Days 27, 28, and 29

Day 27

1. I am grateful for our neighborhood. On Saturday we went to a neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. There were 1400 eggs thrown on the ground for the kids to pick up. It was fun. Anikka got it and was off and running. Ben skipped the eggs and went straight to the loose candy all over the place. Mac filled the bottom of his basket and announced that he had enough and was done. They all really liked it.

2. I am grateful for our cats. Thor gave Mac a "kiss" by touching his nose to Mac's cheek. Mac's response was "ewww Thor yucky." We have some great cats.

3. I am grateful that the boys slept well in their shared room. This is the second time we that we have had them share a room and it went over so much better this time.

Day 28

1. I am grateful that Ryan did such a good job teaching Gospel Essentials on Sunday. I sure like to listen to him talk.

2. I am so grateful for my In-Laws. We had everyone there minus two kids and I sure missed those two. It was so good to see everyone and to catch-up. I married into such a great family. I am very lucky.

3. I am grateful for little conversations that make us laugh. When we were getting ready to leave last night Ryan told Mac that he was too tired to drive home and asked if Mac would drive home. Mac immediately said "sure I will be Dad and I will drive home and you be Mac and sit in Mac's seat. You start car first."

Day 29

1. I am grateful for a good nights sleep. I have not gotten a good nights sleep in a long time and I miss them and I cherish them.

2. I am grateful that Mac thinks "underwear is fun to wear" and yells that around the house often.

3. I am grateful for our house. It is nice to have shelter and to try and make sure our house is a home.

Day 26

1. I am grateful that I have a daughter. She is my only girl and I am sure glad that I have her. Girls are so fun to go shopping for. She also is so good to her little brothers.

2. I am grateful that all three children went to sleep well for me last night. Ryan went to a basketball game last night and so we had a night to ourselves and they all went to sleep, even Ben who insisted that he was going to stay up for Dad.

3. I am grateful for DVR's. I love that Ryan and I can record shows and watch them together later and not be interrupted by loud children.

Day 25

1. I am grateful that Ryan still finds me attractive, even though I am so ornery and scowling all the time. He still finds something behind the huge belly and frown to like.

2. I am grateful that it is sandal weather, or close enough to it for a pregnant woman to start wearing sandals. I love my KEEN sandals. They are comfortable.

3. I am very grateful that the boys play so nicely together. I especially like it when they play together in the same room but with separate toys. There is little chance of any fighting when they are not playing with the same thing.

Day 24

1. I am grateful for waiting. I love to be early and I kind of like waiting. Waiting gives me peace because I know that I am on time. I really enjoy being 15 minutes early to everything. I like to use the time to think and to observe my surroundings. I am very grateful for waiting.
2. I am grateful the I have three brothers but today I am grateful two of them that are putting in our sprinklers. They are really handy to have around and I am sure they can fix anything.

3. I am grateful to Ryan for coming and teaching art to the Activity Day girls. He is so nice and kind and he really is a good teacher when he takes to time to teach. I think the girls really enjoyed this lesson.

Day 23

1. I am grateful for snow falling in the spring time. It is so pretty and just sparkles in the sun and it does not stay!
2. I am grateful when Ben and Mac play so well together. Ben is very nice to his little brother.
3. I am grateful that Anikka is finally starting to enjoy reading. It seems to have taken long enough but what a sweet corner to turn. Reading is such a fun way to pass the time. I am glad that she wants to read books now.

Day 22

1. I am grateful for foot massages. They feel so good and Ryan obliges me more often when I am pregnant. What a sweet husband.

2. I am grateful for my doctor appointments. I love to go see our Family Doctor. I love the break I get from the normal routine. I love that he has and will deliver all of our kids. I love that he is so nice and when he has a mustache he looks like Ned Flanders. He is a very good Doctor and I drive and hour to see him and have him be our Doctor.

3. Today is my Father-in-Laws Birthday and I am very grateful for him. He is such an good man. He is a major reason why my husband is a good man also. He is a strong, silent cornerstone to the Jeppesen Family. He taught his children the difference between right and wrong and how to work and to provide for their families. He mostly leads by example but if he ever gives his advice we cherish and follow it without question. We love him and all that he has given to our family.

