blessing inventory

Bruce and my chill little son watching Josh and Claire's softball game.
Mom and Sheldon hanging out at the fountains.
Coranelle loving the fountains.
My smiley boy hanging out with Steve while Ryan and I were out celebrating our anniversary.
Headed out to celebrate 4 years of marriage!
Sheldon after his first haircut

I am sitting outside in our backyard, while Coranelle is happily occupied with her water table and Sheldon sits in his papasan and watches the world go by. I know they both won't stay happy for long, but the sunshine and their smiles makes up for the last few rough nights.

Coranelle and Sheldon both went to the doctor yesterday- Sheldon for his 2 mo appt and Coranelle for her 2 year check-up. I cannot even describe how much of a nightmare that experience would have been without Heidi there to help me. Coranelle just HATES the doctor! She even watched her brother quietly and calmly get measured and weighed, but couldn't handle it when it was her turn. She was squirming and screaming and throwing a fit. The only thing that finally calmed her down a bit was the reward of a "Cars" sticker when she was done. How could two kids be any more different?! Heidi brilliantly took Coranelle for a few walks while I talked to the Dr. about Sheldon and Coranelle. Once his screaming sister was gone, Sheldon calmed down so that I could actually talk and ask my questions.

I don't have all the stats, but here are a few:
Sheldon weighed 11 pounds 11 ounces. That put him in the 46th percentile for weight- higher than Coranelle ever got! He has almost gained 5 pounds since he was born! He's doing great! He is almost 23 inches long, so only the 25th percentile. I think he takes after me a bit more! I am happy that nursing is going well and he's gaining weight!

Coranelle weighs 24 1/2 pounds. She has moved up to the 24th percentile in weight! I am so proud of her. She is still in the 75th percentile for height. I cannot remember how tall she was.

Poor Sheldon got two shots (with 2 or 3 vaccinations in each), plus an oral vaccine. Yikes, that is a lot of crazy things to put in a little body at once time. Anyhow, he was up every 2 hours last night and very hard to put back to sleep. So, that makes for a tired mommy today. Especially since Coranelle still takes about an hour and a half to fall asleep each night. I wish I could figure out how to solve that issue. What I wouldn't give for 7 hours of straight sleep right now! And, I keep trying to put them both down for a nap at the same time in the afternoon so that I can take a nap, and it doesn't work very often. Coranelle has been taking about an hour to fall asleep at nap time, and Sheldon keeps waking up every 45 minutes. So, by the time she has fallen asleep, he's awake. Wow! It sometimes makes for a long day!

Now that my venting is done, I will try to spin this into a positive note. I am reading a book for my Mops bible study called "The Power of a Positive Wife". One of the recent chapters pointed out how often in life we look around us and say, "If only...". In the book, this refers to how we think about our husbands. ("If only my husband would do more around the house, be more sensitive to my feelings, etc.") I know I am guilty of this "If only syndrome" in so many areas of my life. If only my kid would sleep through the night, eat without a battle, go to sleep faster, listen better, etc. So, I am going to work hard this summer on counting my blessings, instead of constantly being aware of all of the hard things, or all of the things I don't have. I want to be conscious of daily taking inventory of all of the blessings in my life. I am going to try to be more like my 2 year old and look at life through her eyes. When we say prayers at night, I ask her what she is thankful for, and she comes up with about 20 things. She's thankful for Jen and Becky, who take care of her when I work out. She's thankful for the movie she watched, for her stuffed bunny, for her snack, for going to the park, for her blanket, for her green shirt..... and on and on. If only we could look at life that way.
So, here's my blessing inventory for today. I am thankful for:
Our nice, big backyard and outdoor toys
Coranelle's green chair that she is sitting next to me in
a hard working husband who allows me to stay home with my kids
The vibrating papasan that helped Sheldon doze off
My garden and its snap peas that are reaching as tall as I am
The sunshine and nice weather
family that lives close by and is willing to help out and give us breaks
our awesome neighborhood and neighbors
good friends who call me on the phone to check up on me and see how things are going
two healthy, adorable kiddos.
An amazing, thoughtful wonderful husband who is so helpful and so involved and caring
The sparkling water that is waiting for me in the fridge
The smiles that I get from my son each morning
The conversations and songs I share with Coranelle each day

Okay, that's good for now, but I need to do this every day!