A Thankful Heart Series Part 3: My Family

I have had such a wonderful time with this amazing series I've been hosting with Aleigh and Natashia! It has been so good for me to list all the things going right in my life when at times it seems all I do is complain. If you too want to join in and get all the feel goods and the heart eyes in your soul make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom to see how you can join in on this series too! You won't regret it! 

  

Today is definitely a more obvious and popular topic when it comes to expressing gratitude but let's get real, family is EVERYTHING. In my first post about friends I mentioned that they come and go but family will always be family. I love my family but I feel like when I started my life with my husband is when I really understood what family is all about. We were meant for each other and that was clear the moment we fell in love. We made the decision to wait to have children for 7 years and they were an amazing 7 years! We had so much fun together and we spent that time figuring each other out so when kids came, we would be on the same page. I know that sounds delusional and I'm here to tell you it is! HA! Kids change everything! And that was definitely a learning curve but we have just grown stronger and stronger as the years have passed with our son.

 

My husband was AMAZING when Drew was born. He really knew how to take care of a newborn and really wanted to do everything he could! I feel like he may have even had more motherly instincts than I did! All those moments I felt confused and lost as a new mom, he would step in and boost me up to get me through it. It makes me so excited to have this baby girl because I know he will be there for me!

 

 Before Drew came, we went through some crazy hard times. We moved away from our families to Dallas, TX for 18 months so my husband could go to school. We really struggled being away from them but we grew much closer and learned to rely even more on each other. Almost immediately after we moved back to Utah we decided to start a family and got pregnant right away! We were so excited we announced the pregnancy at only 8 weeks! My father in law had been diagnosed with cancer at the time so it was some good news in a hard situation. Only 4 weeks later we were on vacation when we got news that both I was indeed having a miscarriage (we had done tests right before we left) and my father in law had taken a turn for the worse. We were completely devastated and scared for what was down the road for us. I cried the moment I realized I had to tell my father in law that there was no more baby. My miscarriage was long and drawn out and ended in a D&C. It had taken a serious emotional toll on me but my husband was there every step of the way to make sure I was okay, even though he was slowly loosing his dad.

 

My father in law passed away only a month and a half after my miscarriage. We leaned on each other more than ever those few months and also our extended family. It was so hard to watch a family grieve and feel like there is nothing you can do for them. But they were all so strong and we got through it with lots of prayer and leaning on each other for support. Obviously it is never something we will get over but because we have each other we can be happy! Later that year we got pregnant with Drew and he brought all the light back into our lives! 

At the beginning of this year I went through another yet much less traumatic miscarriage. I found out the same day that I was pregnant and I also was not going to keep that baby either.  Once again my husband (and also Drew!) was there for every step and made sure I was okay and had some time to get through it. Only about 2 months later we got pregnant with this baby girl that we will meet in only 2 weeks from now!

I also have been blessed to be raised in an amazing family. I didn't quite get it while growing up but since becoming an adult I have realized how awesome they are and we have grown even closer! My parents were incredible examples of living the Gospel and my siblings (even though they teased me every chance possible) were really my best friends growing up. I love hanging out with them as much as I can get away with! I'm kind of notorious for calling my sisters and just saying "what are you doing right now?". I always want to do something with them. In just 2 weeks my little sister who is serving a mission will be home and all of us girls will be reunited again! I can't wait!!!!

There sure are some hard times in life but family makes it all better and all worth it!

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