This little one is full of giggles and whispers. I loved how she was both quiet and shy, then erupting into laughter. Improvising games of hide and seek, she truly was a joy. Her parents give you an idea of why she is so lovable.

Things I'm doing now: watching Teen Mom on MTV, figuring out the ages of successful people and comparing, looking at fashion blogs for new stores, deciding on outfits days in advance, eating chocolate bars with sea salt and sticking leftovers in the freezer, editing photos from Christmas vacation and wondering why I didn't take any of my childhood home, imagining where my brother is and what he's doing, reading What To Expect When You're Expecting and praying nothing goes wrong with my baby

My husband casually said to me in late fall that he wanted to go home this Christmas. In the ho-hum of his tone I knew he didn't really want to show how much he missed his parents so I said dismissively "okay, sure". The way home was much quicker than I expected, until I had to go to the bathroom. Too much coffee will do that to ya. As we were leaving the rest-stop I saw this pretty lake of water which had inched itself up onto the grass, giving the trees a shallow bath. The fog was everywhere and gave me a sense of .....peace.