Thankful A-Z: Television

Yes, I admit it. I have certain t.v. shows I watch religiously every week. After 8 pm at night I usually sit down and watch some t.v. show just about every night. It's my way of unwinding after putting in a full day of being a mommy, a counselor, a nurse, and basically jack of all trades. I'm usually exhausted and so some "me" time is always definitely in order. It's not the only way that I unwind and relieve stress but it is one of the main ways. Some of my favorite shows are "How I Met Your Mother", "Two and a Half Men", "The Biggest Loser", "Survivor", and "The Amazing Race"! Thank you Lord for television!

Thankful A-Z: School

In September Gwynny started going to preschool 5 days a week and I feel now that it was one of the best things we did for her. She is finally starting to learn and remember her letters and some of her numbers. She is making connections between things and recognizes print everywhere we go. She sings songs and tells me lots of stories about what she did or learned at school. She has made new friends and is learning how to get along and play with others. Maturity wise she still has a ways to go but I can definitely see improvement in Gwynny academically. The social part of things combined with the maturity part will also come together I'm sure as she gets older and spends more time in a classroom situation. Overall, I am very proud of her! She got a fairly good progress report this time around and I expect an even better one in May! I am very, very, very thankful for Gwynny's school! Oh, and did I mention it gives me a little break every morning for about 2 1/2 hours so I can spend time alone with Liliana! Yeah!

Thankful A-Z: Lily's Bunny Rabbit

I am so thankful for Lily's lovey which happens to be a Bunny Rabbit head attached to a soft fuzzy piece of blanket. She is in LOVE with that thing! She sleeps with him for naps and at bedtime. If she is upset and can't be calmed down just pull out Mr. Bunny Rabbit and she is happy as a clam! She actually hugs his head and then sucks on his ears when she is tired and falling asleep. It is the cutest thing to see. Hopefully we never lose Mr. Bunny Rabbit or we are in BIG trouble. I have tried to look for another one like it but haven't had any luck so far. So for now we will cherish the Bunny Rabbit and make sure that he stays safe. Hey, can you believe there are only 3 days till Thanksgiving? Unreal! Hope everyone had a great weekend?

Thankful A-Z: Quiet Time!

I am thankful for daily Quiet Time! For about the last year I have been unable to get Gwynny to take a nap so we started having Quiet Time in our room everyday. She is supposed to stay on her bed and play quietly with her dolls or look at books or something...just as long as she isn't loud. Well, most days it works out well and she will play quietly in her room for at least an hour or more. This is a God send especially when I am tired and I just need some "me" time. It doesn't always happen but most of the time when I am diligent about making her go in and take that break it is well worth the effort! Thank goodness for Quiet Time!

Thankful A-Z: Pool

When I think of the letter P I think of a lot of things I am thankful for but one thing that was absolutely a God send this summer was our local pool! Gwynny had a blast there this summer! Lily enjoyed it too! Gwynny still asks me now if we can go to the pool even though it has been closed for months and there is no water in it even if you wanted to swim. That's just how much she loves our pool. We are counting down the days till the pool reopens for the 2010 summer season! WooHoo!

Thankful A-Z: Occupational Therapist

I am thankful for our Occupational Therapist. We have had the same therapist since Liliana came home from the hospital and we LOVE her! She has helped me out so much when it comes to all the feeding issues with Lily. She showed me the mouth and tongue exercises to do with her to strengthen her mouth muscles and help keep her tongue in her mouth. She also worked with Lily and I on how to feed her orally and some different techniques to use with the spoon to help Lily begin to eat. She is now working with Lily and I on taking the sippie cup which I know is not going to be easy but with her help I know Lily will eventually master this skill as well. I am so very thankful and grateful to her for all that she has done! She is even helping with getting Lily to keep her glasses on. This may seem cruel but she put these leg braces on her arms so that she couldn't bend her elbows and take the glasses off. It worked! Granted we only had the braces on her arms for maybe 5 minutes, but I am hoping that we can increase the time gradually and eventually she will get used to having the glasses on and will keep them on. On another note today at PT we put the braces on her arms again and then put on her glasses and today she tolerated it for 12 minutes! Once we took the braces off she did not reach up to take them off for about a minute or so! I am ecstatic! I hope she continues to do well so that this no longer is a struggle for me. Anyways, thank you Lord for our wonderful OT I don't know what we would do without her.

Thankful A-Z: So I'm starting a little late!

Hello all!

