Role models and fairy tales

34 years ago today my in-laws tied the knot. 3 weeks ago my parents celebrated the 30th anniversary of their wedding union. Growing up I was lucky enough to witness a marriage of love and partnership. I am sure D grew up in this as well considering for the last 11 years object also seen these traits in his parent's marriage. So today, I am thankful that both of us grew up in the security of a good marriage. We witnessed what it was like to have the give and take a marriage needs. The support and love to grow in and the work it takes to well make it work.

The real kicker in this? Both our parents happened to be high school sweethearts as well. It looks like we all found our fairy tale. Thank you Mom and Dad and Ann and Gary for showing us how to live out that fairy tale. For giving us amazing examples to go by and for being there to help us out when we need it :0)

Generosity

Today I am thankful for the generosity of the family and friends that surround me. We have been so blessed lately that I can't even begin to describe the depth. A surprise baby shower in FL, a homecooked meal, and drop in visits. Willingness to take our little princess while we attend hypnobirthing, wood flooring and slate given at no cost to us and just tonight an awesome generator given at my birthday dinner.

Really the amount of love and support we receive in our lives is abundant and so forthcoming. Each and every one of you are a blessing and I am truly thankful that I get to be surrounded by the best friends and family any girl could ask for!

A special thank you for those who squeezed time out tonight to celebrate my birthday with me :0)

Miracles

So not being ableto post and then post yesterday for the day before has totally thrown me off. So I vow to get on track today. Post #1 is for yesterday's thanks and then tonight I will post for today. Alright...

Today I am thankful for the little miracle of life I have growing inside me. The months and months of TTC seem to have faded and all the feelings of sadness, disappointment and anger have been erased. Now, the joy and exciement of feeling this little blessing every day is all that matters. I don't even care that I am carrying an extra 15 pounds, haven't slept in weeks and visit the bathroom 1,456,765 times a night. Not to mention I can't breath and running is now a thing of the past.

I am just about 33 weeks now so the time is windin down. We have been preparing for the arrival of Max/Lucy. The crib is up, hypnobirthing techniques are being mastered and Ella even completed her sibling class last night. We are all so in love with this baby already and can't wait to see and kiss and love it even more.

I am so thankful that I was given the opportunity to carry this baby and soon brIng him/her into the world. I am looking forward to a calm, quiet and drug free birth that bonds us together as a family of four!

100 and soulmates!

This was yesterday's post I tried so hard to get up!

First before I get into the topic of today's thankfulness, I just want to take a minute to recognize this as my 100th post!!! I made it to the hundred club (yes in my mind such a club exists). Go me!!!!

So today?  Today's topic is a mushy one and will probably be sprinkled through the rest of the 30 days as thankfulness as well. Well because today's topic is one of my top blessings of all time. Today?  Today I thankful that I got to marry my soulmate. Me little ole shy country girl was hand picked by prince charming way back in high school. Through out all the "good" advice on how we each needed to live and experience life before being serious we stuck together. We grew together and loved together.

D is such an amazing dad (yes it will probably be the topic of a thankfulness post), a patient husband (yep again another day) and a hard worker (why not add a third day as well).  Just this afternoon I was stopped by a neighbor while checking the mail so she could tell me how hard of a worker he was and how much they appreciate us in the neighborhood.

I am so thankful that of all the girls he chose me!  He really chose me and I could not be happier!

Thank you Cowboy for completing in every way and for loving me endlessly!  (by the way I do have one male reader!  It's the love of my life, supporting me in broadcasting our life to my readers)

November challenge!

November is here! Most look at November as the month of giving thanksgiving. After all we all have so much to be thankful for even if things seem to be piling on us and burying us alive. So while the weather is getting dreary, the scenery not so beautiful and the days all too short, I have decided to keep thing in perspective by doing the November challenge. Each day this month I will blog about a different thing I am thankful for.

As I sit here lots of things are running through my head that I am thankful for. Which one should I pick to start me off? It's a hard decision and for the next 30 days the order of my thankfulness means no importance because obviously some things I am more thankful of than others. So today?

Today I am thankful for family and friends support. Without which I would not be able to accomplish my goals and dreams. I am thankful that I am loved enough that I can always find someone to drop everything and cheer me on in whatever I am doing. This past weekend it happened to be my mom who braved the freezing temps and the obscene trek from the start to the finish line in my last race. On Saturday my mom made sure she and Princess Pie cheered me on at the start and welcomed me with a huge congrats at the finish of my last race in the series. That is right ladies and gentelmen (do I even have any male readers?). I earned my runners jacket! I ran 6 of the series races (two of which were 10ks) to be able to be able to be able to lay claim to the end result of my jacket!

