Gratitude

I'm grateful for:

1. The weather changing. The hotness and humidity have been draining and I welcome the smells of autumn, the colors and my ripening watermelons. It also means I'm much closer to meeting my new babe!

2. Exercising! We went to the state park and did a 3 mile hike and yesterday we hit the the trail and rode 6 miles on the bike! I feel so much more alive when I'm active and I appreciate how hard my body works for me and regain trust in my self and what my body is capable of performing. It's a really good feeling to see the look on my husbands face when I join him in riding, which is something he is passionate about. I'm grateful that he wants to share it with me, and that I got over my fear of riding and really enjoy it!

3. The little people I spend my day with. They really are amazing. Just to watch them grow, learn and love. They teach me so much.

4. My husband. I can't even say enough about this man. He's the most understanding and unconditionally loving person. I owe him so much and yet he never asks for anything. Just me being a part of his life is all he wants from me, and at times it's really all I have to give him. He's also taught me so much about love and friendship and patience and understanding.

5. My friends. It really means so much that you all take the time out of your days to listen to me gripe about mine. Just hearing that I'm not alone, the validation, the understanding from another woman, heals so much. I am grateful to be on my motherhood journey with all of you!

6. My baby. He reminds me everyday how precious life is. Whenever I'm feeling in a funk he kicks as if to say "hey ma, snap out of it!" and I know that every moment of this pregnancy has been worth it, that each difficulty I've encountered was for a purpose. In fact, I laughed at my vision board yesterday, because I had a bunch of stuff on there to have a healthy pregnancy and in the beginning I was eating terribly. The universe brought my sugar problems to the forefront because I asked for it, and I am grateful for that. It has been a struggle to learn different habits, but in the end, it is well worth the effort.

7. My family. It so awesome to know that I can call anytime and they will be there for me. I know if I ever needed them they'd be here in a heartbeat and they know I feel the same. It's been a journey into adulthood that hasn't always been easy and sometimes it's been downright awful. In the end, none of those times really amount to anything in comparison to the love, the fun and the joy I feel when I get to be around them. I only wish it could be more often.

8. Cucumbers. Yup. I pull like 6 huge ones from the garden daily. And I'm grateful because not only do I enjoy cucumbers, I'm going to use them to lure people in to visiting me :) So if anyone wants some yummy fresh from the garden cukes, I'm handing them out in payment for a few hours of chit-chat!