Thankful, day sixteen...

So, admittedly, I haven't been very good at posting one of these every single day. But that's okay. I think it served it's purpose in re-focusing my thoughts this year. This will probably be my last "thankful" post, not because I'm running out of things to be thankful for, but because starting this afternoon, our family is on vacation, and I plan on spending every minute enjoying it!

Today I'm thankful for the most important person in my life, my best friend in the entire world, and my husband for these past seven years...

Taken on our second date, holy cow we were so young!

If you've heard the story, then you know Matthew and I met at church one night on my nineteenth birthday. It took him about three months for him to convince me to go out with him, even though we already spending tons of time together as "just friends". It took a single date to convince me I wanted to marry him. Seriously, that very same night I realized I was probably going to marry him, or at least that I should if I had any brains in my head! We got engaged some six months after our first date, and then we were married seven months after that. If you do the math, we got married just one year, four months and six days after we met. Some people might say we rushed into out, but we've never cared.

Our big day. I know, I look so serious (I was so nervous!) and he looks so happy!

Fast forward seven years and here were are. Our life together hasn't been easy, but faced each challenge together, and that's what matters most. So yeah, I'm thankful that I have such a wonderful husband. Also, he's a pretty awesome daddy, too!

Thankful, day fifteen...

Today I'm thankful for this beautiful little girl...

Nine pounds of newborn goodness right there, mostly cheeks!

 We waited a long time for this girl. Compared to Elijah, who we had about ten months after our wedding date, our second born was a long time in coming. She was born exactly four years and eleven days after her big brother. And we couldn't have been more happy to have such a sweet addition to our family. She is 100% Mama's girl, and a girly girl. Though don't get me wrong, she has Daddy and big brother wrapped around her little finger!

It's so hard for me to remember her ever being this tiny!

At two and half now, she is hilarious. I mean, genuinely funny. She makes all of us laugh out loud all day long. 

This was from November last year, she's grown so much since then.

I don't really know what else to say about Sophia, but she's awesome. She's totally everything I ever wanted in a little girl. Okay, well we could probably take her "I'm the Princess" attitude down a notch or two...or three. But other than that, she's great!

And yes, she's growing up entirely too fast.

Thankful, day fourteen...

Today I'm thankful for advances in modern medicine  especially those related to cancer treatments.

 Earlier this year my dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Everyone knows that's not one of the "bad" ones, but still, it was cancer. They were told there were only two forms of treatment, surgery or chemo. Chemo was a no-go for my dad since he's so young and it will likely just come back someday. And for him, surgery wasn't a good option. So after much thought and prayer, God led my parents to the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute. For eight weeks my dad received proton treatment with almost no side effects. I mean, he was running 5Ks on the weekend during cancer treatment! Already his PSA levels are way down, indicating the cancer is well on its way out.

If you want to learn more about this amazing new treatment, that literally changed our lives you can check out their website here.

And yeah, when I started this whole "Thankful" thing like many others Facebook, I thought it was a little lame and cheesy. However, I can definitely say it has helped me get my heart and mind in the right place for the holidays this year.

Thankful, day thirteen...

Today I'm thankful for my wonderful sister-in-law, Maartje. We have known each other for about eight years, or as long as I have been a part of the Hopper family. It wasn't until we moved up to Connecticut three years ago that we really began to connect. Since then we have started having weekly phone chats to catch up on our crazy lives. We have so much in common, we're almost exactly the same age (she is one month older than me, exactly!), we both got married young and a baby right away, we have crazy kiddos (her three boys!), and we're married to brothers! We have plenty of differences too, but that's what makes good friendships, I think. She is a little quieter than me, and certainly sweeter and kinder than me! (Everyone knows I'm a little loud and obnoxious at times.) We both love being mommies more than anything else and understand how hard it is to be a good mommy sometimes. Anyway, I'm super happy and lucky to call her my best friend AND sister!

I wish I had a more recent pic of the two of us (with our babies, Sophia and Luke) but we haven't seen each other since summer '11! Boo!

Also, one thing Maartje and I always agree on (as an aside for today's thankfulness) is how forutuate we were to meet our husbands, so we're both thankful for the way our in-laws, Jan and Colin Hopper, raised their boys! 

Thankful, day twelve...

Today I'm thankful for my super-crazy, wildly overactive imagination! I won't flatter myself enough to say I am an amazing writer. Maybe someday. But for now I will acknowledge the fact that I have an awesome imagination. I'm not sure how most people operate, but at one time I will probably have about half a dozen (or more!) story lines running around in my head. I first officially put pen to paper to write a story about fifteen years ago because I was so bored that I had nothing to read. I quickly discovered that writing was far more satisfying to me than reading. It's a control thing, I guess! Since then I have filled more notebooks than I can count. Today I just archived a full rubbermaid bin full of notebooks, since I don't believe in throwing that stuff out. Lately, I spend most of my time writing on my computer, because I just don't have the time to write long-hand, which is sad,  because I much prefer it.

Anyway, it's nice to know I'm never going to run out of ideas, because my imagination is never going to shut down on my. And maybe London Escape wasn't the ticket for me, but maybe something else in the future will be.

Thankful, day eleven...

A continuation of yesterday's post. I'm thankful Elijah is such a good student. It makes homeschooling so much easier on me since he actually likes to learn (most of the time!)

As an aside...I'm also thankful for Sesame Street, which keeps my two and a half-year-old occupied for an entire hour while I teach some of the harder subjects I don't want her under foot for!

Thankful, day ten...

Today I'm thankful for this little guy...

 

Elijah Daniel...You know, the one who made me a mommy six and a half years ago.



The kid with the huge smile and personality to match...



The kid who is way too smart for his own good! (I'm his mommy and teacher, so I'm allowed to say that!)



There are about a million more glowing thing I could say about my big boy, but I don't want to go crazy. Suffice to say, I'm thankful for him, he's the best kid a mommy could ask for!