Thankful...

I know it's been forever since my last post. I feel like life as a whole is just not that interesting, but of course it's made up of the fun little moments that come with raising four very active little girls.

Hayden is crawling. It's the cutest, most creative little crawl I've ever seen, but she gets going pretty quickly and is so much happier now that she can move around and reach whatever she has her eyes on. This has, of course, created more work for us now that we have to keep all the little toys and magnets and treats off the floor. I told Dennis Hayden is going to be after the Christmas tree constantly for the next few weeks. Wish us luck.

Claire is talking more and more every day. She is such a sweet, tender little person. She's very prone to crying the second she doesn't get her way (shoot, so am I!) but we've been trying to teach her it's not appropriate to cry constantly throughout the day. At dinner last night I had given the girls ham, noodles, and mixed veggies. Claire ate her noodles in about 2 seconds and started begging for more. I told her she could have more noodles when she'd had two bites of her vegetables. At this she immediately started screaming and crying and threw her fork to the ground. In the middle of this growing tantrum, I said, "Claire, do you need to go to time-out?" She sat there, still sobbing like her heart was broken, and said, "No ty-out! I happy. I HAPPY!"

Emmie is becomming more and more fun for me. It always amazes me how active she is! She never walks from one room to another; she runs. She has two speeds. She's either wide awake and running around, or sound asleep. There seems to be no in between. Dennis took Kaiya and Emmie to the movie "Bolt" over Thanksgiving weekend, and when they got home I asked Emmie what she thought of it. She replied, "Oh my heck, longest movie EVER!" Emmie always has a definite opinion. I love it.

I think Kaiya is going through a kind of transitional phase. She's not a tiny girl anymore, but she's not as grown-up as she thinks she is. She is having a harder time being patient when playing with the "little girls" and would much rather be with friends. I think going to school this year has made her more independent, which is good, but a little hard for me to see. She is much more her own person now with her own ideas and VERY own personality. Heaven help me when they are all teenagers. I'll probably just sit and stare and their baby pictures and cry.

Our Thanksgiving was great. We went to my Aunt Lisa's house, which is always nice. I love small, low-key Thanksgivings with the family. It was wonderful.

I don't know if it's the time of year, or the fact that I seem to be having a VERY early mid-life crisis, but I've been thinking a lot of where I'm at now in my life, and with that comes the realization of how truley blessed I've been. All I wanted growing up was to be a mom, and now that I've been blessed with these four wonderful daughters I keep thinking that this is it! I've got to enjoy this before it's gone, because all of a sudden, the years seem to be going faster and faster and the girls are growing up more quickly than I ever could have anticipated. I don't want to miss any phase of their lives because I'm too busy with things that don't really matter. My girls are such a great happiness to me. I can't possibly thank my Heavenly Father enough for allowing me to be their mother.

I'm so thankful for my husband. We've certainly had an eventful few years, full of ups and downs, but I know without a doubt that we will always be together. I'm so glad to be married to him, and so proud of him for taking care of our family and being such a good father to our children. It's comforting to know that the person who knows me the very best and has seen me at my very worst still loves me. I've been blessed to find someone to be with forever.

We have a good home, great friends, we live in a wonderful neighborhood full of people who share our beliefs and values. Dennis has a good job that we've been blessed to keep through multiple lay-offs, and we've always had adequate for our needs. We have family that loves us and supports us.

I could go on and on, but the more I look at my life the more blessed I feel. I have everything that matters, with many extra little blessings thrown in. I could never possibly thank my Heavenly Father enough for allowing me to live this life. My early new years resolution is definitely to appreciate more. To love my family more, to serve my friends and family more, and to somehow show God how thankful I am for all that I have.

I'm thankful for all my family and friends, and hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Looking forward to Christmas...