fifty things i am grateful for

*after i read all these, i realized anytime that i was referring to silas, i said you. just fyi!

1. i will never forget cuddling with you and your daddy in our big bed while it rained. you snuggled your head into the crook of your daddy’s neck and i laid my sleepy head on his chest. that was a spectacular morning.
2. finding the perfect coffee mug in a thrift store and turning it into MY mug.
3. the way your eyes get heavy when i’m singing “time in a bottle” to you. you cozy against my chest and stare right through to my heart until those eyelids finally drop.
4. cheese and bread: the perfect breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack
5. a blank page in my journal and a felt tipped pen. many a secret gets written into those pages. i’m glad that no one is tempted to read it.
6. reading the words of ky author, silas house. his words drip like honey: slow, smooth, and sweet.
7. my guitar sounds sweeter when there is a little one near by to listen to me play.
8. my ‘stoltzfus’ voice that carries farther than it probably should. i’ll teach my son to sing from the belly!
9. it is burned in to my memory the way dave’s arm feels when it is wrapped around me in our messy bed. the way his warm breath feels against my neck.
10. i pray that perfect coffee and misty mornings are in Heaven.
11. i love going in circles as i talk to my dad about this and that and life.
12. my aunt rosie’s whoopie pies. i hope those are in Heaven as well.
13. laying my head close to your little rosebud mouth just to hear your breath.
14. the the first time i touched you. rubbed my finger against your tiny face. Heaven.
15. oscillating fans. enough said.
16. sitting on a porch swing while a thunderstorm comes my way.
17. the cold tickle of an ice cold pop when it’s a million degrees outside.
18. eating my second breakfast with my little curled up beside me after he has eaten his second breakfast.
19. apple computers. they make my world go ‘round.
20. cuddling with my little family on clean sheets after a hot shower.
21. i look forward to the times when your little eyes finally close and i just have to ‘keep an ear on you.’ my attention then turns to your daddy, and his to me.
22. discovering that i actually like my coffee without all the sweet stuff. i even like it black! it’s amazing when you don’t drink the stuff for nine months how good it tastes when you finally do drink it.
23. reading the first chapter of a book while standing in the shop.
24. perusing the children’s section of the book shop with an actual child to buy for.
25. crooked smiles
26. even though i thought i would hate being home all the time, i’m loving this new stay at home momma life.
27. kettle corn
28. tripping on a pile of books because i don’t have any more room on the bookcases.
29. moving back to the hills. who would have ever thought i would be grateful for that?
30. remembering how my dad switched from daddy to preacher, in a snap, at my wedding.
31. sleeping at my mom’s house...if i’m sleeping there, that means she’s probably going to cook for me!
32. front loading washing machines
33. the ability to create
34. modern medicine. without it, my little would not be here.
35. being woke up by a squiggly baby and sharing a lovely view of the bluest sky ever.
36. making it work when it seems like it’s impossible.
37. friends who drop everything to listen to me gush about about my little’s first smile.
38. the color black, whether it is truly slimming or it’s just all in my head.
39. there is no way that i could forget the ‘dances’ that dave and i do in the kitchen. in our current situation, it takes three to tango...or at least make biscuits and gravy.
40. burt’s bees chapstick. i like my smooth lips. dave likes them more.
41. my upbringing. i guess it would be easier to say my parents, but that doesn’t really cover it all.
42. mylicon drops. praise God for mylicon drops! without them, my little has terrible gas pains. this translates to super fussy-britches and not being able to sleep...any of us.
43. music. it’s what i do. it’s who i am. i experience God and all things beautiful with music.
44. head bands keep my hair out of the reaching fingers of a very curious little.
45. old quilts that need to be repaired. they have character, life, and a very precious story.
46. five iron frenzy (a ska band) keeps my little calm during car rides. not sure why or how, but they do. i’ll take that over ‘twinkle twinkle’ any day.
47. the way you place your hands behind your head, just like a grown up, when you’re taking a nap.
48. two cats that get my furniture super, duper hairy!
49. feeling the wind whip my hair around my face and hearing the leaves sound a little dry in preparation for their changing.
50. chewy rolaids. do i need to say anything else?