On Being Thankful

No pictures to share this time...just words....words that are dear to my heart. Being a mom of 2 little ones is tough. I honestly never thought it would be. I thought life would continue as it was and Lily Kate would just join right in and we would never notice the change. Boy, was I wrong. She is a great baby, don't get me wrong, but she is a baby and we were very used to our well behaved toddler...our normal...our routine. I have found it so hard over the past 5 months to balance everything - to clean up, to cook, to love them both fully and equally, to make time for Rhonald, to make time for myself, to find a quiet moment to spend with God....and so on. So many nights have ended in pure exhaustion and with bad feelings about not being the person I was called to be. I have been focusing a lot of my "quiet" and not so quiet time on being intentional. Some days are great - some are failures but every day I try. I try to intentionally smile and hug and love and say "way to go" at a simple task. I try to intentionally make breakfast for everyone and send them about their days full and healthy. I try to intentionally pray for peace and love to fill this home and everyone in it every day. And today, while talking with a friend, I realized that I have not been intentionally thankful. I am thankful every day and I do thank God for my family and the blessing they are but what about the every day things...they small things that make up my life? I am so thankful for them too - heck, some days I am just thankful to make it through the day. So, I am doing something new and I hope to share a lot of it with you. At the end of every day - no matter how sleepy or hungry - I will intentionally write down 10 things I am thankful for (no matter how silly or weird they may seem) until I reach 1000. I will end my day focusing on the wonderful things that I have been blessed with and I will intentionally let go of all of the burdens that I feel. I am excited to get started so...here I go...
1. dancing in the sand box with my first born as the sun went down pretending we were at the beach.
2. belly laughs and baby smiles at bath time.
3. "one more kiss and hug" to end our day right (oh I dread the day that he doesn't want a kiss or a hug from his mama).
4. contagious laughter at the dinner table.
5. freshly painted toenails to remind me that even though I am unshowered and still in my pj's I am a "girly girl" at heart.
6. my littles playing together.
7. a quick, but sweet, kiss in passing on a very busy day to remember that I am still his bride (even unshowered and in my pj's).
8. a chubby hand holding my hair tightly as my baby girl falls asleep.
9. the pink tulips that greet me as I walk down the stairs.
10. Cole singing "Jesus loves me" to "put me to sleep" during playtime.

I may not share every day, as blogging every day is basically impossible for me to do, but I do plan to share my lists when I sit down to share other things as well. It is a new beginning...a time to focus on the blessings I have so graciously been given and time to lay the burdens of every day life aside. After all....life is way too short!