I am Thankful For...and Happy Thanksgiving

Well, my old friend AF arrived last night.  So far so good.  :)  I knew it was destined to be over the holidays, probably this month and next, but what can you do?  Life will go on.  There was one year, 2006, where we miscarried our first baby over the holidays.  I started bleeding Dec 24th.  It was a bit of a shadow over things, which of course is not how it was supposed to be.  I am thankful that will not be the case this holiday. 

Speaking of things to be thankful for, there are many.  The first and foremost is I am thankful for my husband.  He is my rock through everything.  He knew that IF issues were emerging when he proposed to me.  When we were only engaged he learned we should ttc as soon as we married, less than 6 months later.  He said yes with conviction in a way that cut through my fear and told me everything was going to be okay.  While it is easy to be sad during the holidays because you are waiting to conceive, please don't forget your lovely husbands who are there for you through all the hormones surges, the needle pokes, the medical bills, and the teary nights.  I have many wonderful single friends, most of my friends actually, who are still waiting for the one they will spend their life with, still wondering when the clock will start when they will ttc, some of them even aware of how IF issues (pcos, dydelphia, and more) and wondering how they will come into play.  I pray for them constantly that they find the one who will be there through them for thick and thin like my dh. 
I am thankful for my son, of course, who brightens my every day.  Last year at Christmas he was so tiny, with a big cough that shook his little unsteady head!  He sat on our laps and we opened gifts for him.  This year will be different.  There will be delight.  There will be ripping of paper.  There may even be eating of bows.  We will definitely be in for an adventure.  We have already placed the tree in the basement (we just starting putting it up). 

I am thankful for family in town and family not far away that we are visiting for Thanksgiving (a relatively short car ride with Charlie is also something to be thankful for).  My sister JC that lived in another state is living back home now.  My in laws are the best you could hope for, and Thanksgiving hosted by them in the country will be peaceful and perfect-bustling with family for part of it, and vegging out in a recliner with my husband for other parts (yes, I love to sit in the same recliner as dh-to my knowledge he enjoys it too; since we've been married, he doesn't get his own chair or his own glass of milk-it was practically in the vows!)

I am thankful for new blogging friends that totally "get it!"

I am thankful for not being pregnant.  Yes, we should all appreciate where we are at in life now.  This is where God wants me to be, clearly, and there are definite positives in this state like any other.  There is cookie dough to be eaten during our annual baking... My 3 sisters and I, plus multiple little niece helpers and my mom gather to make enormous amounts of cookies at the very last minute.  We do it more for traditions' sake at this point, since by Christmas eve the neighbors have left town, we are no longer going into work, etc.  We ended up burning multiple pans, going to the store (or sending the dh's) dozens of times...there are sometimes flour fights, or laughing so hard we pee our pants, and we always take way too many of the proceeds home for our own families.  These are the traditions I live for, they involve chaos and fun and are always a good time full of laughter! There will be cocktails.  Yes, I love a good drink now and then.  It doesn't take much to get my cheeks a little rosey, and though I cared more about giving up cookie dough when I was pregnant, a glass of wine on Christmas, champagne at New Year's, or a captain and coke at dh's Christmas party will definitely be a good time.  There will be teeth whitening.  I plan to ask for Crest Whitestrips for Christmas.  You can't whiten teeth while pregnant or nursing and it's been awhile.  I also plan on eating sushi over the holiday just because I can(though truth be told my favs don't include raw meat anyway-crab crunch, california roll.  yum!  hungry for sushi at 7:30am! lol). There is more, I am sure, that I am not thinking of to look forward to when not being pregnant!  I know last time I was the "waiting to try to concieve" (wtttc-I am coining this now if it has been done already!) mode I had dental x-rays!  I am sure I will think of more things.

And there is a lot more to be grateful for, in general, and not enough time to cover it all here.  I have a son literally in between my legs saying "up!" at the moment! :)
Feel free to comment and tell me what you are thankful for and what you do during the wtttc!
Happy Turkey Day to everyone in blog world!