Giving Thanks

1. I am so very glad to be home sweet home. I am eagerly anticipating a good night's sleep tonight.

2. Kathy let us leave at 3:30pm. It felt like I was handed a "get out of jail" pass to be allowed to leave 90 minutes early.

3. I am thankful for the delicious food they served for dinner each night at the Ronald McDonald House such as stuffed chicken breasts, ham, ziti, etc.

4. The Ronald McDonald House is a lovely place to stay. The volunteers and staff are extremely gracious. The one I stayed at when the kids were in the NICU charged $15 a night, which of course is very reasonable, but ths one in Hershey is free (it would have been $300 this month if we had paid $15 a night). As one example, when we checked out today they gave Nadia a huge Easter basket filled with stuffed animals, candy, etc. They would have given one to Ian also, but I told them he didn't eat candy. They gave him two stuffed animals. Nadia gave some of her chocolate to the doctor and Ian's feeding therapist.

5. Ian only had one accident during our 5 days in Hershey (unfortunately it was while I was holding him at the feeding clinic so he not only sabotaged his clothes but also mine).

6. I ordered some maternity clothes from Motherhood this evening. I bought three pairs of capri pants, two skirts, one dress, and one top for $125. This is the first maternity dress I've ever bought so that was my riskiest purchase (considering I couldn't try it on). I bought some in L and some in XL. In the past I only needed XL at the very end of the pregnancy. I got my clothes a lot cheaper the past two pregnancies (mostly on eBay), but I'm grateful that more comfortable clothes are on the way.

7. I *think* the morning sickness phase has passed. I am so, so grateful! I know I said that I'm assuming the baby I'm carrying is a boy (since we only have a girl's name picked out), but if I compare pregnancies (assuming gender plays a role), this pregnancy feels more similar to Nadia's than Ian's. In six more weeks we'll find out!

8. Sweets don't bother me any more! I enjoyed having Frosted Mini-Wheats for breakfast the past two days. That put a smile on my face! I had zero temptation to eat the brownies (usually my favorite food), but non-chocolate sweets don't bother me any more.

9. I'm glad that 1/4 of the feeding program is behind us. Yesterday I just wanted to throw in the towel. I slept a little bit better last night, which made today more bearable.

10. I read a couple of good books lately - Directed Verdict by Randy Singer and The Ambition by Lee Strobel. One I got through interlibrary loan, and the other I got for free through Amazon (for Kindle although I don't have a Kindle so I just read it on my laptop). I actually was wishing I had a Kindle this week because we don't have wi-fi access at the feeding clinic so a Kindle would be much easier than a laptop to lug around, but in general I don't prefer to read a book on a screen so it seems foolish to buy something I'd likely only use for 3 weeks.

11. I did pretty well with packing for our trip. The only thing I forgot was underwear for myself, and that was remedied by a quick trip to Kmart. I am going to take a little less stuff with us this Sunday because the kids enjoyed the toys at the feeding clinic (primarily the fire truck).