So much to say, so little time

Here I have condensed my ongoing list into a single page. To join the Gratitude Community, visit http://aholyexperience.com/.

1) kicking up a six-inch carpet of oak leaves along ATV paths
2)      naptime
3)      a 21-month-old snuggling down with absolute trust in your arms

4)      having so much to give that you never lack for ways to exercise creativity

5)      NEO

6)      cousins who are willing to share their woods

7)      friends w/whom you can pick up where you left off, even after a long absence

      living parents

9)      living grandmothers who get to know their great-grandchildren

10)  porch swings

11)  a little tumble-kin swimming laps and stretching around the obstacle course inside my abdomen

12)  the joy of giving joy to someone else—especially a child

13)  a fiscally responsible husband, who ensures that recession is nothing more than an inconvenience

14)  the smell of dead leaves

15)  sight

16)  always having another goal to reach

17)  an extra-good choir rehearsal

18)  sunlight breaking all along the crest of the hill beyond the creek bed

19)  sitting in the woods in mid-November

20)  the love of a man who stands by me, even when I don’t deserve it

21)  the love of a man for whom forever is not negotiable

22)  turkey dressing

23)  kisses from preschoolers and toddlers

24)  the dawn of language comprehension

25)  divine inspiration

26)  that God gave Julianna to Christian and to me—two people whose lives are public from top to bottom, from Christian’s job to our music ministry, the lessons we teach, and our Natural Family Planning witness. I am grateful that God has given us, and Julianna, an opportunity to encounter hundreds of people who will see that Down syndrome is nothing to be frightened of. That life with her is rich, beautiful, good, holy. Chaotic, yes, but precious. Oh, so precious.

27)  That there are schools where youths with Down syndrome, like Kristen Pass, Annie Bryant, and Jesse Campbell, can be elected homecoming royalty.

28)  Julianna’s enchanting smile

29)  Julianna’s charming giggle

30)  Alex’s giggle, which defies all descriptors. Seriously the best little kid giggle ever, and he cracks himself up all the time!

31)  Julianna’s first, tottering steps, on Friday, which charged the air in the house with excitement as Gerti (her PT), Alex and I all clustered in the living room and Julianna’s face turned into one enormous, mouth-open smile. She knew it was a big deal, too.

32)  News from the GI specialist, saying we don’t have to do surgery after all, since her symptoms have cleared up—which means no worries about gluten. Hurrah! We’re going to celebrate with a big pot of meat sauce and penne this week.

33)  A new Christmas tree stand, which is far more stable than the old-fashioned tripod. How lovely, not to have to worry about the tree tipping over on my little monkey, on top of keeping her out of the ornaments and presents.

34)  Several nights in a row of good sleep, all of them unaided by Benadryl, and several spent entirely in bed instead of on the couch

35)  The joy of watching Alex’s excitement as he helped sort gifts for parish families and shut-ins on Friday night

36)  The joy of watching my family decorate gingerbread and sugar cookies….

37)  Not to mention the joy of not having to do it myself!

38)  Lunch and a movie with my husband

39)  Warm, solid walls that block the bitter wind blowing an ice storm our way

40)  A successful studio recital and the beginning of our “Christmas break” from teaching

41)  Weather clearing in time to make our last choir practice free of travel worries 

42)  Inspiration

43)  The day when butterfly kicks become something more

44)  The day when strong kicks become stretches, with distinguishable body parts

45)  Reconnecting with lost friends

46)  A 4-year-old who still likes to cuddle and be “chewed” on

47)  New syllables…”ba” and “wa” and “la”…from the almost 2-y-o

48)  A *very* productive writing day today

49)  The kindness of a nurse at the lab, who is willing to run the nasty glucose drink out to me so I don’t have to spend an hour in the lab with kids

50)  A firstborn who is such a sweet, conscientious big brother

51)  Physical therapists and stretches

52)  Nearing the completion of a big project

53)  The day that Daddy takes the kiddos to swim lessons

54)  Anticipation…even though I just want the third trimester to be over, and have the baby in my arms!

55)  Gene Speichinger

56)  Naps…for kidssos, and for ME!

57)  Birthdays, and the understanding of how much we gain from one to the next.

58)  Watching my children delight in each other’s presence. It’s not surprising that Julianna adores her older brother, looks up to him, and thinks he’s the coolest in the world. But it does sometimes surprise me to see how Alex’s sun rises and sets wherever she is. He dotes on her…even when he’s frustrated with her. It really struck me at lunch today—I took them to Culver’s and watched them giggle across the table at each other…21 months apart in age, and a gap that widens with each successive day. And yet they are inseparable. They love to wake each other up by “ruffing,” cuddling, tickling, hugging or kissing.

