Bye Bye 2009
As I sit here reflecting on the past year I’ve realized that I have so much to be thankful for so I thought I would share what made 2009 so special. Here they are in no particular order:
1. I’m thankful for my darling little Matthew Ryan who joined our family on June 1st. After another complicated pregnancy, he was born healthy and happy thanks to the support of friends, family, excellent physicians and many prayers. Drew especially deserves a big thanks for giving up 3 months of his life to come live in our crazy house to help Ben and I care for Nathan while I was on bed rest. He was also kind of enough to keep the low-sugar apple pies coming because I couldn’t have sugar during the pregnancy. I’m thankful for my wonderful friends for taking Nathan on play dates and for bringing yummy dinners to my family. My husband also deserves kudos for working from home so he could help with all the household duties. Even Ben’s bosses are awesome for consenting to this arrangement. Matthew doesn’t know it yet, but he is a very lucky boy!
2. I’m thankful Barry is still with us. My father-in-law survived a massive stroke at the beginning of the year. I’m thankful that he not only survived it, but that he had great insurance to cover the lengthy hospital stay and post-stroke therapy. I’m also thankful that Seth was home to help him through the entire ordeal. Without Seth pushing him, the doctors, and the insurance company, I’m not sure Dad would be talking to us today.
3. I’m thankful that Ben still has a job. This year was probably the worst economic year in U.S. history since the Depression and we were very worried that things would not be so great for us especially with the telecom industry’s constant lay-offs. We made it through the year with a job and even received an unexpected and welcomed raise. I’m also grateful for my husband’s money management strategy because without his frugal ways, things could have been pretty bad in this terrible economy. When I look back at this year from a financial perspective, we made some very smart choices. We are headed into 2010 with optimism and pray for those who are less fortunate.
4. I’m thankful for the sunshine of my life…Nathan. Nathan turned 3 and became a big brother and is becoming a wonderful young man. He’s so grown up that it’s hard to believe that he was a baby just a few years ago. I’m thankful that he is turning out to be a charming little boy with lots of love and happiness to share with everyone that he meets. He has his mommy’s energy and love for the outdoors. He loves keeping very busy and loves learning to read. He wants to learn so much that he’s always asking daddy to teach him how to spell things. He can almost spell his name now. Yup…he’s smart…thanks to daddy’s side of course. We enrolled Nathan in preschool for the first time earlier this year and it went very well. He loved it and the teachers loved him. We were expecting a difficult transition, but Nathan proved that he can handle a lot more than we give him credit for and I’m thankful for his outgoing personality. Although he had a rough year competing for mommy’s attention, he’s come around a great deal and is my biggest helper. He’s also developed a special relationship with daddy. He’s always needed me to do everything for him, but now in many cases he only wants daddy. I can’t express how much that warms my heart. I didn’t have the opportunity to grow up with my father so it makes me cry (a happy cry) to see the closeness between Ben and Nathan. I’m thankful that God has created this opportunity for their relationship to become so special.
5. I’m thank for for the birth of Sophia Fermanian who was born prematurely, but recovered quickly. One of my closest friends gave birth to a beautiful daughter mid year. While Sophia came a little early, God watched over her and she is now a very healthy baby girl. It just goes to show that lots of love an prayer can go a very long way.
6. I’m thankful for the birth of Charlene Rutledge and Logan Kurtz and for the bun in the oven (not me). Our dear friends the Rutledges and the Kurtz-Bobbitts have new additions to their family. Kelly and Joey welcomed a darling little girl; Charlene (Charlie) in March while Jason and Sharyn welcome sweet little Logan to their clan in November. Then of course we learned that our dear friends George and Paulla Hendleman will be expecting a boy in the Spring. So much life to be celebrated and thankful for this past year.
These are just some of the major events that I have to be thankful for, but there are many many others as well. In closing I remain thankful for our health, our friends, our family, and power of God’s love.
Filed under: tidbits on January 1st, 2010 by Charlotte | No Comments »