As of now I have run 11 races this year, 8 of them while be pregnant. I'm pretty proud of myself that's for sure!

So to all of you who have cheered me on, or cheered me up as L says. Who have ran with me, encouraged me and supported me, THANK YOU!!! I am truly thankful for each and every one of you!

PS since the computer is broken I will have to use the iPhone as my means to post each day, wish me luck! Oh and I am also thankful I am lucky enough to even have am iPhone!

It's been a LONG time!

I was on a roll, blogging galore (at least for me it was galore) and loving every minute of it. I really really do like writing and getting some of my thoughts out and down even though for most they are just boring tales of a mommy who loves her life. It was all good until the computer crashed and burned and died and went to the graveyard. Not having a computer hasn't been that big of a deal since I am cool enough to have an iPhone. But blogging on the phone was not something I wanted to do and with no pressing thoughts I just let the blog slide.

However, I have missed it like crazy. I missed seeing my little profile and just typing away to clear my mind. So, here I am sitting at my moms in front of her computer in complete bliss. So there is probably lots to update on, I am well into my third trimester, friends all around are popping up preggo and I couldn't be happier, house renovations, hypno birthing, and of course endless Ella stories that leave me rolling with laughter. But my first post after my hiatus? My first post is going to be about friends.

Ever feel like there are certain people that you just instantly connect with? This has happened to me on a few occasions and really that connection is so deep and strong that no matter how many days go by you can always pick up right where you left off. I have a few certain friends from high school that from the first moment I sat down next to them we were joined forever, my neighbor whom I have only been talking to for a little over a year feels like I grew up next door too and now? Now I have a group of fabulous women that a year ago I was calling my Internet Friends. These women started bonding over the birth of our December babies and have never looked back. About 10 months after talking everyday for a couple of years though cyber space we started planning a girls weekend to meet in person.

I was nervous as all get out. Really I had never done anything like this before and have only been out of Maine a few times. But last Friday I found myself boarding a plane and heading to Naples, FL to meet these girls I had shared so much of my life with. And what did I find? I found the friends of a lifetime, exactly like I had pictured them and as easy to be around as anyone of my other friends. Conversation came easy, there was no awkwardness, no feelings of I was mistaken. It was pure enjoyment. These sweet girls even had secretly planned me a baby shower for Friday night. Seriously I got to have a baby shower in Naples, FL? I am super lucky of this I know, friends like these girls don't come around that often. Friends that without a doubt I will be planning another trip to go see, and our daily banter will continue! After all Baby Sprout has some great Cyber Aunties :0)

fall perfection!

Fall is most definetly here!!! I truley love love love this time of year. The smell in the air, the cool nights and mornings, the color changes, the fall flavors, pumpkins, apples, mums you name it and if its a fall thing I love it.

This passed weekend we loaded up the Versa and hit the road for a family fall camping trip. Ella was thrilled that we were tenting it and that it happened to be at a camground a stone's throw away from Storyland!

We set up Friday night in spite of all the rain that was being forecasted for. We figured whats a little rain, we can always go dry out somewhere. But drying out wasn't needed. We spent the night around the campfire, roasting star shaped "marshamelllloooows" and just being together as a family of 3 (with a little kick in the ribs every now and then to remind me we are about to become a family of 4!). D and I talked about how this was Ella's last weekend getaway as an only child and that next year we will be doing this with the addition of a baby and a roof rack carrier for the Versa.

The rain came around midnight and the sound of it on the tent was soothing as I lay thinking things over (yes I am still not sleeping!). Saturday dawned the rain was gone and the sun and some summer temps came out. We hit a pool, went for a hike, found a farm to tour and completely exhausted Ella. When she woke her cousins had arrived and the 4 of them took off like a gang playing on the playground and running while the "big" girls hit the outlets for some shopping.

Sunday was our BIG family day, it was Storyland day!!! Ella is still not completely tall enough but with the right shoes and a hat she passed and she hit all the height requirement rides with a vengence! We spent the day walking around and pretty much closed the park. Little Miss decided to take a nap on the way home (4pm-6pm!) so she was wide awake for the evening. Which was fine since when we got home at 6, I unloaded the car, put everything away, did 2 loads of laundry, cleaned out and organized the coat closet and emptied the playroom of every toy and piece of furniture.

Our "babymoon" weekend was a huge success and we all loved every minute of it. Ella had the time of her life and it makes me sad just a little to think that she will never have times like this again, but I also know how excited she is for her baby brother or sister so it makes me feel a little bit better! Now D is in the process of extreme renovations week, we are living with my parents and our summer of events galore is over :0).... although weekends are not 100% free yet....