59)  Watching the flow of the Silver Fork tripping over rocks and licking at the frayed edges of the ice. We don’t often have creeks freeze solid, but this winter’s been on the cold side…even if we haven’t gotten any precip. It looks just like a Nova video. Beautiful.

60)  A new niece (whom I can’t wait to meet!)

61)  Good, hard critique partners with obsessive focus on things I never give a thought. Even if I don’t agree with them 100%, I always find that moderating their obsessions improves my writing.J

62)  A sixty-degree day in February.

63)  I’ve put this on the list before, but when I arrived at the Pinnacles today and started across the grass kicking up six inches of oak leaves, my heart just squeezed with joy. There’s just something about kicking up leaves.

64) Online venues to reconnect with people you might never encounter again, otherwise.

65) An unexpected twenty-minute snuggle on the couch with Julianna.

66) Beautiful weather and the promise of spring

67) a good day with my children right before leaving them with grandparents for Baby’s arrival

68) a morning at the park with glorious weather

69) progress and fun in therapy

70) a walk in the woods

71) flowers sprouting from the rested earth

72) a deliciously comfy couch

73) the impending end of pregnancy

74) for the spicy, earthy fresh aroma of the woods

75) A great anesthetist and team for my 3rd C-section.

76) A healthy baby

77) A weeklong visit and help from my mother-in-law

78) Rapid weight loss postpartum!

79) Nicholas picking up his head at 14 days

80) The experience of helping a child with Down’s learn developmental skills, which makes us better able to help her younger brother learn, too.

81) the cacophony of birds making a joyful, disorganized noise

82) pink dogwood and double daffodil and multicolored tulips

83) the explosion of yellow-green in the woods that appeared overnight

84) dozens of leaves on the sugar maple sapling that barely survived last year

85) iris buds shooting skyward along the east foundation of the house

86) the fine mist that dampened my hair as I walked

87) a new high-back swing made of heavy logs, to enjoy it all

88) the husband who put it together

89) a four-year-old who throws himself, heart and soul, into every aspect of his life

90) a two-year-old who has suddenly become chubby and, if possible, even more adorable (and chewable!) as she totters on the edge of biped mobility

91) a six-week-old, newly baptized, who is just sweet as can be

92) the smell of chrism

93) the joy of having family and friends in the house

94) so much to be thankful for that by the time I get to the computer to write them down, I can’t even remember half of them.

95) Bright yellow daisies gleaming at the edge of the woods

96) Spaetzle

97) New bicycle

98) One day devotional

99) Cricut

100) A bike ride with Alex, and no baby

101) Color on the walls

102) Seeing students improve

103) The squeeze in my heart when I hold Christian’s hand for the Our Father

104) An aspen outgrowing its cage

105) A comfortable couch to retreat to on a sleepless night

106) Julianna’s progress toward toilet training

107) Ghirardelli brownies

108) Seeing the way my children love to love each other

109) Sitting in the dark counting my blessings, listening to the crickets and frogs outside the window.

110) New opportunities to advocate for my daughter and even more, for children like her yet to be born

111) The enthusiasm and irrepressible energy of childhood

112) The bighearted, non-grudge-holding of childhood

113) Having a long line of priests who have helped and continue to help me grow in understanding of my faith

114) Safe return for my parents after overseas travel

115) A life exciting enough to keep me up at night

116) Learning how to get my baby to go to bed at 8

117) A therapy team that is jmore than professional, but who have become friends, lifelines, and loved ones

118) A perfect evening for a mile and a half walk with my baby…air shimmering gold in the sun, and brooding blue in the shade, with the perfect breeze nudging fluffy clouds across a pristine sky, newly washed by rain.

119) Bright baby eyes turned behind in the stroller, fixed upon me, the center of his universe (oooh, that’s a moment!)

120) Hours spent outside

121) New friends

122)The serious business of baby bath time, which ends with a lot of water kicked out of the tub

123) Three hours circling a race track…time in which spouses can talk

124) Christian’s boss, who kept Nicholas for several laps so we could walk hand in hand…

125) Julianna’s first bounce house

126) Sleeping with the windows open

127) That dreams, however vivid, always go away in the morning

128) Bright blue paint

129) Space ship wallpaper border

130) Nicholas sleeping through the night

131) Julianna walking

132) A community of faith

133) Fireflies

134) Air conditioning!

135) Baby giggles

136) Feeling well again.

137) Inspiration

138) Blogs  and Facebook (keeping up with friends!)

