Thankful Thursday

It's been a while since I've done one of these posts! Over the past few weeks, a lot has happened for me to be thankful for

-We got a fantastic house with plenty of room. And, much to our surprise, we filled it without having to buy anything lol.

-After my grandpa died and that whole fiasco, the love and support that surrounded me was amazing.

-How much Natalia is growing. She's almost crawling. She gets up on her hands and knees, bucks, bounces, spins and backs up. SOOOOOO close.

-Leilani's love of learning. She loves learning, just not me teaching lol. So I'm also thankful for schools - she's been loving school. The last time I saw her this excited was during VBS when she was with friends and in a "school type" setting. I mean, she's bouncing off the walls she's so excited.

-A fully stocked pantry.

-Our Christmas tree! :)

-Netflix, for keeping Leilani entertained when I'm taking care of Natalia

-Getting all settled in

-Our family hike a couple weeks ago - fun and a real adventure. We took a shortcut that wound up being incredibly steep. While fun, I must admit there were times I was a bit scared, having to use a rope to keep on my feet and to get down then back up with the baby in the Moby - a bit stressful. But fun at the same time. Leilani loved it, and Natalia loved looking around and seeing so much green (we ARE in Washington State, and it's known as the Evergreen State for a reason, have I mentioned it's BEAUTIFUL here? Well, it is!).

-Leilani showing her love for her baby sister - it's so sweet to watch her hug Natalia, talk to her and be concerned when she's crying. Leilani is such a tender and sensitive child.

-Our safe journey here - it was a long trip, but some parts of it were so incredibly beautiful.

-Our first vegan Thanksgiving - it was a huge success, and even though Leilani had a case of the sniffles, we enjoyed all the food (and, for Leilani, the herbal tea for her sniffles)

-Natalia saying her first word "mama". It may be just making sounds, but hey, I'm counting it!

-Getting most of my Christmas shopping done. I can't wait to see Leilani's face Christmas morn, with all the fun stuff. Plus, I"m excited to see Natalia with her gifts - her own toy laptop so she can stop eating mine lol.

-the library. It's been fantastic for finding new books, and fun for Natalia and I.

-the new shop I found yesterday - a quilting/crafting shop, with tons of cross-stitch kits and equipment, plus quilting classes (which I'd love to take, we'll have to see if I can swing it *grin*)

-Natalia's cute personality and milestones - she threw her first tantrum today. Maybe not a huge positive, but it shows she has her own mind and knows what she wants!