More Blessings

A few more things I am thankful for today:

• A God who loves and forgives and who also humbles me when I need to be humbled and lifts me up when I need to be lifted.
• A Savior who gave up his life for me so that I can scream "I'm debt free!!!" (From my sin that is. Jesus is letting me pay my own student loans.)
• I am thankful for EVERY person who has shown the love of God to us during our trials of the the past year. I pray that God blesses each and every one of them.
• My Friends. Old and new. Every person I have crossed paths with has been a blessing in my life in one way or another or taught me a valuable lesson.
• Even though my Nanny is gone from this life and I miss her very much and regret not spending more time with her, I am thankful that I know where she is! I have peace of mind that I will get to see her again one day!
• I am thankful that I don't have to worry about where the money is going to come from when we get a big medical bill.
• Today my mother in law took us all out to FIVE GUYS burgers and fries for dinner!! I am thankful for that. :)
• On the way back, we took a wrong turn and ended up taking the scenic route. I am so thankful for that because I got to witness some of God's most beautiful handiwork during one of the most colorful times of year.
• Also on the way back, from the back seat I got to watch my one year old hold up his hands in the air and play patty-cake, and listen to my babies laugh at each other.
• My husband used part of his day today to come to preschool and we painted pumpkins together. (And I must say, he's quite creative!) Then he stayed and helped Izzy paint her ghost shirt because I had to go to a doctor's appointment.
• I got to cuddle and read stories with my daughter before bed and then got Eskimo kisses AND Butterfly kisses before I left her room. :)

More blessings to look forward to tomorrow!!

Counting My Blessings

Yesterday we were sitting at the dinner table and Isabelle said something so very simple but yet so profound that I wanted to document it. After we said our prayer, Isabelle, out of the blue, says, "Mommy, God doesn't want us to be mad at Him. He just wants us to be happy at Him." I can't tell you how much I needed to hear that yesterday. Over and over again God has used this child he gave me to teach me so many lessons.

I have been feeling a little overwhelmed lately. We have made a lot of changes recently (all of them good things) and the weekend before last my Grandmother passed away. I have just been having a hard time adjusting to all the changes that are happening all at once. I needed a mental break, so Ben offered to take Isabelle to the clinic this week for her treatment. Yesterday my wonderful husband used the day to work from home and spent part of the day baking chocolate chip cookies with her, so they could take them to the star clinic today and hand them out. It got her excited about going. This morning when she acted nervous about going, he pretended to be the cookie monster and again got her excited about going. She had been doing really great about not crying when we go to the clinic and since we have moved and made so many changes all at once she had sort of "regressed" a little so to speak and was having a hard time with treatments again. Well, today, the report is that she did AWESOME! She was so excited to go in and hand out the cookies, and there was absolutely no crying during or after treatment. Even when she woke up from anesthesia she was in a great mood and layed still for 30 minutes like she is supposed to.

Jeb and I went back to the old house today to finish up some last minute cleaning and it should be ready to go on the market within a week or so. My wonderful Mommy put aside the things that she needed to do today and came over to help.

My mother in law has rearranged her entire life and made room for us in her home, offered to cook dinner one night a week, and has been such a blessing to our children.

I have a family who loves me unconditionally and is there to lift me up when I can't lift myself.

I am so very blessed and today I just wanted to count my blessings for the whole world to see.

This is the verse of the day on the blog today and my prayer for the day:
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” (Psalm 51:12)

And here is another one I am committing to memory:
"In everything GIVE THANKS; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (I Th. 5:18)

Happy Birthday Jeb Alexander!

Today is my baby boy's first birthday!! This year went by especially fast, and had many challenges and trials, both big and small. Having him as part of our family was not one of them though. In times of trial, he has brought so much JOY to our family. God knew exactly what he was doing when he gave us this precious boy. His first name means "beloved friend" and his middle name means "protector of mankind". I think they are both very fitting.



Here are a few pictures just to show how much joy he has brought to our family over the past year.

First night in the hospital:

All dressed up for church:
First time eating carrots:

See how sweet and happy he is? He has always been that way. Always bringing smiles and giggles even at times when it was hard to find them.

The past couple of weeks have been pretty crazy. I won't go into all the details, but because of that (and the fact that we are all sick right now), we decided to just play it low-key for Jeb's actual birthday and we'll do something with my family next weekend.

Daddy baked a cake last night, I did the icing, and Isabelle helped with the sprinkles.

He was a little more careful than Isabelle was with her first birthday cake, but just as messy and had just as much fun.

"Are you sure this is okay?"

Izzy was being the big sister and showing him how to play with his new toys. :)

We had a really good, relaxing day.

Happy Birthday, my sweet boy. How I love watching you grow.