139) A filigree-and-marmalade sunrise

140) Safe return home on a night when we got stuck in traffic on the highway

141) A neighbor generous enough to help mow our lawn without being asked

142) Grandparents

143) Baby razzing

144) Bright baby eyes

145) Toddler kisses

146) Preschool moments

147) The sensation of touch

148) The return of fertility

149) A visit from a good friend

150) Cool weather

151) I am thankful for the first quiet day in weeks, in my own back yard.
152) I am thankful for the enthusiasm with which my kids greet their grandparents’ arrival.
153) I am thankful for getting to go ice skating for the first time in four or five years.
154) I am thankful for the reminder that sometimes, trial and error is the best teacher.
155) I am thankful for Central Dairy ice cream.
156) I am thankful for sleeping through the night. I never thought that was going to happen again!
157) I am thankful for the opportunity to write my Advent book.
158) I am thankful for the rush in my blood that accompanies inspiration, and especially writing music.
159) I am thankful for the friends, neighbors, and parish community who wrap us up in love we don’t deserve and can never live up to.
160) I am thankful for scrapbooking.
161) I am thankful for my jade plant, given to me by Angeleita, which is the only plant I’ve never managed to kill, and which is a constant memento to me of a very special mentor.
162) I am thankful for the end of the spit-up era (for this baby, anyway).
163) I am thankful for generous input for my next article.
164) I am thankful for Christmas lights.
165) I am thankful for beauty in all its various forms.
166) I am thankful for the luxury of recreation.
167) I am thankful for the opportunity to advocate for my daughter and others like her.
168) I am thankful for the people that I have met through this advocacy.
169) I am thankful for the way parenthood (and marriage) stretches my soul.
170) I am thankful for the end of the nursing strike.
171) I am thankful for good food.
172) I am thankful for the cute and tender and funny moments that my children give me.

173) I am thankful for the beautiful autumn.

174) I am thankful that the harvest is finally moving well, late though it is.

175) I am thankful for the chance to see family, immediate and extended.

176) I am thankful for my family, who now calls me upstairs to nurse and teach and dress.

177) A warm home on these frigid January days

178) Five stockings on the mantle

179) Early morning quiet reflection time

180) The sense of well-being that follows it

181) The abundance of gifts given in inspiration, that force me to choose and never do as much of any one thing as I would like.

182) Grateful for the feel of Julianna’s hand in mine…

183)…for her sudden shift into a (sort of, sometimes) cuddle bug (even if it’s only when she’s hungry and she wants to see what I’m making for dinner)…

184)…for her enthusiasm for putting on and taking off her coat, which indicates that she loves everything she’s learning at school…

185)…for her adorable enthusiasm for “talking” on the phone…

186)…for the way she wants to help me around the house…

187)…for the wisdom to direct her desire to get into EVERYTHING and use it to teach her to follow directions, and along the way teach her concepts like in, out, up, down, on, get it out, put it away…

188)…for finally running out of clothes, which means I get to shop for her!…

189)…for Alex giggling at having his cheeks chewed instead of getting angry…

190)…for his willingness to ride his bike almost a mile with his daddy the other day…

191)…for the improvement in his writing…

192)…for his dogged determination to earn money for a new toy…

193)…for the stolen cuddle early this morning when he climbed into bed with me because he was scared…

194)…for Nicholas’s mischievous eyes and his adorable laugh…

195)…for the way he loves to snuggle against me…

196)…for the inspiration to pull out all the frozen breast milk and start feeding it to him…

197)…for nice moments cuddling with Christian…

198)…for the anticipation of a Valentine’s Day date…

199)…for opportunities to advocate

200)…for the beauty of evening light playing on the woods behind my home

201) …for the discovery of music that entrances my daughter and fills my spirit with joy

202)…for the opportunity to sleep with my husband (Julianna’s spent the last few nights in my place, because when she’s sick, she won’t sleep without Daddy)…

203) …for the opportunity to sleep in my own bed…

204) …for a bowl of strawberries, grown by the labor of my own hands…

205)  …for new acquaintances in the land of Holland…

206) …for long morning cuddles at the breast, completely irrelevant to nutrition, but holding on to the nursing bond as long as we can.

207) …for Missouri streams

208) Sunrise through the trees    

209) A day without traffic noise in my back yard
210) Cornflower blue skies and every cloud a familiar shape
211) A kaleidoscope in green leaves
212) New artwork for our bedroom wall 
213) Birth stories
214) Dinner on the deck
215) A baby who absolutely insists on being a Big Boy, even when he’s clearly biting off something wwwwaaaaayyyy too big for him
216) Unplanned ice cream excursion
217) Playing on a recital with college friends I don’t see often 
218) Fresh paint (especially when I didn’t have to put it on the wall!)  

  #219. The blogosphere and FB community that took Julianna’s picture on Parents.com and ran with it.

#220. My firstborn telephone talker-pacer. 

  #224. Baby in Grandpa’s truck

 #226. Watching my family delight in a much-needed rain shower

 #227. Homemade Marble Cake