100 Things to be greatful for

I have a student who is always crabby about SOMETHING. He is consistently complaining, and I am having a hard time getting through to him that there is always something good about each and every day, and that he should eb thankful for what he DOES have not sad about what he doesn't. I asked him to think of 10 things he is grateful for for Thanksgiving, just to help him see all the good around him. He did, and then challenged me to think of 100. This inspired me to think about it, and I said I think I can... so here it is. 100 things I am grateful for... (in no particular order).

1. My daughter
2. My husband
3. The rest of my awesome family
4. Amazing friends that feel like family
5. Wine
6. Pillows
7. My cat, Maisy
8. Boats
9. My stuffed animal Paul gave me 10 years ago, which I still sleep with
10. Laughter
11. Books
12. The neurosurgery team at Rush
13. Photos
14. Being able to breastfeed so long
15. The health of my loved ones
16. My wonderful home
17. My Nana
18. 80's music
19. My career, and the students that come along with it
20. Christmas lights
21. Scarves
22. My parent's house and all the memories we have made
23. Speaking of, childhood memories
24. Positivity
25. Baggy sweatshits
26. Leah's giggle
27. All the beautiful kids in my life and the ones soon to arrive
28. Faith
29. Highways (with no traffic)
30. My parish
31. Family hierlooms
32. My college degrees (and the bills that come with it- it makes you work harder)
33. Finding the love of my life
34. Chocolate, specifically Fannie Mae
35. Sand
36. The Cubs
37. My (full) DVR
38. Parenting Magazine
39. My brother's sense of humor
40. Weddings and any other celebration of love
41. Getting used to being a crazy busy working Mom (sad but true)
42. Living in such an adorable town
43. My co-workers
44. Yummy smelling hand soap
45. Boogie wipes (I use those a lot these days)
46. Holding hands
47. Memories of my Gram
48. My beautiful, fun loving God Daughters
49. Mac and Cheese
50. Fireplaces
51. Prayer
52. Alone time
53. Reading to my daughter
54. Loving to cook
55. Cloth diapers
56. Summer break
57. Fleece
58. Yankee Candles
59. Being able to help support my family
60. The relationship I have with my Mom
61. My husband's side of the family, to which I have always been so welcomed
62. Evening family walks
63. Lake Ellyn
64. Art
65. My iPod
66. The Zoo
67. Greeting cards
68. Sweet notes from students over the years
69. Kisses
70. My daughter's two front teeth
71.My mother in law's shopping addiction
72. Whole Foods
73. Vodka
74. White tic tacs
75. Pockets
76. The even though my wallet went missing, no one has used my stuff
77. My work wife (Love you, Jen)
78. Leah's eyelashes
79. Makeup
80. Winter break coming soon
81. The Beatles
82. Debit cards
83. My babysitter, Joan
84. Pajamas
85. Hair ties
86. Coffee
87. Clean food and water, which much of the world unfortunately, does not have
88. My Mom's unconditional love
89. My Dad's sarcasm
90. My cousins, all 25 of them
91. Christmas cheer
92. Fertility Centers of Illinois
93. My babyfood maker
94. My travelling experiences
95. Kindness
96. Patience when I need it
97. Being a "working" mom, and actually pulling it off
98. Hand-me-downs
99. My wedding ring
100. Actually taking the time out of every day to be thankful for a BLESSED LIFE! I thank God every day...

There is something therapeutic about writing it all down- I swear!!! What are YOU thankful for?

11 years later

This week marks the 11 year anniversary of the day Paul and I became "officially" a couple (after many months of not-so-officially kinda-sorta dating). See, I knew within a month of meeting this man at the ripe old age of 18 that I was going to spend my life with him. I am not sure how or why, but I could feel it in my bones. He was it, and I knew it.I felt like I had known him all of my life, and I knew we had met for a reason. We have now been together for 11 years, married for 6 and a half, and are now happier than ever. 

My husband is, hands down, the best person I know. To live with someone and share a life with them for years, and to truly be able to say that is a blessing. Is Paul perfect? Far from it. Is he perfect for ME? Heck yes. He is a man with a genuine loving heart. He loves hard, gives his all in everything he does, and is the most trusting, responsible, caring person I have ever met. This man of mine also happens to have a ridiculously cheesy sense of humor, an adorable laugh, and a loving charm. He is all around the best. 

