You’ve no doubt heard the saying, “it takes a village to raise a child.” I heard it often and believed it, but I never fully appreciated it until I had my own kid. Sure, I was part of others’ villages as I babysat for friends and encouraged my young nephew to say ‘excuse me’ after he burped, but I didn’t realize how helpful your village is when caring for your kid, yourself, and your family. When my son was born, I was lucky to have my mother stay with us for a few weeks to help take care of us. She’s pretty amazing, and the fierce love she has for her family can’t be beat. Then I had to go back to work, which meant I had to rely on someone else to take care of my sweet baby boy. I think this is one of the feelings that is hardest to resolve as a working mother. I often felt like I was abandoning Sebastian, and watching him grow up in photos, and leaving him for someone else to raise. I still haven’t quite reconciled these feelings completely but I’m working on it, especially as I let go and know that I really don’t have to do it alone.

Fun at daycare.

With all of that said, the point of this post is that I’m so thankful for the caregivers in Sebastian’s life. From his father to his grandparents and aunts and uncles, our friends, and his daycare teachers, I’ve learned that it truly does take a village.

So many toys to play with, so little time!

In the beginning we were lucky to have found a great daycare for Sebastian. His teachers were considerate, attentive, and seemed to really care about his well being. When we switched to the new daycare, I expected more of the same and was a little disappointed when the teachers didn’t go “above and beyond.” In the grand scheme of things, however, they’re doing a great job. Sebastian is never hungry, he hasn’t had any injuries, and he always has a smile on his face when I pick him up in the evenings.  Oh, and one morning when I walked in the door to drop him off, the 3- to 4-year-old kids saw us and starting yelling, “Good morning, Sebastian!” It was adorably sweet and made me feel better about leaving him there because I knew he was surrounded by folks who cared about him.

Finger painting at daycare

So, I’m really grateful that there will always be someone there if I need them to take care of Sebastian. And not just take care OF him but really care FOR him. It speaks volumes to the people I have chosen to be in my community. But more on that next week 😉

While I try to practice gratitude every day of my life, I like to spend the month of November reflecting on and giving thanks for all the wonderful things in my life. In the past, I’ve highlighted tangible things like handwritten mail and flowers, as well as more abstract concepts like laughter and family traditions.

This year, I struggled a bit to figure out what I wanted to highlight. Not because I’m ungrateful for the wonderful blessings in my life, but because I feel like I’m always thankful for the same things – family, friends, food, etc. – and I don’t want to repeat all of those things to my readers, even though I truly am grateful for those things every single day.

I decided that for this year’s gratitude posts, I would highlight some more specific examples of what I’m thankful for. And when it comes to family, I’ll start with my husband, Nick.

I feel like I could write a book about all of the reasons that Nick is awesome. He truly deserves all the praise he gets and then some. One thing I really admire about him is that he works really hard to create a fulfilling career for himself and to take care of our family. Luckily, this doesn’t mean long hours away at some job, but rather putting forth his best effort both at the office and at home. Sometimes he’s recognized for it, and often times he isn’t, but he always gets the job done.

I’m also extremely grateful that he keeps me going when my anxiety starts to get the best of me. Getting enough sleep and not having a ton of things to worry about really helps keep the anxiety away. Nick knows this so he does a lot to let me keep my much-needed routines. Little things, like preparing Sebastian’s bottles so that I can go to sleep early if that’s what I need that day, really do go a long way. He takes care of the budgeting and the finances, making sure we’re on track to meet our goals and keeping me from blowing all of our money on food. And I never hear him complain.

Finally, I’m incredibly thankful that he’s so good at making me laugh, even when I don’t always feel like it. If you’ve read any of our conversations, you’re already familiar with his dry sense of humor. It’s completely opposite of mine, and I think that’s why he gets me giggling so often. Laughing is one of my favorite things in the world so having someone by my side every day that can crack me up with just one look is a real blessing.

Look, it’s not always rainbows and butterflies with us but we have it pretty darn good. We love each other very much, we agree on (and even dislike) the same things, and we want the best for each other, no matter what. I’m super lucky to wake up next to him and our awesome little guy every day.

And for that, I am super thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all have a wonderful day full of family and food. Today I’m thankful for everything, as cliche as it sounds. My family, my home, my health, and all of the other good fortunes I’ve had. 2016 has been very rough on us and the world so I’m choosing to focus on all the positive things, no matter how small.

Even though I was laid off from my nonprofit job this month, Nick’s work is still going strong and we still have our warm and happy home to shelter us everyday. We also still have a silly little dog that continues to light up our lives and make us laugh regularly. We still have it all together despite the hardships and for that I am thankful.

My health is in tip-top shape and my pregnancy is progressing along beautifully. I haven’t endured much of the sickness or pains that can often come along with being pregnant. I’m happy and healthy and for that I am thankful.

We have the most wonderful friends and family a person could ask for. Throughout everything we’ve been through, especially in the past year, they’ve been there for us and offered their help in any way they could. My community is the best and for that I am thankful.

Last but not least, I am very thankful to those of you who read my blog! I know the internet is inundated with life and style blogs, but you entertain my little hobby by reading and commenting and participating and for that I am thankful.

The way I see it, things could be so much worse than they are right now. For all the good fortune I’ve had and for having the ability to put in the hard work to make it all possible is something for which I will be eternally thankful.