What I loved about this week

I know I'm sometimes guilty of taking on too much, rushing around too much, dwelling on things that have gone wrong and so on, so I figured one way to turn that around is to each week take some time to write down what I'm thankful for. I often say little prayers of thanks in my head for things I'm grateful for, but actually seeing a list - I have a feeling - will help me counteract any down moments. I actually stole this idea from a blog I recently stumbled upon A Journey to Our Daughter . So here are some things I loved so far this week (the right, straightforward-brain-part-of-me thinks I should wait until the very end of the week and then list everything for that week, but the left, creative-brain-part-of-me thinks just do it spontaneously), so the creative part won and here it is:

* I loved spending time with Grace and my mom on Monday going downtown to the fountains to check out a new photo spot.
* I loved seeing Grace smile at the fountains and discover the beauty in the bright pink azaleas.
* I loved hearing Grace's infectious laughter, even her newly developed talent for "fake laughing" to copy others.
* I loved that my husband put up the gate in Grace's playroom area the same day I bought it, even missing part of his favorite tv shows to do it.
* I loved seeing the sweet comment my stepdad left for me on our blog.
* I loved hosting a baby shower for our office manager and seeing the look of surprise and love on her face when she realized we secretly invited her mom to join us.
* I loved giving Grace her "first haircut", albeit if I only cut one long, long piece behind her ear she's had since birth.
* I loved finally creating the shadowbox with Grace's dress and booties she wore home from the hospital.
* I loved seeing Grace, Noonie, and Papa AJ on the floor enjoying playtime on Sunday.
* I loved that two special friends, both pregnant, are doing well with their pregnancies.
* I loved babysitting my niece/goddaughter last Friday and seeing her create a "heart of love" out of stickers I gave her in her Easter basket. I really love that she made one for me!
* I loved that my mom found my grandparents original wedding invitation and some sweet photos.
* I loved that my sweet sister-in-law in CA emailed me to tell me that it's Cupcake Week on the Martha Stewart show just because she knows I love cupcakes :)
* I loved stumbling across this saying, "All children come from God, for some the journey home just takes a little longer" Author Unknown, in reference to adoption.
* Most of all, I loved it when I was saying prayers with Grace Monday night and she looked up at me, put her sweet little hand on my face and said "pum-pin" (copying how I cup her face in my hands and say "love you pumpkin").

Thank you God for blessing me and my family with these wonderful moments this week!
~Jessica