• 30 days of Thankfulness

    Date: 2012.11.30 | Category: Family Life | Tags:

    Day 30 – Thankful for Codey and all the lessons his life has taught me. Codey has been through more in his 25 years than anyone should have to go through and yet he is still happy. He is a wonderful son and a blessing. His life was the start of my learning that my life isn’t about me and that changed everything. Codey has taught me that every day I have the choice to be happy. He taught me what is truly important in life. He taught me to trust God with all things and that I am NOT in control. He has been such a blessing and honoring him is a very fitting way to end my 30 days of Thanksgiving.

    Day 29 – Thankful that I have my Boo. She was my first little girl and the sweetest one around. She has a heart for children and a child-like joy that is contagious. She is happy with the smallest of things. She will be the best big sister to her 6 little sisters. She is not only my daughter, but my friend as well. Happy 1/2 birthday Cassie Boo. I thank the Lord daily for the gift of you. *hugs* xoxox

    Day 28 – Thankful for a good report for Gracie in Iowa City today.

    Day 27 – Thankful for my Altoona Farrell’s 7 a.m. friends who always make working out fun! Sometimes when it is cold and the bed feels extra nice, it is just hard to get out of bed. I’m always happy that I made the effort once I get there and see all your smiling faces. 🙂

    Day 26 – Thankful for all the family and friends we have who continue to encourage us and lift our children up in prayer. It’s hard to be patient and wait, but it helps to know that so many others continue to pray for their safety until we can all be together.

    Day 25 – Thankful for making memories! 🙂
    Day 24 – Thankful that today marks the 28th year of being married to my best friend, my better half, and the man who shares my dreams. I love you Dan!
    “The secret of life isn’t what happens to you, but what you do with what happens to you.” ~ Norman Vincent Peale
    Day 23 – Thankful that a year ago we figured out what was wrong with little Grace. Thankful that she was born in this decade where she has a fighting chance at a long, healthy life. Gracie is a compassionate, sweet, loving little girl who is amazing with her new siblings. She is a blessing and has a faith that is unbelievable. I’m thankful every single day that she is my little butterfly.

    Day 22 – Thankful for so many blessings that I don’t deserve, which leave me humbled and overwhelmed, and looking forward to my new blessings that will be sure to make my life even more beautiful. May you be surrounded by blessings today and feel your heart overflowing with thankfulness. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

    Day 21 – Thankful that this should be the last Thanksgiving that my babies have to spend apart from their family. (Well, you know…until they grow up and have babies of their own.) 🙂

    Day 20 – Thankful for all the birthday wishes from friends and family. Thankful for a family that loves me and showed me in so many wonderful ways today. Thankful for this blessed life that I get to live. Next year it is possible that my dream I’ve had since I was a little girl will come true. I have so many, many things to be thankful for. I have to agree with Ben who said all day today, “It’s a happy, happy mama day!” 🙂

    Day 19 – Thankful for my husband and the gifts that God gave him. I am thankful for all the information he is able to obtain from many sources on what is the right surgery for Ben, when to proceed, and the horribly hard decision of to do or not do the surgery. If you are praying for my little Ben, the specific prayer needed right now is wisdom to choose between the risk of surgery that will give

    him a chance at better quality of life but is dangerous or doing nothing and letting him continue to be happy for as long as he has? Tough decisions and a heavy burden for my husband. I can pray and give my gut feeling, but I don’t have the medical knowledge to make a truly informed decision – only Dan can do that. I’m thankful every day for everything that he is able to do for our children above and beyond loving them. 🙂
    Day 18 – Thankful for helpers at the craft sale! 🙂
    Day 17 – Thankful for my husband who has a quick, witty sense of humor. He makes me laugh every day. 🙂
    “Laughter is the sound of the soul dancing. My soul probably looks like Fred Astaire.” – Jarod Kintz
    Day 16 – Thankful for weekend craft sales with my mom and mother-in-law. It’s fun to see all the things they’ve made and spend time together. Plus, we had some really great help! Thanks Lori !!! 🙂
    Day 15 – Thankful that Ben’s platelets were 41 so they could do the cath. 40 was what we had to beat. The procedure has started. Praying & waiting has commenced. 🙂
    Day 14 – thankful post part 2. Better known as the long version. 🙂 I am thankful that Cassie & Zach truly love their siblings and want to be there for them. I am thankful, as I sit here holding Ben, that I know Zach is playing games with his sisters & fixing them lunch. I know they are so happy to be able to have a day with him that they will barely notice I am gone. The same will happen tonight

    as they plan their supper & movie watching with Cassie. It melts my heart when the two newest ones run to them with their arms outstretched, chanting Zachy or Cassie. It doesn’t get much better than that. As LWB said today….It is not flesh & blood but the heart that makes us (family).
    Day 14 – Today I am thankful for Zach & Cassie for being there for their little siblings. They always make sure they feel loved and secure when we have to be away for medical reasons. I love that they all love each other so much. Thanks guys! xoxox
    Day 13 – Today I am thankful for getting to be the mama to the sweetest little boy around. I know I’ve said it before, but sometimes I just stand in amazement at how sweet he is. Today he informed the nurse that God cares for his heart, and it was okay as he held out his finger, when she got ready to do his fingerstick. He said “thank you much” to everyone at the doctor’s office for everything

