a grateful heart

This week as Sydney and I drove to our mom/kiddo group we had the pleasure of listening to Maya Angelou speak on the Diane Rehm show. Among many other bits of wisdom, Angelou said that the most important thing she'd learned in life was to have an attitude of gratefulness. Coming from a personal hero and woman of a respectable age, this meant a lot to me. It made me pause, if not literally pull the car over to ponder. Yes, it is the season of gratefulness, but hearing someone so wise reiterate the importance of gratefulness made me really think about it.

Although I have many lessons yet to learn, I feel like the lesson of gratefulness has struck home early for me. When I'm feeling grouchy or down, I often pull myself out of it by focusing on the things I'm thankful for and as a stay-at-home mommy I don't have far to look.

The past months have been tough on me in some ways. Being constantly nauseous takes a toll on my good spirits and some days I was nearly reduced to tears by the mere smell of leftovers, the idea of a pot roast or the fact that I could not find clothes that both fit and matched to wear to church. But, in the midst of this, I have also been finding myself ridiculously happy. I have felt so loved and blessed since the passing of Grammy and the announcement of this new little life that I haven't had much room to stay sad or grouchy. I have received cards and notes and calls and emails from so many kind people, a lot of them people I didn't realize cared so much. In the past year, God has really heard my prayers for friends here on the Palouse, which I sometimes felt guilty asking for given the beauty of my girlfriends from my days in Seattle. But, especially in the past 6 months God has placed some amazing women in my life who have embraced me and treat me as though we've been friends as long as my beloved Seattle girls.

So, in the spirit of continually focusing on being grateful, not just this month or when I'm feeling low, but as a life-long habit, here is a short list of things that have been making me overflow lately:

• the look of absolute joy on Sydney's face whenever I pass her the apple we are sharing.
• the feeling of Sydney's chubby little hand in mine when we walk down the stairs together.
• my sweet husband who, among many other things, pulled back my covers, turned on my lamp and put a glass of sparkling water on my bedstand the other night while I was not so gracefully emptying the contents of my stomach.
• sour cream. I am in love with the creamy goodness of it right now.
• the smell of fires in neighbors' fireplaces when we go out for a walk.
• the supportive, amazing women in my life--old friends, new friends who feel like old friends, "bloggy" friends...I am blessed.
• my walking friends who meet me every Wednesday for a stroll, shared stories, great advice and sometimes eggs. And, they are willing to drive to my little town for some of our walks! a huge gift!
• the old navy jeans that I bought this morning that make this almost-12 weeks pregnant girl feel downright skinny and do not crowd baby's area (he or she seems to have some personal space issues).
• the joy of creativity and craftiness. I find myself dreaming up projects with near glee as I lay in bed at 3 am fighting nausea and trying to fall back to sleep after Sydney has paged me yet again.
• my cozy little house that somehow makes me feel loved every time I walk in.
• as always, my sweet family, who make me feel loved, appreciated and known on a daily basis. I hope Nick and I can create this for our kiddos...