Days 20 and 21

Day 20

1. I am very Grateful that Ryan ran a sprint triathlon yesterday. He did a very good job and ran it in 1 hour and 49 minutes. That is a much better time than he had anticipated and this was his first time. He is only a little bit sore and is right back into the swing of being the kids' jungle gym.

2. I am grateful that Ryan let me go shopping later in the day that he ran a triathlon. He really does do nice things to show me that he cares.

3. Ryan is grateful for spring breezes that allow you to open the windows and air out the winter from the house.

Day 21

1. I am grateful for good speakers at Church. I really do appreciate all the speakers and on the days when the speakers are a little bit boring it is probably that I am not in the right spirit of things but on those days when the speakers are just great to listen to and share their personal thoughts and feelings I appreciate life a little more from having listened to them.

2. I am grateful for the knowledge that people have and that they are willing to share with others. In Sunday School today our teacher did not show up so a man just hopped right up to the front of the class and began to teach us. It was a wonderful example of a life being well-lived.

3. I am very grateful for a daughter that is always the first to raise her hand and volunteer to say prayers whenever those dreaded words of "who wants to say the prayer" are spoken. I really need to follow that example that she has set.

Day 19

1. I am grateful that Mac did not soil the sheets as he slept for the first time in underwear last night. I am calling us officially potty trained and I imagine there will be a few accidents here or there but Mac is now trained.

2. I am grateful that Mac has been comparatively easy to potty train. He practically did it himself and with such good timing with the new baby.

3. I am grateful for my monthly "allowance." I really enjoy having money that is my own and that I don't have to clear where I spend it. It has also helped our marriage because I am a spender and Ryan is a saver. It has been a very good thing for us and we have done it for 9 or 10 years now.

Day 18

1. I am grateful that the new baby is moving so much. I think it is just the coolest thing to feel a baby move inside a belly. I wish my family thought it was a neat as I do. But they don't get the opportunity to feel it all the time like I do.

2. I am grateful for older siblings that can explain the basics of potty training. Ben is a good big brother.

3. I am grateful for Thursdays. Thursday has always been my favorite day. I still feel the sweet anticipation of the weekend with none of the impatience of Friday day waiting for Ryan to get off work so the weekend can officially begin. Thursday means the majority of the week is behind me. I really like Thursdays.

Day 17

1. I am very grateful that our ward has decided to start doing monthly Relief Society meetings. Our ward is so big that it is pretty essential to get together monthly so that we can get to know one another and become a stronger sisterhood.

2. I am grateful for our Enrichment Leaders' plans for the monthly meetings. She is very in tune with what will be great monthly activities for all of us.

3. I am so grateful for Ryan's talents and creativity with helping our kids with their homework. He and Anikka made a Leprechaun Trap for school. It is awesome.

On a side note, After the RS meeting last night I came home to a dirty house (still dirty from me not having cleaned it earlier.) and I said "Wow, You would think that after the day I had that I would come home to a clean house." And Mac being the smart alec kid he is replied, " I don't know what a clean house is." I do clean more often than not and the kid should know what a clean house is.

Day 16

I am having a hard time feeling grateful today. I am so pregnant and emotional and hormonal so I will have to try harder to find things to be grateful for.

1. I guess that I am grateful for the downs in life because if we did not have downs we would not have the ups. The ups are worth knowing about and having so I am grateful for feelings.

2. I am grateful to have had a FHE that went pretty well last night. The kids listened for the lesson and seemed to have learned a small inkling of what was being taught to them.

3. I am grateful for teachers that are not afraid to correct my children when they are not behaving in the right way. It is always hard to hear when your kids are less than perfect but really important to know so that we can work on the problem.

Days 13, 14, and 15

The three things that I was grateful for on Saturday are:

1. New Babies, I went to my cousins baby shower and it is nice that we are able to celebrate new babies.

2. I am grateful for Saturday cleaning. I really hate to clean but life is better when we all work together to make the house clean enough to keep up throughout the week.

3. I am super grateful for my sweet sister-in-law that agreed to watch our three kids at the last minute so we could go out with Ryan's missionary companion. Not only did Andrea agree to watch our kids she was even HAPPY about it. The kids had the best time and do not stop talking about how much fun they had. They love their little cousins and they were all so happy about their night.

