I'm Thankful For - Day 11

I'm thankful for my car today! I don't know what it is like to NOT have a reliable source of transportation. I have always been able to get where ever I am going. My parents used to drive me places. I carpooled in high school unto I got my first car and could drive it the day I turned 16. Derek and I never even had to share when we got married; we've always had two cars. If a car was in for repairs we usually could borrow from someone or I'd use public transportation. Abigail will surely know that convenience as well. 

I'm Thankful For - Day 10

I don't realize how wonderful a healthy body is until it gets sick. (Abigail was "diagnosed" with a double ear infection today basically because she has a stuffy nose and is a baby so she can't blow her nose to empty it. All that pressure put pressure on her ears too.). The stuffy noses, sore throats, aches, burns, headaches, fatigue... and that's just the "little" stuff. So many in the world face cancer, HIV, extreme hunger and malnourishment, abuse, and debilitating diseases. I am so thankful to be able to roll over and hit my snooze, to pick up my child, to hug my husband, and to stand before 9, 10, and 11 year olds each week and teach. Today Derek turns another year older. What a blessing it is to be given another day, another year. It reminds me of a childhood song: 

This is the day,

This is the day that the Lord has made.

We will rejoice,

We will rejoice and be glad in it,

and be glad in it.

This is the day that the Lord has made.

We will rejoice and be glad in it.

This is the day,

This is the day that the Lord has made.

Happy Birthday Derek!

Leave my sweetie a message. He gets the comments emailed to him!

(29 years, if you were wondering)

I'm Thankful For - Day 9

I am thankful for a home. 

We had the chance to hear author Kent Annon speak at church on Sunday and see this video(watch it!) referring to one of his experiences in Haiti. I can't even begin to unpack how blessed am I and how different it is for my brothers and sisters living in Haiti when they thank God for their "home". Notice I put that word in quotes because my mind can't even consider how a concrete room the size of a box could be someone's home!

I'm Thankful For - Day 8

Yesterday I talked about my church, but that's really only half of my "church" experience. Today I'm thankful for the other half, my LIFE group! I dug up some old photographs of us all having fun. It's taken a few years to really get to know each other but we've learned a lot through it all and just like real friendships and family there have been crazy ups and downs. I'm so thankful to have these people to go through life together and I loved looking through the photos: watching our kids grow, being silly, going through some sad times, making adventures, and eating a LOT of good food through the years! Hmmm, I look thinner in those older photographs...

We're helping each other walk through life; I can't wait to see where the "road" takes us...

I'm Thankful For - Day 7

I'm thankful for my church! After a great evening with Dan Seaborn speaking last night at the Marriage Rendezvous and the great service this morning I'm counting my blessings to be apart of such a great faith community. Last night we were reminded that we are married For Life! I hope you'll join us in this commitment.

The Nursery

I realized I never posted photos of the nursery. Maybe because she was sleeping in our room the first 4 months or... who knows. Anyway, here it is:

 We bought the mobile and clock at IKEA. I took the clock apart and decorated it since it was just black and white. I was originally thinking of doing a Dr. Seuss theme and the fish mobile would have added a great "One Fish, Two Fish" piece to it. The changing table and pad were a $10 garage sale find this past spring. The one basket has disposable diapers for night time and going away and the other basket has her cloth diapers. I'll have to update more on that sometime.

 Derek's chair from college: when we moved to this house it was determined that it would stay in the garage... somehow it "matched" and found it's way up here. :)

 I found this bedding set at a Mom 2 Mom sale this past spring and loved it with all its colors! The crib was a gift from Abigail's Grandma and Grandpa. I made the letters of her name based on an idea from here.

The animals on the wall were painted to match the animals in the bedding set with acrylic paint. I did that last winter. The walls were originally this light blue. The glider is from Babies R Us.

She likes it!