If you had asked me 2 years ago what I would be thankful for in 2009, there is absolutely no way this answer would have been in the realm of possibilities: I am thankful to have a toddler so healthy and full of life that he would fracture his arm while playing on the playground, run into a recliner with his eye while laughing with family, and wake up at 4:15 a.m. regularly because, well, he loves being in the world so much he would like to start early.
nope. not on my radar screen. but such is life, my friends. would you have been able to list the things you are thankful for in 2009 a couple of years ago?
heath, eb and I were playing on the church playground last saturday when he took a funny little spill and i could tell pretty quickly that something was not quite right. however, he immediately learned to compensate for not being able to put weight on it, and you had to watch really carefully to even know that he was favoring it. our most fabulous pediatrician got him all splinted up and we had an xray that showed a small fracture. He is doing just fine--and doesn't seem to be in any pain--and just keeps trying to get us (particularly my mom--hmmm...) to take off the splint. then, if that wasn't bad enough, the stinker was running toward his daddy last night and fell into a recliner and cut the side of his eye. the pictures do not do it justice, but let's just say he looks like quite a bruiser today! poke that belly out and the picture is complete.
and yes, he IS drinking from a bottle. he has to stay so hydrated that they have told us to worry about breaking the bottle habit down the road and just get him drinking (and the bottle works much better with one hand...). if i have learned nothing else in my parenting life, i have learned to be really careful what you swear YOUR child will NEVER do before you have children...:)
another thing I am grateful for: my children love music. they run for the guitar at mom and strow's house, they bang on the piano when given any chance, they find uncle jamie's banjo wherever it has been hidden, they make anything into an instrument or microphone, they beg to hear the indigo girls or the dixie chicks (ask ella brooks to sing "galileo" by the way, it is hilarious and no, I did not let them learn "goodbye earl"). we clap to the beat, dance a bit and try desperately to snap. the other picture you see is on thanksgiving day with our dear friend, Len Clark, playing the guitar with heath. music has always been such an important part of my life, of my family's life, so to know that they have a song in their heart warms mine. no telling where that song in heath's heart comes from exactly, but it sure is melodious.
we put up our christmas tree today. not always a big deal, i suppose. but last year our parents "put up" Christmas while we were in the hospital, trying to bring some joy and normalcy to an otherwise devastating time. so, it went completely unstated today (to state all of these moments would frankly be too much for any of us to handle, so please forgive us if we shrug off any mentions of "last year" in the coming weeks), but the laughter and smiles were enough to fill this mama's heart for a long time to come.
there you have it. we have had a really great thanksgiving--multiple delicious meals with many members of our family; drives to salem, va; long wonderful walks together; and much laughter. my hope is that yours was also fabulous, and that you have many things to be thankful for this year. i know we do. we're going to go get some sleep--goodness knows when that sweet fella will decide that the day should be starting--too many things to see and do...