Well, I wasn't going to do the Thankful A-Z because after doing the 31 for 21 last month I was having a little blog burnout. However, I love what people are doing with this so I am going to go back and do all the letters that I missed and then continue on from here. Does this seem silly? I hope not because I was thinking that I have a lot to be thankful for this month. This month will forever be engraved in my mind forever simply because of Lily's surgeries. Today is the anniversary of her second OHS! I can't believe it has been a year. I went back and read Bill's posts from the day before and the actual surgery day. It brings tears to my eyes. We again are so grateful and thankful that God gave our Lily another chance at life. I remember things being so stressful. Getting ready to spend Thanksgiving at the hospital. It was not a fun time but we made it through and it just makes this year's holidays so much more special for us.

Well, now on to the Thankful A-Z !

A- I am thankful for Answers! Answers to the many questions that I continually have through this whole process of raising a child with Ds. At times it is not always the answer that I want but I have found that through this process I have learned to accept some of the answers I get and move on. Usually in the end everything works out as planned. I know when I first found out that Liliana had Ds I was terrified I had so many questions floating around in my head it was crazy! Now I find it is totally different. I have so many resources available to me. Whether it's a friend, my church, the therapists, or my blogging buddies I know I can always find the answers to the questions I may have.

B- I am thankful for my hubby Bill! He is a wonderful husband and father! I love to see him interact with our two girls! Whether they are playing around wrestling, dancing, singing, or having a serious conversation he is always a pillar of strength in our lives. He works many, many hours per week so that I can be home with our lovely girls and he comes home and helps out even more. He is a wonderful man and I am so glad I have him in my life! I love you honey!

C-I am thankful for our church! If it wasn't for our church I don't know where we would be. I have said this a million times but they have been a backbone in our lives throughout everything with Lily and I can never repay them for all they have done. Thank you Lord for leading us there!

D-I am thankful for Dishwashers! Man, do they make life easier! We run ours usually once a day and I know some of you with really big families probably run them even more. What did we do before them...I know washed them by hand. Hate it! So thankful for my dishwasher!

E-I am thankful for Exercise! I try to workout 3 times a week at the gym. I wish it was more but I am thankful for at least this. It is definitely a time for me to relieve stress. This is so important with all the care and love that my little Lily and Gwynny need. It also has helped me to take off 30 pounds and I am still working on taking off more. Thank you Lord for excercise!

F-I am thankful for Friends! My friends at church, online, my BFF have all played a huge part of who I am. Thank you Lord for such wonderful friends that show their love, support, and caring everyday!

G-I am thankful for Gwyneth! Though Gwynny marches to the beat of her own drum she is my lovely little princess and I love her to death! I love her funny songs and dancing. I love her 4 year old reasoning and when she plays pretend with her dolls and Disney figures. She is a bundle of joy and I wouldn't change a thing about her. Thank you Lord for my Gwynny!

H-I am thankful for Helping Hands! So many people this past year have lent a helping hand to us! Our biggest helping hands have to be Grandma and Grandpa K. They babysit our two girls quite often and our girls just love them! We also have lots of other helping hands such as our friends and the people in our community that help make Lily's life so much better! Thank you Lord for Helping Hands!

I- I am thankful for Insurance! Man, if it wasn't for our half-way decent insurance I don't know how we would have paid and continue to pay for Liliana's heart surgeries and continued care. I know there is a lot of changes that our president wants to make to our health care system and I just hope that it doesn't make it more difficult for us to continue to get the medical care that Liliana so desperately needs. Thank you Lord for insurance!

J-I am thankful for Jesus! If he had not died on the cross for my sins I wouldn't have been set free from sin and had a way to get to heaven. Thank you Lord for your sacrifice for me!

K- I am thankful for my kids! I waited till later in life to have children and it took me awhile to get pregnant so I thought maybe it wasn't in the cards. Thankfully the Lord has blessed me with two beautiful children that I love very much!

L- I am thankful for my Liliana! She is my miracle baby! 3 open heart surgeries and she is alive and doing so well! Thank you Lord for giving me my beautiful baby girl with designer genes!

M-I am thankful for my Mom! She has been in a nursing home now for about 5 years but she was always an example of what a Christian should be as I was growing up. She was the one that took my brother and I to church during our younger years and encouraged us to be all that God wanted us to be. She stood by us and supported us through the good and the bad and to her I owe a lot. Thank you Lord for my wonderful Mom!

N-I am thankful for my Nissan Quest minivan! I have had it since 2004 and for the most part it has been a faithful set of wheels. Other than a few quirky things that like to happen on occasion such as the radio not working and the flat tire light coming on a lot I am pretty happy with it. The biggest thing is that it has gotten me back and forth to work safely when I did work, gotten Lily and I to her doctor's appointments, and also has taken us on several great vacations. Thank you Lord for providing me with safe, and efficient transportation.

Well, if you are still reading this I am now caught up with the A-Z Thankful! Yeah for me! Well, I am going to call it a day since it has taken me all day to literally finish this post! Happy Wednesday!