Thankful

Every year I really enjoy seeing everyone's daily Thankful posts on Facebook.  I never do it myself on Facebook (not because I'm not thankful) because I know that I would never remember to keep up with it.  I am so forgetful and I'd end up writing something for the first day and then forget about it again until day 10. So I'm just going to post all the things I am thankful for here.  I figured I'd try and do one for every day in November.  I should be able to find 30 things that I am thankful for!  Some will be bigger than others, and some will have longer explanations than others, but here goes my 30 things.

30 Things I am Thankful For...

(in no particular order)

1. Korey and Konnor.  They go together.  I am extremely thankful to have both of them in my life!  I was lucky enough to start dating Korey in high school.  I love that we have been able to spend so many years of our lives together.  It's so fun to be able to say that we have been together for at least half of our lives.  We have gone through so much together, and there is noone else that I want to spend my life with.  Korey is a great father to Konnor.  Every night we do Konnor's bath time together and I love singing fun kid songs with Korey while Konnor looks at us like we are crazy :)  Without Korey there would be no Konnor.  We love Konnor so much.  We've always wanted children and even though it seemd to take longer to have one than we had expected, it was well worth the wait.  Konnor is perfect!  Even when he is awake for 3 hours at night he is perfect :)  Every day he seems to grow right before our eyes.  It's bittersweet.  We love watching him grow, but it's also sad to see him becoming a little boy so fast!  He's walking all over the place and chattering all the time.  He has taught us so much about love, patience, and how to see the world through the eyes of a child again!  We could not be more blessed!

2. Having the opportunity to be a stay at home mom.  I know how lucky I am to be able to stay at home with Konnor.  There are definitely some days where I'm ready for a small break by the end of the day, but I love getting to spend so much time with him.  We've had to sacrifice some things for me to be able to stay at home, but I am so glad we have been able to make it work.

3.  Family.  I love my family.  Even though I'm sad we don't live in Charleston anymore, it has been nice to be able to see family more often.  We have been able to see our parents, siblings and grandparents a lot more frequently since we have moved closer.  It's nice that Konnor has also gotten the chance to see his grandparents, aunt, uncle, and great grandparents more frequently too :)  We also appreciate that they come down to visit us just as much as we go up to see them.  I'm also always happy when we get the chance to see other family members too!

4.  Bella and Chloe- Our furry family members.  We got Bella almost immediately after we got married.  I wanted a dog growing up, but was never able to have one.  As soon as we got married, getting a dog was one of the first things we did.  Bella can be a little ornary at times, but we love her.  We got Chloe a couple years later and I'm so glad we did.  I love having two dogs and Chloe is the best friend to Konnor.  She will let him crawl over, under, and all around her without moving.  She likes when he throws the ball to her, and you can always find her laying beside him in the living room.

5.  Friends.  We are very lucky to have some pretty awesome friends.  We have had to move so many times in the past few years, and we have always managed to make some great friends wherever we have lived.  We have kept in touch with so many people, and we try to visit friends as often as we can, and we love when they come to visit us.  Friends are so important, and I'm glad that we have had the opportunity to make so many different friends the past couple years.  I'm sure we will make even more and we will always be thankful for the ones we have.

6.  Facebook.  Yes, I am thankful for Facebook. :)  Facebook has made it super easy to keep in touch with all the friends we have made.  There have been times where we have moved away from somewhere, and then gone back to live, or just to visit, and it feels like we never left because we have been able to keep up with our friends lives through facebook.  It's nice to share pictures with friends, and be able to get on and send a quick message.

7.  Charleston.   I know that we don't live there anymore, but I'm just happy we had the opportunity to live there twice.  I will find a way to get back there again someday.  Hopefully sooner rather than later.  I miss Charleston every day, but just knowing that I have found a place I truly love makes me happy.  We always are talking about going back there to live some day so that gives me something to look forward to.  Until then, we will just have to visit when we can!

8.  Our house.  I am so happy that we finally actually own the house we are living in.  After moving around so much and renting places from lots of different people, it's nice to know that we are homeowners now.  I'm looking forward to painting more room, hanging pictures, and making it our own.

9.  A handy husband!  I'm so glad that Korey likes trying to fix things, and he likes knowing how things work.  It definitely comes in handy!  He childproofed the house for Konnor, he changes are car oil, and with the help of the neighbor he moved our pellet stove upstairs so we could have lots of heat this winter without paying a million dollars for propane!  He does so many other things and I am thankful for him!

10.  Chloe + Isabel.  I recently started selling Chloe + Isabel jewelry and I love it!!  I've been looking for something to do to earn a little extra money and this is perfect.  I love the jewelry and I love how supportive the whole community is.  I don't feel pressure to sell anything, and I can do it on my own time.  It's given me something to do for myself during the day, and I love sharing all the fun jewelry they have with everyone! www.chloeandisabel/boutique/kristyw

11.  Running.  I took a long break from running recently, which I of course regret.  Each time I take a break from running, its so hard to get back into it.  I just yesterday ran again for the first time in about 3 months!  What was I thinking?? 3 months?? It wasn't a super long run, but it felt good to actually  make myself get out there and do it.  There are a lot of days that I feel like crap when I'm running and I ask myself why I am doing it.  But there are also days where I'm running and I love it and I tell myself that I could just keep running forever.  I love signing up for races and training for them.  I love the great feeling of accomplishment when I complete a race!  I still have a goal to some day run a half marathon in all 50 states, but I need to start running again more consistently if I ever want to reach that goal!

