Thankful

So in my household we don't really do the whole turkey Thanksgiving thing. Growing up the fourth Thursday of November meant three things. Turkey and football and falling asleep. Well, I don't really like turkey and football and without the first two I never did the third. So it became the holiday I could live without. As an adult it came to mean it was time to put up the Christmas tree and start celebrating the season. It's not that I wasn't thankful for things in my life. I just never associate them with that one particular day.

This year is different. This year I'm thankful for so much I have to share it with the world.

I am grateful for the obvious being my husband and my kids. Nick has always loved me for exactly who I am and called me beautiful for the start. Angel and Bella are the two perfect things I have ever done in my life. I know my entire purpose in being is so I can be there mother and love them the way they love me.

I am grateful for my parents. They always find a way to help me even when they are struggling themselves. They love my kids like no other grandparents have ever loved grandkids before. There is no better Grandpa, Nannie, or Mom-mom in the world.

I'm grateful for my sister and my awesomely perfect niece. Though we don't talk as often as I'd like because of our lives I know my sister loves and supports me and when I really need her she is there. As for my niece, she's an endless smile for me because she is beautiful and smart and will always be Auntie's Monkey.

I'm grateful to the army. Though they get on my nerves and drive me crazy every chance they get I'm grateful my husband has a job every day, that we have a home for our family, and that they provide such great insurance so that my husband, myself, and our kids get everything they need to be healthy.

I'm grateful to Savannah Perinatology for the amazing care I got the 36 weeks I was pregnant with my Bella Boo. My baby girl was a handful from conception and they made sure she was healthy right up to the day she came 3 1/3 weeks early.

I'm grateful to Live Oaks Children's Therapy and Ms. Kristin for helping Angel with his speech therapy. Every week I notice him attempting some new word or sign and that makes my heart swell with happiness.

I'm grateful to Chatterbox Pediatric Therapy and Mrs. Kimber for helping Angel with his occupational therapy. Every time my little boy looks into my eyes I'm overjoyed at the progress he has made.

I"m grateful for so many little things as well. I'm grateful for the way Bella smiles when you look at her. The way she babbles and ohs and ahs endlessly as if she is telling you the greatest story and you have all day to listen. I'm grateful she sleeps through the night so that I can too. I am grateful she is a happy, healthy baby girl despite her early entrance to the world. I'm grateful for the way Angel smiles at me from across the room because we've made eye contact. I'm grateful for his love of books and how he spends hours playing with them, turning page after page. I'm grateful for all the endless hugs he gives me because I know some parents aren't that lucky. I'm grateful for his autism because it's made me realize that even if his life might be harder than most kids it will be the happiest life because he loves and is loved. What more could a child ask for?

I'm grateful for the strength and the patience and the heart that is require of being a mom and a wife. For the ability to never go without anything I actually need. For the chance to live so close to Savannah so that I may enjoy it when ever I like. For my dishwasher since I hate washing dishes. For Lieu, who may not get the attention she deserves all the time but is still the best dog in the world.

I'm grateful for my life because it is mine to do whatever I wish with and it is such an amazing life. What more could I ask for?