Happy Thanksgiving!

Wow, this is my 100th post! When I first started this blog, I had no real idea that I would keep it up this long. My first thought was to be able to keep my friends and family up to date on pictures and stories about our family. Then, it became something much more personal. It became an outlet for me...and a really neat way to record things about my children so that I can remember them years down the road.

This year has been a very eventful year at our house. My first baby girl started KINDERGARTEN! I still can't believe that I have a 6 year old. She is growing up way too fast. I have had to slow up on buying smocked things for her. And if you know me, you know it hurts my heart! However, I can still get away with the big bows...for now! In fact, she still considers them a vital part of her daily outfits!

We also had a beautiful baby boy! When we had one of our ultrasounds, we were told he had a tiny spot on his heart. The OB assured us it was probably nothing...but sent us to see a specialist just in case. The specialist was VERY thorough, and gave us peace of mind that there really wasn't anything wrong. And thank goodness, he was right. Ryan Thomas made his debut May 22 of this year. He was born the day after my good friend Olivia had her baby boy, Ayden. We were in the hospital together! Ryan has brought so much joy to our house. He is such a sweet boy, and his sisters absolutely adore him!

Another thing I have to be VERY thankful about is the fact that I am sitting here writing this blog post. About a week after Ryan was born, I started getting excruciating headaches. When I finally went to the hospital a few days later, we found out I had a bleed in my brain. I was rushed to neuro ICU, where I spent 3 days. My blood pressure was really high. I spend those 3 days on LOTS of pain medication and blood pressure medicine. After those first few days, I was moved to a regular room on the 8th floor at Spartanburg Regional. I had to stay there for observation until they did an MRI and determined that things were healing. While I was in the regular room, I got really, really sick with a bacterial infection I most likely caught in ICU. That experience was so difficult. I had a newborn at home that I had barely gotten to see. My girls didn't understand what was going on. It was awful. But God brought us through it. We got back to normal within a few weeks of me coming home.

I am also very grateful for my sweet Morgan. She definitely marches to her own beat! She had a rough start to the new year of preschool, but things seem to have settled down, and she LOVES school! She is also taking dance, and is doing SO well! I honestly wasn't sure how things would go...if she was ready for it. But she loves it. She begs to go. And she listens to Mrs. Jackie! I can't wait for the recital in April!

These are just a few of the many blessings we have experienced in the past year. I could go on and on! But I just thank God for his goodness, and for blessing us beyond measure!