Happiness

After a fairly depressing Friday, I spent the weekend enjoying my family and reflecting a lot. It seemed that, everywhere I looked, I found things that made me happy. They may be simple, but they work for me, so I thought I'd share... The stepping stones outside our back door. I did them last summer for Meredith, Jack, Mia and Philly. It's hard to see in the picture, but they have handprints, footprints or paw prints. My new garden (during construction). I can't wait to see what we can grow. Meredith and I have big plans for tomatoes and sunflowers so far. She also says she wants to grow bananas.

The best ever--joint snoot faces. I have no idea why our kids do this, but it started with Meredith and now Jack has caught on. When we say "Snoot face!", both of their faces wrinkle up like this and they giggle like crazy.

My wonderful husband. He always brings a smile to my face.

"Sparkle shoes", as Mere calls them. These have lights all over and sparkle as she walks. Probably my favorite shoes ever just because of how insanely excited she gets every time she puts them on.

Dogs napping in sunbeams. Notice who is sleeping on the bed and who is on the rug. Any question about the canine pecking order at our house?

Playing together. Now that Jack is actually "a fun baby brother", he and Meredith have started playing together a lot. It usually ends up with Meredith teasing him and Jack trying to steal whatever toy she's playing with.

"Mommy, take my picture with Baby Jack. We smiling because we sooo happy!"

Mia's road to recovery hit another snag yesterday. She had some major complications before surgery, so instead of having her procedure done, she ended up with multiple IVs, oxygen and sedation. She's on the schedule again for Friday. Her anxiety has really gotten the best of her, so I'm going to stay with her until the surgery starts and then be there when she wakes up. Please say a prayer for her. If all goes well, she'll be home Friday night. Philly's bloodwork looked good (our vet said Philly is healthier than he is according to the lab results), so we're still not sure what's up with him. On to xrays I suppose.

The other happy thing from this weekend is that Meredith pooped in the potty all by herself! Didn't get a picture of that one :) She couldn't wait to go to daycare and tell her teachers yesterday. She told everyone she saw (including the random strangers in the parking lot) and walked down the hall giving all of the teachers high fives. It was like being the mother of a rock star! She apparently didn't repeat her big accomplishment at school. When the teachers asked if she wanted to poop on the potty, she told them, "That's okay. I poop on potty yesterday."

We were playing in the playroom today and I turned my back to grab something for Mere. When I looked back, Jack had scooted himself halfway across the room. Like his big sister before him, he's only traveling backwards, but it's a start! After three days of antibiotics, he's happy and healthy again (and sleeping like a champ!). Did I mention he weighed 26 lbs when we went to the pediatrician on Friday? The nurse in the office is a big guy who played college football and he laughs every time he puts Jack on the scale. I'm anticipating a call from his alma mater's coach soon (we gave him Eli's number too--our big guys have to stick together!)

I'm off to do my no-more-rain dance. After weeks of waiting, our swing set is being installed on Friday. The forecast is calling for rain, but I'm optimistic. If we get rained out, I'm not sure who will be more crushed--Mere or Chris! Stay tuned for lots of swing set pictures :)