Remembering to Give Thanks

Recently, and this week in particular, I've found myself grumbling and complaining a lot. But, in my defense, it's hard not to when you're 9 months pregnant... I'm achy, I'm hormonal, and I'm SO ready to meet this baby! But I shouldn't make excuses for it... Really, it's a bad habit to complain all the time. So today I finally decided to stop and give myself a reality check. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving - a day devoted entirely to giving thanks for the all good things in your life that you may take for granted the rest of the year. I realized today that I should spend less time complaining and more time remembering the abundance of things I have to be thankful for. Especially this year. Because I have so many.

So I played this game today. It's called "What I Say vs. What I Mean". Basically, every time I had a complaint throughout my day, I stopped and thought of a good way to say the same thought so I seem more grateful for my multitude of blessings and less like a spoiled brat. It went something like this:

What I say: "Wow, my back hurts again this morning. Imagine that."
What I mean: "Back aches suck, but I'm so thankful that a few aches and pains are all I can complain about when it comes to being pregnant. It could be so much worse."

What I say: "Did these stretch marks grow more over night, or is it just me? Either way, my stomach sure does itch!"
What I mean: "I'm thankful that my son is still inside growing big and strong even if it means getting more "battle scars". I'm so thankful for whoever invented Palmer's Cocoa Butter. It's like heaven on itchy, stretched skin."

What I say: "I really wish Ryan didn't have to be gone all day, everyday with work and school. I get lonely all day at home alone."
What I mean: "I am beyond thankful that I married such a motivated, hard-working man. It's so great that he can go back to school for something he loves and get paid to do it.  It's only because he works so hard that we can afford for me to stay home with the baby after he's born and I'm really looking forward to that."

What I say: "How is it possible that our laundry has piled up so much? I really don't feel like washing, folding, and putting away clothes ALL DAY."
What I mean: "I'm so glad to have a closet full of clothes (even though half of it doesn't fit right now). It's awesome to wake up in the morning and not only have something to wear, but to have a choice about what I want to wear."

What I say: "Bills, bills, and more bills! I hate checking the mail and finding bills almost as much as I hate paying bills."
What I mean: "I live in a heated, lighted apartment that has internet and Netflix and I have enough money in our checking account to pay for all of these luxuries. I am one lucky girl."

What I say: "This child has SO. MUCH. STUFF. It's not even fair. He probably has more things than Ryan and I combined. I'll never have his nursery organized and cleaned before he's born at this rate."
What I mean: "We have been beyond blessed by our amazing friends and family with almost everything we could ever need or want for our baby boy. We'll never be able to fully show our gratitude for their extreme generosity and kindness even if we tried. Our son is already loved and he isn't even born yet. My heart is so full of love for him and our support system that it might burst at the seams right along with his dresser drawers."

You get the idea now? It's a great game. I felt a heck of a lot more upbeat and positive today than I have in a while when I just took a couple minutes to gather my thoughts and get a new perspective. And how could I not? When I just sit back and look at all the things I have to be thankful for this year, it makes me teary-eyed. Yeah, yeah, I know part of that is the hormones talking... but seriously!

Okay, enough with the mushy-gushy talk for one day! It's time for me to pack my bags and prepare for the trip to Walker tomorrow where I'll get to see my amazing family and friends and stuff my face with good food. Oh! I almost forgot! That's another thing that I am thankful for this year! I don't have to restrain myself when eating Thanksgiving dinner for fear of gaining a pound or two... I'm already "fat" and I'm allowed to get "fatter" for the next three weeks until this baby is born! God bless being pregnant over the holidays!

Thankfully Yours,
-Big Mama Bogart

35/35 on 11/11/11

Today is a big day Blogger World! I am 35 weeks pregnant today! Which means I only have 35 days left to be pregnant! (35 weeks down / 35 days left! Woot woot!) How super duper exciting is that? Sooo exciting! Here I am this morning being very excited to only have approximately five weeks left before I can finally meet our little boy:

And in honor of me making it this far without any major difficulties (thank The Lord!) and also in honor of my new friends, Stretch and Marks, who decided to rear their ugly heads this week for the first time (bleh! I thought for sure that I would get lucky enough to squeak by without any!)... I wanted to share with you all this beautiful pin that I found on Pinterest:

Granted, my stomach isn't nearly as marked (yet) as the pictured one is. But even if it was it wouldn't matter to me anymore. The caption is so true and it brings tears to my eyes every time I read it. And that might just be the hormones, but it is very touching whether you're hormonal or not. There is something truly beautiful about a mother's marked stomach. But I didn't always feel that way... I used to be terrified of getting stretch marks because, well because, I'm still young and I'm selfish and I want to be able to confidently wear a bikini again darnit!  But if a few (or many) stretch marks is the price I have to pay for my baby to be born healthy then so be it!

Well, I'm off to lather on the coco butter! I'll take the stretch marks if I have to, but I won't go down without a fight!

TGIF!
-The Marked Mama

Working on The Range

Okay, does the title of this post make anyone else feel like singing the "I've been working on the railroad..." song? Because that's what inspired me and I'm pretty sure I will have that in my head the rest of the day... and it's my own darn fault... haha dangit. Anyways, enough of my scattered pregnancy brain thoughts! I did a post a couple weeks ago now about Ryan having an interview up at Hibbing Taconite for Cliff's Mining and how excited I was for him because this job opportunity had pursued him, not the other way around. Well, I'm happy to report that I have yet another reason to be excited for/proud of my husband this morning as he officially accepted their offer and will be interning there starting in mid-May. Yippe!

Like I had said before, the location for the internship isn't the most ideal because the mine is about an hour and a half away from our apartment and it will mean many long days for Ryan... but it's such an amazing opportunity and he's genuinely excited about working there. (Plus, it pays really well too!) In fact, on top of the generous hourly wage, they pay their interns who live 60+ miles away from the facility an extra $500/month to cover the expense of either driving every day or living up there.

We still haven't hashed out the specifics about whether Ryan will get a small studio apartment up there during the week and come home on weekends or if he'll drive there every day - but we'll figure it out. Ryan is leaning towards wanting to drive even if it means leaving for work at 5:30 am (because they start their days at 7:00) and not getting home until after 6:00 at night. Bless his heart, he's too worried about leaving me home alone with the baby and missing out on too many milestones in Brock's short-lived infant stage. Man, do I have a keeper or what? :)

And that's about all I know on this chilly November morning! All it takes is a little hard work and persistence and a whole lotta praying to get where you want to be in life. Even in this tough economy, and barely two years after getting turned town for every single summer job he applied for (including Walmart) the summer we got engaged, my husband is employed to a fantastic company six months before his job is even set to begin. We are so blessed. God is so good.

Happy Day!
-The Bogarts