made with love // thanksgiving

Gosh, nothing like a good little scare to put life into perspective...again.

It's funny how that is, isn't it? Everything seems to immediately get prioritized by love when crazy hits the fan doesn't it?

The Thursday before Thanksgiving, while I was at our family bible study with the boys (husband had to work), I had some bleeding. We were 32 weeks at the time and not ready for something like that to happen. Not sure anyone really is ready for things like that. Especially during pregnancy!

I, honestly, can't imagine what our friends thought of me while I walked out of the bathroom and into the living room. Pretty sure I had that blank deer-in-the-headlights look and asked them to help me get the boys in the van so I could get to the hospital.

Thankfully, they talked some sense into me and offered to let my kiddos hang out while we went and took care of life and it's happenings. I called my husband as soon as I was driving and made the drive.

Contractions and bleeding. Bed rest and fluids. Doctors orders. Done and done.

See..I have placenta previa, as many of you know (I'll let you look it up if you've never heard of it rather than go into details). What I will say is that if we get to the no-bueno point it could be a not good situation pretty quickly.

I spent the whole next week of Thanksgiving resting like I've not rested since before the boys all thanks to my husband and my parents.

Times like these, your heart really can't help but burst with gratitude. Seeing your children, un-phased and filled with joy and smiles, even though your heart feels the anxiety and a weight of your present moment brings such a peace.

That gift would not have been possible without lots of grace, the gift of service from my husband, and the gift of my parents being able to spend an entire week with us to help.

Now, because of all the resting and crazy in my heart, I really didn't capture as many memories as I did last Thanksgiving. I just pray that these tidbits will always help share the fun and love that was had over an entire week of goodness filled with so much gratitude.

I found these words by St. Josemaria Escriva, and couldn't be more thankful for them. They truly represent the last few weeks I've experienced. So much peace, so much grace, so much thanksgiving.

"I cannot but be satisfied, when I see that, despite my own wretchedness, our Lord built up so many wonderful things around this Work of God. The life of a man who lives by Faith will always be the story of the mercies of God. At some moments the story may perhaps be difficult to read, because everything can seem useless and even a failure. But at other times our Lord lets one see how the fruit abounds and then it is natural for one's soul to break out in thanksgiving." 

-St. Josemaria Escriva, Conversations, 72 

Family, friends, and my husband have just been so amazing throughout this time of unknown. And, speaking of family, here's a sweet shot of my parents that did so much for us that whole week of Thanksgiving.

My parents tended to the boys, took them out, played with them, did crafts, helped with upkeep of our home, and just filled our home with lots of love and laughter over the holidays.

This man. He's good. Oh so good. And, I love him more than he'll ever know. True story.

As many of you know, I really do enjoy being in the kitchen, especially when it comes to baking. Unfortunately, baking pies and other desserts was not in my forcast, but I was able to make that easy-peasy Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Spiced Pecan Fudge. So. Good! And dairy-free to-boot!

This whole feast was prepared and cooked by my mama and brother's fiance! So amazing! Everything was delicious and wonderful and I still can't believe I didn't lift a finger the entire time this was getting put together!

Always a good time when we get to see these two! Love my brother and his fiance! As do the boys. So much!

Family photo for the win! Thanksgiving 2015!

Fun times were had. Lots of games, drawing, and crafting.

Bigfoot really enjoyed Jenga and Linus enjoyed it at some point...or, so I'm told.

Little sneaker couldn't decide whether he enjoyed winning or being the reason everything falls over.

Meanwhile, this guy snuck in some snuggles and tablet reading with his Daddy.

Lots of tickling, getting thrown around, squeezed in some outside time (It rained almost the entire week my parents were here!), and tennis. The boys loved it.

I tell you what: These boys were missing their grandpa and nana as soon as they knew they weren't staying forever, but all that aside, so much fun was had and oodles of memories were made.

From the few memories I captured, I'm sure you can see why the gratitude meter was just bursting!

I rested. They played, laughed, and loved.

Since the time my parents left, we've been blessed abundantly with meals and various acts of service from dear friends. It's more than we could ever ask for or fathom.

I think it's safe to say that our Thanksgiving week was made with love! It's in times like this that the quote below means so much more to me:

“Today if we have no peace it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other—that man, that woman, that child is my brother or my sister.” 

- Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

For now, that's my little update. I've been wanting to write and share so much lately but just haven't had the energy or brain to do so. With grace and time, I hope to share a bit more even if just bits and pieces of our family scrapbook. I'm thinking a good next share should be of Precious P growing in my belly from start to now. We are less than 20 days from being able to hold and snuggle our newest little love in our arms! So hard to fathom! But so exciting too!

Thank you for your continued prayers! Symptoms lasted a while, but thankfully have slowed or fully stopped since then. We're now just praying that the symptoms don't return till the tad-bit early birth of our little one, praying that our little one will be ready to meet us (especially since it will be earlier than 39-40 weeks), and praying for His Will to be done and that we be able to embrace it with peace and joy, no matter what may come. So thank you, your prayers truly mean so much to us!