Beautiful things

1. The way Henry's sweet face lights up with a gummy smile when he sees his Mama.
2. Evelyn's words: You're my best friend, baby brother.
3. The words of a stranger: Your children look just like you. They're beautiful.
4. The trees along our road, ablaze with autumnal color.
5. My husband's arms holding our son, his warm gaze watching our daughter.
   

Daddy's Work

I am convinced that E thinks that Daddy spends his work day playing with stuffed animals from Ikea and touching smart, color-changing walls, because that is exactly what we all do when we go to visit him for lunch.  

Every Morning is Christmas Morning

E is the very personification of "alive."  From the moment she wakes up, bright blue eyes twinkling, hair fuzzy and cheeks warm and pink from sleep, until the moment I nurse her back to sleep at night, she is learning, exploring, and moving.  I could never have imagined on all of those sleepless nights of pregnancy how adventurous and truly fun my daughter would be.  And now, at nine months old, she pops up next to me each morning.  She's eager and expectant, like a little meerkat ready to start the day because:  hooray!  It is a new day!  We get to play and explore and be together all day!  Again!  Can you believe it?  Her enthusiasm is so contagious it is next to impossible to wake up on the wrong side of the bed (also she takes up a good portion of the bed, so it is actually literally impossible to get to that wrong side).