thankful (3)

 Julianna

Of course I am thankful for each one of my girls. Julianna is the 3rd girl and turned 3 in July. I will start off with being thankful for her since right now she is the one that is the most challenging for me. She knows how to get my attention and most of the time it is through doing something that she is not supposed to be doing, like drawing on the floor or pulling her sisters hair or trying to get candy out of the pantry, etc. But, she is so sweet and has the most infectious smile:)

yet she can be so mischievous... 

and determined to do things her own way...

and full of personality!

but I am thankful for all this personality that God has given you. You are a bundle of joy! Even though some days can be very challenging to know what to do with you and to know how to love yet be firm without it breaking you and me down to tears all day.....

I have loved you from day 1!

and will always love you more then you know!

thankful (2)

I'm thankful for my family (top) and my husband's family!

For awhile when we first got married I wanted to move away as far as I could from our family. If it had been up to me we probably would have ended up somewhere west or north. I just wanted some space and to experience living somewhere else besides here in Virginia:) I kept insisting on it but my husband, Nathan, didn't feel like we needed to leave as much as i did. He had just gotten a job at UPS when we got married and didn't want to give that up. Now I can say that I am glad that he didn't listen to me!

I now have my parents and his parents within 10 minutes from us! We have relied on them in so many ways over the past 9 years of our marriage. Our girls are so close to all of them....4 uncles, 8 aunts, 2 sets of grandparents and 3 (almost 4) cousins. Although they do not all live nearby, most of them do and my brother (in Roanoke) and sister (in Tennessee) we still get to see at family gatherings. 

I'm thankful for the relationship that we have with our parents and siblings and for the relationships that our girls have with them. They have been a part of molding who our family has become today!

thankful (1)

I am thankful for my family! This picture was taken at our church on the Sunday that we dedicated Alyssia which was just a couple weeks ago. We have dedicated each one of our girls to the Lord and asked our church to keep us accountable in raising them. We felt so blessed standing up there with our four girls! My husband and I realize the huge responsibility that we have in raising them and we can only turn our hearts back to God and say thank you! 

30 Days of Thankfulness

There are so many days where I can easily name off the things that make me want to go crazy and feel like I need to sleep for like 5 days straight just to regain my patience again. But, I know I have more to be thankful for then I do to complain about. God has blessed me beyond what I feel like I deserve and I would like to remind myself about some of those things over these next 30 days!