Happy Thoughts

It's been a good few weeks around here.  We have all been busy catching up from the holidays, and I haven't even been able to post any pictures from Christmas because our laptop died and I can't find my camera cord to connect and download pictures to my work computer.  I do want to do a Christmas post, for the sake of memories, so you may be reading about our Christmas around Valentine's Day...or whenever we get around to buying a new computer!

Speaking of new computers, I really, really want a Macbook Pro, but Jeremy is not convinced we need to invest that kind of money.  I have never had a Mac, but suddenly, I am positive it would make all my dreams come true.  If you have a Mac, tell me why you love it...help me build my case!  : )

Anyway, like I said, we have just been having a pretty great year so far.  Much like Marcia mentioned yesterday, we have had a few of those days that just make me stop and think, "Yes, these are exactly the kind of moments I imagined for our family."  (Which further enforces that feeling that this may very well be all of our family, just the four of us.)

I don't even know how to explain it really, but it just feels like we are enjoying each other so much more lately.  We play games and do crafts with the girls, who are more fun and independent than ever before, but there are also times that we are all in the same room and we are all doing a bit of our own thing--I might be reading, Jeremy playing a video game, and the girls moving back and forth, making us "coffee" or "pancakes" from their kitchen--and in those moments, I stop and realize there is absolutely no place I would rather be.  Unless, you know, someone were to offer us a house on the beach in which to do all those activities...because I certainly wouldn't turn THAT down!

Our daily lives still revolve around Addison & Mackenzie, of course, as well they should.  But it also feels like maybe the intensity of the early stages is easing a bit.  Instead of every moment being consumed with what the girls want/need me to be doing, I am finding more moments where I can just enjoy being with them.  I mean, on Saturday, I rearranged their bedroom, by myself, WITH BOTH GIRLS PRESENT and even sort of helping me!  This is unprecedented territory, folks.  Six months ago, they would have been a screaming, crying mess if I even tried to focus on something other than exactly what they wanted me to do for longer than five minutes at a time.  We spent about three hours in their room, alternately playing, rearranging, hanging pictures, and going through old clothes.  It was an absolutely precious morning with my girls, and even better, I was productive while enjoying time with them.

Further illustrating how far we have come as a family, Jeremy took the girls to the mall the other day, willingly, all by himself.  He wanted a new shirt and decided he would take A & M to Build-a-Bear.  He did, and they had a very successful trip.  It may not sound like a big deal, but an outing like that would have been a much bigger deal a year or so ago.  At about an hour away, the mall is not a place they have visited all that often, bless their hearts.  : )

So, yeah, things are changing for this family, and all in the best of ways.  Now that these girls are potty trained and ready for new adventures, you just never know what we might be up to next! 

 

In wrapping up my happy thoughts for the evening, I have to give a big ROLL TIDE for my fellow Alabama fans (especially MandyE!)...as I type, our beloved Crimson Tide is less than three minutes away from wrapping up a victory over LSU in the BCS National Championship game.  I can't wait to tell Addison & Mackenzie in the morning.  They went to bed shouting "Roll Tide, and go Alabama, and go Auburn, and go Braves", with a few "Go Wildcats" (our local high school team) thrown in for good measure.  Bless their confused little hearts...it's hard being in a divided house!

And once more, because I can't resist....Roll Tide!!!