Thanksgiving

Several of my friends have been updating their Facebook status daily with something they are thankful for.  I'm feeling especially thankful today, so I thought I'd do all 30 at once.  

Disclaimer:  Most of these will be sappy and/or cliche.  Some of these will tell you a little more about me than you perhaps bargained for.   If you don't want the serious stuff, skip to #16.  Here goes nothing, in no particular order ...

1.  I'm thankful for my incredible, loving, strong husband who takes care of me through the good times and the bad.  Some days I wonder how he can stand to stick by me.  I can't imagine life without him.

October 2011 in Maine

2.  I'm thankful for my beautiful, healthy son.  Every day he teaches me patience.  Every day he makes me laugh.  Some days he makes me want to tear my hair out, but I love him just the same.  He has changed my life forever and I'm thankful for that.

3.  I'm thankful for amazing parents who taught me right from wrong, and are steady and true examples of how to live for God.  

This is an oldie but goodie.  Don't they look young and innocent!  :o)

4.  I'm thankful that I have a close relationship with my siblings.  Even with more than 2000 miles separating some of us, we have a bond that can't be broken.  I know that they would both be there for me in an instant.

2000 - How cute were we?!

5.  I'm thankful for Skype, which really helps to shorten the aforementioned 2000 miles.

6.  I'm thankful that I have pretty great in-laws, especially since we now live only ten minutes from them.  :o)  Maxwell is very lucky to have TWO sets of awesome grandparents.  I'm also thankful for a really cool sister-in-law.  She is way cooler than me, and I'm thankful that she seems to not mind hanging out with me anyways.

Nanny & Pops - The best in-laws a gal could ask for :o)

7.  I'm thankful to live in an area where Maxwell and I can safely (and easily) take long walks.  He loves stroller rides and we all know I can use the exercise ...

8.  I'm thankful that Trevor's contract got extended for two more years.  Knowing where we'll be for a few years is a huge relief.  One less thing to worry about!

9.  I'm thankful that Maxwell loves his new babysitter.  She is an absolute sweetheart and it is so great to occasionally get to go out and be a grown-up!  I should add though that nothing beats having grandparents ten minutes away who like babysitting too.  ;o)

10.  I'm thankful to live in an age when postpartum depression is a recognizable and treatable condition.  I'm thankful for every day that I wake up feeling like my old self.  I'm thankful for family that recognized I needed help and then helped me find it.  (Okay I guess that's three things .. but really they all go together).

11.  I'm thankful that Trevor supported my decision to stop breastfeeding when Maxwell was only a month old, and I'm so thankful that he is growing up to be a healthy boy regardless of that decision.

Maxwell's first (?) bottle with Daddy

12. I'm thankful that I get to be a stay-at-home-mom.  I always hoped it would work out this way and I am thankful (almost) every day.  What a blessing! 

13.  I'm thankful to have an affordable roof over my head.  It's not perfect (e.g. no downstairs bathroom) but it's cozy and plenty big enough as long as we don't have another kid in the next few years.  ;)

14.   I'm thankful that Maxwell is a little social butterfly.  Grocery shopping is a breeze because he loves to sit in the cart and stare/smile at everyone we pass.  Cashiers love flirting with him.  And he is a perfect (almost) angel in meeting, because there are so many people to look at. I hope this lasts a while!

15.  I'm thankful that we can trust the future to God.

Okay .. halfway done and now it's time for my more superficial thanksgiving:

16.  I'm thankful for ice cream.  Seriously.  I'm really trying to cut back, but ice cream can turn even the worst day around.

17.  I'm thankful for cozy fleece blankets and fuzzy slippers.  Trevor used to call me "Ashley Cocoon" because I would pile so many blankets on at night.  I love being cozy!!

18.  I'm thankful for days like today, when Maxwell takes a long enough morning nap that I can get in a workout AND a shower, and then another nap long enough for me to blog about it!

19.  I'm thankful that Maxwell is taking his time learning to crawl.  He's so close, but I really want him to delay it as long as possible because once he crawls my job will be so much harder!!

20.  I'm thankful that my husband loves staying in and watching movies as much as I do.  We are a lazy pair, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

21.  I'm thankful that my mom doesn't mind me Skyping every single day.  Yes, I admit it ... I miss my mommy!!  Good thing I have a cute baby to use as my excuse.  "Yeah, Hi Mom, Maxwell wanted to say Hello!"

22.  I'm thankful for Thanksgiving.  I cannot WAIT for all that delicious food ... turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, apple pie, pumpkin pie, chocolate pie, pumpkin chip bread, pumpkin cheesecake, oh and of course leftover turkey sandwiches for a week!!!  My weight loss progress will totally be reversed, but it's a once-a-year-extravaganza so I don't care!!!

23.  I'm thankful for my new phone.  It's so shiny.  And it does so many magical things.  I feel like I'm finally living in the 21st century.  At last!!

24.  I'm thankful for frozen dinners.  I'm definitely doing better at cooking dinners for Trevor now that I don't go off to a job every day ... but some nights, dumping a frozen skillet meal into a pan and having it ready 10 minutes later is such a relief.  

