100 Blessings

I took Let’s Take the Metro’s Gratitude Challenge and made a list of 100 things I’m grateful for in honor of Thanksgiving. I didn’t self-edit. I just allowed whatever popped into my head to come out and listed the blessings in that order. So here’s my list, uncut and authentic. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. Know that I’m very grateful for each and every reader who stops by my little corner of cyberspace. Why not drop me a line and share what you’re thankful for this Thanksgiving?

1. Baby feet
2. Little girls’ voices
3. Happy, wet dog noses
4. Fuzzy, sweet peaches
5. How my 2-year-old pronounces “toothpaste” like “poopaste,” and asks me to put “poopaste” on her toothbrush
6. Old-fashioned notes, gifts of time, and thoughtfulness
7. Coffee
8. Birthday celebrations
9. Pumpkin Crunch (the girls and I made this dessert to bring to Nana and Pop’s, where we will be celebrating Thanksgiving this year)
10.  Toasted bagels topped with peanut butter melting into creamy pools
11.  Friendship
12. Empty hampers and laundry baskets
13.  The smell of a new book
14.  Solitude
15.  The funny things my kids say
16. Manchego cheese
17. The fact that nearly every night my 4-year-old says she’s thankful for “picking flowers for Mommy.”
18. This dress from Shabby Apple, which I’ll be wearing to my husband’s Christmas party for work, thanks to a gift card:
19. Delicious rolls (the kinds on babies, not the kind that comes out of an oven, although those are good, too)
20. The smell of lavender
21. The color blue
22. A hot shower
23. At-home date nights
24. Matching socks
25. Breaking a sweat
26. Pen pals (Angela! Ava! Enzo! Miriam!)
27. Dark chocolate
28. Baking with my girls
29.  Spontaneous hugs
30. Nursing and my generous milk supply
31. Quiet
32. My husband’s jawline
33. Evening walks
34. The season of Advent
35.  Tea time
36. Babies, fresh out of the bath
37. My Kitchen Aid Mixer
38. My Ergo
39. The snuggly baby that fits so nicely into the Ergo
40. Story time with my girls
41. Words
42.  Holding hands with my toddler
43.  Pigtails and pony tails
44.  The de-tangling spray that makes pigtails and pony tails possible
45. Good health
46.  One amazing husband
47. All our extended family
48. Lazy mornings
49. Creativity
50. Granola
51. Crisp, clean sheets
52. Tidy beds
53. Tidy bedrooms
54. Tidy bookshelves
55. Tidy anything
56. Hope
57. Faith
58. Freshly sharpened pencils
59. The Grit’s Golden Bowl
60.  Trees
61. Giggling children
62. A gulping nursling
63. Sales at some of my fave stores: Boden, GAP, Ann Taylor Loft, Lands End
64. Kind strangers
65. The fall
66. Sweaters, tweed, and corduroy
67. My strong legs
68. A great new sister-in-law
69. Crayons
70. Washable markers
71. Magic Eraser Cleaning Padsfor those times when the kid graffiti that is not washable ends up on the wall
72. My minivan
73. Second (and third and fourth and…) chances
74. Our amazing babysitter
75. Trident spearmint gum
76. Kids in cozy PJs
77. Indian food
78. Jeans that fit well
79. Knowledge
80. Wisdom
81. Getting mail (not of the junk variety)
82. Co-sleeping
83. Singing
84. Silliness
85. My parents’ Mafia names (Stevie Fat Fingers and Mama Cackles)
86. Amazon two-day shipping
87. Journaling
88. Hearing any of my children say, “I love you.”
89. Handpicked flowers my children gift me with
90. Butterflies
91. A husband who vacuums when he gets home from work
92. Trader Joe’s
93. Cheap wine
94. Mojitos
95. Answered prayers
96. Trips to the ocean
97. Musicals
98. Sparkling ICE Spring Water
99. God’s graces (this really should have been number one)