Gratitude Post - 7/24/11

Inspired by Amanda at Lets Take the Metro, I am posting 5 things for which I am grateful each week. Here are this week's top 5:

1. Pancake breakfasts made by the husband – I have a confession to make. I don’t do cooking for breakfast. A fried egg on toast is as complicated as I get, if I have the time. Otherwise it’s typically cereal, cereal, and more cereal. Forget about mixing batter for pancakes, waffles, or even French toast for that matter. That’s why having a husband whose forte is breakfast is awesome. My favorite is his whole wheat pancakes (note everything he cooks is vegan, it pretty much comes with the territory of having a vegan husband). Both last weekend and this morning he made my favorite and I ate more than my share. Speaking of the husband…

2. Picking up my slack without complaint - The husband and I share typically share the chores around the house. This includes daily kitchen clean up which usually get done at night after I’ve put SchmoopyBoy to sleep. Lately, however, I’ve been super tired so I’ve been falling asleep while putting SchmoopyBoy to bed a lot. This also means I’ve been leaving the kitchen is a state of post-dinner chaos. The husband has totally been picking up my slack. If he complains about anything, it is not that he is doing more than his share of kitchen cleanup chores, but that we haven’t had as much “us” time to talk at night the way we usually do. I’ve got to appreciate a person who laments the loss of talking together more than all the extra chores he’s picked up lately.

3. Having a swimming pool – I’m in my 3rd trimester and I am officially big and uncomfortable. One of the most comfortable places I can be is in a swimming pool with the water pressure holding up my belly and pushing the fluid surrounding my feet and ankles back into my veins. I’ve been able to get into a pool several times a week for the past couple weeks. It’s been heavenly. Oh, how I wish I had this kind of access to a pool when I was pregnant with SchmoopyBoy!

4. Squirmy McKickersons, which is how I’ve been referring to afore-mentioned yet-unnamed child - Some days it feels like this baby never sleeps. He goes from playing bongos on my bladder, to trying to push an alternative exit route through my side, to using my intestines as a trampoline, and so on. While it certainly is not comfortable, it is a constant reminder that my baby is alive, growing, and thriving, for which I am grateful.

5. Really nice hand me down children’s bedding – My sister in law has two boys that are 3 and 6 years older than SchmoopyBoy. Both of them have gone through periods in which they loved Thomas the Train. Consequently they’ve had Thomas merchandise galore – books, train toys, clothing, etc – most of which has made its way into my house as my nephews have grown out of them. This has fueled SchmoopyBoy’s own love of trains and Thomas in particular. (Oddly enough, he’s only seen the show maybe 3 times if that, and never at home, since we don’t have cable and the clips we found on You Tube are mostly fakes that are not child-appropriate. But the train toys... Oh, the train toys!) Our most recent acquisition is a complete set of bed sheets, in excellent condition. Yesterday we took them home, washed them, and made his bed with the set. SchmoopyBoy positively beamed when he saw them. He loves loves loves his “new bed”!