On My Mind...

Today my mind is full. Full of memories and full of anticipation. Memories: Today is my Gramps' birthday. He passed away in February of 2006, and today he has been on my mind. He was a wonderful man. He led our family with a strong hand and a loving, caring, and giving heart. His death was somewhat sudden, so there are times where I feel I would have taken every opportunity to say all the things I wanted to say and all the things he needed to hear. All the things I thought he knew. I assumed he knew how much I loved him, how thankful I was to live next door to him, how much I loved his nicknames for me, how thoughtful I noticed he was, how concerned he was for his family, how much I saw his love for us, for others, for Jesus. I think about him on a regular basis, but for some reason this past week knowing his birthday was coming up the memories have come to me more often. They are happy memories that I enjoy entertaining. I only wish he was still here. To me my son and now my daughter. To give me parenting advice. To just be there when I go visit. I miss him all the time, and I'm so very thankful for all the memories that keep me comfort during times like this. Anticipation: I am SO excited about our little girl that is on the way. I won't lie. It was a total shock, but now that the shock has gone we are thrilled. I had to refrain myself from going and looking at all the little girl clothes in the store today knowing that I would probably want one of everything. I am looking forward to going to the consignment sale this week to pic up a few things for her. I'm looking forward to finding a name for her. I'm looking forward to seeing Levi be the protective big brother. I'm really looking forward to seeing her wrap herself around Aaron's heart. I think she may already have us both wrapped around her little fingers. I'm also just looking forward to the changes that are to come. Going from one kid to two. I know that transition will be difficult, but I know that the transition doesn't last forever and the rewards are beyond measurable. Our lives are going to be richly blessed by the addition of our little sweet one. I'm so excited, and just waiting with anticipation!