25.  I'm thankful that I can carry a tune.  I know, random.  But it's a useful skill!

26.  I'm thankful that my neighbor occasionally sweeps our section of the sidewalk and doesn't really seem to mind.  Awesome.

27.  I'm thankful that one of the results of being treated for PPD is that I no longer feel completely stressed out when the house isn't spotless.  Cleaning schedule out the window.  Dust bunnies, welcome back!  Sorry Trevor ...

29.  I'm thankful that Trevor agreed to be the Official Bug Killer for the family when we got married.  It wasn't technically in the vows, but I consider this particular verbal agreement to be binding.  Thank you, Dear!

30.  I'm thankful in advance to all my dear readers who actually read this whole stinkin' thing and are now leaving me lovely comments to brighten my afternoon.  :-D

Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving!

October Days

October is absolutely without question the best month of the year.  This is not my opinion.  This is Fact. 

The leaves, the cool crisp air, finally a reason to get out the cozy sweaters, ahem my birthday, fall decorations galore, pumpkin bread, applesauce, the list goes on.  I LOVE IT. 

Yesterday there was Gospel Meeting in town, about a mile and a quarter away, and the weather was so beautiful that we decided to walk.  Maxwell did great - he has never sat through two meetings in one day, so I was pretty happy.  He was quite fidgety, and then he got the loudest hiccups ever .. but really, I can't complain.  I have been blessed with a child who saves his high-pitched shrieking voice for home. There is a family with four kids under the age of 10, and they always make a beeline for Maxwell as soon as meeting is over.  I love this so much.  The girls do "coochie-coos" and make funny faces while the boys stand there grinning and occasionally mussing his hair.  Maxwell, of course, eats it up. 


This morning Trevor said he'd like me to make pork chops again sometime, so Maxwell and I headed off to Giant for a quick grocery trip.  Maxwell has graduated from riding in the cart in his portable carseat to sitting in the front of the cart like a big boy!  We got a great cart cover that I can attach toys to, and it even has a fabulous little zipper pocket for my wallet and other stuff.  I hate carrying a purse, so this is like a dream come true.  But oh. my. goodness.  I can hardly stand how cute he is sitting there like he's the king of the grocery store.  He stares at everything and everyone that passes him.  It would be less awkward if he would give the occasional smile, but today he was sleepy and just stared at people with his mouth hanging open and drool rolling out.  Awesome.  My kid is so polite.  Good thing he's an adorable little chunker so he can get away with it. 


In other news, Wii Fit and I are getting along famously.  I love it SO MUCH.  Why did I wait so long to buy it?  Oh yeah, I'm cheap.  Thank you Trevor for buying it for me anyways :-D  I do about 20 minutes every morning while Maxwell takes his early catnap.  It doesn't sound like very long, but I'm usually sweating up a storm by the time I'm done.  (This could also be caused by the fact that the boiler is in the basement ... bummer.)  Trevor and I usually play a little in the evening too; Maxwell loves to watch.  I'm sure he'll be winning all the games by the time he's walking.   


Thanks to Wii Fit in the morning, a long stroller walk (1.5-2.5 miles) later in the day, and a new no-junk-food-in-the-house rule, I've lost about 3 pounds.  It's about stinkin' time!  Maxwell is 6 months old and I'm still walking around looking 6 months pregnant.  The no-junk-food rule will most likely go by the wayside for Thanksgiving, but I'm okay with that.  Hopefully a month from now I'll have lost a few more pounds and won't have to feel so intensely guilty over a slice of pumpkin pie.  And apple pie.  And maybe chocolate pie too ....   O:-)


Life is grand, really.  That about sums it up. 

Back to School

For the first time since I was four years old, the end of August doesn't mean Back to School.  I have mixed feelings about this, of course -- I am, after all, a mixed feelings type of girl.  I generally have mixed feelings about everything that ever happens in life.  But that's a topic for another day.

Back to School.  New crayons and binders and lunchboxes and sneakers, and the smell of chalk, and seeing your friends, and meeting your new teacher, and (being the total nerd that I am) excitedly completing that first math homework of the year.

And then Back to School as a teacher.  Preparing the classroom, photocopying a zillion and one course info sheets, planning to be a hard-@$$ but then seeing those kids all excited and nervous and high from summer fun and regressing to the old softie that I really am.  Straightening the rows of desks just one more time until they're perfect, knowing full well that they'll be a cluttered disaster by the end of first period.  Signing out textbooks, and making the kids love me by telling them they can leave the textbook at home because it's too darn heavy and I know they have enough to lug around already.

Okay, I have to admit that I'm getting more than a little misty-eyed right now.  I want to go Back to School, too!!  And then I think of my beautiful baby boy, napping upstairs by himself (miraculously), and I realize he's been asleep for over an hour now.  This never happens!  And it's 10:50 on a Tuesday and I'm sitting on my duff writing in my blog. 

Yeah, Back to School is overrated.