I hope all of you blogger will join in! I'm going to be posting "Thankful Thursday," just my thoughts on what I'm thankful for, every Thursday of this month and hopefully it's something I'll continue for awhile after that!
I'm thankful for the abundance in our lives that allows us to give to others!
Remember awhile ago I posted about trying to focus on THANKFULNESS this month? Well, I've been working on it and I've specifically been working on it with Christian. The first thing we've done is work on our
Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. A little girl from the Sunday School class I used to teach went to Africa last summer and helped deliver these shoe boxes to needy children. My heart was so grieved to hear that they didn't have enough shoe boxes for all the children at the school she went to. So the teacher's had to pick the neediest children and only give one box per family. So this year I was determined to do more than just my usual two boxes and Christian was really on board. He's been talking about "the kids with no toys" for weeks now and he keeps asking me what their names are. I'm glad it keeps pulling at his heart! I'm glad he wants to know more about them and I love how proud he was to take his boxes to church last week!
(Ryan and I at the White House several Christmas' ago)!
I'm thankful for our government and our country!
Since you all know who I voted for, you also must know that my guy didn't win the election! But I'm totally okay about it. I haven't really even felt that disappointed. I've been thinking a lot about Daniel. Daniel was an administrator to King Darius during a time in history when King Darius had made a decree making it illegal to worship God. But Daniel was faithful to God and continued to pray and worship God and that's how he ended up in the lion's den. But God protected Daniel and used Daniel to change the heart of the king. This is what King Darius said when Daniel was pulled out of the lion's den without a scratch on him;
"I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. "For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions." So I'm praying for a few Daniel's in the Obama administration! I know that God can strategically place people in Barack
Obama's life to change his heart! So I'm not discouraged! God is still on His throne! I'm just praying!
I'm thankful for sleep!That might seem trivial to those of you who actually get to sleep on a regular basis, but it's not something I take for granted these days. In fact I should be sleeping right now. Both of my kids are down. I think I need to wrap this up quickly and head to bed!
(Picture of McKenna after getting some shots a few months ago)
I'm thankful for great doctors and good insurance!
We were at the doctor today for a follow up visit to make sure McKenna's pneumonia has cleared up. The good news is that her pneumonia is gone. The bad news is that she has her fourth ear infection in four months. I actually gasped when the doctor told me because she's been on an antibiotic and still got an ear infection. Same ear as the other three infections. So we will be heading to a pediatric ear, nose and throat specialist and she will most likely be getting a tube put in the that one silly ear that won't drain. It's totally frustrating and I'm just so sad for her because I can tell it hurts, but praise God for great doctors who take the time to listen and have compassion about the situation! And praise God for insurance! Since August we have spent over $700.00 on prescriptions, thankfully we get 80% of that back because of our insurance company! I can't even imagine how we would survive without insurance! So the glass is half full on this one! I hate it that McKenna continues to have medical issues, but I'm thankful that she's getting good care and that we will get this resolved!
(Christian and Ryan the day Christian got his train table! He was soooo excited.)I'm thankful for choo-choo trains!
I am so thankful for trains and for Christian's continued love of trains. Do you have any idea how much time he spends playing trains? This afternoon he played for hours and then Emma got home from school and played with him. I got so much done and there was very little whining! And that's why Thomas, Sir Topham Hat, and the rest of the gang are definitely something to be thankful for!
"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. " Psalm 100:4
We had a movie night the other night with a few friends who love Thomas just about as much as we do. So the plan was to watch the new Thomas and the Great Discovery movie. Ummmm...do you see anyone watching a movie in these pictures?
This picture totally makes me laugh because I didn't take it! I guess that's what you get when you leave your camera lying around a bunch of curious boys! It was a fun night, even if no one watched the movie :)
Not quite sure who that is, I just know Ryan almost got tackled taking this picture!
So this is Ryan's newest form of entertainment...trying to get himself in pictures with famous people. Anyone remember Sarah Palin? The blonde in this picture is some famous sports caster for NBC.
Ryan and the quarter back, Jimmy Clausen.
Ryan's boss Greg is a huge Notre Dame fan! This was like a dream come true for him. 
Another one of Ryan's co-workers, Brian.
Yes, yes! I know he's standing next to a cheerleader. Apparently she just jumped in the picture! At least he's not pictured with the whole squad! That's another one of Ryan's co-workers named Greg!
Go Irish!
((Sigh)) Guess who is officially nine months old now? Little Miss McKenna! She is inching closer and closer to the one year mark. It seems to be coming so quickly. There isn't an ounce of newborn left in her. She is a handful to hold. She has no interest in sitting politely. She wants to stand, pull your hair, stick her fingers in your nose, bounce up and down and try to crawl away all at the same time.
McKenna and I have been spending an extra amount of time together these days. She has pneumonia again (she had it in June). She had an x-ray on Saturday that finally confirmed it. This little girl has had her fair share of health issues, mainly respiratory. Unfortunately, she seems to be taking after me as a child and Emma too. This is what our last few months have been like: Aug 27th - first ear infection, Sept. 20th - second ear infection, October 13th - third ear infection (all the same ear), Nov. 8th - pneumonia. That's a lot of antibiotics which isn't good. Lots of stomach issues and a very sore bottom as a result of it all. And sleeping - forget it! For about a month now she's been waking up 3-5 times a night. I usually give up at about 4am and just bring her into bed with me. So we're both pretty tired and if I'm being honest I'm pretty grouchy most days too. I'm trying to enjoy those sweet moments in the middle of the night when she just needs some comfort because her ear hurts or because she's having trouble breathing through her nose. I know that I will long for these days one day, when I'll just want her to need me. When I hold her at night I do stare at her sweet face, perfect little ears and long eye lashes, knowing how blessed I am. Knowing what a miracle she is. Knowing I'm incomplete without her. Just the same, I'm just praying that we can get these respiratory issues straightened out quickly and that they won't keep coming back! 
Here's McKenna singing in her bed! She can now make a whole host of different sounds. She's quite a noisy girl and can really frustrate her brother when he's trying to watch one of "his shows." My favorites sounds are of course Dada and her latest one MumMum. She's not crawling yet, but she does scoot all over the place. Her favorite thing is standing. She would stand all the time if she could.
And look out, this girl has quite a grip! Christian actually thinks it's really funny when she attacks him. He gets close to her and says "Get me Kenna, get me!" They really have a good time playing together. McKenna's hair has finally started to grow. It's down over her ears just a little bit. She's tried some real food, but doesn't like it. Apparently, canned baby food bananas are much better than the mushed up real thing. Still just the two bottom teeth.
