Today I'm thankful for...

1. The blossoms on the trees. Hooray for an early spring!!

2. Lillian's drawings that I find all over the house. Like this one:


I hate throwing them away, but we're beginning to accumulate piles upon piles of sketches, drawings, paintings, doodles, and notes. We don't have enough wall space (or tape) to hang them all up, nor do we have enough horizontal space to stack them all. So Bobby came up with a genius idea. Take a picture of it and throw the original away. Making a digital copy doesn't make me feel like a bad mom, and hopefully Lillian won't notice that the original is missing. :)

3. Bobby's work ethic. He told me a little story about something that happened at the hospital yesterday. He was in the cafeteria getting his lunch when he heard over the intercom, "Doctor pacemaker something-something" (I don't remember exactly what it was)- which basically means someone is coding (dying) and a doctor needs to get there right away. He put down his tray full of food, tossed his ice cream back into the freezer and ran out of the cafeteria. On his way out he heard one of the cafeteria ladies say, "Uh, I'll put that away for you." Anyway, he got to the dying patient's room and saved her life, but that's not the point of the story. Later in the day he went back to the cafeteria to get his dinner. Chicken parm was on the menu and he asked the cafeteria lady (the same one who put his lunch away when he left in a hurry), "How hard would it be to get two patties instead of just one?" She replied, "Not hard at all." Bobby thanked her and then she told him that she's never seen anyone drop their food and rush out as fast as he did. She said her mother had died in that same hospital and if it had been her family member in trouble today she would've wanted them to come in a hurry like he did. Of course Bobby was modest about it and he said, "I'm just doing what I'm supposed to. That's my job." And she said, "Well, I don't see everyone do the same thing. I can't tell you how many times I watch other doctors just sit there with their food and say someone else will take care of it." I'm proud of Bobby for being that kind of doctor, and for being that kind of person in general. You never know who is watching you and your actions reflect so strongly as to the kind of person you are. I'm grateful that Bobby's reflection is a positive one.

Today I'm thankful for...

1. Daylight Savings. It gets light later in the morning now so the girls have been sleeping longer. Yay for me!

2. The weekend. I'm on a "only-eat-dessets-on-the-weekend" diet to limit the amount of sweets and junk I consume. Because let's be honest- eating ice cream every night is not going to help me get rid of any baby fat. I try not to go hog wild when Saturday rolls around, but it's nice to be able to eat the cookie[s] (or the ice cream or what have you) I've been restraining myself from all week.

3. Hymns. I went to a meeting at church tonight and this was the closing hymn we sung. It felt like it lightened my load.

How gentle God's commands! How kind his precepts are!
Come cast your burdens on the Lord and trust his constant care.

Beneath his watchful eye his Saints securely dwell
That hand which bears all nature up shall guard his children well.

Why should this anxious load press down your weary mind?
Hasten to your Heavenly Father's throne and sweet refreshment find.

His goodness stands approved, unchanged from day to day.
I'll drop my burden at his feet and bear a song away.

4. Boathouse Row. The view from I-76 East-bound at night is my favorite. Especially during holidays when the lights are festive. Tonight they were- you guessed it- green! I just love the artsy side of Philly.

This is what it looks like at Christmas. Just imagine it all green and that's what I saw tonight. Photo from http://www.panoramio.com/photo/18416936

5. Sleep-overs with G-ma and G-pa. The girls are sleeping in their sleeping bags and play tent tonight at grandma and grandpa's apartment. Bobby is on call. It's just me and my little man Liam.

Toady I'm thankful for...

1. Green pancakes and green chocolate milk for dinner.



2. The long wait at the pediatrician's office. Normally I hate waiting but today it was a refuge from the emotional drama I left at home. Lillian and Sydney were both having melt downs when I left. I was about to reschedule and stay home to weather the storm but Grandma told me to go as she bravely dealt with the onslaught of preschooler screaming and toddler tears. She deserves a big gold star today. Thankfully Lillian was her normal cheerful self when I got back and Sydney went down for a nap ten minutes later. As for Liam, he weighed in at 15 lbs, 13 oz and 25 inches long. Big boy!

