Gratitude

Last night I was playing around on Facebook and looked up an old friend, Michele Snow Gledhill. (and old as in we were friends about 18 years ago, not old as in age!) We had worked together at First Security Bank back in the early 90's. We were young and had a lot of fun doing some pretty dumb things together like crocheting our boyfriends (or hope to be boyfriends in my case) afghans at the bank in between customers, group dates, and trips to Vegas. She was such a great friend to me. We had lost track of each other, but I was thrilled to find her on Facebook.

As I reviewed her information, I learned that over the last couple of years she faced a pretty tough battle when she gave birth to a beautiful little girl, Gracie, in March of 2008. Gracie was born with a heart condition, HLHS. They found out she had this the November before she was born and knew they were in for a battle.

They lost Gracie just 3 weeks shy of her first birthday in March of this year.

I sat at my computer last night with tears streaming down my face as I read her blog detailing the ups and downs, the hopes and dreams, and the bad news of that time in her life.

Here is her blog...

http://thegledhillfamily.blogspot.com/
Here is a song written for Gracie by Paul Cardell...I was amazed and have such admiration for Michele, her husband and her three beautiful children for the strength they have. What an example to me to be stronger when I face trails. Her oldest son Max, who is 9 1/2, really touched my heart to see the photos of him interact with his little sister, reading to her in the PICU. She has an absolutely beautiful family.

And then I went in and looked at my little girl sleeping in her crib. I was so incredibly grateful!

Today was different for me. I valued the little things I take for granted everyday, like the time I spend feeding Gabbie. I wasn't annoyed when Gabbie went for the dog bowls 20 times, but instead felt grateful that she is crawling and active and healthy. I held her just a little bit longer before I put her in her crib before each nap and at bedtime. I kissed her a few more times than I did yesterday. I turned off the TV and got down and played with her more than I did yesterday. I read a few more books with her today than I did yesterday.

And as I held her close before I put her down tonight, I thanked my Heavenly Father for giving me this wonderful, precious gift.

And I thought of Michele, and I thanked my Heavenly Father for giving me such a wonderful friend, and I prayed that he would stay by her and her family as they face life without their little Gracie...

and I know he will!

Giggles and Dogs

Just a cute little video I got of Gabbie and Dallas playing!

An Early Christmas Gift

Grandpa Larry had this sketch done of Gabbie and gave it to us as an early Christmas gift. Isn't it just beautiful? I think Cheryl, the artist who did the drawing, did a wonderful job! Of course, she had a wonderful subject to draw... I am sure that made it all the easier!

Information for the artist:

Cheryl Harley

719-784-4285

charleyart@hotmail.com

If you are interested in contacting her to have something done, please include "art" in the subject line of your email or in your voicemail.

Thanks Grandpa Larry for a wonderful Christmas gift! We absolutely love it!

Daddy is Definitely More Fun!

Sitting with Stella getting ready for her ride!

Kiley picks Gabbie up from the sitter and has her alone from about 4:00 - 5:00. He is always doing something fun with her when I come home. One of her favorite things to do with Daddy is to spin in our chairs.

Here she is in action, spinning with Stella and then Dallas. They sure have fun together!

The color is a little dark, but I love the video. I love how she is pulling on both of her socks at one point. (and yes, at the end I call her Stella... am I really to that point already? I have one daughter, you think I could keep her name straight!)

Kiley does so many fun things with her all the time. During her bath, he always comes in and causes big splashes! Definitely bigger than mommy. No wonder she loves her Daddy so much!

Pet? No, not really.... More Like Family Member

I never thought I would be one of "those" people. You know, the ones who think their pets are really part of the family. Well, I am. I love watching Gabbie interact with Dallas and Stella. As you can see from many of the videos and pics posted on this blog, they are always close by! Dallas has especially taken an increased interest in Gabbie since she has taken up Cheerios! Oh, he is an opportunistic dog...

I love this pic of Dallas and Gabbie! She really just loves these dogs!

Her New Big Interest... Books!

Gabbie has really taken an interest in books over the past couple of weeks, and I couldn't be more thrilled!

One of her favorite books is called DOG. It has all sorts of fun pictures of dogs.

Her other favorite book is an ABC book. This has been her favorite book since she was little little!

It is a touch and feel book. I love how she searches for the pages with the touchy stuff on it! She knows them immediately and definitely spends more time on those pages!

Below, she is touching the kitty's yarn!

My favorite page is the Y page. "Y is for you, go on take a look!" And does she ever...

And she has also started kissing herself when she gets to that page! It is too cute!

I love that she loves books and hope it continues! It is so fun to watch her learn and grow and do fun things!

Tell Me She's Not Cute...

Am I biased? I mean really, I know she is my daughter and all, but I also just truly think she is super cute! Do they get any cuter than this?

In her new coat that Grandma Vicky bought her!

A very typical Gabbie look... and oh, how I love it!

In fact, the other day we were at the store and a boy about 9 years old walked past us with his mom. He said to his mom, "Look at that little girl! She is soooo cute!" I figure when you got random 9 year old boys commenting, I just may not be biased!