Thankful

Most days I get wrapped up in what I don’t have at the moment.  Our lives have been kind of at a stand still for the past four years while Gabe has been in Medical school.  We have moved several times and just have never felt settled.  Life right now can be so stressful and it is hard to just take a step back and realize that we should be thankful in what we do have.  I have a husband who works his butt off every day without getting paid then comes home and goes above and beyond to help out around the house.  I have an amazingly beautiful daughter who makes me laugh at the silly things she does.  I have a mom who is helping to support us while Gabe finishes up school by allowing us to live rent free and helps us with Maddie ALL the time.  I have a wonderful sister and brother-in-law and a gorgeous nephew who makes me so happy.  I have grandparents who are always there for us and an amazing family who I love dearly.  Not to mention great friends who I can always count on.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel.  It is getting brighter every day!  I am excited to see what the future holds for us.  Only three more months until match day {when we find out where Gabe will be for Residency}.  He is busy with interviews-he has two this week in Virginia.  I am definitely thankful for interviews, because that means a job for him soon!

We spent Thanksgiving in Georgetown.  What a wonderful weekend we had sharing with our family and eating lots and lots of delicious food!  Gabe fried a turkey again over the weekend and if you haven’t tried fried turkey you are missing out!  My Omi has officially said “no more oven turkeys EVER again!”  On Saturday we celebrated a Carolina football win against Clemson for the third year in a row.  We are THANKFUL for a win!

 

Soak it in

While Maddie was in the bath tonight and was brushing her teeth {we usually let her brush her teeth while in the tub} I had to stop and just stare at her and smile. She probably thought I was crazy, but as she was brushing her teeth this overwhelming feeling came over me and I thought “she is not my little baby anymore”and I just wanted to cry right there. She is becoming independent and wanting to do everything on her own. After I got her dressed and we started reading our books I began to reflect on just a few things that she has said recently that has made me smile.

The other morning after I handed Maddie her milk she looked up at me with a cheezy grin and said “thank you!” My heart just melted. It was the first time she had said ‘thank you’ on her own without us prompting her to say it.

Every meal I ask Maddie “what do you want to eat?” I try and give her choices and she never has answered me straight up. Well yesterday I asked her “what do you want for lunch?” and she stared at me for a few seconds and then said “GRAPES!” I was shocked! Thank goodness we had grapes in the fridge!

Today while we were in Cracker Barrel for breakfast she was looking at the toys and she went up to these big stuffed horses and picked them up and said “camel!” This really threw me off guard considering camels is not an animal we talk about often. I had to think about where in the world she got camels from and I finally realized that a camel is in one of her picture books. I don’t even remember the last time we read it. She doesn’t forget anything.

While I was rocking my sweet girl, I held her especially close, and reminisced about when we first brought her home from the hospital. She was just a little peanut then and now she is overflowing out of my arms. She will never be this little again, so for now I just have to soak it all in each and every day.