I have been blessed with a marriage full of learning, laughter, and fun, but perhaps the best part about our marriage is the teamwork we have perfected over the years. No matter what, we are always on the same team, and we have learned how to use the best of both of us to make our marriage, and now our family, stronger.We have the same goals, and we both work equally hard to obtain them. We have been through many, many amazing times together, travelling, moving into our house that we love, spending time with family and friends, and just hanging out with one another. We have been through many many hard times, too, involving more fertility shots, miscarriages, and brain surgery appointments that I care to recall. Through it all, though, we have been each other's rock, and we have truly learned from it. The biggest lesson is to truly love with all that you have, and to feel blessed for all the things, good and bad, in your life. I hope as the years go on, we can continue to grow as a couple, and to do the best we can for our family and for one another.

For now, I will bask in the fact that, after 11 years, I am more in love with my husband than I ever could have dreamed. Cheesy, I know, but he deserves a little shout out, if you ask me. 

Our firth anniversary trip to San Francisco

June 25, 2005

Our first Christmas as a married couple!

One of our many Halloweens!

Toasting to our new "forever" home in October 2008

Our first Glen Ellyn Christmas!

Sailing!

One of our MANY trips to Mauston for Cheese Camp!

Costa Rica for our Babymoon!

One of the many weddings we have had the pleasure of being in together

One of our fav things to do!

Home sweet home

October, 2010!

Bun in the oven

Ready to become a family of three!

Hands down our very, very best day yet.  <3

Cheers to many, many many more years!!!

Clapping and so big!

We have been working on teaching Leah how to clap when we say "YAY", and how to do "SO BIG". She is not quite getting it all yet, but she is having fun trying out the new motions. She is such a little giggle face!

Cutest pile of laundry I've ever folded

Music in her blood?

I guess we won't know for awhile if Leah inherited the music gift, but, for now, we are having fun with her Daddy's guitar. She loves loves loves to listen to him play (Leah and I have that in common). 

Ooooohhhhhh... she wants to move!

So, at eight and a half months, we do not yet have a crawler on our hands. She loves to move, and is very active and always busy... but no crawling yet. Guess what? NO complaints here! In a three story house, we are in no rush to have Leah super mobile. 

With that being said, she is pulling herself to stand when in the right position, and army crawling and dragging herself all over the floor! She may not have figured out how to lift her mid-section for more than a minute or so, but she has figured out how to get across the floor. Will she crawl?  Go right to walking? Only time will tell, but we are having fun in the meantime.

She can't sit still for two seconds without investigating! 

mid-army crawl!

She gets up on all fours, but can't figure out what to do when she gets there! 

"Whatever, Mom, I got my toy."

True Love

There is nothing I can even say to sum up how I feel about  these two.

So, I will let the photo do the talking. 

More fall fabulousness

Better late than never! Here is a little more fall fun.

Pumpkin for a pumpkin

Ready to trick or treat on our cul-du-sac!

Not this year, little girl!

Ready fora brisk fall walk!

Bert, Ernie,and the Rubber Duckie!

Playing inthe leaves. Deep thoughts by Leah Fasse.

This is the park we like to take weeknights walks through. Do you see why? Ahhhh.... Lake Ellyn.

At FHS's Trick or treat fest a couple of weeks ago!!

Isabella, Makayla, and Leah- BFFs!!!

Happy first Halloween!!!

Standing tall

When one of my darling classes threw me a baby shower last winter, they got a couple of toys for 6-12 month olds. I remember thinking that it was so far off!!! Time flies! Last weekend  we busted out one of those toys- a little play table with a little sea wonderland on it. Well, it was a BIG hit! Leah will stand on this table and hold herself up for up to 10 minutes. She gets so excited and"talks" to the fish as she squeals. Watching her get excited about new things is so much fun.

Baking with Mommy

I have been making a lot of treats lately for various occasions (AWESOME for someone trying to be so good on the carb diet, but that is neither here nor there). Leah has been my little soux chef, sitting comfortably in her chair, watching as I mix and chewing on a spatula. She makes it much more fun!

I can't wait to teach her all about cooking as she grows!

Next stop- our first gingerbread house!!!