Day 14

The three things that I was grateful for on Sunday are:

1. I am grateful for Church. I really like that the kids climb all over Ryan all through Sacrament Meeting and I am left alone to listen to the speakers.

2. I am grateful that the nursery leaders took Mac to his Dad when he needed to go to the bathroom with 10 minutes left until Church ended. Ryan had been dozing off a little bit and was woken up by Mac saying "that's my Daddy!"

3. I am grateful for the peace I feel in the car. I love going for drives. It is just relaxing to me and the kids are really good in the car.

Day 15

1. Today I am grateful for texting. It is nice to be short and succinct on occasion and not have to do the small talk that comes with talking on the phone.

2. I am grateful for early out Mondays. Anikka gets out of school at 1:30 on Mondays and that is a whole lot of day left to do whatever we want.

3. I am grateful for Mac's self-esteem. On the way to Ben's preschool today I hear Mac saying something in the back that sounded like "I am pretty cute". I said "Who is pretty cute?" and Mac answers with "me".

Day 12

1. I am grateful for peanut butter. It has helped me through breakfast for many months now and I think it will last me til this baby is born.

2. I am grateful that Anikka does not mind being very "bright". This morning she left for school wearing a lavender purple dress, hot pink tights, white gym shoes, green jacket, and blue gloves.

3. I am grateful for magazines. I like to read and I read to escape my life for short moments. I like that magazines are little breaks, five minutes here and there, that I can have throughout the day.

Day 11 - Ryan's Contributions

I am grateful that Brooke makes me get involved in things like posting on our family blog (that counts as one of the things I am grateful for, right?). 3 more to go.

2. Bedtimes. I am grateful for bedtimes. Kids' bedtimes, my bedtimes, all bedtimes are good bedtimes. Nothing like laying down after a (usually) long day and unwinding. Of course, bedtimes typically end up in morning times... something I'm not grateful for. We'll leave that one for the month of ungratefulness.

3. Mini-vacations. I am grateful for the times that we can go on mini-vacations as husband/wife or as a family. Getting away from the normal daily grind helps me appreciate my family. We get to see things in a little different light after being away for a few days. We haven't gone on any extended family vacations for a while, so we look forward to the time when we can do that again.

4. I am grateful for the mother and wife that Brooke is. Sometimes things get hectic at home and she feels that there is more that she should be doing. But, she has kids that are happy and that love her and look up to her as a mother. I think that is the best way to gauge the quality of the job that a mom is doing.

4a. I am somewhat grateful for the 2-ish times a year I let down my guard and be (a little) cheesy. Brooke has been trying for years to get me to do this more often. I give her Valentines day and her birthday.... that's it (and occasionally on her blog, I suppose).

Day 10

1. I am thankful for my calling in Activity Days. I am always anxious the day of and I am exhausted after it is over but it is such a great calling for me at this stage in my life and the girls are really great.
2. I am thankful that Mac is so entertaining. The new thing that he is doing lately is being other people and telling me what I should say. For example Mac goes to the bathroom and I say good job and he says "No you say good job Frodo" the names are interchangable. Sometimes it is big Anakin or Gimli or little Anakin, mostly Star Wars or Lord of the Rings. He is very funny.

3. I am grateful for the once a week playgroup that Mac and I go to. It is nice to see other mothers and to just get out of the house.

Day 9

1. I am grateful for my kids behavior when we go on outings. They also love to go places and they are well behaved when we go especially when we go in the morning. The later we wait to go the less they like to go. I am grateful for morning errands.

2. Ryan has started working out in the mornings because he is training for a mini triathalon. So while I am not entirely grateful that is is gone more often, I am grateful that he feels better and is setting a good example for all of us.

3. I am grateful to be 30 weeks pregnant today. Here's to the next 10 weeks going by quickly.

Day 8

1. I am very grateful for hot water. That 10 to 15 minutes of hot water relaxation in the morning is just wonderful.

2. I am thankful for daily learning. We all learn something new everyday and it is often hard to see that as an accomplishment but when we actually see something huge that has been learned it is a great reminder of our wonderful brains.

