Giving Thanks

This entry was an idea I got from a friend's blog. I loved reading about her thankful heart so much that I decided I needed to follow suit. With all the stress of working out the kinks of having 2 under 2, I know it will make me feel good to put down in words the the things I'm giving thanks for this holiday season. These are in no particular order.

My Husband

Now, we all know this already since I've already written about his awesomeness, but he's grown even more fabulous with the addition of our latest son. I'm so thankful that he is an amazing father, that he is a helper, that he is so patient, and that he works his buns off to make a good life for this family that he loves so dearly.

My Husband's Job
In this time, when so many people have lost jobs and many more are struggling to even find a job or keep the hours and pay they already have, I'm thankful that my husband has a place where he can make a decent living that, not only allows us to put food on the table and afford life's basic necessities, but also gives us the freedom to own our own home and enjoy some frivolities, all while allowing me the luxury of being a stay-at-home mom.

Our Home

I'm thankful that we were able to find a house we wanted and were able to afford and have been able to make that house a home for us and our boys.

The Boys

Clearly, I'm thankful to have been blessed with my sons. They are amazing and healthy and strong. Jamie is learning something new, not every day, at this point, but every minute! It's truly wondrous to experience. Charlie appears to be thriving and growing each day and that's just what you'd want in a newborn. It seems unreal that I have 2 children.
While Charlie came about a little earlier than planned, I'm thankful it was not a struggle for us to become pregnant, after having seen the heartache that can cause through various friends. In that same vein, I'm thankful those friends are in my life as a constant reminder of how lucky and grateful I am to have my boys. Some friends' prayers have been answered this year and they're finally expecting and I will continue to pray for friends who are still waiting on their little miracle.

My Mom

So many, many people have poor or "okay" relationships with their mothers. They complain about how annoying they are or how they're always getting on their nerves by doing this and that. I'm thankful to have, hands down, without a doubt in my mind, the best mother in the history of ever. She's awesome on so many levels and you should be jealous. ^_~

My Great-Aunt Susie

Not only does this woman fill a void in my heart left by my grandmother's passing several years ago, but she's amazingly helpful, if ever I have a medical question (which during pregnancy, was often). She's a strong ex-military nurse and she's kicked cancer in the face on more than one occasion. She's the greatest great-aunt and I love her dearly. No, you may not have her.

My Extended Family

Again, I often hear people complain about most of their family and I'm not saying some of them don't have just cause. I've heard plenty of family horror stories, some of which you'd swear could have only happened in a Lifetime movie. I'm consistently reminded of how lucky I am, not just with my own extended family, which has some truly spectacular members (my nanny and cousin and aunt to name a few), but with my husband's family as well. My mother-in-law is always willing to lend a hand. He has some pretty fantastic cousins and I feel like his aunt who also raised boys 18 months apart is going to be a great resource for advice. Not many of my family members try to push their opinions on me about what they think I should be doing or tell me I'm doing it wrong. I'm not saying there are no members that do that, but not many...maybe two, and for that I am eternally grateful!

There are, of course, many other people and things I am thankful to have be a part of my life, but those are the things that affect me the strongest. There are a few very special friends I have in my life that I am also very grateful to have, but at the risk of someone feeling left out, I've chosen just to let you assume you know it's you. Have a very happy Thanksgiving week, readers. I know I will. I'm looking forward to the food, family, 2 extra days with my husband, and my first girl's night in months.

Two Outta Three Ain't Bad

It appears my mystical powers have failed me. I guessed right on my friend Emily's girl and my friend Erika's boy, but my cousin Jessica decided to spite me and have a little boy instead of the lady I'd predicted. Actually, I believe everything Jessica has done in her pregnancy was to spite me. First, she went and had not a smidge of morning sickness. Then, she thought it would be funny if she showed me how few stretch marks she could get (i.e. zero). And for her grand finale, she decided to have a 6 hour natural labor. That's it?! Six hours?! Who is this super woman?! Aren't we supposed to have some of the same genes? I always knew Nanny loved "Perfect Jessica" the best. I should have known that she passed her awesome pregnancy genes to her first grand-daughter on purpose.

For those of you that don't know my relationship with my cousin, I jest. "Perfect Jessica" is something I said in an angry tantrum long ago...I think it was last week. Sorry, I can't help myself sometimes. And the previous paragraph is all based on the fact that last Thanksgiving, Jessica declared she was glad we were not pregnant at the same time because she was sure I would hate her. Well, in the meantime, I went and got knocked up purely to see if her theory was true. That was the whole reason for Belew #2. It turns out I did not hate being pregnant at the same time as her. In fact, I am so proud of her and happy for her and my entire family that a new addition has been added. She's a tough old bird just like Nanny and I adore that.

