Thankful List 2017

Each year my Thankful List grows. This year is no exception. Really...this year's list is the longest yet. 

In no way can I put into words all that I have and all that I am thankful for, but a quick look back at this past week makes my eyes well up with happy tears and puts a smile on my face. 

So here is a very condensed version of my 2017 Thankful List.

These are my people. My greatest gifts. I am thankful for what each of them brings to my life. I am thankful for their helping hands, their laughter, their kisses, what they teach me each day. I am thankful for their love. Em says she loves me ONE HUNDRED. Aug on the other hand says FORTY NINE every time. But I will take it. 

I will also take a picture of all five of us smiling. Even Bennett Boy!

I owe my biggest thanks to my mighty GOD. Without him I would have nothing. No list.

I was reminded of his love last Sunday when we baptized Bennett. The baptism of my baby is the greatest reminder to me of my own baptism. My own promise to GOD and now it is a promise to raise my babies believing and seeking out GOD. I was reminded last Sunday that it is my duty to love and to serve. To ask "What can I do?" and to really look inside and think about what I am doing in my life that glorifies GOD. How can I do better? How can he better use me? Those are big questions and ones that I want to really pray on this next year.

We were surrounded by so many loved ones last Sunday. So many that I had to move lunch to the church hall so we would fit! But what a great problem to have, right!?! I am thankful for the love that was shown to my family, for text messages saying "What can I bring?" and just for an afternoon of togetherness. I am also thankful for the people that GOD puts in our path to help guide us. People who do love us unconditionally and who have servant hearts. Bennett's Godparents being two of them. 

I am thankful for my maternity leave. My maternity leave has not only allowed me sweet time with Bennett and to rest, but it has given me a chance to have special time with Emery and Auggie. I got the chance to be Em's guest at her school (St. A Preschool goes on my thankful list too!!) and I got to see her sing and smile at her friends and just be a big girl. This year she had one thing on her thankful list: Her baby brother, Bennett.

 And Doug and I were not shocked at all by that. These two. Their love for each other has been so heartwarming to watch. It was instant--they locked eyes in the hospital and it has just gotten stronger from there. Bennett is comforted by her presence and Em loves feeling needed. Bennett has brought out this new characteristic in Em and I hope it sticks!

I am thankful for little moments like this one. Sweet moments that I walk in on and take in (and then scramble to get my phone so I can remember it later.) I love hearing little voices back in the bedrooms, the unprompted I love yous, the imaginations. Some days it doesn't feel like it, but these moments do outweigh the pestering, the no's and the tears.

(Also--not sure why I trusted Bennett to just lay on the floor and not get trampled by the kids--thankful that didn't happen!)

I am thankful for three Thanksgivings. Three chances to see all of our loved ones (and to eat the best food.) I am thankful for being a part of a big family that has to have a big "kids" tables. No food gets eaten by my kids while at this table but the giggles and big smiles make up for that. I am thankful for my Mom who makes my favorite sweet potato casserole and for my little family who just fits around my table. They make me laugh. I am thankful that my kids get to enjoy my grandparents house just like I did when I was little. Bears and baskets can be so much fun. And I am thankful for my Grandma's noodles. If loving a big pile of noodles is wrong then I don't want to be right.  

One of the best things about Thanksgiving is knowing I can finally decorate for Christmas. (I am thankful for a husband that doesn't mind my holiday cheer and my Mariah Carey Pandora station ha!) I love my tree and this year I loved hearing Auggie exclaim "Wow...that's a BIG tree!" I love all of our nativity sets and getting to tell Emery about the Grandmothers who gave them to us. I am thankful for the soft glow at night as we cuddle on the couch. And I am thankful for needing one more stocking....

The big kids got to decorate their own tree this year. Emery already remembers where we got this ornament or that one and for that I am thankful. Their excitement this year is already so much fun. Thankful for the chance to make lasting memories with them.

I am thankful for "booper-hero" masks, my new love for coffee and the fact that I can take a shower and not feel rushed--yay for babysitter Emery! I am thankful for beautiful fall days, sleeping in on weekends while Doug gets up with the kids and the comfy leggings I live in. I am thankful for friends that I miss, sharing a bottle of wine with my hubby, and just so many other things. 

And at the very top of the thankful list is ONE whole month with this little boy. 

I don't know what we did without him. He has brought out the best in us. Emery's acts of service, Auggie's gentleness, Doug and I's teamwork. Thank you for being such a sweet one, Bennett!

So there is the short list. Thankfuls-2017.