Oh so thankful

I have so much to be thankful for this year.  It is true what people say that holidays take on a whole new meaning after you have children.  I have always loved Thanksgiving...a holiday full of family, happiness, togetherness, and thanks.  I don't think we really recognize the need for thanksGIVING in our daily lives.  But wow.  It was an even better holiday with young Kirby at my side.  I can't imagine how much better it will get each year as he grows older and more understanding of the holiday itself.  The only thing I'm not so thankful for this Thanksgiving is that we had to leave Keith behind when we traveled to Nashville.  We missed you!  Thank you for taking one for the team so our families could have Kirby with them and so that I was not alone during the holiday week while you were busy.
I waited too late to get on board with the 30 days of thankful.  I'll do that next year!  For this year, here are a few of my thankfuls.

+ Faith in an all-merciful and loving God.

+ A loving, supportive, handsome, funny, understanding, driven, intelligent husband (and father).  I could go on and on about this one!  What a gift he is in my life.

+ The answer to many prayers - my sweet Kirby.  I'm thankful for his precious smile, his contagious laugh, his sweet little "squeezes" around my neck, the sound of his little hands slapping on the hardwood as he crawls, and his sweet breath I can hear on the monitor while he sleeps. 

+ My parents.  I am thankful for a mother who has become my best friend and who has provided me an amazing example of altruistic and unconditional motherly love.  I pray that I am half the mother she was to my brother and me.  I am thankful for a father who supported me in all my endeavors and taught me to never give up and to "keep my chin up".

+ My brother.  WOW.  I must admit that I never thought as a little girl after he had tickled me till I cried or tattled on me or hit me in the head with a golf ball (yeah!  that happened) that I would feel the great amount of love I have for my brother as I do now.  If ever I could find a silver lining for my father's illness a few years ago, it would be the connection I made with my brother during our worry, fear, and need for support of one another and for our mother.  He has become a friend, not just a brother. 

+ Jacque. I used to always want a sister.  Well, that wasn't in the cards until God crossed the path of my brother and the most amazing sister-in-law a girl could ask for!  I don't think of her as an in-law.  She truly has become a sister to me.  She has set an incredible example of motherhood for me, and I hope to give myself to Kirby as selflessly as she does to my sweet nieces and nephew.  The Trailov family was blessed with her union to Michael.

+ My in-laws.  I know a lot of people who dread visits from their in-laws, and I am so relieved that is not the case for me.  I'm thankful that I don't dread their presence, but rather I enjoy their company; I'm thankful that I'm comfortable staying in their home without Keith and that they allow Quillen to their home and sometimes even in their bed.  Sheesh.  I am thankful for my two brothers-in-law and their wonderful wives.  We have spent countless nights up late playing games and laughing or just hanging out and laughing...always laughing!!!  We miss them living close by!!! 

+ The LITTLES.  Oh my little nieces and nephew.  Keith and I had children a little later than our friends and families.  Boy did these little ones fill a void in my heart and in my life.  I loved holding each one of them on his/her birthday in the hospital and looking into those sweet eyes and gazing with disbelief at their heads full of dark hair...those are three moments I will cherish for all my life.

+ The BIGS.  On a whole different spectrum, oh my grown up nieces and nephews.  It is a whole different ball game with the bigs!  They provide entertainment - on the athletic field and just hanging out.  And now, they make fabulous baby sitters!!!!!  :)

+ Old and new friends.

+ The YMCA workout center for my physical health and the YMCA childcare for my sanity!  :)

+ Quillen.  Possibly the cuddliest, sweetest dog there is!

+ IU Health. 

+ and Tenants. 

Now that is some thanks!!!

Visiting Gigi.