WARNING:  THIS ONE IS LONG. BECAUSE I AM VERY BLESSED.

Lately I’ve been doing as the song tells us to do: pondering and counting my (most recent) blessings.   It’s something I don’t do often enough.   This is by no means a comprehensive list. 

In the last few months I have been very grateful for (in no particular order):

*the gift of prayer and the comfort it brings

*unexpected baby gifts

*meals from our church family that, in total, fed us for the better part of 3 weeks (2 weeks after Caleb’s birth, and 1 after surgery)

*friends who don’t comment when they see the condition of the house

*good insurance 

*fabulous medical care during a much-dreaded induction, a painful labor, and a hurried (but good) delivery — especially grateful for the L&D nurse who didn’t "kill" me with Pitocin when she could have

*a laid-back doula who we met a few hours after induction started, but who was fantastic and really read my moods and needs so well! 

*the Breastfeeding Clinic at Mercy Hospital

*a terribly understanding mother-in-law who has gotten A LOT LESS help since November

*prayers from all around the world

* Oxycodone/ Percocet — definitely in limited quantities, but when you’re hurting, it’s a blessing!

*a sister-in-law who so graciously is willing to take Ethan over night when we need her to

*nephews who have gotten Ethan a little more interested in potty training ("This how M. & B. go pee-pee.")

*a friend who, upon learning of my upcoming surgery immediately said, "Well let me come stay with the boys that day!"

*another friend who came a few weeks before Caleb’s birth to clean our bathrooms — our BATHROOMS!!! saying, "Please!  I remember!  You’re so huge you don’t want to get down there and clean stuff, but it drives you crazy cuz it really needs to be done!  Consider it my baby gift."    Me:"But I didn’t do anything like this for you when you had your kids."    Her: [exasperated] "Catherine!  This is NOT ‘tit for tat.’  Where’s the cleaning stuff?"       And then she came by on Feb. 5 while I was still recovering from surgery to take down our Xmas tree, knowing I just hadn’t had the energy or inclination, "And it’s February fifth.  It’s time.  Where are the boxes?"

*a husband who did/ does dishes and laundry at midnight so I didn’t/ don’t have to worry about it that day

*a son who was very careful of Mommy’s "owies" and who prayed for them to get better

*another son who can’t say anything except with his eyes and his squeals, but who completely lights up almost every time he sees me 

*parents who came for only a week at Xmas and worked their tails off, getting lots of projects done that we just never seem to have time for — and who brought enough food to feed us all the whole week — and who gave Ethan much needed extra special attention

*a cousin and aunt who sent MANY wonderful gifts from Colorado, even though said cousin was only 3 weeks post-partum herself, and said aunt was dealing with a sick alpaca, and not feeling well herself

*friends who say, "No kidding!  If you need anything, let me know!"  and then some who call from the grocery store to say, "I’m here, what do you need?" 

* a mother-in-law who is WAY more willing than I to pull out the Play Dough and say, "Have at it!"  (That has meant A LOT to Ethan!)

*a niece halfway around the world who seems to really understand "pray without ceasing" and who (apparently) still prays for me and Caleb and my surgery

*a brother and sister-in-law who taught her that

*a husband who almost never stops from the moment he hits the door at night — laundry, dishes, playing with little boys, trash to the curb, vaccuuming, etc. (That’s not to say I do NOTHING — but lately this marriage has certainly NOT been 50/50, and I love him for taking it in stride)  Honestly, I need to do a separate blog entry just for him!

* talented pre-op, surgical, anesthesia, and recovery staff who took care of me and who actually acted like they cared about making me comfortable and at ease

*a terribly kind & understanding "upstairs" nurse who came to see me in pre-op to try to calm my nerves, AND who answered 28 questions that were driving me nuts a week later — and all without laughing out loud at some of the questions.  I gave her "permission" to laugh at me, but if she did I didn’t know it.  She’s also been a blessing to Ethan — she gave him cookies almost every time I had an OB visit, she read to him, she took him on "field trips" to get things while I was in the exam room, and he adores her.

*a skilled and caring surgeon who did a fantastic job and who said a week later, (something like), "I hate that she’s so upset and worried about things.  Please tell her to try to relax and get some sleep."  AND who went to find out why I hadn’t gotten a follow-up call.  AND who spent no small amount of time at my post-op check-up answering even MORE questions and being very kind about it, and explaining that surgery can really mess with your head in ways you’d never expect, thus making me feel better.

*a little boy who seriously loves his baby brother

****and I could go on ****   I am truly truly blessed.

This morning….

Tim: Well Ethan, I’ve really got to run or I’ll be late.

Ethan: Daddy, why you not take the car? 

Today I feel like I’ve "turned the corner" on feeling better.  By no means is the process complete, I just feel like there’s hope.

But I wanted to write about an example of how very sweet Ethan has been.  (Believe me, he can still have moments of demon possession, but he’s really been trying hard for the last couple weeks.  He’s been working especially hard since last Tues.)

Yesterday I kept trying so hard to get a nap.  Things kept not working out, mostly because of children’s schedules not jiving.  So finally at about 4:00 I laid down AGAIN, only to have Ethan come in 10 minutes later.  I could hardly keep from weeping.  So I did something I hate to do, but find myself doing a lot of lately just to survive.  I said, "I’ve really got to rest, Ethan.  I think Dragon Tales and Clifford are going to be on.  Do you think you could sit here and watch the shows and let me sleep before Caleb wakes up?"

E: "Yeah, soor (sure)!  I can do dat!"

Me:"Great!  Thank you for helping me."

E:"Okay, Mommy.  Yes!  But firrrss…. I hav-a div you tisses."  So he leaned over, gave me a gentle head hug, a kiss on the cheek and said, "Nigh-night, Mommy.  I wuv you.  Have a dood fu-leep."

I actually still didn’t get to sleep because of another interruption.  But my spirits were greatly lifted.