Thankful Thoughts 2012

And I thought I was thankful last year.  This year, I am even more so.  Despite the daily frustrations, worries and challenges of twin toddlerhood, which can so easily drag me down into anxiety, fear and anger.  Thankfulness is like a life vest.  When I remember to clothe myself in it, or when I make the choice to grab it and hold on for dear life as the floods come, I find myself floating back up into the air.  Where I find joy, peace and love again.  So, without further ado, and in no particular order, I give you "Thankful Thoughts 2012".  I'm thankful...

• For the chance to be home with my children...  It is hard work.  It's eternal work.  And it's thankless work.  But you couldn't pay me enough to give this job away to someone else.  
• For my husband...  who came into my very lovely life and made it extraordinary.  He is all the things I wanted.  And so many of the things I didn't know that I even needed.  You held my hands as we said our vows.  Not having the slightest idea that you would one day hold a swaddled newborn son in one arm as you held my head in the other, so that I could deliver our daughter.  You love us all so well.  I am beyond glad that you took a risk, that you chose me, and that you continue to choose to love me and our beautiful family every day.  ILY!!   
• For this blog...  Where I can forever document the day-in and day-outs of this beautiful/crazy/challenging/wonderful time in my life...  even if I do have to trouble shoot now, and figure out how to fix my picture quota problem (these are the last two until further notice).

For messy mouths and sticky spills...

For stuffed animal parties and the magic of Lovies.

• For an old house...  That provides us shelter.  A big yard that gives my kids freedom to run.  And fantastic neighbors that we call friends.
• For a minivan...  A car I never wanted until I had twin babies on the way.  A car I can't imagine being without now.
• For friends and family...  Loved ones who check in on our blog from far and wide.  We love staying connected across the miles.
• For preschool...  The kids' preschool staff is amazing.  Caden and Addison are learning and growing and developing every time they go.
• For the kids' big bellies...  They make me smile, for they're one of the last remnants of babyhood. 
• For my body...  I've never looked like a model, but the way I look now often makes be cringe.  That said, my sags and bags were hard earned.  My body endured crazy-hard things to get to the place where it could give life to Caden and Addison.  Then it incubabied them for 38 weeks and delivered them safely into this world without a c-section or the NICU, after ten weeks of bedrest.   It fed them, exclusively for eleven months.  And almost exclusively for one more month after that.  My body, broken down as it now may seem/feel/look to me on most days, has served me well.  It gave me my children.  It completed my family.
• For coffee dates with other mom-friends...  I love the coffee and time away.  I love the friendships that we are building even more.
• For Target.   
• For other blogs...  Where I find understanding.  Inspiration.  Humor.  And guidance.  At the click of a mouse. 
• For my husband's old cell phone...  Which is still light years newer than my cell phone.  Though it doesn't have cell service, I can now take decent pictures on the go, check my email from the playroom, and make a high-tech grocery list!  Amen.
• For enough...  Enough income to provide for all of our needs and a few of our wants.  And for the wisdom to know the difference.
• For "Bob the Builder"...  Bob has gotten us down many a mile.  And has provided our son with a whole new world of pretend play.  Can he sing it?  YES HE CAN!  Does he call me Mrs. Potts on a regular basis?  YES HE DOES!  He has even created "Little Bob" out of one of his Dad's old toys.  And when he loses him, we have a crisis on our hands.
• For "Sorry Pop" and "Thank you Mommy"...  I am thankful down to my core that my kids have the beginnings of empathy, and the ability to communicate their feelings.
• For magic hands...  The way the kids eyes' light up when they think they have turned the dryer on with their "shazam fingers" is priceless.
• For melted white cheese and white corn tortilla chips...  They make a hard day a little more enjoyable.  They can be lunch in a pinch.  And they make me feel like I'm at Torerro's when I'm really staring at the refrigerator trying to figure out what in the world I'm going to concoct for supper.
• For hands...  Hands that once were tiny enough to wrap around one of my fingers.  Hands that held my babies' heads with a tenderness that cannot be captured in words on the very first day of their lives.  Hands that have worked hard, to give me the life I now enjoy.  And hands that are now in heaven.  

Truly, my cup runneth over.