I am thankful for my nice warm house. I am thankful to be home in my house and on my own couch. I am thankful my couch is so super comfortable. I am thankful there is a giant TV in front of my couch that is playing a weeks worth of recorded TV. I am thankful for my giant king sized bed, where there is plenty of room for a tiny baby-shaped barnacle to cling to me all night without causing a crick in my neck so painful I considered REMOVING MY HEAD. I am thankful I did all the laundry before we left so I only have 7 loads to do now that we’re home. I am thankful I have a full day tomorrow with E before he goes back to New York so we can get started on all the Christmasing. I am thankful I labeled all the boxes so I know where the Christmas decorations are. I am thankful I have a house to decorate. And BOOM, full circle of thankfulness.

You better go put on your Thanksgiving bib, cause I’m about to spew rainbows and sunshine all over you. This post is the literary equivalent of a unicorn frolicking with sugar-dipped kittens while eating an ice cream sundae topped with rock candy. Your teeth might actually rot from your head before you can even eat your pie. Better have the pie first. I can’t handle that on my conscience.

Today I am thankful for you. YOU. Reading this right now. You are my thankful today and every day. I am thankful for every single person who has ever read my silly words here on my silly blog. I am thankful for the amazing advice I’ve gotten, the friends I’ve made or reconnected with, the support, the encouragement, the happy thoughts, the prayers, and the nudges back from the edge on the days I don’t think I can take it anymore. I am thankful for the people who read every day and the ones who have only read one post. I am so luck to have found a village – even if it’s a virtual village – in my journey as a mother.You have supported causes important to my heart with your time and your wallet. Because you read I get to call myself a blogger (when I’m feeling brave) and a writer (when I’m feeling REALLY brave). There truly are not enough words for me to express how much I love my corner of the internet and it is ONE BAZILLION PERCENT because of you.

I am not the best blogger or the funniest or the coolest or the most generous or the kindest or the most fashionable or the healthiest or the most creative or any sort of superlative at all. But I would like to try to be better at being a friend. If there is anything I can ever do for you – YOU – please let me know.

I hope you’re having a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with as much food, football and family as you can possibly stand.

This time last year I was lying on the couch sobbing into a pillow because I was SUPPOSED to be going to Ohio for Thanksgiving but I was too busy throwing up from pain and worrying my husband was going to think I was faking it to get out of seeing his family. I was also 35 weeks pregnant. I ended up in the hospital and spent the actual holiday having surgery to remove a kidney stone.

It was the worst Thanksgiving ever. I never got a single piece of pumpkin pie.

This year, we are with family. This year, I am healthy. This year my kidneys are behaving themselves. This year I have two perfect outside babies. This year I am going to eat a TON of pumpkin pie.

Today I am thankful that my best friend Erin discovered her love and talent for photography. Check her out on Facebook here on her website here.

Oh, right, I had a giveaway going on. Sorry for the delay, folks! Winners coming atcha right now!

#17 – Katrina!

#43 – Henria O!

#36 – Jenn Smith!

Congrats guys! I hope you love your Shutterfly cards. I’ll email each of you a code ASAP so you can get started. I ended up spending WAY too much time today looking at EVEN MORE designs but eventually I managed to choose. Want to see?

(That card is attached to the Shutterfly site and if you were to click through and purchase a card I think I get a coupon. I’m not trolling for commission, I just couldn’t figure out how to get a screenshot that wasn’t super blurry and/or possibly violating their TOS.)

My BFF Erin took the photos. Expect a whole post of them for Wordless Wednesday!

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.