Thankful Thursdays

Our senior pastor's wife, who is also a friend of mine and the most dedicated blogger I know (Linn), has decreed Thursdays to be thankful on her blog...I love this idea! I was at the gym working out today, and as I lifted weights I couldn't help overhearing a conversation between a man and a woman...the gist of which was complaints about politics and the demonstrations people will put on for those they support. You know, signs in their yards, bumper stickers, waiving signs on street corners...now, I do understand that this kind of thing can get annoying. BUT we live in a country where we have the freedom to choose for ourselves who we will vote for and to express those choices...and that's something to be thankful for! So, with a nod of thanks to Linn, I am also adopting Thankful Thursdays here on my blog.

1). I am thankful that I live in a country where there is the freedom to participate in our government.
2.) I am thankful that I can express those choices without fear.
3.)I am thankful for my goofy husband, and his ability to ALWAYS make me laugh.
4.) I am thankful for the women who work at the kid care in the rec center, and how they love my son.
5.) I am thakful for my amazingly snuggly bed (which I don't want to get out of on cold mornings!)
6.) I am thankful for my hands-that they work so well to make gifts for friends, take care of my family, write out my thoughts, pick up my son, hug my husband....
7.)I am thankful for this wonderful new laptop that enables me to blog!
8.)I am thankful for all the leaders who help theWELL to exsist.
9.) I am thankful for the beautiful boquet of flowers that sits in my living room and the love and thoughtfulness it demonstrates.
10.)I am thankful that I live in a state with SEASONS!

Where did my baby go?

I'm sitting on my couch, watching Pax playing with a block in one hand, his truck in the other, and a grin on his face as he tries to figure out the buttons on the TV. All of a sudden it hits me- he's not my baby anymore. My sweet, fun, determined and ever-curious toddler, yes- but no longer the little baby I held and nursed and worked so hard to make laugh and smile those first months. I look at him in his overalls and curls, and see glimpses of the boy he will become sooner than I'd like. He has been testing us for months, seeing just how far he can push mom and dad before we'll react, figuring out the boundries of his world and telling us very decisively in his dozen words or so exactly what it is he wants. It makes me smile, because I love this little toddler-baby, but it also makes me want to put things in slow motion for a bit. This past year has flown by-sometimes I can't believe he's already a year old- and so much of it was spent trying to figure this new little creature out that days melted into weeks, months...I don't want that to happen to years, too. I want to savor this time (yes, even the days when he screeches repeatedly for the computer (off limits), or tests us over and over and over again just to see what happens!) I want to remember what he was like during these toddler days so that when he has his own children, I can tell him; something I know my husband would love to know more of (either my mother-in-law was so busy she forgot a lot or he was so mischievous she blocked a lot of it out-definitely a possibility!). So this blog is a memorial to myself: slow down. Savor these days. And be thankful that he won't give up the bottle yet-put him in snuggly jammies, give him some milk, and enjoy having your baby back for just a few moments....before he crawls off the couch, stands up, and tries to get his daddy to chase him around the house.

Ta-Da!

Here it is! My very own blog...my wonderful husband, Adam, who likes to spoil me on my birthday, got me a laptop for my 25th. (It's tomorrow...the 27th of October...Happy Birthday to you, too, Meg!!) So now that I have a computer that can do things on the internet in less than an hour, I'm joining what I fear will soon be the addicting world of blogging : ) something I've wanted to do for a long time....stay tuned!