Blog award!

Jennifer from The Blue Sparrow awarded me with a blog award Happy 101.. thanks so much, and I agree that it is a bit more of an upbeat type of post than the norm.. and so it is very much received and appreciated~ So here are the rules of this award:
1. copy and paste the award on your blog.
2. list who gave the award to you and use a link to her/his blog (or hyperlink).
3. list 10 things that make you happy.
4. pass the award on to other bloggers
  
SOOO here are 10 things that make me happy (in no particular order) 

1. my immediate family..Jay, Cayden and Ella..I could not have asked for a better little family than I've been blessed with. I have been a serious head case at times over the past year or so.. Jay and Cayden have loved me through it..and I love them so much..instead of it being consumed and letting our grief tear our family apart, it has brought us closer and stronger..and Ella is still bringing me so much joy, even a year later, I am so proud to talk about her, to think about her, how brave, strong and beautiful she was(is)

 2. my friends and other family members.. I love LOVE seeing, talking to, emailing, texting and even facebooking them. We are truly blessed with such a great network of loved ones. From time to time I feel alone or just needing someone to be "normal" with me, and all I have to do is reach out..and vice versa, a few of them are VERY good at sending me some love and letting us know they still think of us, remember Ella and miss her with us.. Which is so very important.. I need to know even after all this time, that people still think of her/us..even if its just a quick message..it makes my day.. you know who you are ;)


3. Our pets! we have Molly our yellow lab that we got a few weeks after Ella passed, she was a tiny lovable blond angel who made us smile when it seemed impossible.. and now she is a very LARGE angel who makes us smile.. We also have Grayson who is one of Ella's kitties.. he does not know he is a cat, and thinks he has to be with in arms reach of me at all times..which is sweet and a tad annoying at times too.. 

4. music, I love to listen to music all of the time..I always have. When I am feeling sad, I like to crank the stereo, open the windows and take it all in..

5. that I get to work from home, I would certainly rather not work at all, but sadly at the moment is a necessity. I get to work my hours when ever I want to most of the time, and I love the fact that I get to go to Cayden's school for little parties, take him lunch when he forgets it on the counter..

6. Shopping, Kirklands is my FAVORITE place to go, Hobby Lobby, Target, etc etc.. I love to shop for house/yard/garden stuff..

7. Reading a good book.. Nicholas sparks, Mitch Albom, Jodi Picoult, even some Danielle Steele ;)

8. Our infant loss group.. I love going and getting to talk about our feelings out loud, to talk to other grieving parents, and to offer advice on what helps us and listening to what helps them.. its just a good feeling to be able to speak openly about Ella and our loss.

9.  Blogging, I started this, not sure I would be able to "do it" or just afraid no one would read it because I had nothing to talk about, etc etc. It has turned into so much, keeping our friends and family up to date with Ella's health and then has turned into therapy and introduced me to so many other people.. I also love to read blogs, good, bad and ugly..


10. The thought of being able to help children when they need it the most, to make a difference in their lives.. to help others while we ourselves are healing.. and the hope of one day, one (or two) of these children will need us to be there forever family.. We are so excited to see what the Lord has in store for us..


I am going to tag

Heidi @ life with Jack
Deb @ Hudson in His Hands
Heather @ its spelled Maguire
Kelli @ a mommy, a daddy and 2 beautiful girls
Jaime @ Handprints on my heart
Britt @ peace Began
Nan @ remembering our angel triplets
Jill @ footprints on our heart
Fran @ Handprint from Heaven

I could tag and link all day, but won't for the sake of time, so if you read this consider yourself tagged!! xoxo