The ABCs of Thankfulness

Last year for Thanksgiving I posted about the 10 things I was thankful for.  It was a great post (if I must say so myself!) and so I have been trying to figure out what to do for this Thanksgiving as I am still so thankful for those 10 things and more! Plus I have been focusing on thankfulness all month so a lot of the things I am thankful for I have already written about or mentioned so I was a bit stumped... Then as we were sitting and playing with the babies with their ABC cards and watching the many Sesame Street videos devoted to the alphabet, I decided I would do an ABC rendition of thankfulness! 

So here we go...

A is for Alister.  I am thankful for my partner, my best friend, and my babies' wonderful Daddy.  I am thankful that he is about to be giving our son his kidney and for all the ways he has taken care of us all.

B is for my Babies.  I am so incredibly thankful for my babies.  Max and Addison are my sunshine, my heart, the loves of my life.  I cannot imagine life without them and I never miss life before them, even though it was simpler.  Their smiles and precious personalities are the greatest source of joy in my life.  I am so thankful that they are here with us, even healthier and happier than they were a year ago, despite a lot of issues this year.  I am so thankful that I am their mom and that they are mine.

C is for Crossroads Baptist Church.  We are thankful for Pastor Larry and Vicki and for the friends who have prayed for us and supported my parents through this journey. 

D is for Doctors and Nurses who have saved our babies lives, who respond to texts from us around the clock and do everything they can to make sure we feel confident in taking care of Max and Addie. We are thankful for our Texas team and our California team and feel extra blessed to have two teams that love Max and Addie and support us.

E is for Emily, Megan and Lachlan... my sister in laws and brother in law and the most wonderful aunts and uncle.  They have travelled long and far to meet their neice and nephew and encourage us always.  Aunty Emily spent so much time teaching Max how to control his hand and he showed all this progress during his time with her. 

F is for Friends.  New friends, best friends, old friends, family friends... we have recieved lots of love and support from people we haven't seen in years, from people who are involved in our daily lives, from people who live near and far.  Friends make us laugh, share our burdens and make sure we know that whatever we going through we are never alone!

G is for Gigi and Marnie.  Al's parents are amazing wonderful selfless people.  They have spent so much time coming out here to see us and right now we are extra thankful that they will be coming out to California for close to 2 months to help us through this transplant.

H is for Hannah, and little miss Heidi too... We are having a wonderful time having Hannah here and laughing lots and going on big adventures and talking about everything and her friendship is such a huge blessing in my life!  (Hannah would also like to include for H, the Hardy Toll Road as we have had some wonderful moments this week of being rescued by the horrendous I45 traffic by the empty toll road.

I is for the Internet... Email, Skype, Facebook and Blogging have all been wonderful ways for us to feel connected and supported. 

J is for Jesus and our faith... the hope that we have knowing that someone else is ultimately in control.  Thanking God for the way he has taken care of us and the miracles He has done in our life.

K is for Kidneys! We are so incredibly thankful this Thanksgiving that Al and I had healthy kidneys and were both matches for the babies and that we have been able to give this gift of life to our children.  You would never think to be super thankful for kidneys but it's pretty much at the top of our list this year.

L is for Laughter, truly the best medicine.  Addie's adorable laughter, the laughter at the dinner table, friends that can help us laugh and see humor even in difficult circumstances.  If I couldn't laugh so much, goodness knows I wouldn't make it through so I'm grateful for the laughs along the way.

M is for Mrs Becky.  My mom's best friend who has been in my life since I was around Addie's age is such a blessing to us.  She is so full of energy and so much fun!  She meets my mom almost every week for lab draws and clinic and makes what could be a not so fun day one of the highlights of Addie's week.  Addie squeals with delight when she sees Mrs Becky and absolutely adores her.  As does Max.  We love her!

N is for Nana, and Papa too!  The best nana there ever was, my mom does everything for Max and Addie.  She spends so much time with Addie, and not just fun time! She takes her for blood draws, she takes her to speech therapy.  She spent 9 nights in the hospital in May with Addie and spent many of those nights with Addie in her lap.  She is always giving and lovin all of us.  And you can tell because Addie absolutely adores her.  She is the only person I would leave Addie with and I'm so thankful Addie gets to stay with her and does not have to live up at the hospital during Max's transplant week. Oh and Papa is wonderful too but he did already get his own Ode so I thought I'd focus on Nana a bit more ;)

O is for Operations that save lives.  If Max and Addie had been born in another time in history, they would not be with us.  Surgeries and medications have saved their extremely precious lives.  And this year we are especially grateful for the miracle that is transplants, that it is even possible to take an organ from one person to another and give them this whole new life. 

P is for Prayers.   We are so thankful for how many people pray for us.  The number of people praying for Addie in May was amazing and we know Max will be covered in equal amounts of prayers during his.

Q is Quality Time.   My love language is quality time so spending time with my loved ones is my favorite thing and the best way for me to recharge.  And this week I am especially thankful for a whole week of quality time.  We are staying at my parents so I have spent the week with my mom and dad, my husband, my brother, my best friend and three extremely precious babies. 

R is for Ridge Rocks (my school!) I am thankful for the school I work at, the students who make me laugh and the co workers who are my friends.  I am also feeling thankful for my job as a teacher this week when I've had the whole week off! So thankful for a great job that allows me to have a lot of time with my family.

S is for Shannon.  I am so thankful for my best friend here in America that I get to see every day at work and who I share all my good days and bad days with.  Don't see how I could have made it through the past year without her!

T is for Therapists.  The therapists who have worked with Max and Addie have really helped them acheieve their potential at every stage.  We are thankful for Nicole our physical therapist who worked with the babies in the NICU and now out and helped get Addie walking and for Sierra, our occupational therapist who adores Max and works so patiently with him and never gives up hope for him for him reaching new inchstones.  We have a new speech therapists Lindsey and Miriam who are teaching Max to allow things near his mouth and Addie to talk and the babies adore them.

U is for Uncle Adam.  My brother has spent lots of time with us this year and is great with the babies, even when Addie is a rascal and gets scared of him the first few days of every visit.  He always brings a breath of fresh air and his great wry sense of humor in when he comes to visit.

V is for Videos that hold Addie's attention.  (I would have said E is for Elmo were it not for his involvement in a sex scandal...)  But we are genuinely thankful for the portable DVD player and our Sesame Street videos that keep Addie in her high chair and out of trouble during meals and have helped us reclaim adult conversations!

W is for Weddings, in particular the one coming up July 27.   Weddings are so much fun and we are so excited for my brother and Jenny's wedding this summer.  We can't wait to celebrate with them.

X is for X-rays, Ultrasounds, Echocardiograms and EEGs... all the tools that our doctors use to help us know what is going on inside our babies and have helped keep them healthy and safe.
Y is for YOU!  I am so thankful that people read my blogs!

Z is for Zero Calorie Drinks...  Waking up at 5am every morning and not loving coffee, I certainly have a great love for Coke Zero!

Obviously we have a lot to be thankful for this year! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!