3. I am thankful for my brother Matt. He is a little rough around the edges but he is the first one I think to call if I am ever in need of anything, from advice on how to get something done to a emergency tow. He is the man to call.

Days 6 and 7

The things that I am most thankful for yesterday are:

1. Introducing my daughter to Girls Weekends. Eight years old is probably a little young for her to fully appreciate the sisterhood but she was really able to get the overall point.

2. I am grateful for restaurants. I love to eat out and I really love not having to clean up after the meal.

3. I am grateful to be able to change the scenery occasionally with mini trips. It is fun to be able to see new things, even in Pocatello, Idaho.

The things that I am most grateful for today are:

1. I am grateful for the feelings of accomplishment and closure of finishing a good book. I am also grateful for the fun anticipation of starting a new book whatever that may be.

2. I am grateful that I have a good sister that is very amazing and strong. I am grateful for a good mother that is such an amazing example to me of how to be a good mother and person. She is someone that truly cares about people on their base level. I am grateful to have a daughter to carry on the bond that we share as women.

3. I am grateful to come home after being away from my boys. I love them and it is nice to be able to miss one another occasionally.

Day 5

1. I am so grateful for blogs. I love to read the incredible and inspiring stories that people write about. I am so impressed with the honesty and joy and sadness and perservence that people choose to write about. Blogs help me to want to be a better mother like all of you out there.

2. I am grateful for our amazing bodies. I think the way a body adapts to building a baby is just incredible. So while I can feel my hips moving apart it is just cool that my hips can even do that to bring a new baby into this world.

3. I am grateful for short trips. This weekend Anikka and I will go up to visit Auntie Tati, (my sister Tawnya). It will be a fun little girl trip and Anikka is so looking forward to it. I hope I will just get some good rest and relaxation in.

Day 4

1. I am grateful for "late night Dates." Those are the ones that you have after you put the kids to sleep and watch a movie together while cuddleing on the couch. It is just a good thing to be able to spend time together.

2. I am grateful to have someone to cuddle with in the middle of the night when I have bad dreams. I don't have bad dreams very often but when I do it is just nice to scoot right up next to Ryan and get warm and cozy for a bit until I can get my imagination under control and go back to sleep again.

3. I am thankful to be able to sleep-in (7:30 whoo hoo) on Tuesday's and Thursday's and not have anything to rush us through our mornings. I am thankful for no rushing.

Day 3

1. I am so grateful that Ryan wakes up in the night with the kids. Mac still wakes up in the night and tries to get in our bed. Ryan is the one that takes him back to his own bed. And in the next few months Ryan will get the new baby and bring him to me so I can nurse and then take the baby back to his own bed.

2. I am grateful for pre-school. I really like the pre-school that Ben goes to. It is just a fun and happy place.

3. I am grateful for the job chart. A few weeks ago Anikka informed us that she wanted an allowance. Ryan told her that she would not get an allowance but she can get paid for jobs around the house. It has been working very well and the house is staying pretty clean.

Day 2

1. Ryan says he is very grateful that the kids greet him at the door with hugs when he gets home from work.

2. I am grateful for cereal, eggos, and granola bars. The children can get their own breakfast when they wake up at the crack of dawn.
3. I am grateful for "bed-head" hair. It is so cute and just puts a smile on my face.

So far I am feeling pretty grateful and not as onery as I usually am. I think it really does put in a person in a great frame of mind to always be looking for things to be thankful for.

Graditude

Last night I was reading the March Ensign and there was an article that suggested having a daily gratitude journal to write 3 to 5 things that you are grateful for so I am going to give it a try for at least the month of March.

1. I am grateful for where we live. I have really felt that we are where we are supposed to be. I have felt the hand of God in all of our choices of where we should live. If we had not moved to this particular area Ryan would not have gotten his new job and that has been a really good thing.

2. I am grateful for Ryan's clothes. If it weren't for his clothes I would not have anything to wear this pregnancy.

3.I am grateful that Mac is learning to potty train himself and that He pees in the toilet. I really have not pushed him in any way and he just decided to start himself one day so it has been relatively easy. We just have to get better with the number 2.

So here is to March and feeling more grateful and happier.