Gratitude

What a wonderful day we had! Elizabeth woke up at the crack of dawn, which makes me feel like I'm incredibly old because there were the days when I could party until 6 am, come home, shower and head to work for the day and still function. I was in bed by 1:00, albeit with Ethan laying next to me chatting, but sound asleep by 1:30, I think. Elizabeth woke at 7:30 and I thought I was going to die. The sleep crusties were sealing my eyes shut and I think I walked around this morning with partially open eyes. By 10:30, I loaded Ethan up in the car and headed to BJ's for diapers. Daddy and Elizabeth stayed here and took a nice walk around the neighborhood. Can I just say, though, that toting one child around while running errands is a piece of CAKE! One child? Ha!

We had good naps that lasted from about 1:20 until 3:50 and, when we woke up, my brother and sister-in-law were here with my niece. They were on the front porch, waiting for us to wake up. My brother came in briefly to get the dog and take her outside to play. Thanks, Matt! We spent an hour with the kids out front, jumping in the leaves and having fun. The neighbors came outside and by the time we left, there were 6 kids under the age of 4 playing out front. At 5:00, we headed to dinner for my mom's birthday and, much to everyone's surprise, the kids behaved wonderfully! Yay! We were home by 7:30, got the kids in the bathtub, and had them in their jammies and in bed by 8:15. Thank you, honey, for bathing them!

My gratitude today is for the beautiful weather we've been having the last few days. The temperature has been cool, yet not too cool. It allowed for a beautiful night outside last night in Annapolis. I was able to run around today in long-sleeves and jeans with my flip-flops! :) I do adore this time of year, though, when I let the dog out at night and take in the crisp fall air mixed with the scent of fireplaces in the neighborhood.