1: When Claire first wakes up and I pull her out of the crib she smothers me with love and hugs. It's my favorite, she's so warm and chubby and happy to see me!
2: Ruth is reading and it's so fun to watch her realize that there are words all over the place. The other day she sounded out the stop sign and was so excited and surprised that the word STOP was on the stop sign!
3: William is a tender and crazy boy. He is so loving. He loves to cuddle. But he also loves to fight and pretend to be Buzz Lightyear or Spiderman. Whenever it's just me and him he always requests to play a game, usually Don't Spill the Beans...or he asks to watch How to Train Your Dragon.
4: I love Hop 2 It. Brad has been working 14 hour days, so the kids literally don't ever see him. It was getting stressful for me, and then I remembered that the bounce house place is around the corner and I can pay for an entire month for only $35. We've all been having a blast.5: Vegetables. This new year I've been trying to eat better and I seriously have a new found love for veggies. I always liked salad, but I find myself craving veggies now.
6: Owning both of our vehicles.
7: Tax Returns, this year was awesome because we had Claire (also, see #6)
8: Brad. (This list isn't really in order of appreciation, just in the order of what I'm thinking about.) He has been working so hard at the Red Lion. His pay check is super appreciated, but more so, the fact that he's been willing to stick it out through 6 years of crappy, low-end jobs to finally get to where he is now. And it's all so that we can be comfortable and I can stay home with the kiddos.
9: Being a stay-at-home mom. Although there are days I want to scream (and usually do) I know it's where I belong. And most of the time we have so much fun learning and growing together.
10: Sleep. Claire has been sleeping so much better at night and Will quit wetting the bed, which means I've been getting to sleep through the night. It's so refreshing.
11: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is such a blessing to have this as the center of our lives and the anchor of our actions. And primary. I love that the kids can get supplemental teaching outside of the home. I love hearing what they've talked about in their classes. And I love being the secretary so I get to hear singing time. I also love that Brad is the pianist in there now too. During sharing time we get to sit together in the back!
12: Hand-me-downs. I LOVE hand-me-downs. I haven't ever HAD to buy Ruth any clothing. How awesome is that?! We have cousins and friends who have given us all their old stuff. And Ruth loves knowing that her big cousin Lydia once wore that jacket or dress. I also love having all of Claire's stuff ready to go...once she hits 18 months (I had gotten rid of Ruth's old stuff since we had a boy next).
13: Dates. Since Claire was born we've been on more dates than the rest of our entire marriage, no joking. It has been so fun to be together, alone, and get to be goofy and fall in love with each other again. It's also been extremely necessary because of the amount of time Brad spends at work with this job.
14: Crafting/holidays. I have loved being the mom of kids who can do crafts. This past year in holidays has been so much more fun because they get what's going on and we can prepare for the holiday by doing crafts and write cards and letters. It's so hard to have an infant that just wants attention but can't participate in any activities. I think this is the main reason we've had kids so close together.
