Thanks be to God!

I know Easter just passed, and I didn't get a chance to shout out my thanks, especially that God gave his only Son, Jesus for us. I can't even fathom how He must have felt doing something like that. My heart aches when someone has been mean to one of my children or one of the kids gets a scrape on his head, I can't imagine how I would feel watching them be tortured and hung to die so that others may live.

God has blessed me so much! I could not ask for a better life. I am feeling so thankful today, not because its the best day ever but because I am here, and living life. I am thankful that I have a house to live in and food to eat. I'm thankful that I married such a wonderful man, that helps me in so many ways. He comes home after working all day and getting up early after going to bed late at times or having a restless night of sleep with one of the kids to ask me if I want him to watch the kids while I take a bath or go relax somewhere. He will pick up groceries or run errands with one or all the kids. He is also an amazing father, and the first thing he does when he comes home is go on a hunt to find Ava and Mateo who always go into hiding the minute he shows up. Although their giggles and squeals and their yells of "Hide! Hide!" give them away, he still goes out of his way to pretend not to notice the moving blanket and spends minutes searching every corner, room and shoe looking for them.

I am thankful for my first baby bear. My Ava has such a spirit. She is so strong willed. Although that makes for lots of hair pulling moments, I wouldn't have it any other way. I am glad she isn't shy and I know I will never have to worry about someone walking all over her or any of her siblings for that matter. She will stand up for herself (when she believes that she should get to wear her fancy shoes outside) and for her siblings (no you can't hold Gianna if Ava doesn't see you as being fit and she tells kids in her preschool class to "leave my brother alone" if she thinks they are bugging him). God truly blessed us with her. She keeps us smiling and laughing. The other day, I was trying to explain the true meaning of Easter, that it's not a bunny but Jesus thats important. That we love Jesus because he saves people. I know, probably not the best description, but it prompted her to say, "Mommy, Do you love Spiderman? He saves people too!"

Ava has really helped us perfect our debating skills as she was born to debate. She loves to help and cleaned her room by herself yesterday without me asking (of course this means she just took whatever was on the floor and put it on her bed, in her closet and on her tea table). I truly don't know what I would do without her, and I thank God for each day he gives me with her.

My Mateo is as sweet as it gets. He is never to busy for kisses and he likes to hand them out all the time even to objects like the phone. He is quite the talker and will let anyone that will listen know all about his cars or how he fell on "a big ol' rock" and has a Louis (from Meet the Robinsons) band aid. He is so smart. I know thats a thing we all say as parents but really he amazes people we run into everyday with his vocabulary. It really is quite extensive for him barely being two! He is also pretty sneaky, especially with guidance from his best friend (who happens to be his sister). He can get a bag of string cheese and juice boxes out of the fridge before you can blink. He melts my heart with his smile. His prayers make me laugh. Last night he thanked God for the usual Jesus, mommy, daddy, Ava, Gianna, etc and went on to thank him for "monkeys, Canos (volcanos), giraffes and monkeys (yes again, he is a monkey himself) .We are so blessed that God has given us such a sweet baby boy.

Now Gianna hasn't been with us very long but she has already changed us. Her birth was such a natural and beautiful experience that I know brought us all even closer (even though I didn't think that was possible). Her brother and sister love to be around her. Ava smothers her with kisses and hugs (Gia is not very fond of this yet). They bring her toys and presents. They become very concerned when she is crying and make sure to tell us she is crying even if we are sitting right next to her. Gia also reminds us of how fast time goes by. It seems like it was yesterday that Ava and Mateo were so little too but they have grown so fast. We are thankful for the moments we have with them and as a family.

I'm sorry to carry on, not sure you have made it this far. I am just so thankful for these precious blessings of mine. I'm so thankful every morning that God has given me another day to enjoy them. We never know how short or long our life will be and so I pray that I live each day appreciating the many blessings as well as the road blocks (even though these are often the hardest things to be thankful for) that God has placed in my life. They have all helped me to become the person I am, they have shaped me and I just pray that when I get to the gates of heaven, I can say I have really lived, and that God can say I served Him well.

Thank you God for my family, my life, your love and grace!