Rollercoaster of a Week

Last week was wild with emotion from mountain tops to low valleys...

The high point was our ultrasound and discovering that this child of ours is a girl!  I find there is something so special about just knowing that the child I carry is a son or daughter.  The feelings of intimacy and elation each time are amazing!

The next morning we woke up to discover that our beloved dog, Duchess had died.  Whenever I would mention being completely outnumbered in the boy to girl ratio in our home, my husband would always point out that I had Duchess...  She was a beloved part of our family and is sorely missed.

What I've learned over the last couple of years is that there is always something to thank God for, in every circumstance...  So I continue to count God's many blessings and am encouraged to see that my children are increasingly doing the same!  I guess the whole 'better caught than taught' thing is really true.  It is a beautiful thing to behold.

Want to transform the way you think about your everyday circumstances?  Consider joining the gratitude community and reading Ann's wonderful book, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are.  God will grow bigger in your eyes and circumstances don't have the same kind of grip on you as we learn to "give thanks for everything."

767. The excitement of scheduling our ultrasound - for the next day!
768. The flurry of planning to pull off a 'revealing party' the next evening.
769. Waking up at the crack of dawn full of anticipation at getting a peak at our little baby and discovering whether a new son or daughter would be greeting us in a few months.
770. Relishing each tiny part of the ultrasound.  It never gets old.
771. Little boys begging to be let in on the secret early.
772. Revealing the knowledge that there is a little girl in our family.
773. The sense of wonder as I try to wrap my brain around that thought.
774. Sleep - precious, oblivious sleep.

(#3 at 9months getting 'kisses')

775. The flexibility to put aside our learning plans for the day to grieve her death, but also delight in sweet memories of her 7.5 years with us!
776. Recognizing and respecting the various ways my boys understood and handled their grief.  (A true gift, since many times I'm pretty clueless unless one comes out and tells me "I feel...")
777. The comfort and support in the form of loving texts and phone calls from family.
778. The kindness of God in revealing that we have a girl just the day before we lost our 'girl' Duchess.
779. Eggs that finally hatched.

780. A chick that survived a difficult hatching (with my help) and not having to deal with more death right after losing Duchess...

781. Two more surprising us and hatching - a chick for each boy!
782. My three year old son coming down from nap to inspect our newly emerged butterflies and excitedly declaring they were 'tasting the orange with their feet'!  I love seeing retention of stuff we had learned about weeks ago...

783. The anticipation of a new day tomorrow - full of adventure and more gifts...