thankful

Thanksgiving was special this year.  Well, it's special every year because it's my favorite holiday...so I should say it was a little extra special.  Not only was it our first Thanksgiving as a family of 3, but it was also the first time in many, many years that every member of this Thanksgiving family was together.  The time went waaay to fast, but it was great to be able to spend a few relaxing days with these people who I am so thankful for!

First time in a tractor!

Sporting the shirt from Auntie Kelli
"owl love you forever"

Lilia and I also made a trip up to Michigan to see some family and meet cousin Sarah's son Luke the weekend before Thanksgiving.  She loved playing with Grandma Slenk!

Lilia is 3 months old today, and she decided to celebrate by showing us a new trick...she rolled from her back to stomach yesterday!  It took her a while to get to this point, so we'll have to keep practicing to get better at it. 

Whipping that leg over..........yeah, we'll count it!

growin

6 weeks
(outfit from the vball girls :) )

7 weeks

8 weeks
(October 23 and super warm outside)

9 weeks
(already in my 3-6 mo clothes!)

10 weeks
(election day)

give thanks

It's hard not to be reminded of all that we can be thankful for at this time of year.  With many people posting 30 days of thanks on facebook, I usually can agree with most things I read.  However, I have seen some people being intentional about posting blessings in disguise, and I felt challenged to do the same - to take the nuisances and stresses in my life and instead see the blessing that is waiting for me if I only look a little deeper.  So here goes my first week...

#1: I am thankful for God's creativity that can be seen in each one of us.  Sometimes our differences can be frustrating and make it difficult to develop relationships, but we are all image bearers of Him and his diversity is beautiful.

#2: I am thankful for poopy diapers because it means my daughter is healthy and eating really well!

#3: I am thankful for the never-ending task of raking leaves because it allows me to do some physical labor outside and enjoy my favorite season of the year.

#4: I am thankful for political ads (not the content necessarily) but because they mean we live in a country that gives me the right to vote and freely live out my faith.  I personally think these kids say it much better to a little "Call Me Maybe" tune! :)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVkfNUxRh7g

#5: I am thankful for long (sometimes reeeally long) days at home because it means that God had provided just enough for me to be able to stay at home with our daughter this school year.  

#6: I am thankful for rainy, dreary days because our God knows just what we need after a hot, dry summer.

#7: I am thankful for a daughter that fights sleep because sometimes that's what it takes to make us slow down, drop everything, and just be with her to comfort and sing her to sleep.

And here are some pictures of our smiling, cooing, beautiful blessing that we see growing before our eyes every day...

peacefully sleeping

she LOVES the butterfly - never takes her eyes off it!

starting to learn how to use her hands

shows how much she has grown - she wore the on the left
right after coming home.  now, she fits into the one on the right!