Today I'm thankful for...

1. An early flight home.  Bobby was at a conference this week.  He was supposed to fly home this afternoon, but he changed his flight to last night instead.  He missed me too much. :)  He got home after the kiddos were in bed, and they were excited to see him in the morning.  I'm glad he's back because I think the kiddies were starting to get tired of seeing me all the time, and I always stay up way too late when he's gone which has a horrible ripple effect on everyone because I get tired and cranky, then the kids get grumpy because I have no patience, then I get even crankier because the kids are acting up....and the vicious cycle goes on and on.  Everything is better when Daddy is home.

2. One-on-one time with Sydney.  When Sydney was born, Lillian became very clingy to me.  So while she spent all of her time with me, Sydney got to spend lots of time with Daddy.  They became buddies, and Bobby started worrying that Lillian wouldn't want to be with him ever again.  Now that Liam is here, the roles have reversed.  Sydney now clings to me like there's no tomorrow, and Lillian has taken advantage of the open opportunity to get attention from Daddy.  She cuddles with him on the couch, she snuggles with him in bed, and she always chooses to "go with Daddy" when there's an open seat in his car.  This morning we had to drive separately to church and Bobby was ready to leave before I was (surprise).  Lillian immediately said, "I'm going with Daddy!" and she got her shoes and coat on with lightning speed.  Sydney said, "I'm going with Mommy" and she lingered by my side.  Bobby took Liam with him, too, which left just me and Syd to finish packing the church bag and picking out snacks together.  It was nice to be able to focus 100% on her, even if was just for a little bit.  She's such a tender, sweet, and affectionate little girl.  She might be quiet and shy at times, but she's actually a total goof-ball (and sometimes a little monster) deep down inside.

3. Tres Leches.  We have friends from Honduras and we love being invited to their house to eat their delicious food.  Their son's birthday was this weekend so they made tres leches cake and invited us over to have some.  If you've never had tres leches, man you don't know what you're missing.  It's delicious!

4. Liam's baby steps.  He's been taking a few steps here and there for about a month.  Over the past couple of days, however, it looks like he's starting to prefer walking to crawling.  He's getting up more frequently to toddle around, and when he falls over he gets back up instead of resorting to crawling.  It's fun to watch him figure out his balance.  He sticks his arms straight out and then he waddle-walks back and forth.  He always has such a big smile on his face like he knows he's doing something really awesome!

5. Auntie Audrey's birthday!  My sister's birthday is today, so we invited her over last night for cupcakes and dinner (and yes, we had them in that order). ;-)  We also had a dance party, a parade, and Lillian and Sydney served us a pretend dinner with fancy desserts on the floor in their bedroom.  After los tres ninos went to bed we stayed up for a few hours and had some girl talk.  It was awesome!  I don't remember the last time I was able to sit down and have some adult conversation in peace and quiet (except for the three times Liam briefly woke up).....and the fact that I was with my sister made it even better.  I'm so grateful that she took the time to come hang out with us!