A List of Things I Love and A Lesson in Gratitude

I love when our tree out front gets those little white flowers in the spring. I love cool fall mornings and warm summer nights. I love how bright the refrigerator is after it’s cleaned out. 

I love fleece baby jammies. I love freshly mopped floors and a closet with room to spare. I love white Christmas lights. I love Friends reruns. I love funny memes and gifs and inside jokes.

I love waking up before everyone else. I love Disney Pixar movies. I love reading a good book. I love trips to Target and date nights. I love to daydream.

I love being pregnant and I love cute 2nd trimester baby bumps. I love feeling baby kicks and the adrenaline rush after bringing a new life into the world. I love that even though breastfeeding doesn’t look like I initially thought it would, I’ve found a way to make it work and be successful at feeding my babies.

I love unloading our bag of library books on the couch and reading with my 2 year old. Not because it’s nap time or bedtime, but just because. I love his crazy, wild blond hair. I love how his brain works and I love watching him learn. I love how excited he gets about everything. I love what a good big brother he has become. 

I love my daughter’s soft baby hair, flawless baby skin, and chubby little thighs. I love the feel of her weight on me, asleep on my chest. I love her wide open mouth smile, almost like a laugh with no sound. I love her happy, infectious demeanor. I love that everyone who meets her comments on what a sweet, happy baby she is. I love that they’re right. 

I really love being a mom. 

I love when you wake up in the middle of the night and realize you still have a few more hours to sleep. I love walks at night while it’s snowing and when the sun comes out after a heavy rain. I love a fresh manicure. 

I love traveling. I I love planning the perfect vacation. I love road trips when it’s just my husband and I. I love hiking and breathtaking views. I love new cities and good food. 

I love the smell of bookstores, campfires, and freshly cut grass. I love hot coffee with a big splash of oat milk in my favorite mug. I love when every piece of laundry is washed, dried, folded, and put away. 

I love the relationship my husband has with our son. I love my husband’s good heart. I love how he can fix practically anything. I love doing home renovation projects with him and I love how well we work together. I love how we collapse on the couch at the end of a particularly chaotic day, exhausted but grateful. 

I love when my son loves on our dogs. I love grocery shopping in specialty food stores. I love being tan, wearing flip-flops, and that carefree feeling of summer. 

I love good neighbors. I love that 2020 made matching sweatsuits trendy again. I love coming out stronger after going through something hard. 

I love my mom’s spaghetti and how my dad texts me everyday just to say “how is everyone doing?” I love that my sister and I get to raise our babies together, 5 minutes away from each other.

I love a new reusable water bottle. I love throwing stuff away and using the label maker. I love the sense of community you get when you’re at a concert—thousands of people from all walks of life united by a common love of the music. 

I love our perfectly imperfect house. I love that in a world that revolves around things my son cannot eat, I can almost always find a substitution. And I have learned to love the challenge of cooking for him.

I love my dogs. Actually, I love all dogs. I love reminiscing. I love those scented pine cones you can buy around the holidays. I love Christmas ale, red wine, and a good Negroni. 

I love hearing the garage door open at the end of the day, my husband walking in to wagging tails and laughing and “wanna play daddy?” I love that in this totally ordinary instance, I can remember when I used to hope and pray for moments just like this one.

I love how thinking of all the things I love, big and small, was actually a really great lesson in gratitude.