What I'm Thankful For This Year

Right around this time of year, I start getting a bit nostalgic on everything that happened in my life since the start of the calendar year . I'll do more of a "Year in Review" post once we are actually closer to the end of 2017, but the obvious this year is that we grew our family by another child. The arrival of our sweet Eloise is one of the many blessings that I am thankful for this year. I know sharing what I'm thankful for this year seems so cliche to post the week of Thanksgiving, and I admit - it totally is. But I'm going to do it anyways, because I think it's the perfect time to do it! (Also, it's my blog and I can pretty much write about whatever I want, whenever I want!)

As you all know, my family is first and foremost in my life. I love being a wife and I love being a mom. So it stands to reason that the first 3 things I'm thankful for this year are the 3 most important people in my life: My husband and my 2 girls. I won't go into a long paragraph about each of them, because I am sure you've read about them before, but I would be remiss if I didn't say SOMETHING about each of them! So without further ado, I bring your my list of What I'm Thankful For This Year:

1. This guy. He's pretty awesome. He's sorely outnumbered at home (a wife, 2 daughters, and 2 female dogs). And he puts up with all of our craziness day in and day out. He works his butt off to help provide for us and our girls' future. And as you can see from the photos, he loves the heck out of the girls and me. Every year, I am continually surprised at how lucky I was that God put us in each other's lives. I'm so thankful for Dan! Best husband and Daddy around, hands down.

2. I'm thankful for a child like Annabelle who finds the joy in everything. EVERYTHING. The amount of delight she exudes, whether it's playing with snow on a wet leaf, making food with Mommy, or "reading" a magazine, is off the charts. I'm so thankful for such a joyful child!

3. Speaking of joy, I'm thankful for such a happy (and now better sleeping) child like Eloise. Seriously, this kid belly laughs more than any baby I've known. She's a lot louder overall than Annie was at this age, but she also belly laughs a lot more too. It doesn't take a whole lot to get her going either. I'm thankful for a laugh like hers that can brighten the worst of days!

4. Aside from my family unit, I'm thankful for both the family that I grew up in, as well as Dan's family, and that they are are close! At 2 hours away, my sister and her family are the furthest, but we'll take 2 hours any day over the 12+ hours from when they lived in the DC area. They will be hosting Thanksgiving this year, and I'm so thankful they are close enough for us to go. I feel incredibly lucky to have all of our family within driving distance, and some even within walking distance (my parents and Dan's sister and her family are both within a 5 minute walk of our house, stroller included).

5. I'm thankful that both Dan and I have a job. Had you asked either one of us 10 years ago if we thought we'd be doing what we're both doing now, we'd probably have told you heck no (neither of us have a degree in what we are actually doing). But here we are, both employed and making enough money to provide for our family. There was a time in my life when I lived paycheck to paycheck, and maybe I'm not where I thought I'd be at this point, but I'm thankful to be in a position where our family is comfortable.

6. I'm grateful for an amazing daycare. This was not the daycare we had originally chosen, but it was a blessing in disguise that the first one didn't work out, because we love where the girls are now. Every teacher knows every child's name, even if they haven't ever had them in class. I get regular, real time updates and photos via an app as you can see below. Communication is awesome. They are learning new things every day, and every child I see there is so kind. I couldn't ask for better care for my girls.

7. I'm so grateful for the neighborhood that we live in. Dan grew up one street over from where we live right now, and I can totally see why families our age are coming back to the neighborhood. It's very kid friendly, and just friendly overall. It's a great place to raise our children, and the school that they will attend is less than a 5 minute drive away.

8. After having the flu last week, I am SO thankful for our family's good health. Yes, we have our ailments, and I probably complain about them too much, but I know they pale in comparison to the health battles others are dealing with day in and day out. I am thankful for getting the flu like I did, because it has made me appreciate my overall good health that much more, and it reminds me to not take it for granted and that I should take better care of it to preserve it for years to come.

9. I'm not the kind of gal that has one big friend circle. I have small circles. Some of my friends are friends from old jobs. Some are friends from school. Some have come in and out of my life at various points and are now back as a regular part of my life. Some of my best friends are actually people I've never met but have connected with through similar life circumstances (especially all of you ladies from the WTE group on Facebook!). No matter how people have come to be a friend of mine, I am thankful that they were placed in my life. Each one of them has been there in one way or another for me, and I can confidently say I would not be the mom or woman that I am today without each of them.

10. Last but not least, and I know this sounds so very trivial, but I am thankful for weekends. As a parent who works outside the home, my family time is so precious to me. Weekends are my gold mine. Sure, they are exhausting, especially if we're dealing with teething, or poor naps, or whatever. But these are the moments that I wish I could freeze in time. So many of the memories that warm my heart lately, especially between the 2 girls, have been made on the weekends, when we are just sitting on the floor, reading books or playing. During the week, I get at best 90 minutes a day to play with the girls, so when I get more than that on the weekends, it really is the best thing and something for which I am so grateful.

I'm not going to lie, cold weekends are fun, but having a cozy fire as part of them makes it that much better!

What are you thankful for this year? I'd love to hear!

#Thankful