I’m sure you all know what I am most thankful for this week - my beautiful, healthy, and did I mention quiet daughter, Liv Ellen. I find myself having difficulty putting her down because I just want to savor every moment. With Kade, I willed him to get older because he’d be able to do this or that or it might stop the colic and before I knew it he was older and independent and not a baby anymore. Now that Liv is here I just want to stop time because she’s my last and she’s wonderful and peaceful and enjoyable and I want her to stay that way forever.

I am thankful that Kade has adjusted so well to his new role of big brother. He is so good with Liv and kisses her about 10 times a day. The love he feels for her is amazing because we didn’t teach it to him or tell him to love her - he just does and it is such a pure love that is so beautiful to watch. I thank you Kade for making me a mother and I thank you Liv for making me a better one and for making Kade a brother - a role that he was made to fill.

I am thankful for my husband Kyle. The love I feel for him just grows every day and the way he held me up during the entire labor with Liv just made that love multiply even more. When I look at our little family I can see the love that Kyle and I have created and I am overwhelmed by it. I just couldn’t be happier and I have him to thank for that.

I am thankful for my mom and my sister. My sister drove to our house from Akron on numerous occasions to watch Kade while I went to my weekly doctor’s appointments and I am so grateful for her patience with Kade and for her help around here. My mom, what can I say, she is always ready to drop everything to come here and help us out. She drove here from Sandusky at 5:30 in the morning last Tuesday to stay with Kade while we welcomed Liv into the world and while I was in the hospital she did my laundry, kept my house clean, and most of all- kept Kade happy while his entire world was changing. I will never be able to repay her for all she has done, and now that I am a mother I know I don’t have to because that is what mother’s do - they love their children and I will forever be grateful for that love.

I am thankful that Kyle’s mom is out of the hospital and in the comfort of her own home as I type this. Even though she has to return to Hope Lodge on Monday, this visit home will give her the extra strength and rejuvenation she needs to make it through the rest of her battle. I wish I could bottle her strength and determination of will and sell it. She continues to amaze me and even during the darkest of days, she kept the spark of hope alive when so many of us would have shut down and given up. I am so proud of her.

I am thankful for everyone that reads this blog and for all of your comments. They really brighten my day and remind me of all the wonderful people I have in my life. It’s also nice to know that people want to read what I have to say and are interested in our lives, because I am definitely blog-crazy and I feel so connected to so many different people who I feel I know so well, but have never met or even talked to.

I am thankful that I have finished this post and it is still Thursday so it’s still valid (it’s taken me all day to write this, as I haven’t had a long enough stretch to get it done).