Oops

I sort of forgot the last few days of NaBloPoMo.  I didn't totally forgot... but the times I did remember I was too exhausted to find my phone and try and think of something to say.  Sorry 'bout that.

For a consolation prize, I now have tons of pics from a trip to post for the next few days.  Here are some highlights:

Thanks to our mother for our festive matching winter gear.

This kids might have been slightly frustrated with the number of photo shoots they were subjected to.  Monkey Bug was mostly just amused by his cousins though.

Day 7: The Gospel (and bonus: my parents)

It seems obvious to write it out, but I am so grateful to have the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life.  I'm grateful for the hope that it brings and the chance it gives me to try and do better each day.  I'm incredibly grateful for how central families are to God's plan for us and how much they can help us be better people.  Specifically, I have wonderful parents who do so much for me.  But even with all they do for me, the biggest thing they have done for me in my life is to teach me from day 1 to trust in my Heavenly Father and to try to be more like Christ.  I'm still working on it, but the compass is ingrained.  And I'm hoping that I can do that for Monkey Bug.

Day 6: Zzzzzz

I am a crabby, crabby person without my sleep.  Getting a decent night's rest makes a huge difference in my ability to be patient and optimistic (as it does most people).  But I've always been a person who needs a lot of sleep and since high school I've slept as much as I could reasonably get away with while still remaining a functional member of society.  And having Monkey Bug has made me all the more grateful for a good amount of shut-eye.  So not only am I grateful for sleep, but I'm grateful for the people who helped/help me get more than I would if I were on my own in this new adventure parenting.  Especially my husband and mom.  I'd be all kinds of messed up without my sleep.

Days 4-5: Technology

I am grateful for technology.  Specifically smart phones and skype/video calls.  (That counts for 2 different things, right?)  Smart phones keep me from getting permanently lost, allow me to talk to family far away pretty much whenever, and let me take pictures and videos whenever.  Video calls mean that my baby may actually recognize all his extended family when he sees them in person.  And that my nephew is excited to see me when I'm around him.  So even though we all live too far apart, it's a lot easier to stay close.

Day 3: My Man

I would be highly remiss if one of my days of thankfulness did not include my other half.  He is my sanity saver and keeps me focused on good things.  He is the best guy I could possibly have yoked myself to for eternity.  I mean, look:

Besides being a great husband, he is a fabulous daddy.  A great brother and uncle too.  He does amazing things like taking care of our child when I'm sick.  And every Sunday while I do my calling.  And driving me places so my brain doesn't have to work.  He rocks.

Day 2: Friends

I have some really fantastic friends.  My very closest friends don't currently live near me, which stinks, but I love the fact that no matter how long it has been since I've seen them, we're so close that it doesn't matter.  We just pick up like family because that's really what we are.  And I got to see my dearest friend who adopted me my first year at college and has been family ever since.  Plus her hubby and chitlins, who are all awesome.

Also, my best friend is half the reason I blog at all, so without her no one would be reading this.  We had a whirlwind day of organizing basements, cleaning up broken glass, parenting, and chatting as much as possible in between.  And it was fabulous.  We tried to document it, and got photo-bombed by our children:

Sisters

I'm gonna hop on the Thankfulness Blog Train for just a week.  I figure it's the least I can do since I whine a lot and I'm actually very blessed.

So today I am grateful for my sisters.  I miss my beautiful horse-riding, Zelda-playing, sassy pants, too-smart-for-her-own-good baby sister everyday, but I know she's givin' 'em hell in the best way possible on the other side.  And that she is liberated from all the physical and emotional weights of our mortal existence, which is enviable in some ways.

Meanwhile, I have my sister who is closer in age to me and I'd pretty much give up on life if anything ever happened to her.  She is also the girl who was in band in high school with me (we were both drum majors, although not at the same time), lived with me at college, went on double dates with me, did the same degree as me, played in ensembles with me through college, and then managed to finish her masters well before me and rock the marriage and parenthood thing before me.  So basically she's the older sister now.  Every time I have a question about trying to not kill my son, she's the one I call.  She's the person who's capable of juggling a million things, including too extremely exuberant and energetic children and yet still serves pretty much everybody she comes across.  And we think exactly the same way.  If I could have one wish in the world it would be to live next door to her so we could raise our babies together and be there to put out fires for one another.  I'm still holding out for someday.

Those two are the main reason I am determined to give Monkey Bug siblings.  I didn't really appreciate my sisters growing up, most of the time.  They stole attention, my clothes, toys, you name.  Ask the living one, as I gave her much bodily harm over stolen silly putty once.  But they were my playmates (we only had 2 other kids that lived on our street and they didn't live there our whole childhood either) and my confidants and grew into my closest friends.  So I figure that's one of the best things I can give my kids.  Hopefully.

And to end, one of my favorite pictures from our childhood:

(It was like 100 degrees and we'd been out doing family things for quite some time.  Elastigirl's face on the right pretty much sums up how we all actually felt.)