Gratituesday: This Past Week

Oh - what a fabulous week!  I cannot choose just one thing to be thankful for!  Here's a recap of a fantastic week.  We are so blessed!

Tuesday - We had a surprise overnight visit from dear old college friends!  We hadn't seen them in about 4 or 5 years!  Our toddlers got to meet and play and we had a fantastic visit!

Wednesday - Had my first trimester screen test including a big ultrasound and tons of blood work.  It is always unnerving when the ultrasound tech is so quiet and isn't allowed to say anything.  After meeting with the doctor, we were assured that the baby looks fantastic and shows no signs of chromosomal abnormalities.  My due date was moved up a bit from June 1st to May 30th.  There is a chance this little bun could be born on Uncle Justin's birthday on May 6th!  Hopefully the birthday will be much later than that though!

My parents came in for the night on their way to my brother's house for Thanksgiving.  We had offered to watch their pooches while they traveled.  It is always great to see them, even briefly.  They left before we woke the next morning.

Thursday - We had a lazy Thanksgiving day.  No travels for us.  We were too wiped out from Hubby's crazy work schedule (nearly 3 weeks without a single day off), Baby's teething, and my pregnancy.  We ate all our favorites for dinner and were truly thankful for all we have been blessed with by God.

Friday - We opted to not face the crowds on Black Friday.  We had a lazy day followed by some lazy late evening shopping. I decided to surprise Hubby with his birthday gift early - a winter leather jacket.  There were lots of great sales, so I knew he'd enjoy the hunt of finding a great jacket for a great price.  I love spending time with my Hubby!

Saturday - Hubby went to work for a playoff football game.  The team had a good run - the best in many years.  I am sort of thankful they lost - I get my hubby back now!  We spent more time together shopping and found the perfect jacket!

Sunday - We went to church in the morning and enjoyed wonderful spirit-filled worship and heard a fantastic  and challenging message on Advent and getting back to the REAL meaning of Christmas.  I love my church!  Late that evening, my parents returned with tons of pictures of their visit!  My brother FINALLY has found a wonderful girlfriend.  She works as a giraffe keeper at the zoo and gave my parents a special behind-the-scenes tour of the zoo.  Amazing!  I can't wait to meet her! 

Monday - Hubby went back to work.  My parents stayed a bit and helped with Little Man.  Mom and I got to do a little shopping while Dad did some babysitting.  It was really nice to have a little break from the fussy Little Man who has been teething and not sleeping for weeks.

Tuesday - Now it is Tuesday again and I am amazingly rested!  Little Man pulled a 180 last night and slept from 9pm - 3:30am without waking!  The last time he did that was 10 months ago!  Granted, he was a bear to get to sleep, but once he was out, he was out!  He just now woke from a nearly 2 hour nap as well after not napping more than 30 minutes a day for 2 weeks!  Halleluia!

It is so good to list and remember all these wonderful things especially in the light of the current annoyances and hardships - mainly the refinance of our home.  It just seems no matter what we do, despite near perfect credit and a perfect track record of payments over 8 years, that we just aren't good enough to be given a loan.  All we want to do is reduce our interest rate and drop our monthly payment.  We want to be good stewards of the money God has given us.  My tasks for today include tracking down a ton of extra paperwork to appease the PMI company who doesn't agree with our appraisal and may want to lower it more (appraisal came in a tad too low - more than $10K less than the appraisal just a year ago - to completely do away with PMI, but we're a lot closer).  Thankfully, our mortgage broker is fantastic and has assured us that she will not hold us to paying for the appraisal if we choose to back out and go elsewhere at this point.  We are praying that God will work all this out for our good according to His purpose!

What are you thankful for today?  Check out Heavenly Homemakers for more stories of thanksgiving!