So Thankful

There are so many things I am thankful for.  I am thankful for my little family... for my two beautiful and healthy children... for a cozy house... and a car I love... laughter... traditions... staying home with my kids... friends...

But this year, most of all, I'm thankful for an amazing husband.

I've been thinking about writing this post for weeks now, and I finally got around to it this week.  I figured Thanksgiving time would be the perfect time to share.

I have found myself thinking multiple times over the past few months "Thank God my husband would never even think to act like that".  I've even said to a few people, "My husband would never say something like that/ do something like that/ act that way".  No, he's not perfect. Sure, he has opinions. Of course he gets annoyed, angry or upset sometimes. Yes, he would absolutely defend me if need be. But you won't ever find him acting like a fool or being disrespectful in the process.  I don't ever have to apologize for his behavior, and for that I am grateful.

Not only is he my best friend, but he is my partner.  He is a fantastic father!  He is not above diaper changes, or playing princesses, or having a tea party.  He gives the kids baths while I am at work without even being asked.  He has no issues watching them without me around, and when he does, I don't worry in the least.  He is their parent just as much as I am their parent.

I had to go out of town for a family funeral last month.  When Michael doesn't work, he doesn't get paid.  But without hesitation he took off two days of work, so that I could go.  I had numerous friends ask me, "Who is taking care of your children?"  Um... their father! Who else?  He stayed home with them while I was gone for nearly 3 full days.  I didn't get frantic texts asking me where things were or how to do something.  He carried on with their day to day lives with ease. 

I realize that this may be the same for some of you.  But through conversations (and observations), I know this isn't how all husbands/dads are.  I'm am so thankful that I have someone who takes his role as father seriously and who can handle our children without issue.  I love that Olivia thinks he can fix everything, and that Logan's face lights up when Michael walks in the room.  I love that our children are just as important to him as they are to me, and that he is walking this journey with me instead of way out in left field.

Michael--thank you for all you do for our family.  I am THANKFUL for you!  Thank you for being my best friend.  Thank you for being my partner in crime.  Thank you for making me laugh.  Thank you for loving me, for loving our children, and for providing for us.  Thank you for your encouragement, your support, your belief in me, and your listening ear. Thank you for being a man of character and class.  Thank you for being an amazing father to our children, and for playing with them and caring for them in the way that you do.  We are blessed to call you ours!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

My Boy

This kid.  Oh my word, I love him!

He's so darn cute.

Expressive.

Goofy.

Squeezable!

and fun!

He seems to just be a go big or go home type! ;)  He always has tons of milestones all in the same week or same day, even.

On Saturday he... 

1) Got his 6th tooth!

2) Learned how to successfully pull himself ALL the way up, and has been doing it consistently since.

3) and started climbing stairs!

He also got his fourth hair cut over the weekend.  Now he and Olivia have had the same number of haircuts in their life. :)

a post nap/pre-haircut picture

Logan is the perfect little caboose to our family!  How can you not just smile when you look at that face!? :)  He's already so funny.  I can't wait to see what kind of humor he brings to the table--and if he'll be the king of one liners like his daddy. ;)

Bibles, Bedtime Routine, and Junie B!

We started having a more in depth bedtime routine with Olivia around the age of 15 months.  It has evolved a little as she gets older, but the general elements stay the same.  We do the usual change in pj's, potty and brush teeth thing.  Then we read a Bible story, sing a song, pray, and do hugs and kisses.

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Someone gifted us this Bible (not sure who, it was a mystery box from Amazon!) when she was a baby.  It's cute and has little rhyming stories in it.  She use to carry it around calling it her Bible and we would read it every night.

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But she quickly grew out of that one.  It's small and short and we were re-reading it in it's entirety multiple times a week.  Around 18 months she started showing interest in her ABC's, so we switched to this one.  Again, it was simple but age appropriate.

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Around the same time we added this one into the mix as well.  She definitely had her favorites, but we tried to just stick with one story a night.

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We had another Bible similar to the toddler storybook, and we were rotating between the three Bibles on a regular basis.  Around her birthday I decided that it was time to start doing a more practical approach.  I got this devotional.  It follows the same 4 kids through the whole book.  The lessons are short, but both Michael and I have been impressed with how relateable they have been to our situations and Olivia's day to day life.  She enjoys the stories and it gives us a place to reinforce or even introduce topics and lessons that we want to instill in her.

I've heard amazing things about the Jesus Storybook Bible.  It was a little above her when I was looking last, but I think it will be our next devotional.  What about you?  Have any good ones for the little guys?

Aside from the Bible story, song and prayer--we were reading her a book each night as well.  Then she went through a crazy book phase and we were reading dozens of books a day, so a bedtime story didn't seem necessary.  We are back to reading a bedtime story, but we've moved on to chapter books!  Reading aloud is so good for kids, and they can comprehend more than most give credit for.

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I think I have almost all of the Junie B books, so we started there.  I had to edit some of it, because I don't necessarily want Olivia using words like "stupid" or "dumb".  BUT she is LOVING them.  We read the first and moved on to the second.  I just ended up bringing up the first box set at that point.  Olivia was amazed and is in heaven.  She keeps quoting parts about "I just like B and that's all" and saying "I just love Junie B."  I've read them all already, but this is a first go around with Michael and he is getting a kick out of them too.

Now if we could just get her to stopping picking the same exact song every night....