Ethernet Blessings

I’ve been thinking about my dad a lot lately. December 30th would have been my parents’ 40th wedding anniversary – if he had lived that long. I remember how much my neices and nephews enjoyed their grandpa – and he them – story time, living room forts, tickle monsters… I know there is little sense in dwelling on what is not possible, but sometimes I imagine what would have been – my daughter with her grandfather.

A friend of mine was going through her photos recently and found a couple I had not seen before. These pictures were taken four years ago at a dear friends wedding, and they landed in my inbox right when I needed to see them (Thanks Sharon).

The first photo: my two favorite men, my husband and my father. This may be the only picture we have of just the two of them.

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The second photo: my husband and I with my parents.

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So what little blessings have taken your breath away recently?

The nicest piece of furniture in the house

The nicest piece of furniture in the house

You might recall that we didn’t have a crib when we first brought Gem home from the hospital.  In fact, her first bed was actually a laundry basket.

We don’t have a lot of money to throw around, nearly every penny is accounted for long before our student loans even come in.  So buying a crib was a luxury beyond our means, especially because we had a second hand pay yard that she was sleeping in quite well.

The play yard was a perfectly safe place for baby to sleep, and quite frankly, I don’t think she cared one way or another.  But it was hell on my back reaching all the way down to two inches off the ground, over the waist high rails, to lift my now 17 pound baby without the use of my knees.  My mother-in-law decided that just wont do, and she bought us a crib (Thank you, Grandma!!!).  Now little Gem’s bed is the nicest piece of furniture in the house.

crib

crib

Mommy is standing up straighter already – I expect this hunch in my back to disappear in no time.

A Blessing

A Blessing

Shortly after our engagement, Aaron and I were at Bellevue Square in a stationary shop. He was at one rack and I was at another with my back to him as we quietly read through greeting cards. Out of nowhere, a Buddhist nun with shaved head and grey robe took my hand, then reached out and took my soon-to-be-husband’s hand and placed them together. She said a few words we didn’t understand followed by “Very Happy,” squeezed our hands, bowed, and walked out of the store. We turned to each other and at the same time said, “We’ve been blessed.” Then, hand in hand, we ran out of the store to follow her. Up and down the mall we searched, but she was no where to be seen.

I’ve always wondered why she chose us. I don’t know why I just remembered that story, it comes back to me from time to time. She was right, we are very happy. And very thankful for her blessing.

 

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What I Didn’t Know

What I Didn’t Know

I am humbled and wowed by your response to my Wanna-Be-Mommy post about infertility. We’ve been trying to conceive for four years and I was feeling hormonal and tired and cranky and quite frankly nearly giving up hope when I wrote that piece. Your response lifted my spirits.

It is amazing to me that I can post a message to the internet and receive such an outpouring of support and comfort and hope. So many of you I could not pick out of a police lineup, yet given a paragraph of your writing I’d know exactly who you are. Thank you, all of you.

This week has been busy for me. My world has been turned upside down and sent spinning. I’ve fallen behind on my blog reading and commenting, in fact at the moment I’ve got well over a thousand posts in my reader. I’ve been extended another award, to which I have yet to respond. Thank you, My2Boyz! And I’m trying not to let myself get too far behind on my homework from school.

You see, the dizziness, and the hormones, and the fatigue were not just in my head. What I didn’t know when I wrote that post last week, was that I was already
pregnant - CoffeeJitters.Net

pregnant

[happy dance]

Thank you, all of you, for your support. You have no idea how much it means to me. I imagine I’ll need your support and advice even more over the coming months and years.