonded by our sister-mother-daughter relationships, but also by the hot pink nail polish that adorns our toe nails!! One-on-one time with Grandma/Mom is precious and fun. She leaves for Chicago on Sunday to spend a few months with my brother, his wife, and my adorable little 3-month old niece Anna. I will miss my mom a lot- especially being able to see her all the time and watching her play with my kids- but I'm so glad that she'll get to build the same relationship with Anna. Relationships are the most important thing we have in life.

2. Surprise parties- even if it's a farewell party. Since Grandma is leaving us soon, Lillian decided to have a surprise farewell party for her. While she was on her date with Sydney we decorated the house with balloons and streamers. Lillian made a big sign on the door that says "We love you Gma and Gpa. Love, Lillian, Sydney, Liam, Mom and Dad." She also made name tags to mark where everyone was sitting for dinner. Keeping with tradition when Daddy is on call, we picnicked on the floor. Only tonight was a fancy picnic- no paper plates and plastic utensils at any party Lilly is in charge of! Everyone (even Lil and Syd!) used "glass plates" and glass cups. Lillian lined up all the plates, put folded napkins on top of each one, carefully arranged the seating assignments, and placed forks and glasses for everyone. It was quite a fancy picnic. The service was great, too. Sydney served second pizza helpings for everyone and Lillian carried the salad bowl from the table to our picnic blanket so we wouldn't have to get up to get it. The after-party festivities involved bath time, taking a walk with Grandpa and Liam, eating ice cream cake, feeding old stale alphabet cereal to the birds in the front yard (Sydney helped herself to a few handfuls as well), book time with Grandma and Grandpa, searching under the bed with a flashlight for missing, fallen stuffed animals like Sydney's "chickmunk" (aka chipmunk) and Lillian's Beany Baby Easter Egg Bear, songs in bed, and finally falling asleep. Phew what an evening! Grandpa was so pooped out that he fell asleep sitting on the couch. It was a wonderful last hooplah before Grandma leaves Philly. We will miss her lots!!

3. Raffi. He's our new best friend. He has been our special lunch time guest all week long. Sydney has her peanut butter and Nutella sandwich and she requests to watch Raffi while she eats. Lillian wants to watch Raffi on the way to school. When Liam gets to watch he smiles and coos and kicks his legs around. Gosh, I love Raffi. I loved him when I was a kid and I love him still. He's good, pure, kid entertainment. No goofy outfits, no crazy act- just a good guy with his guitar, some great songs, and some cheesy jokes. What more does a kid need? For your watching/listening pleasure (and to take you back to your childhood days):