At the start of 2016, inspired by a friend, I started a daily gratitude challenge – posting one thing that I was thankful for each day on Instagram. I enjoyed it so much that when I reached the end of that year, I carried on and have kept going ever since. Finding one little thing to be thankful for each day has now become part of my daily routine and I’ve loved seeing friends joining in along the way too.
Finding little things to be grateful for isn’t always easy, especially when living through scary and uncertain times. I have found though that trying to find something, however small and trivial, to be grateful for has helped me through some of the hardest days of my life.
My eldest daughter Jessica, who died in April 2018, was an inspiration to me throughout her short life. She had so much strength and such a wonderful zest for life. Her godmother described her once as a “joy carrier” and it was the perfect description for her. She was a little ray of sunshine, full of smiles and gave joy to all who knew her. I am, and will always be, grateful to be her mummy. She taught me to enjoy the little moments and to make the most of everyday because tomorrow is never promised. And even though having to live life without Jessica is by far the hardest thing I have ever had to do, I will continue to look for those little things to be thankful for, and keep going with this challenge in honour of my beautiful brave girl.
Here are my grateful moments from the past week:
Day 236 – I am grateful for my lovely hubby and glad that he has had a nice birthday.
Day 237 – I am grateful that our first shopping trip into town in over five months was a relatively painless experience. We booked the shoe fitting for as early in the morning as we could – by the time we left there was a queue outside so will be making sure we head into town as early as possible for any future shopping trips.
Day 238 – I am grateful for lining paper and painting aprons.
Day 239 – I am grateful for all the time that Sophie and Thomas have been able to have together over the last few months. We’ll miss it when she goes back to school next week.
Day 240 – I am grateful that Sophie is such a helpful big sister.
Day 241 – I am grateful for cheeky grins from this gorgeous little bundle of mischief.
Day 242 – I am grateful for a moment of calm in a busy day. We’ve been to visit Nanny today, I’ve had a bridesmaid dress fitting (my clever mum and sister have adapted my dress so I can breastfeed in it), Thomas has been fitted for his little suit and I had fun co-hosting our online church quiz this evening. It’s been a lovely day but little moments of calm were much appreciated!
It looks like you’ve had a fun week.
Happy birthday to your hubby, the cake looks fab!
I’m glad the shopping trip went well.
Lovely photos x
Thank you, it was a nice week 🙂
Happy Birthday to your husband. It will be a bit of a shock to the system this return to school I think – I’m dreading it to be honest as it’s always hectic in the mornings.
Thank you, it has been a shock to the system but it is nice to see how happy Sophie is to be back. Hope the return to school goes well for you.
Happy belated birthday. Definitely a good idea to go shopping first thing!
Thank you. It does make shopping so much easier.
Sounds like a productive week. Glad your hubby had a good birthday.
We always do early for shops too. Thankfully N’s school shoes still fit (only bought them 2 weeks before lockdown). I couldn’t get an appointment before this weekend at the children’s shoe shop we use.
That’s good that N’s school shoes still fit.
Happy Birthday to your husband. Hope back to school has gone well and Thomas isn’t too lonely with Sophie out every day. Good job you booked the appointment for shoes early
Thank you, we’ve settled back into routines now.
Happy belated birthday to your husband! The cake looks tasty. I hope Sophie’s going back to school and a new routine for you all goes well. Glad that your shoe-shopping experience went smoothly. Thomas will most likely miss Sophie’s company, but then he will have you all to himself.
Thank you. Thomas has missed having Sophie around but he has enjoyed the one-to-one time with me too.
Awww so many smiles in this week’s pictures 🙂 Happy birthday to your hubby !
Thank you Cheryl 🙂
So pleased your hubby had a nice birthday! His cake looks fab. Well done avoiding the queues by going shopping early. Shopping can get a little scary so I think I need to get my timing right too. That’s so clever they adapted the dress!
We’re definitely sticking to going to the shops as early in the day as possible – it seems to be the way forward!
Happy birthday hubby! Cakes looks good. I hope the return to school has gone smoothly and that Thomas hasn’t missed his main source of entertainment! #project366
Thank you, we’ve settled back into school routines and although Thomas does miss Sophie in the day, he is enjoying some one-to-one time with me.
I hope your Hubby had a great Birthday!
The first trip to town must have felt very daunting! Glad it went well – I didn’t know you had to book ahead for shoe fitting!
Thank you. I’m not sure if you have to book shoe fittings now – we’ve always booked a slot for shoe fitting though as it makes the whole process much quicker and easier, especially with back-to-school shoe shopping!
Aww he looks so happy. Happy birthday to your hubby. I love Sophie’s face mask. Yeah its great that they are enjoying their time together. Cute cheeky grin. That’s so thoughtful of your family to get you a comfortable dress
Thank you, it will make things a lot easier on the day with the adaptations to the dress!
Hope he had a wonderful birthday. That is very clever of your mum and sister it all sounds very exciting. Well done on getting the shoes sorted, I still need to do ours (oops). Gald the trip into town was okay I still haven’t braved ours.
Thank you. I haven’t braved it since but I’ll be sticking to going in as early as possible next time I do.
Awww happy belated birthday to your husband – glad he had a lovely day… and a fab cake! How fabulous that your mum and sister adapted your bridesmaid dress! A wedding is something so exciting to look forward to right now, I hope everyone has a lovely day! Nicely done on the shoe shopping, whenever I need to go into town I am always an early bird. Get it over and done with and totally miss the crowds! Hope you are all having a lovely week! Sim x
Thank you. Going early, avoiding the crowds and getting the shopping over and done with is definitely the way forward.
It looks like you’ve had a fun week. Happy birthday to your hubby, the cake looks awesome. I’m glad the shopping trip went well xxx
Thank you, it was a nice week x
Happy birthday to your husband. How lovely to having an adapted breastfeeding dress…..mine wasn’t and it was a nightmare at the time
I can imagine! It will certainly make the day much easier.