25 Day Challenge - Day 23

Abundance
I have discovered that in the blogger community (or at lease among us moms) you can find a theme for pretty much every day (e.g. Post It Note Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday, Thankful Thursday, Follow Me Friday - and I am sure there are themes for Saturday, Sunday and Monday out there as well).  If I subscribed to all these themes, I wouldn't have time left over to just blog (or 'write' or what-have-you). 

The other day I came across a wonderful post of one of the bloggers who I follow.  I am ashamed to say that I don't remember who it was, so the genius mommy who wrote this is reading this, please leave a comment so I can link to the particular post as I LOVED LOVED LOVED it.  [Edited To Add: I found her!!!!  It was A Little Cup of Comfort and I LOVE LOVE LOVE this:] It was basically turning every negative that we could possibly come across as mothers on a daily basis, something to be grateful for.  Though I had a hard time yesterday thinking of the positive behind my toddler vomiting all over himself and covering not only himself, but also the sofa with the remains of yesterday's breakfast and dinner from the night before, her post did stick with me and made a change in my perception of things.

So, allow me to hop on the gratitude wagon for a moment.  First there are the obvious, which we can all think of: my husband, my children, our health, a roof over our heads, food on the table, clothes on our backs, etc.  But one stands out in particular today: my baby's incredible sweet nature:

He had his 5 month nurse's visit this morning.  At 9am, bright and early.  Well, early - yes.  Bright - not necessarily (on my part).  As we walked in to the exam room and the nurse followed us with the 2 syringes with which she was only moments away of poking my precious, sweet little boy, Ryder looked over my shoulder, locked eyes with her and gave her the biggest, most delightful smile of the day.  Trust me, she wouldn't see a bigger grin than that, given the fact that her job is to poke innocent little babies.  He melted her heart and in her words "Oh, I hate it when they do that, especially since I'll have to give him his vaccinations in a minute" (but in a "oh-you're-so-sweet"-tone, not in a bad-moody-i-don't-give-a-crap-tone). 

Then arrives the moment of terror.  The 2 shots.  First one goes in.  Ryder's eyes open wide with a look of "what the heck!?!", he starts a cry but his blankie, and a big hug from mommy distract him.  As if the first one wasn't bad enough, there comes #2.  At the moment of impact, no distraction was good enough to keep him from crying, but here's the kicker: I pick him up, he stops crying, looks over my shoulder and....gives the 'evil' nurse another-biggest-precious-filled-with-love smile that truly brings tears to my eyes.  Here we are.  Poked twice, and yet he manages to love the 2 people who put him through this ordeal with his smile.

Point of this story:  I am so grateful for this precious boy who blessed us with his arrival and who really has the sweetest nature.

Sigh....I'm in love.

To sign off, here is Ryder right after coming home from the pediatrician.  As if nothing ever happened:

Tomorrow's Challenge:

Yes / No - Be Assertive
Assertiveness is the ability to express your thoughts and feelings honestly and respectfully without undue anxiety.  Communicating confidently does not happen magically but when you do it, it gives you the freedom to be yourself.

Click here for the 'pause - think - act' elements of the challenge.