Back to Work

Well I finally had to go back to work this week after nine weeks of maternity leave. Luckily it was just a three day week so I got to snuggle all day today with my boys! Much needed after being away from them this week!!! Even though I would love to stay home with my boys, I have several blessings to be thankful for in returning to work:

1. That I have a job. With the way the job market looks now, I'm thankful that I am able to go back to work and provide for my children.
2. That I have some great co-workers - especially my sweet friend April - that make the work day more enjoyable.
3. That my mom is watching Easton until he is one year old. It makes a huge difference not having to worry about him being with someone he doesn't know when I leave him at home.
4. That I have a private room at work to pump in. Granted it's in the middle of our lab, which is occupied only by men...can we say awkward! Lol! BUT, I get to pump in a quiet place, with a locked door, and am able to provide milk for my son while I'm away from him.
5. That my sweet little boy is sleeping through the night! Yay Easton!!! Mama is grateful!
6. That I got to come home to this precious smile...

I'm sure the list could go on and on. But the point is that God blesses us every day and in every situation. Even though I didn't really want to go back to work this week, I am able to quickly name blessings God provided so leaving my boys wouldn't be quite as hard. Some blessings will smack you in the face and others you have to look a little harder for. But they're always there. God is just waiting on us to notice them.

Thank you God for the many blessings you give, everyday!

First Christmas "Alone"

Today has been a mix of emotions...it's the first in 10 years without my husband and my stepson Will. So in many ways it has felt very alone. But, thanks to God, in more ways than I can count, it has also been full of blessings…

We went to church this morning and enjoyed a great service with our church family. AND both boys made it through service without any major catastrophes. Easton slept in my arms the whole time and Grayson only let out one Woo-hoo after a song, and only ran through the back of the sanctuary with aunt Shari on his heels once, and only got escorted out by grandma once. Haha…so I said no MAJOR catastrophes. Lol, but really, he did good. And I got a good giggle from the running episode!!! Poor Shari!

We spent the day surrounded by family…so blessed to have all of my immediate family still here close by and able to gather! Many families are separated by distance or by death of loved ones and I pray that we continue to enjoy every opportunity together and don't take each other for granted!

My Grayson really enjoyed his horse and car and kitchen filled day! So grateful to see his little imagination blooming! Watching him play with his horse and barn tonight just brought such joy to this mama's heart. And he made coffee and breakfast for me this morning! So sweet watching them grow up!

My Easton's first Christmas! What a joy he has brought to our family this year. God blessed us with his sweet smile and sweet, sweet presence.

My Will called to tell us Merry Christmas! It's hard sometimes with everyone being so busy to even fit in a phone call. So I was so happy when he did. And he sounded happy and said he'd had a great day. Hearing happiness in his voice warms my heart!

And last, but most importantly, I was blessed today to be reminded of the most wonderful gift I have ever received...Jesus Christ. His unconditional love and sacrifice has made all of these other blessings possible. And for how great they are, the greatest blessings are yet to come once I am reunited with Jesus in Heaven. What wonder we have to look forward to!!! Thank you God for allowing us to celebrate your Son's birth today!

So even though I have struggled some today with sadness, I choose to be grateful for all that God has done for me! And these blessings that I've listed truly do only scratch the surface. God is so good and we are so undeserving. That's what makes His gift that much more marvelous…that His love for us, for me, is that large!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus!

Christmas Traditions

In moving this year, I left all my christmas decor in storage since I'd be at mom's and could just use hers. Sounds good right? Except that I forgot to get out the Little People nativity set that Grayson got last year from mom and dad. See, at our house we always put a nativity under the tree. It was something my ex-husbands family did. A tradition he taught me and my stepson when Will was just a little one. It was Will's job to put it out every year. And starting that first year, he put it out each time so that all the figures-no matter Mary, Joseph, shepherd or wise man-perfectly surrounded the baby Jesus figurine in a circle...each giving all attention to the most important part of the nativity. It's funny...my niece always did that as a child too. A child's innocent, pure heart gets it exactly right! Isn't God amazing!

Anyway, it was a sweet tradition that I was excited about carrying on and teaching to my boys. That's why we had gotten the plastic set so that Grayson could play with them and start setting up his own without worry of breaking anything. So you can imagine my disappointment when I realized I had no way of getting to his set that I had so desperately wanted for him to have!

Since I realized the mistake, I have debated purchasing another one (but that's money I shouldn't really spend) or even digging through storage trying to find ours (I had already done the search in the perimeter of storage. It must be good and buried in the middle of all our stuff!). So today I realize...it's Christmas Eve...guess I won't be getting it out this year...sigh...bad mom. I'm neglecting my child by not teaching him our Christmas tradition!!! Ugh! But before I could start beating myself up too bad...I decided it was...ok. And that I could be grateful...

So, I'm grateful today that my little ones are young enough to not know the "traditions" that I didn't get to this year. And that I have a lot of years left to introduce old traditions to them and time for us to create new ones too!

Merry Christmas!