So this year, I am thankful for:
- God, whose mercy is new every morning and whose faithfulness is larger than the sky.
- Scott, a far better husband than I deserve, a great father to our children, and a faithful servant of our Lord.
- Big Girl, whose sense of humor we are just beginning to see and whose sensitivity to other’s feelings is apparent.
- Big Boy, his hilarious antics, his hugs and kisses, and his love and care for his sisters.
- Little Girl, our newest member of the family.
- a surgery-free year for Big Girl, and her overall improved health.
- all the progress Big Girl has made with her communication device and in school.
- the home that shelters us from heat, rain, snow, and cold.
- All of Grace Baptist Church and the wonderful people there. They built a ramp to the front door for us a couple weeks ago, and we didn’t have to pay for any of the supplies or labor. They have provided free childcare for us and are such an encouragement.
- My youngest sister and the growth and maturity I’ve seen in her life this year. I’m also thankful for getting to see her so much more now that she lives close!
- My middle sister, her husband, and their new baby girl. We have grown much closer to them this year and that is such a blessing.
- My parents and their tireless help and willingness to help with the kids.
- Scott’s parents and for Diane watching the kids while we took a 3-day trip away.
- Our two little getaways this year: one night at a bed and breakfast in July and 3 nights at our friends' wedding in November.
- Big Girl’s new wheelchair and toileting system.
- Reliable transportation and the ramp installed in our van.
- Scott’s raise this year, making our budget actually seem workable and realistic.
- A new home for Paulie. I only recently stopped thanking God for this every time I opened the front door and wasn’t greeted by frenzied barking!
- Funding from Medicaid to widen a doorway and replace most of our carpeting with Pergo so that Big Girl’s wheelchair and walker moves better through our home.
- Antibiotics and doctors who knew that I needed another round to get over the infection! I was sicker than I’ve ever been in March, right before Little Girl was born. I spent a few nights on the recliner in our living room and still wasn’t able to sleep because my coughing and congestion was so bad.
It has been a good year, though we’ve certainly had some pretty low lows. God is definitely working on me, and I’m feeling the burn! Learning to manage three kids, breastfeeding one while potty-training another, and dealing with new discipline issues with all three, all while sleep-deprived and hormonal has stretched me past the breaking point a few times. I have a lot of work to do on myself before I’ll handle that kind of extreme stress the right way! Unfortunately, practice seems to be the only way to learn. I do seem to be doing better, but I feel so bad that I’ve yelled at Big Boy and Big Girl – my expectations and/or demands of them were unreasonable but I took my frustration out on them instead of adjusting my head. I need to learn to bite my tongue more with them, and to apologize to them when I screw up.
I also am learning to make better use of my time. I must have wasted SO much time before! I guess having more kids and therefore exponentially more work to do has forced me to get my rear in gear! I guess I’ve always been the kind of person who worked best under pressure. How much more I could have accomplished in years past if I had just worked as hard then as I am now! And yet I still find ways to waste time… on this computer, mostly!
