Thankful Thursday

*My very sweet cousin has started a blog to help Cohen. She has such a kind heart. Thanks for helping Joeli! You can click here to see what she is up to.*

*Cohen has 3 appointments at Children's tomorrow morning. He gets an echo to see how his heart is doing, an appointment with his cardiologist, and an appointment with his pulmonologist. Please keep us in your prayers for safe travels and a long day for Cohen. Also pray that his heart looks less enlarged and that his lungs are okay!! Thanks*

It's November and Thanksgiving is coming, so Thursdays are now my Thank You Thursdays. The last little while in our life has been full of ups and downs but we really do have a lot to be thankful for. And since I won't be able to send each and every person who has helped us in some way (although I wish I could!)  I am hoping maybe these posts can serve as a thank you card to all of you that have supported us. This week (and every week) I am thankful for Danny.

When we got married and said our vows "for better or for worse" we had no idea what that would come to mean for us. We were clueless that before our 2 year anniversary we would be facing devastating circumstances and have to make incredibly difficult choices for our family. When we decided to start our family we couldn't have even imagined what the next 9 months would bring. We had visions of happy, bouncing baby boys that we would play out in the yard with and who would run around with their cousins. Instead, we were faced with what will probably be the most incredible challenge of our lives. We feel like we had to grow up about 30 years in the last little while.

Everything we have gone through has just further confirmed to me that I made the right choice. That God brought me Danny for a reason. He has been my strength and has literally held me up at times when I couldn't stand up myself. While I was on bedrest he was in charge of the cooking, cleaning, housework and working his regular job. While I was in the hospital he drove back and forth on his days off, often leaving the hospital in the wee hours of the morning to go to work from Seattle so that I didn't have to be alone. After the boys were born he continued working full time and making many, many trips back and forth to and from Seattle. Most of his time was spent working, driving, or sleeping. I know it was so hard for him to be away from his family during all of this but he was very strong through it all.

Danny lets me be me. He lets me be a goof. He lets me cry. He can always make me laugh. I am quite far from perfect but he never judges or condemns me. He knows who I am and he loves me that way. He is always patient with me when I have my grumpy pants on early in the morning or when I get too hungry. He reminds me of God's truths when I forgot and was overwhelmed by fear or anxiety.

This whole experience has taught us a lot about each other. We have learned that there are things that matter and things that don't. We have learned that we have been through the hardest, most painful thing we could ever think of and we made it through together. We have learned to be extra patient, gracious, and forgiving of each other.

I love you Danny boy, so so much. Thank you for being so strong. You are such a great dad to our boys, I can see it in the way that Cohen looks at you and smiles. Thank you for washing endless numbers of baby bottles and pumpers. Thank you for being my best friend. Thank you for letting me win when we play games.Thank you for working so hard to take care of us. I couldn't ask for anything more. We love you very much!