These Little Moments...

Last Wednesday, we left for Easton, Maryland. After a 7 hour drive, we pulled into my grandmother's driveway. Even though it was well after 10 pm, both my grandmother and grandfather were wide awake and ready to greet us. Upon entering the house, Gracie and Ethan suddenly found a burst of energy that left them jumping, laughing, and dancing around the living room. They were excited, and even though I was exhausted, I danced a little on the inside, because I was excited, too. This trip is one that was postponed when we discovered Gracie had the flu at a doctor's visit the day after Christmas. Gracie immediately took to her Great-Granny, no warm-up period necessary. They share a special bond that I'm sure began during those first nights home from the hospital after Gracie was born. Granny spent many hours holding my tiny Grace and I'd often peek in the nursery to find them lost in eye contact as Granny spoke quietly to her. Ethan was less interested in cuddling by the...

My boy turned 20 months old on February 16th! I am quite honestly in awe of how quickly the time since his birth has gone. I have started to embrace the fact that he is likely (see how I'm still not 100% there yet?) my last baby, so the further away from "baby" we get, the more I squirm at the idea of never doing this again. On the other hand, I have been blessed with two healthy pregnancies, two beautiful birthing experiences, and one child of each gender. It seems like a good time to wrap up the child-bearing part of my life and move on with my focus on raising the two I already have. I imagine that at some point it will be easy for me to make a more definite statement than the one above, but for now "likely" feels okay. Enough about that! Ethan Reid, you are this hilarious little human being. You make me laugh every single day. You surprise me every single day. You challenge me, test my patience, and demonstrate your strong-will every day. No matter ho...

We returned home yesterday from our week in Hilton Head, South Carolina. We were blessed again (we go every year at this time) with decent weather, considering ours is the last week in January. I was more than ready for this vacation, especially since it was literally freezing at home, with ice covering the roads the morning we left. We were welcomed by an amazingly beautiful ocean-front view. Our children didn't get the "we're sleeping in on this vacation" memo, but we did get to watch the sunrise over the ocean on more than one occasion, so it's tough to complain about that. They did finally both sleep in the morning we needed to be up and preparing to check out. Go figure. Gracie absolutely adores the beach. She'd happily spend hours running and playing in the sand. Ethan is not as enthusiastic about the whole beach thing. He was much happier on any surface other than sand and hated having the ocean breeze in his face. As he gets older, I imagine ...