Thankful: Day 7

I am so thankful for my mother. Today I learned that even our great relationship still has room to grow. We are still learning from each other.

I believe the Lord put us together for a reason. We are very close and if she were not my mother we may still be very good friends, but we do have very different personalities. We have very different love languages and sometimes we don't seem to communicate as efficiently as we should be able to for all the years that we've known each other. But what is awesome is that we always give each other the benefit of the doubt and we always work things out.

Today I was desperately lacking sleep. My son is 10 months old and has reverted back to waking every 2 hours at night. I don't remember when I had a full night's sleep. I got up this morning feeling like I was going insane from lack of REM. I had to consciously check myself every time I opened my mouth to make sure I wasn't snapping at anyone. I was about to bug a close friend by email and ask her advice when I realized I should probably call my mom first.

So I called her. She asked me if I wanted her to come a day early as she had planned to come tomorrow for a visit. I told her I just really wanted her advice. She said she had refrained from offering her advice until I asked but that she thought I should try cutting out coffee. She suggested to try to cut it out for a week and see if his sleeping improves. She said it could be that he doesn't process it as quickly and it keeps him up at night even though I drink it in the morning. It could also be that because he doesn't sleep enough during the day that he is over tired and wound up at night and can't stay asleep.

I humbly accepted her advice, desperate for anything that might help. I can't express how much I appreciated her waiting for me to ask her opinion. While she is full of wisdom and life experience she has, in the past, had a tendency to offer unsolicited advice. While it is a mild annoyance for me, I have tried to talk to her about it because it may aggravate other people more who don't know how well meaning she is and don't give her the benefit of the doubt that I do. I admit many times I have rebelliously rolled my eyes and ignored her advice, only to eventually realize she was right. It is much easier to follow her advice when I ask for it.

I realized she is learning to hold back and I am learning to swallow some pride.

Besides all that she is a great help with the kids and they love her. She did end up coming a day early. I got a much needed two hour nap. I feel so blessed and a little more sane. She helped distract the kids so I could focus on making dinner. We tag teamed the dishes and I'm kind of caught up.

I love my mom.

Thankful: Day 6

I am regretfully thankful for modern medicine and that God guided the decisions of those who had my life in their hands. Though I have a hard time trusting doctors and stay away from them as much as I can, I have to admit that they have one thing definitely figured out: emergency and acute care. When I have been led to seek medical care, I have been blessed with some skilled individuals.

I am not exaggerating when I say modern medicine has saved my life three times. Once, when I was 15 I would have died were it not for intense antibiotic treatments for impetigo that I developed as a complication of shingles. Two years ago an emergency surgery removed an infection that was a complication from Crohns disease that if we had caught it any later may have caused me to die from sepsis. The doctors were actually surprised I didn't have a blood infection already at the time. Then when my son was born, I was going into liver failure from cholestasis of pregnancy. The cesarean saved both our lives. His cord was wrapped around his neck tightly three times and he would not have survived a vaginal delivery.

I have had issues with some treatments for chronic illnesses. I'm not a fan of prescription drugs. I have met great doctors, mediocre doctors and downright horrible doctors. Overall, though, I am thankful to be alive. I am thankful to be a mom and to have both my children.

Thankful: Day 5

I am thankful for my husband's ADHD. We have faced some challenges because of it, but it is a part of who he is. Some of the benefits are that he is very creative, intelligent, innovative, resourceful and great with our children. He has found a job niche, which is really the key for people with ADHD. He thrives in that environment because 1) it is in a field that interests him, 2) he can be himself and is appreciated for it (I'm pretty sure the Symantec business model is designed around the ADHD mind), and 3) he has plenty of opportunity for growth which keeps him interested and building his career.

His diagnosis led to many positive things in our lives and it explained a lot. He has grown in confidence over the last year and I hope that will continue. Confidence is something many people with ADHD struggle with and I am happy to be there to see his grow.

If you know someone with ADHD or suspect they have it, or if you suspect you might have it, a great book is Driven to Distraction by Dr. Hallowel and Dr. Ratey. We found it at our local library, but here it is on Amazon.

Thankful: Day 4

I am thankful for hardships today. Our character is defined not by how we act when everything is peachy keen, but by how we make it through hardships. It isn't easy, but when you find yourself past the proverbial "light at the end of the tunnel" and you are looking the other way through the tunnel, you sometimes find how much you have grown through all of it. I know I have matured immensely through our struggles.

“In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 

--1 Thessalonians 5:18

I don't know why we had to go through two very rough years of bad health, David not being able to get a job, then finally getting a job, then getting laid off, then a difficult pregnancy. Through it all, God was there and we had everything we needed. For that I am thankful. It definitely brought us closer to Him and to each other. The struggles are never going to be gone, at least not on this side of heaven, but we hope we have a break for a while at least. 

Even if we don't have a break, I know God is with us. I know we have each other. I am thankful for those I can lean on when times are rough. I am glad to be there when times are rough for others. 

Thankful: Day 3

I am thankful for my wonderful husband of 7 years. We have been together for almost 11 years and I can't imagine my life without him. Through our struggles we have grown closer. I could not ask for a more loving, supportive, kind, helpful, patient, understanding man to be my husband and father to my children. He is proving to be the awesome father I imagined he could be when we met. I feel so strongly that we work as a team, using our individual strengths to head this family and to parent our children.

The trust and loyalty we share is more than I could have imagined possible. I respect and love him more every day even though I didn't know that was possible. This year I discovered a blog called Happy Wives Club. It has been both encouraging and affirming. It isn't sugar coating, but realistic happiness in marriage for the long haul.

Thankful: Day 2

I am so thankful for my beautiful, healthy, amazing, brilliant, charming and totally awesome children!! We had a complicated and dramatic birth experience with our little (who am I kidding, BIG!) Tiger. He was early, in distress, with a cord wrapped around his head three times. If I had not been experiencing liver problems and getting checked so routinely he may not have made it to term. I cannot tell you how thankful I am that he is alive and healthy.

His big sister loves him so much and she is teaching him how to share (most of the time) and likes playing and cuddling with him. I could not ask for a sweeter little girl. I am so happy that they have each other. I know they will be good friends as they grow up. It is something I have prayed for since before they were born.

Thankful: Day 1

Last year I participated in the "Thankful Posts" Meme. It might be cheesy but I love it. So I'm doing it again this year because I have had so many new things to be thankful for. We had so many changes in the last year.

I am thankful of where we live. There are so many blessings that came from this move and I will write more specifically about them in the coming days. Today I am so thankful we were able to move here back in January to be closer to David's job. I know now more than ever that it was the right move for us.