A Month of Thanks-giving

These are all my "thankful" status updates from Facebook over the month of November. Some have been edited slightly. And they are in descending chronological order, because it was easier that way...

Day 30: Thankful for a healthy, fully-functioning body and mind (though sometimes I wonder about the latter, haha)

Day 29: Thankful for TOYS. I love toys. I had to have children just so I could justify filling my house with toys :D

Day 28: Thankful for SLEEP...when I manage to get it. 

Day 27: Thankful for my free agency, to choose my own actions and believe the way I choose to believe.

 

Day 26: Thankful to Eve for choosing to partake of the Fruit so that I could experience life on Earth.

 

Day 25: Thankful for Charity, for those who have been charitable to me and for opportunities to be charitable to others.

 

Day 24: Thankful for the Priesthood power in my life, especially to be married to a man who holds that power worthily and who treasures it and keeps it sacred.

 

Day 23: Thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, and for a loving Father in Heaven who gave His Son for me.

 

Day 22: Thankful for my brothers and sisters, and for the wonderful time I had with them all this past week! It's especially nice now that they're all married and I'm not the only one ;p

Day 21: thankful for my children. For G and his enthusiasm and love of learning; Z and his observant nature and internal strength; C and his infectious smile and laid-back attitude. I love my boys :)

Day 20: thankful for my husband. Going on eight years! He is still my best friend and soulmate, a loving and supportive spouse and excellent father to my children.

Day 19: thankful for my amazing in-laws! Not only did they manage to raise an exceptional man to be my husband, but they are so helpful to me as well and are truly like second parents to me. I'm grateful to be living in the same city with them as I am so far away from my first family.
Day 18: thankful for my amazing parents. Too much to expound on here...but the older I get the more I realize just how amazing those two people are :)

Day 17: thankful for a creative mind, and the ability to make my mental creations reality...

Day 16: thankful for a reliable vehicle.

Day 15: thankful for photography; even if it does steal my soul... ;)

Day 14: Thankful for my ability to see in color ;) Actually, to be able to see at all. But especially in color; it makes life a whole lot more interesting :)

Day 13: Thankful for math. Even though I'm not stellar with math, nor do I particularly enjoy it, I am thankful for it and all its practical applications. Just don't laugh at me when I break out the calculator to multiply 12x7 :\

Day 12: Thankful for the quiet moments...

Day 11: thankful for our inspired Founding Forefathers and all those who, throughout the years, have risked their lives in defense of my "inalienable rights."

Day 10: I am thankful for food. Not just because my body needs it, but because I thoroughly enjoy eating it :) And thankful to live in a day and place where I have access to a wide variety of tasty, nutritious foods to eat every single day of the year.

Day 9: Very very thankful for indoor plumbing and clean water. Very.

Day 8: Thankful for my musical abilities and a good singing voice :) Thankful that my parents put me through six years of piano lessons (and other music lessons besides). I will sacrifice what I have to to do the same for my kids.

Day 7: Thankful for vinegar! The versatile and all-natural household cleaner! And I love that my son can use it to clean the bathroom and I don't have to worry about him being exposed to harmful chemicals.

Day 6: thankful for Women's Suffrage

Day 5: Thankful for the wealth of information and resources on the Internet. I have learned so much on so many different topics that I otherwise would not have had the option to learn without going to school or buying a lot of books (so it's saved me a lot of money, too!). Of course, anything on the Internet has to be studied with wisdom and a little bit of healthy skepticism to figure out what's true and what's bogus, but I still know more than I would have otherwise. And it's also made my job as a mother easier, with all the educational resources and fun ideas to cheaply entertain my kids.

Day 4: Thankful for the gift of literacy.

Day 3: Thankful for my amazingly comfortable bed; I miss it terribly whenever I travel.

Day 2: I am thankful for my automatic clothes washer and dryer.

Day 1: thankful for a phone with Netflix on days when the baby is being extra clingy and wanting to be held or nursed alot. Or when I have lots of dishes to do...

Nine months! Wow...

Amazing. C is nine months old today.

This past month, he has started crawling on his hands and knees, and pulling himself up and standing up to furniture-- sometimes even with just one hand!

Something tells me he could be taking his first steps by the end of the year...sooo not ready for that...

We had to buy an artificial Christmas tree this year instead of our usual live tree. I was just too worried about C trying to eat the pine needles on the floor and me not being able to keep up with keeping the carpet pine-needle-free. We also have the tree up on the boys' folding toddler table so C can't reach the branches.

Oh, C has also figured out how to climb up stairs and delights in trying to climb up to the podium at church.

He traveled really well a couple weeks ago when we traveled for Thanksgiving; only had a hard time two or three times when he was sleepy and wanted to be held but we had to keep driving so eventually he would stop crying and fall asleep in his carseat.

I've noticed, with this one, that he doesn't get nearly as hysterical as either of his older brothers when he has to cry it out; he's figured out the self-soothing much better and much earlier than my other boys. I still typically will hold him at night until he falls asleep; but there have been several nights where we'll just lay him between us in the bed and he'll just make soothing noises to himself and drift off to sleep.

The only time he gets really mad at bedtime is when he thinks he wants to stay up and play even though I can tell he's sleepy; but I will hug him to my chest and pin his arms down and he'll carry on for up to five minutes but eventually relax, make noises, and finally sleep. He stays asleep much better this way than if I let him nurse to sleep; if he nurses to sleep, he's awake and fussing again within the hour and then I will hold him to my chest until he falls sleep again.

He is still the happiest baby I know. I call him my "little ray of sunshine." I think even his brothers are cheered up by his smiles and laughter whenever they're having a bad day. Definitely glad we decided to go for Baby #3 sooner rather than later, since we got so lucky :)