grateful and binky-free!

So I am having one of those moments where I have way too much to say so I just decide not to say anything. It's a really horrible part of my personality. Although I wish it would transfer over into public situations, where I continually say too much and put my foot in my mouth so often, I shouldn't be allowed to speak anyway...  that's completely off topic though, so let me refocus...

This season I read some incredible blogs, with beautiful thoughts about gratitude. Each time I read one I would think,  "I should do this, I really need to write down what I am blessed with and thankful for."... then of course, I didn't. 

So as the trend goes lately, I am making a list. Top 10 most thankful moments this season... (in no particular order...)

1. Visits from family (this means any type of visit... email, phone-call, Skype, random texts about couponing, or about The Hunger Games trailer, or anytime I get to talk to Easton and Eryn especially when Eryn forgets she is on the phone so I just hear her breathing for a minute. I love my family!)
2. Packages from home. Seriously, best. thing. ever. If your family doesn't send you packages, I highly recommend you get a new family.
3. Elliot, of course!
4. Our camera breaking, so we can get a new one that has more than 2 mp... (Please bless it gets here before Christmas, Amazon!)
5. Friends here and back home... and wherever else you are...
6. Pregnancy... oh how I love Braxton Hicks contractions, bring. it. on. (But seriously, what's the deal with contractions that really hurt,  just not bad enough...) I really am grateful to be pregnant though, it's pretty incredible.
7. Having Jace home for an entire week!
8. Using that week to get rid of Elliot's binky.... (This was an enormous triumph, I can't stop celebrating.) It only took a week my friends and we have a changed man on our hands! (And some pretty excited parents.)
9. This weather! It's amazing!!! It's a dream and I don't care who is jealous because summer was a living nightmare and I hear winter is worse.
10. All the time I get to spend with Elliot and Jace... (and no binky) like today, when Elliot and I wrestled with Pooh Bear for at least 20 minutes and then we just made weird noises and faces at each other for another 20 minutes, because we couldn't stop laughing, and because Elliot is as weird as me. Or when Jace turned into the Spirit of Christmas and had all our decorations up on Friday morning! And, when I took Elliot to the park and he went down the big slide on his own and the terrified look on his face was so adorable because he totally recovered and cheered for himself at the end! And then he ate an entire handful of dirt just because he thought it looked delicious! (Did I mention he didn't have his binky! Still celebrating...)

There are a million more meaningful, thought-provoking things I could say, about how thankful I am.  I could discuss my life, my husband, my family, my incredible child and healthy one on the way. I could go into a lot of detail about how blessed our circumstances are, how we love where we live, our support, our health and incredible opportunities. But, I'll just keep it simple, because it's all those simple things that make me feel the most joy, the most love, all the little things that make-up the big things, that's what makes me grateful.

P.S. did I mention I did "Black Friday," on Thanksgiving night... a million parents in a 2 hour line outside of Toys-R-Us, that later followed another 2 hour line, filled with people cutting off, fighting and yelling while they pushed carts filled with discounted gifts... from Santa...that's what makes me crazy!

On a lighter note, Merry Christmas, here's hoping my December is as awesome as my November! And yours too!