Gratitude.

This past 5 days has been full of moments of gratitude. My mother and sister coming to visit us and offering plenty of helping hands, treating myself to a babysitter so that I could do some REAL cleaning around the house, visiting my father for a belated birthday/father's day and loving that he lives on the beach and still surfs at 60 years old.

Tearing up toilet paper with Aunt Nicole.

My mom and sister live in Florida in winter and Jersey in the summer. My sister had not seen Iris since she was born and I was excited for them to meet again. My mom was able to visit a few times this winter. It is always such a relief when she is her. She is a huge help folding laundry, chasing nuggie around, helping me run errands and babyproofing the house. She loves her one and only grandchild and it melts my heart to see them together.

Iris's reign of terror.

Having a 9 month old who crawls and pulls up on anything she can get her hands on is tiring and sometimes downright frustrating. I have had to rethink my whole gameplan when it comes to getting things done. I literally can barely do anything while she is awake. She does not like to be contained anymore (i.e. exersaucer, johnny jump up). She wants to move, explore and taste everything. I can hardly blame her. That is why I have decided to treat myself to a babysitter for 2 hours a week (maybe not every week) just so I can get some things done and keep myself... afloat. She feeds the little nugget her lunch, takes her on walks and generally makes sure she doesn't hurt herself or crawl off a cliff. It's the best $20 I've spent in a while.

It was also Iris's first time on the beach (well technicaly her second but the first time was just for a photo). We forgot our camera so sadly there is no documentation. I plan on updating my technology and am getting an iPhone in August so I'll have no excuse and I won't have to lug around my giant Nikon (especially onto a beach where it can get sandy). She wasn't a fan of sand but she did like the water. It was nice to get some sun and some sand between our toes. My dad is a real beach guy still surfing, boogie boarding and paddle boarding at 60 years old. I love that he is so enthusiastic about the outdoors. It always makes for a fun visit.

My best friend was along for the trip to my Dad's and stayed at our house for 2 days after. SLUMBER PARTY!!! It was fun to lay by the pool, read some magazines, watch Trueblood and drink some wine with her. We needed that. We don't live far from eachother (in fact I could ride a bike to her place if it weren't so damn hilly around here) but we live in a small town so it's nice to just be out here in the woods and away from the sometimes-all-to-familiar-faces of town.

You didn't think we'd leave her out of the pool lounging did you?

For all of this... I am grateful.