    from his bandaid to his stickers when he left. He asked to buy Maisey a Spiderman because she was sad when he got one the other day. He turned a trip to Mediacom into a funfest. He laughed at all the cutouts and asked to have his picture taken by all of them except for the scary Ghost Rider poster. He told me I did a good job driving and that he loves me much. He just oozes sweetness. Blessed am I!
    Day 12 – Thankful for advanced medicine and children’s hospitals. Heading to Iowa City today for Ben’s IVIG. Hopefully, (prayers said and fingers crossed) it will raise his platelets from 30 to at least 100 – enough to do his heart cath on Thursday. 🙂
    Day 11 – Thankful that there were others there to hold her and love her until the end.  RIP baby Kahleesa
    Day 10 – Thankful for New Hope Foundation China! A little over 2 years ago today Dr. Hill’s organization, (http://www.hopefosterhome.com/), found Maisey, who was 6 months old and weighed 6 pounds. They took her in. They fed her. They lo

    ved her. Today I am blessed with a little girl with so much personality and compassion. She is sweet and energetic and a beautiful bundle of everything good. Plus, every single day she makes me laugh. (Shown by her choice of clothing yesterday.)
    Day 9 – So much to be thankful for. Today I am thankful for unexpected blessings. Yesterday we were told that we had verbal preapproval for Lauren but they would not issue the written preapproval until we had our extension finished by immigration. This could take 4-6 weeks for fingerprinting and review of our homestudy. Our agency gave me all the ways to try and expedite it, but we would have

    to wait until then for the appointment. The preapproval paper allows us to tell her orphanage that she has a forever family and to be able to send her a care package. As you know, we all wanted to send her something before Christmas and let her know that we love her and can’t wait to get her. Gracie’s biggest wish was for Lauren to know she had a family for Christmas. Even though we were told we would have to wait, today we received the written preapproval form from China. They decided to go ahead and issue it. Blessings! Blessings! Blessings! So today I am thankful to be going shopping for my newest daughter.
    Day 8 – I am thankful for my soul mate, my best friend, and the sharer of my dreams. He supports me, comforts me, upholds me, prays with me, calms my fears, protects me, holds me up when I don’t think I can go on and best of all makes me laugh every single day. He love his children with his whole heart, those here with us now and those that are yet to come. He has incredible gifts yet gives God all the credit (as it should be). He is my dream come true. Love you sweetheart!

    Day 7 – I’m thankful that I know who the true authority is. In a country where we profess to want to people to work together, we drive each other apart. We call people names. We post jokes and insults. Everyone loses their objectivity. This country is about freedom. This country is headed for trouble because of the debt. We all should be able to agree on that and find ways to fix it. We as a country find ways to pull together when there is a national calamity and then we stop. Why? I believe we all want a better future for our kids. Let’s work together and figure out a way to do that. “We the people” need to stop blaming everyone else and work together for the good of this country.

    Day 6 – Thankful (as is everyone else in Facebookland – it seems) to live in a free country and have the right to vote. After seeing the news this morning about the young man from Shenandoah who gave his life for his country, it makes the price of that freedom all the more real. Praying for his family and all those that are serving our country.

    Day 5 – I should post Dan’s comment on being thankful for having 5 kids under the age of 5 at this time next year. Yes, I am truly thankful for that, but I had already decided to give each of my children their own day of thanks on their birthday day of the month. Today will be brought to you by the letter Z for Zach! Zach has been a blessing and a gift from the very beginning. He is an old soul

    and a sweet soul. He was a gift from God during the worst time of my life. He was proof that life would go on. He is bright and sweet and funny and talented. But his biggest gift is his compassion. How many 24 year old video game programmers do you know that would give up a job at EA Sports to come home to get to know their newest siblings? They adore him and I do too. That is my Zach and one of the reasons I am thankful and blessed every single day of my life.

    Day 4 – Thankful that God sent me a son with the sweetest soul. Today in church Benjamin raised his hand during prayer request. This in and of itself is amazing because Ben is very shy when he is in big groups of people. When pastor asked him what his prayer request was Ben replied, “My didi, Eli”. Ben was praying for his little brother – that we haven’t even been matched with yet. He is so sure this little boy is his brother and his Eli (Ben says it like ally.) He is just a sweet, sweet boy. He is loving and encouraging to everyone. Yesterday while Maisey was trying to put on her shoes he kept saying, “Awesome job Maisey! Good work!” I’m a thankful and blessed mama.

    Day 3 – Although I’m disappointed that they won’t present Lauren’s file yet, I’m thankful that there are people out there who are truly trying to find the best possible way to make it happen. I’d like to be able to say I have 7 daughters – maybe that will be what I am thankful for on day 20. That would be a great birthday present. 🙂

    Day 2 – Thankful that I have the most wonderful job in the world, being a mother, and that I have a husband who appreciates and supports me in that job. 🙂

    Day 1 – Thankful we are one step closer.  I just got the message that China has locked in our dossier.  And the wonderful, great, amazing news is that they can now ask about Lauren. So on this first day of Adoption Month, I’m asking all of my praying friends to please pray that they say yes to us being able to adopt her too. Hopefully we will know something in the next couple of weeks. I am happy, excited, and scared to death! I know who is in control though so I will practice patiently waiting for the good news. 🙂