12. Konnor's mess he leaves all over the living room floor.  I know this is a weird thing to be thankful for, but I am.  Every time I see that mess it reminds me that we have a healthy and happy little boy.  It also reminds me that Korey is a wonderful father, who pushes down his own desire to have a clean, perfect, organized living room, in order to let his son have a fun, happy, toy throwing day :)  We do however at least pick most of the toys up at the end of the day and throw them in the pack'n play where they wait for Konnor to throw them all back out in the morning while he waits for his breakfast!

13.  My health.  I am thankful every day that I am healthy.  I rarely get sick and I don't have any major health issues.  I hope that I can stay healthy throughout my life.

14. Cooking.  Now that we live in a small town again and there aren't as many restaurants and fast food places nearby we have been cooking a lot more.  I don't always love cooking, but it has been fun looking up recipes and finding new meals to try cooking.  Korey and I both take turns cooking, and we also cook together.  We've been eating out a lot less which is great because it's healthier and it saves money!

15.  Our Local Library.  I love going to the library.  I have loved going to the library since I was a little kid.  I have my parents to thank for that.  I remember going to the library when I was little and picking out books for them to read to me.  They were always reading as we were growing up, and so because of that I love reading now.  We read to Konnor before bed every night and I try and read to him a couple times a week during the day also.  Konnor and I go to the library at least once a week to pick out new books to read to him, and books that I can read for myself.  Our library also has programs for babies and toddlers.  We signed Konnor up for the first session and he loved it.  We will be signing him up again in February!

16.  Holidays.  During holidays we usually get to see family and everyone is in a happier mood!  It doesn't matter what holiday it is, although I do enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas the most!

17.  Vacations!  Going on vacations even if they are a small weekend trip somewhere is something that is important to us.  I am so thankful that Korey loves to travel as much as I do, and that we find ways to save the money and make these vacations happen.  Even if it means that it takes a couple years to save up to make some of the bigger trips happen.  There are so many places I want to go some day.  I hope that we are always able to travel and that we get to take Konnor on lots of vacations big and small!

18.  Coffee.  I resisted being a coffee drinker for a long time.  I know it's probably not the most healthy habit to have, but it sure does help after those long nights when Konnor is up for 3 hours or more!

19.  This blog.  I started this blog over a year ago after we found out I was pregnant.  We didn't want to tell too many people right away and so we created this blog to share with our close friends and family who knew.  Now I just enjoy having the blog to write what I want, share pictures of Konnor, and to still let family and friends know what is going on in our lives.  Hopefully some day I'll go back and read all these posts and be able to remember all the great times we've had!

20.  Other Moms.  My mom, my mother-in-law, friends that are moms, and moms I don't even know!  It's always nice to have other moms around so you can ask them questions, talk about kid things, and give some advice of your own.  I know I'm a better mom because I have so many other mothers to look up to and to ask for advice when I need it!

21.  Konnor's love for music.  He loves all kinds of music.  This means I can play anything I want in the car and he is usually pretty happy with it.  His favorite songs aren't "wheels on the bus" or "twinkle twinkle" (although he does enjoy those), but instead they are "Home" by Phillip Phillips and the "Cup Song".  He's loved the "Home" song ever since he was little.  When he would scream in his car seat all we had to do was put this song on and he would settle down most days.  Even now when he gets a little cranky all we have to do is turn this song on and it usually does the trick.

22.  Lazy weekend days.  It's so nice some weekends to just sit around and not do much except play with Konnor and the dogs, watch movies, read a book and nap. :)

23.  Sweatpants!  They are super comfy and now that I am at home most of the day I wear them ALL the time!  I'm sure Korey is getting sick of seeing me in sweatpants! (Sorry Korey).  

24.  Laughter.  I love hearing Konnor's laugh.  I also love seeing other people laugh because of Konnor.  Everyone who meets Konnor loves him.  He's almost always happy and his laugh is contagious!  Korey and I definitely smile and laugh a lot more now that he is around!

25.  Books.  I enjoy reading and always have.  I love finding a good book and letting myself get lost in the story.  I hope that Konnor enjoys reading some day as much as I do!

26. Movies.  Korey and I have always had fun going to see movies together.  Now that we have Konnor we don't get to go to see movies as often as we used to.  We still like to rent movies though, and we also like watch movies that we own, and occasionally we are lucky and get to go see a movie in the theater.

27.  My Smartphone.  I like how easy it is to take a picture, look something up, call someone, and so much more.  When I was up all hours of the night feeding Konnor, I loved having my phone to read a book, or look up answers to the million questions I had about babies.  Now I use my phone almost every day to take pictures of Konnor.  It's so nice to always have a camera with me!

28.  Warm Weather.  It's not warm right now, but when it is warm it makes me very happy.  I love Summer and sunshine.  I like going to the beach and being outside all day in the warm sun.  I enjoy running when its nice out, and going for walks with Konnor.  I can't wait until the summertime and I hope that we get to live somewhere close to the beach again some day!

29. Sleep!  I love to sleep :)  I don't get as much sleep as I used to, but I get plenty.  I probably got more sleep than I needed before!  There are also nights that I get very little sleep depending on if Konnor is up a lot.  I am very thankful though for the nights I can fall asleep quick and get a full night of uninterrupted sleep. But honestly.... those nights I get to be up with Konnor for a few extra hours aren't always so bad. (It just stinks when they happen several nights in a row!)

30. YOU.  Whoever you are reading this right now, I am thankful for YOU!  I'm glad that people actually take the time to read what I have to write.  Even if it is pointless and boring sometimes.  So Thank you!

Well there's 30 things I am thankful for!  Hopefully you were able to make it through all 30!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I hope you take the time to think about all that you are Thankful for right now in your life!