I am thankful

I am thankful that 2009 is almost over.
I am thankful that my car accident 2 days ago wasn't worse.
I am thankful that the baby kicks me all night keeping me awake, letting me know he is good and strong and healthy.
I am thankful that I don't go through Tums like last pregnancy - The makers of Tums are not thankful for that.
I am thankful that turkey's don't mind that we kill them and eat their delicious meat every Thanksgiving - I guess if we asked them, they might say they care, but they sure are delicious.
I am thankful I am in maternity pants on Thanksgiving. The elastic band is much more comfortable and I don't have to worry about my buttons popping.
I am thankful that Phil and I found the perfect name for the baby (don't even bother - we aren't telling you).
I am thankful that the bars in my neighborhood are not rowdy on this holiday - one night free of drunk frat boys and girls in their high heels walking past my bedroom window is bliss.
I am thankful that I have found a way to  do something that I love and have started my photography business.
I am thankful that I don't have to make dinner tonight - or tomorrow (which makes me also thankful for leftovers!)
I am thankful that J Crew doesn't make maternity clothes - Phil (and our bank accounts) are thankful for this as well.
I am thankful our house hasn't fallen apart in a month or so. Although just writing that I realize tomorrow it will cave in to the ground.
I am thankful for honeybees. The honey in my hot tea is making me very happy right now.
I am thankful for my friends. They make every situation better - and always more fun - and usually with wine ;) 
I am thankful for my parents. I don't think I could have made it through this year without them.
I am thankful for my sisters. There to listen, support, bring me back to reality, take me away from reality, and always make me feel loved.
I am thankful for Daisy. She makes me smile every day, and even when she wakes me up barfing at 4am, I love her so much!
I am thankful for Phil. So thankful for Phil. For more reasons than I have time to write down.
I am thankful for the baby. I am thankful that he has brought some joy and hope to our year. And I am thankful that he is healthy, strong, active, and safe.
I am thankful for Henry. He added so much to my life, to who I am,  and changed who I thought I wanted to be.

Did I mention I am thankful for Phil?

Happy Thanksgiving.

Got me thinking...

So I am photographing a baptism tomorrow morning for lovely friends and their nearly 4 month old baby boy. I'll be the first to admit that church is one of the last places I want to go, but I don't know if I could give you a solid reason for that. The baptism made me think about what that was all about. I don't have it figured out  yet, and understand I never will, but as I was going through my old planner (I inherited the need for Franklin Planners from mom - Franklin Covey and I thank you for that Ma) I found a page in the notes section from some time last year. On it were 2 quotes and I couldn't for the life of me remember where they were from, but they were fitting with what I thinking about.

"The search for God is a reversal of the normal, mundane, worldly order . . . You abandon your comforting and familiar habits with the hope that something greater will be offered to you in return for what you've given up."

"Devotion is diligence without understanding. Faith is a way of saying 'Yes, I pre-accept the terms of the universe and I embrace in advance what I am presently incapable of understanding.'"

Understanding and hope. Simple enough right? I wish.

I later realized that I copied these from Eat, Pray, Love when I was reading it in 2008. I don't know why I wrote it down at the time. But I like these words. The book was pretty good, nothing to jump up and down about, but these words are simple and I have a feeling I'm going to come back to them from time to time in hopes of understanding them.

Dancing Baby

Last Wednesday was our followup sonogram to double check the baby's stomach, profile and heart. I realized that I didn't update anyone on here! Whoops.

I wanted to make sure that he was awake and ready to cooperate so before I went in for the sonogram, I had a half cup of Coke. Well the sonographer fairly quickly found that his stomach was fine and within the normal range (the booger must have been thirsty last time and had a big drink!). Then came the profile shots, which proved a little troublesome since his arms were up in the air creating some major shadows over his face. They got some that they were pleased with and moved on to assess the heart. He was once again face down head up towards mine, feet down towards the ground - completely vertical. After 45 minutes of me rolling around this way and that way and every which way, finally they could tell that all 4 ventricles were functioning great. It was quite the ordeal. He was playing games with us, when I would roll over to my side, ideally he would have rolled with me and they would get the image they needed. But instead, he rolled away from me making it impossible! There was one point where his arms were in the air moving around and his legs were in the air like he was practicing walking. He moved around so much his legs ended up crossed. It was pretty funny. 

He looks like the baby from those dancing baby commercials from a few years ago?

 

See his legs crossed?

 



So bottom line is he is good and healthy. They asked if I wanted to come back for another big sonogram at 28 weeks for piece of mind and I wasn't going to turn down another chance to see him! So that one is on December 23rd.