Very Thankful

Ahhh, Thanksgiving Day. I've always loved this holiday, but admittedly most of my life I've loved it for the "wrong" reasons. Just a day that you don't have to work, eat way too much food, take a nap mid-way through the third quarter, wake up and watch the lions get beat...again, spend some time with the family, some of which you only see a couple times a year so you stumble thru a few awkward conversations to get by, and then say goodbye till the next year. Sure I would spend a few moments thinking about how thankful I was for everything I had, and how grateful I was for where I was at that moment. But I missed the idea.

Things changed this year.

It started last Thanksgiving...I remember it quite well. Leigh and I were a couple months into our new reality, and we were becoming more positive about the whole situation but thanksgiving day came...and I felt like, "how could I be thankful for what's happening to us." There were still dark days that popped up at that time, and that day, a day where people stop and reflect on how thankful they were, was one of them for me. I hated what happened to my boy and could not get over it to see the amazing things that were beginning in our lives.

Cut to this year...

This is without a doubt, the year in which I have never been more thankful. I'm not sure I could hit all of them so i'll just start a list in no particular order.

*Greyson. I said no particular order but maybe this one is too obvious. :) He's changed me in so many ways and has enriched the lives of so many people. WE think he's got a knack for inspiring others, and are thankful that God gave us this baby boy!

*Family. WE've grown so much closer to our family this past year and don;t know what we'd do without them. There support continues everyday.

*Church. Funny how when life body slams you and your ready to tap out, a timely message from church can help pull you back up. That's exactly what happened last year with us, and because pastor Jeff was "speaking directly to us" every sunday, we gained hope and were re focused on him and his Word. Closely related to this one is our small group. A few years ago were were somewhat hesitantly thrown together in to a small group at random...little did we know they'd become dear friends and a crucial support system for us. We love you guys :)

*SB support Groups. Leigh's really the expert at this one, but let me tell you the family's she's "met" seem to all be on the same wave length. They all want the best for their kids and want to see other kids with SB prosper. It's amazing to me the support and encouragement I see on these online forums. These sites gave Leigh and I a real life view of what life was like as a parent with a child with SB and they made it seem "doable". It makes me proud to see Leigh exchange the kindness we received as she now selflessly will answer any SB related question that any new mom has. Another related support group that we are incredibly thankful for are our friends Nate, Emily and their son Carson. Seriously three days after we found out about Greyson we found out "through the grape vine" that another couple were in the exact same situation...and get this, they lived one street over from us. I can literally chuck a rock and I might be able to hit their house (I wouldn;t do that of course, It might ding up the new siding Nates's putting up on his house :) hehehe ) Anyway, to be able to talk with them and have them understand EXACTLY what we were going through... I will forever be thankful. And today our friendship has grown, (just like our boys, arghh their getting big) and will continue to strengthen as we will always have them to forge ahead on this journey.

*micro brew :)

*Leigh. O man, I could write a novel about how she is the best mom for Greyson, and not only that, shes the best wife for me :)

*A job. I have one these days, and I like it, and I'm good at it, and I get paid. :)

*Greyson. Oh wait did I mention him already? :) hehehe. But seriously, I'm thankful for his determination, his laugh, the space between his 2 front teeth, the way he crawls, his curiosity, his love of cheerios and every other food for that matter, his keen sense of hearing, the way he sleeps with his arms outstretched and his blanket over part of his face, the way he says mama and dada, the way he wiggles his fingers when he sees something that excites him...and I could go on.

So this year was different and that deep sense of thankfulness was really there inside me. and I'm thankful for that.


Love to all,

Andy, Leigh, Greyson



PS


heres a few pics of Grey's first thanksgiving. He liked it. :)


Getting into the football game!

"ARGHHH the Lions are horrible...I'm hungry, lets eat."

"Ok, I'll try some mashed potatoes."
"Yeah these look good."
"I'll just try a little"

Diggin IN!

Yummy!