Yesterday was full of cooking, transporting, eating, child-wrangling, and gathering with my mom's side of the family in Holland. No time to blog. So a few things I'm thankful for on the day after Thanksgiving:
1. My mom, whose birthday it was yesterday. Yes, she does little things that drive me crazy (asks my children every time she sees them if they're warm enough, calls me once a week with a literal list of questions/issues to fire at me, considers Jello a nutritious side dish to serve my family, wears her jeans two inches too short), but she really is amazing, in a low-key, unassuming way. No flash, no drama, just genuine love and support. She's one of the few people I know who really does manage to give advice only when it's asked for, who does kind and thoughtful things for others for all the right reasons, who strikes a perfect balance between being a parent and a friend now that I'm a grown-up. She taught me to be independent, compassionate, and practical; she lives her most-often-given advice: "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all." And yes, these words now come out of my mouth as a gift to my eldest daughter, too.
2. My now 23-month-old Jemma, who only has one more month left of being one year old. Yesterday she refused to nap for the first time in her life despite all my best efforts. I finally went in to lie down with her, knowing she wasn't happy about being in a Pack and Play in a strange bedroom. We laid on the bed together and I tried to soothe her and talk her into laying down her head. "Light!" she said. "Clock!" "Telephone. Get it. Get it." "Arm!" "Mommy arm. Daddy? Annie night-night?" "Eat.Eat.Eat." she chirped. I gave up. We went back upstairs to play with cousins and eat apple crisp. And surprisingly, she didn't have a giant meltdown later in the afternoon. So big, my little Jemma.
3. Annie, of course, who came up to me spontaneously yesterday and said, "Mommy, I love you so much." We are hard on each other sometimes, so it was good to hear that.
4. Coffee, in all its forms.
5. Being surrounded by such a great community of friends, neighbors, and family. Jason and I watched a documentary about Grand Rapids on PBS on Wednesday night and, while there are surely many more interesting and diverse places to live, we feel like we've found just the right place for us and we were inspired to find more ways to participate and give back to our community the way that so many others are doing.
6. Finding a pair of cute green cords at J. Crew marked down to $29.99 and then marked 30% off the sale price. Bargain! I wore them yesterday.
7. Our gym, which I might as well call "our pool" because I now officially go there more frequently to swim with the girls than to work out. I love being able to pack them up on a yucky November day and take them someplace warm and fun. Bonus: that chlorine kills all the winter kid germs, right? Bonus: Annie is getting braver and braver; maybe she'll teach herself how to swim and we can save some money on lessons?
8. This four-day weekend, with enough time for getting a Christmas tree, playing games with friends, eating, shopping, working out, sleeping, watching Christmas movies, and generally getting into the spirit of the holidays even more.
Off to chop down an unsuspecting pine tree!
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