Back to life, back to reality...

I started back to work this evening, so bitter sweet and so conflicting. But I'm not here to talk about that, only to mention it as an excuse for why this will be very brief and possibly incoherent at parts. I want to stay on track and finish out the month strong but I also want to get sleep. Being that it is 12:53 am, my goal is to be sound asleep by 1:30 am. So here goes.

Day 23- Mild Sickness

Thanksgiving night, the night before heading back from Nashville, Tim got sick. I call it a mild sickness because it wasn't lethal but I'm sure he wouldn't call it that. Why am I thankful my sweet husband got very ill? It reminded me how important he is. I depend on him for so many things. When he is out of commission I am at a loss. I was taught this right after Imogen was born and he came down with a mysterious virus but apparently I forgot the lesson quickly. I was reminded that I don't like this life all that much without him fully in it and I am far from super woman when he is not around. It also makes me so thankful for the women out there who do it alone all of the time, or much of the time like my friend Amy Johnson. They are rockstars and I don't hold a candle to them.

Day 24- My Home

I love vacations but I also love coming home. I sometimes have a love/hate relationship with owning my own home. It is a lot of work but there is nothing like coming home after a long drive to the familiar. I love how we've made it our own and used our spaces wisely and meaningfully. I love that we don't treasure it so much that we're afraid to paint words on our walls but that we also respect it enough to invest in major upkeep like our recent siding and gutter replacement. I love that after looking at houses all day back in May of 2008 we finally came to the last house on our list and it was the perfect fit. I hope to use our home even more in the New Year to benefit others, keep you posted on how that plays out.

Day 25- Family & Ancestry

I used to roll my eyes when my mom would try to tell me about my ancestry. Now, as I age and grow my family I am thankful for such an amazing heritage both Tim & I pass on to our children. I love the fact that we are adding to that. I love that I come from a long line of genius women and Jadyn is following right in those foot steps. I love that Tim has musicianship woven throughout his family history and Isaiah seems to have inherited that. I can't wait to see what parts of our lines Imogen manifests. I am thankful for our parents who have researched our family stories and have passed them on to us so we can pass them on to our little ones.

Day 26- Stretch Marks

Just the other day Jadyn was commenting on my stretch marks and I found myself not getting upset but instead telling her about them with pride (this is true). If you know me well you know this is no small feat. I explained to her that they went up to a certain point when I was pregnant with her and then grew a little more with Isaiah and even more with Imogen. (and yes, I tried magical cremes to no avail, it truly is in the genes). I remember the day clearly when I first realized I had stretch marks. Tim had been taking "belly shots" weekly through my pregnancy with Jadyn and it was about 39 weeks and I looked at the picture and yelled "when did those show up!". I had truly thought that I had made it through without stretch marks. Back then I was horrified, but now I'm just proud. And a bonus is that I have a great excuse never to wear a bikini again. The pressure is off.

And Nashville was a blast by the way, hopefully you got to see the pics from Facebook. If not, here are two of my favorite.