Friday Food for Thought-- Thankulness

“Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.” - W.T. Purkiser

I was saving this quote for the week of Thanksgiving, but I have had so many little blessings this week I decided it shouldn't wait.

I have been feeling pretty lousy the last month or so. The girls all came down with some little bug at the beginning of October and promptly got over it. I seemed to catch it, but have been unable to shake it. I am tired. Unbelievably tired-- more so than I was my first trimester. I have been schooling my girls from the couch. On those few times I attempted to go into public, I found myself not enjoying things I normally loved to do.

It turns out I did have the flu, it had gone on too long to bother to check for H1N1. I also have had a nasty sinus infection. And because of a fluke at the doctor's office, I had my blood drawn and they found I have some anemia. I know this is crazy, but I am glad to know all this fatigue is not in my head. It seems baby boy is still doing well, he sure is kicking up a storm, but I am lightheaded and tired, bone tired. I will be seeing a hematologist in the near future and until then I just have to take it easy--which is about the hardest thing for me to do.

Why did all this mess make me thankful? Because I have been so blessed by friends and family in the last few weeks, if I tried to list them all this post would be pages and pages. My mom came by last night with dinner (again), she brought an amazing meatloaf and my favorite pumpkin roll! She also brought a whole slew of food from my sisters. The girls and I had homemade banana bread for breakfast, and we have dinner (and yummy desserts) for the next few nights. I had a dear friend loan me saint costumes for two of the girls last week so I didn't have to worry about making or gathering them. She also lent me many much needed maternity clothes. It is such a relief to know I don't have to worry about dinner and I don't have to do the wash every three days.

On top of this my girls have really pitched in. Banana has taken on vacuuming, I can't do this at all during pregnancy or after the c-section. Bear has become proficient at cleaning up the kitchen and is even trying to help fold the laundry. On top of all this is my unbelievable dh. He has so much going on at work, but he has really taken on so much more at home. Preparing dinner, cleaning up dinner, bathtime duties, bedtime duties, he's pretty much had to cover them on his own.

So now I am asking myself how am I going to use all these blessings? First, I am going to have pumpkin roll for lunch :)