the one with some gratitude

Zoey, yesterday (Wednesday) I had my first day off of work in a long time. The anticipation of spending the entire day with only you had me giddy all week. Sadly, when you woke up in the morning you thought it was the "Turkey Party Day" and that you would be spending the entire day with me and daddy. Since daddy had to go to work, you cried all day long - over shoes, over clothes, over every single time I said no, over food, over nearly everything. Your crying had me in tears of frustration. So, for lunch I made a special treat: a chocolate rice cake topped with peanut butter and bananas (thanks, Christie!) and it was the ONLY time ALL day you were happy and smiling for more than 5 consecutive minutes.

After I finished my deliciousness for lunch, I sat and watched you enjoy yours and was overwhelmed with gratitude for you. You try so hard to be good and to listen to mommy and daddy. You make me laugh every single day of my life. You are so, so beautiful and so, so smart. You try to keep everything clean. See how you are drinking your milk because your hands are covered in peanut butter? You have been doing that since you were tiny tiny. You are so precious to me, Zoey. I love you.

And you, Brian. Thank you for spending all your time off doing "stuffs" for Zoey and me. Thank you for painting and putting up shelves and fixing doorknobs and cooking stuffing and baking bubble loaf and cleaning and bringing up Christmas bins and taking down fall bins and hanging lights on the tree and hanging lights outside and buying me ice cream and bending over for me every 3 minutes and playing with Zoey and letting me sleep in and letting me take naps and for everything else I am forgetting. I love you, too.