1. I am thankful for DI. Love a bargain.
2. Thankful for spray-paint. Makes the DI bargains non-hideous.
3. Grateful for good neighbors. They are wonderful friends and company. Love them!
4. Food storage. A water main broke the other day and we were without water for a few hours. No big deal.... thank you food storage! We just pulled out some bottles and were just fine! Not really inconvenienced at all!
5. Cars. Some days I imagine if I'd go very far if I had to walk... seven months pregnant... with a 20 month old... in the cold... Nope. I wouldn't go far.

I am grateful for:
1. Snow.
2. Macaroni and cheese- the little guy ate FIVE helpings for dinner.
3. Temples- we had a special day with King's family today. His dad and his wife were sealed and he was able to act as a proxy for his brother to be sealed as well.
4. Vacuums.
5. Visitors.
6. New, healthy babies. We welcomed a nephew, and a good friend yesterday, and a niece just a few weeks ago.
7. Anesthesiologists. I was talking to one today, and couldn't help remembering how much I like their profession. I'm sure I'll be even more grateful in January.

Today I am thankful for LOTS of things. Here's the top 5 ish....
1. A GREAT family and extended family. Like Aloysha commented, they are my best friends.
2. Medicine. Mom's been downing cough-drops like candy, and after seeing the Dr. has real stuff to make her feel better. Finally! I must sub-conciously follow her example more than I thought... I've started on the cough-drops myself. Wonderful things.
3. Nesting. Sure, its a bit early- but I do love organizing. True, I now have too many projects started....
4. Books on tape and good music. It makes it easier to keep my hands busy when I don't have to think, "How long will this project take.....?" My brain half listens and half organizes/works. It's marvelous
5. Primary Programs. They are my favorite Sacrament meeting of the whole year!
6. Music in general. We sing lots of songs to our little guy at night- and King is working on his guitar skills again to accompany. Lots of fun!
7. That "accomplished" feeling when you get something done! So rewarding.

If I'd only been faster...

So today I made cookies. Yummy, pumpkin cookies. I the first batch cooling on the counter and the second was cooking. Mason of COURSE knew what they were and immediately started asking for "doogies" (his version of cookies). I told him we'd have to wait, they were hot. I left the room for a minute knowing that while he can climb on SOME counters, this particular counter was safe. I walked back in to see him with the oven mit stuffed on his arm. Because of his size the mit reached his armpit. He was reaching up to the stove and the pan of hot cookies exclaiming, "Hot! Hot!" Yes son, very clever. I wish I'd been faster with the camera. It was priceless.
Not two minutes later after I'd retrieved my oven mit, he managed to snag not one, but two cookies and promptly took bites from each. Theif.
1. Thankful for good doctors. I love my OBGYN. How many people say that?
2. I'm thankful for modern medicine. Got a lovely shot of Rogam today. Painful, but it helps my babies.
3. I'm grateful for naps. Maybe I already mentioned this one.... still thankful.
4. Thankful for a nice, nice, nice husband who takes care of jr. so I can go to the dr.'s in peace... the first time we brought him along he unplugged the ultrasound machine...
5. Thankful for sippy cups. Enough said.

Too funny...

One minute he's fine...

The next he's not...

Poor guy fell asleep in his highchair, eating a COOKIE. Yes, he was tired.
Now for my attempt at telling what I'm grateful for... daily might be a stretch
(I'm usually good if I blog once a week)
I'm grateful I had a friend there to remind me to take a picture... on my own I would have just scooped him up and put him in his bed.
Speaking of which, I'm grateful for cameras- now I can share all the funny moment's King misses with him at the end of the day.
I'm grateful for children's Tylenol and Motrin.
I'm grateful for full night's sleep. Toddler beds have been cutting those short lately.
I'm grateful for the little guy's new-found love of books. At least a few of them. We've read a particular Dr. Seuss and a penguin book at least five time each this morning.

Gratitude

I'm in.

Here's for yesterday: I'm thankful for...
1. Naps. Sometimes absence makes the heart grow fonder.
2. Breaks. Mental breaks, emotional breaks, breaks from children getting up in the night...
3. The Conference Ensign. I have forgotten so much already and its only been a month. We don't have the newest Ensign yet, but it's all online!
4. New insights. Mostly about my son. But a few, very helpful ones, about me.
5. Thankful for mattresses and pillows. I sound shallow.

Today:
1. Working computers.
2. Books on tape- entertainment and a distraction while cleaning.
3. Friendly neighbors
4. Beautiful fall weather.
5. Mason's laugh.

We did something right...

Bought computer (20 mo. ago). Bought extended warranty... hesitantly. Bought external drive/ backup system.
Loved computer.
Computer crashed.
Loved warranty. Loved backup.
Love a working computer.

Trains

No, the tracks are not a slide for you...

With the train, in a drawer...

"clean up, clean up..."

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa.

Bankok and Indiana

Why do sisters choose to live so far away? Indiana was far. Very far. I only see those in Indiana once a year IF I'm lucky. But at least it doesn't require a passport and very, very long flight. Bankok? What time zone is that? I don't think I can afford that plane ticket (not that I've afforded the Indiana one often either...) I can pretend that its about as far as Indiana- since I see Ann so rarely anyhow... maybe they're both on the other side of the world. I think I'm going to need to start saving money again. Now I need to go to Indiana AND Bankok. Good thing we have computers and cameras. Best yet- computers WITH cameras.

Woes of a Toddler Bed

Once there was a little boy. His mother REALLY wanted him to learn how to sleep in a toddler bed- but he thought it was more or less a game. Every night they would let him start in his toddler bed, but after a few minutes of giggles and running back to his bed every time his parents came in, he inevitably ended up back in his pack-in-play. That was all fine and dandy until the day he learned how to climb OUT of his pack-n-play. Now what would they do?
When a kind lady in the neighborhood so generously offered to give him her crib that she was trying to get rid of, his mother of course said yes. She was hoping he would dare climb out of the crib yet since it was high off the ground. The kind lady went above and beyond the normal kindness and even came over to help set it up. What did the little boy do? Did he say thank you? Did he mention how nice free beds were? Did he offer to sleep in it all night? No. He simply climbed out in record time. Sigh.
Needless to say, the next TWO HOURS were spent putting him back, and back, and back, and back, and back, and back.. you get the picture... in his bed (instead of having him run around his room!). When he finally crashed at nine pm, his mother too collapsed in bed and promptly fell asleep. There's got to be a better way to do this right?