3. iPad, iPod...iLike! Bobby has been waiting for the new iPad and today he got what he waited for. He plans on using it mainly for his medical readings; instead of hauling around the big books and printing off thousands of papers worth of journal readings he can just download electronic copies and read them and take notes directly on the iPad. He can also do dictations and do some pretty cool photo editing. He felt bad buying it for himself without getting something for me, so being the good wife that I am I let him feel guilty and gave him permission to buy me an iPod Nano. It's so cute and so little and I can't wait to use it the next time I work out!

4. Hangman. It's become Lillian's new favorite game and I love playing it with her.

5. Ibuprofen. Both Sydney and Liam came down with fevers today. Sydney's could be from her teeth coming and and Liam's from his vaccines? But I think they just both have a bug. I hope it passes quickly.

Today I'm thankful for...

1. 4 months. Liam is a third of a year old! We'll see how much the little chunker has grown when we weigh him in at his well visit tomorrow. These days he's all smiles and giggles and he squeals when we find his extra-ticklish spot on his back. He loves to kick his legs and grab things. He's getting to know his reflection in the mirror and he tries to mimic our baby talk. He has the biggest, cutest fat rolls on his legs that I just have to squeeze every time I change his diaper. He rolled over once for Grandma, but he hasn't shown off this new talent to anyone else yet. He drools, he chews his fingers and he sucks his thumb when no one is looking. Overall he's a cute little guy and we love having him around. ;)

2. Gelato. My sister came over tonight and brought some delicious gelato to share. She also brought beautiful gifts from India- bracelets for the girls and a shawl, notecards, and a shirt for me. I'm so glad she came over and hung out for a little bit. She's been checking in on me lately and I really appreciate it.

3. TurboTax! My mom had a play date with the girls so I could crunch some numbers and get our taxes done. I don't know how I would do it without TurboTax- and our return is looking good this year! :)

Today I'm thankful for...

1. No training wheels. Lillian has been asking for weeks to take the training wheels off her bike. Today was finally the big day! Bobby took Lillian for a ride around the block without her training wheels. She's starting to get the hang of it- as long as she remembers to keep pedaling! I'm so proud of her!

2. Four new teeth. While Sydney and I were playing dentist I discovered that all four of her 2-year molars are coming in! That explains why she's been more clingy, temperamental, and dependent on her ba-boo the past few days. I thought it was just the terrible two's, but it must be her new teeth (at least I'll keep telling myself that to make me feel like there's an end in sight...haha).

3. 80 degrees. That's how warm it was today. In the middle of March. Crazy. This time last year there were still piles of snow all over the place. We went to the zoo this afternoon, grilled hamburgers for dinner and watched the sunset on our little patch of grass that we like to call a front yard. I could get used to this kind of March weather.

4. Memories. My father-in-law passed away last week and we attended his funeral this past weekend. I've been thinking about him a lot. It makes me sad to know that my children will not grow up with one of their grandpas. And it makes me sad to know that my husband doesn't have a father he can talk to anymore. However, I'm very grateful for the memories we have and I hope we can use them to help our children remember him. Things like this- how he liked his watermelon ice cold and his grapes frozen in the freezer; he always brought back soap and lotion samples from the hotels on his business trips; traveling to England, India, Australia, Germany, PEI- he was always going somewhere; books- LOTS of books; silver spoons, little toast holders, sovereign cases, antique bags and suitcases that he would collect during his travels; how he has his mouth open in every picture we have of him because he was always in the middle of saying something; the beach- he loved the beach and horseshoe crabs and the little purple and white shells called wampum; how he would take the time after Thanksgiving dinner to pick through the turkey to get all the good meat out so nothing would go to waste; the heart-felt email he sent to Bobby when he didn't match into residency; how he always told me that he prayed for me my children by name every night; the way he shared his raspberries and strawberries with Sydney and that's how he gained her trust; the photo at Christmas of three generations of Williams- William Dennis (grandpa), William Robert (father), and William Thomas (son); how he came to Liam's baby blessing a few weeks ago even though he was really sick and had to leave right after; the picture that I found in his room the night before he passed away that was taped to his mirror- it was a drawing that Sydney and Lillian had made for him and he had attached two photos of the girls to it....all these little thoughts and memories make up who he was. And there are so many more. I appreciate the person he was, especially for raising his son who became my husband and father of our children.

5. Picking up where I left off. The past few weeks have thrown us off our regular schedule. I'm grateful that we can now focus on getting things back together and getting into a good routine again.