Feeling extra blessed today...

I woke up with happy tears this morning. Today was supposed to be my first day back at work. However, I am taking an educational leave this semester. This means I will start working on a new degree AND I will be able to stay at home with my sweet Asher. I have dreaded January 3rd for months now because I just couldn't bare the thought of leaving my sweet baby boy. It was a bit sad to not go back to visit with teacher friends and I seriously miss the days with my fun 1st graders but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am where I am supposed to be today. I am home with my funny and happy little man. We have read books together today, we have played in his new jumparoo, we have practiced sitting up, we have practiced standing up, we have sang a song about his body parts, we have sang the ABC's, we have practiced rolling over, we have played with his funny dancing puppy, we have kissed and hugged, and we have rocked and loved each other. Now that's my kind of day!!!

Asher...he is seriously funny! He talks to himself all the time. He talks to the ceiling fan and he talks to his dancing puppy from Ella Kathryn and Cohen. He stares at himself in his mirror from Colin and Ellisan and he just laughs. He has learned to roll over and of course I am a proud mommy. He is fairly good at rolling from tummy to back but has only rolled from back to tummy once. He loves to stand up and never wants to sit down. He loves bathtime but has recently learned how to jump out of his seat. Funny to him but not so much to mommy. I have to quickly give this fella' a bath and not my head for one second. Otherwise he'll be under the water. :) Glad to be having to learn about these new things. He pulls things off the table when he eat and makes a mess. It's funny to me. I have to learn to put things out of his reach. He has a personality already and it is PRECIOUS!!! He is a sweet sweet boy and so lovable. He is inquisitive and loves to know about everything going on around him. He will play by himself and be so happy but he equally loves you to be involved as well. He has outgrown all 3 month clothes and is already in 3-6 and some 6-9. I am running out of clothes believe it or not!!! His sleepers are about all to small because his feel are just too big. His sleeping is much better waking just once a night for a bottle. He quickly downs it and goes right back to sleep in his pack and play.

I am an adoring mom...I adore his eyes. They are so blue with so much love showing through them. I adore his smile...it is flirty, quirky, funny, sweet, silly, and loving. I adore his strength...He is a strong fella' who insists on standing and is striving to learn to do new things each day. I adore his loving spirit...don't know if he'll always be loving but for now he loves his mommy and I LOVE that!!! I adore his dimples...they melt my heart. I adore him! Every square inch of him inside and out.

I would say now you know why I feel a little extra blessed today. We all have so much to be thankful for and it's so easy to forget about being thankful. It's so easy to just know it's ours and go on with life not being thankful. I do it I know. However, today as I thought about getting up and rushing out the door to go to work and dropping Asher off with someone else to care for him I couldn't help but to cry happy and thankful tears. For the past four years a fav bible verse of mine has been Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." It was hard for me to recite this verse four years ago and truly believe it. But I knew I just knew God had plans. I can see the plans today he had and I am grateful for every tear I had to cry in order to live out this plan. If it weren't for those tears and those hard days I wouldn't know to be so grateful. I think I get on Wae's nerves telling him how grateful I am LOL I praise God for the miracle of life he has given us. I miss my baby boy Ian and hate all that he had to endure in order to teach me what mattered in life.