Though her whole situation did get me thinking. Is my Gingervitis the cause of my crappy pregnancy? There are two types of people on the Long side of the family, those that look like straight up Native Americans and those that seem they jumped the boat from Ireland. There's not really an in between. Perhaps there's a severe nausea gene that hitches a ride over with the freckles and one for stretch marks getting cozy with the one for red hair. Someone should do research on this subject for the sake of ginger moms everywhere. (Again, I jest but only half-heartedly)

I'm sure baby Isaac is adorable and I will post a picture of him here as soon as there is one to post, so check back often. As for me, I can't wait to get up there and meet him at Jessica's earliest convenience. Perhaps I'll tow Nanny along because Lord knows she wouldn't get up there unless she's baited by a chance at holding a new baby. I'll even take a graveyard shift just so they can get a whole night of sleep. Have a wonderful first night at home with your son, Wonder Woman!

Isaac Bradley Wilder, 7 lbs 4 oz, 21 in.
Ready to start yapping, a Nanny Long trait! (We pop out the alert ones)

Tennessee Gypsies

Our family is officially homeless. Well, I suppose not officially. The house hasn’t technically closed but the fact remains that other people now live in the home on Mercury Boulevard. The couple that wanted to buy our house chose the 29th of May for their closing date because that’s when their lease was up on their apartment. The closing didn’t go through on the planned date and they were freaking out about not having a place to stay, so we wrote up a rental agreement with our real estate agent for a week because “They” tell us the closing will happen by the end of this week…here’s hoping.

After that, we’ll just be waiting on our loan to process (a seemingly endless task, even with great credit) and then it’s off to live in our new home. We drove by it the other day just to take a peek at the outside and were pleasantly surprised to see our six foot privacy fence already installed. During the walk-thru, the builder told us that they wouldn’t even start on it until we closed, which would have made it two weeks without a fence for Max & Mattie. We also peeked in the windows at our new appliances. This house comes fully loaded with a brand new stove, refrigerator, microwave, ice maker, disposal, dishwasher, and a washer and dryer! Not many builders throw in those last two. I’m totally excited.

When we do finally close, we will still be having that painting party I mentioned. I don’t know when to expect to close now so it may be a couple days notice for it. I know last minute doesn’t work for a lot of people but even one person helping is more than no people helping, so we’ll take whoever has the time to help out a pregnant lady with a one year old who isn’t really supposed to be painting. (How do you like that sympathy card?!) Yes, Emily, I know that looks like it says Jamie isn’t supposed to be painting.
I’ll provide pizza or something…wings, perhaps. When we do know when we’ll be closing, I’ll send out notice. Trust me.

Currently we’re vagrants roaming Tennessee with a car full of suitcases. We started at Tyler’s Granny’s house but she has a lot going on this week and doesn’t need the added stress of house guests. That lasted 5 nights. Sunday we headed west on a caravan to Henrietta. We’re now staying in the old double wide at my parents’ house. Good ole Cheatham County is quite far away from well, everything, but at least we’re in our own space and will hopefully not be stressing out my parents.

We discovered when we got here that Mattie stayed in the outdoor kennel for about two days before breaking the wire and escaping. She has since been living happily as a country dog on my parents’ property and is not the hundred miles away we would’ve expected her to be at this point. It’s going to be heart-breaking to put her into a fenced yard but we would hate to part with her, and she clearly wants to be with us. She spent the entire day curled up next to the sliding door of the double wide. Mom would’ve let Max out but he hates everything animal. He tried to attack her two dogs and would most definitely eat the cat and probably get stepped on by the horses trying to take them down as well. Apparently, he didn’t get the memo that he’s 20 lbs and about a foot tall. He’s always been very picky about his animal friends. If Tyler and I don’t bring them into his world for him then he assumes they are the enemy and must be stopped. Dogs. We're not sure yet whether Beans will be back to live with us or not. She certainly has a better situation at Boxwell than she would at our house but she's welcome to come back anytime, of course.

Soon all 5 of us, 6 if you count the baby (who I am convinced is Charlie) will have a home and a backyard and will not be right on a four lane road. I will be counting down the days to that!