Simply Thankful...

The last few days, I have been thinking about how truly thankful I am to have my kids. My two incredibly smart, funny, happy, healthy children. They are my world, and I don't know what I would do without them.

Wait. That's a lie. I DO know what I would do without them. I would sleep more. I would go on more vacations with my husband. Have more "me time." Like peeing alone, or showering alone. I'd have more money. I wouldn't be driving a minivan...I'd probably have something much nicer and newer. I probably wouldn't have mac and cheese three times a week. I wouldn't get the "Dora the Explorer" theme song stuck in my head on a daily basis. I would buy clothes that are dry-clean only in a heartbeat. And I would have a marginally cleaner house.

But you know what? All that stuff...it doesn't compare to Kaylee tip-toeing into my room at the crack of dawn, putting her chubby little hands on my cheeks, and saying "Morning. I love you. Can I have a Gogurt?" Or how when Logan steps off the school bus in the afternoons, he runs full-speed right at me to give me a hug and tell me about his day. Or when they are saying their prayers at night and say things like, "Heavenly Father, I thank you for my mommy and how much she loves me."

I have experienced far too many tiny coffins in the last two years. Too many babies that have entered this world for too brief a time. I have seen friends of mine coping with the loss of a child, learning how to deal with a void in their family. And it breaks my heart. There hasn't been a single baby lost that I've known, that I haven't shed tears over. Spent hours grieving for. Spent days praying for their families they have left behind. And not knowing what to say or to do, because... what can you say or do?

So this year, this Thanksgiving, I am simply thankful for my Logan and my Kaylee. Yes, they drive me crazy at times. But I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. They are my life, my joy, my loves.