Nothing can quite break your heart like saying goodbye to beautiful children you won't get to see again for 7 months. 7 months! In that time Jadyn will turn 2 and forget everything about this past week. Alaina will probably remember at least some things & more than likely immortalize them in song. My favorites being the "Aunt Azina" song which consists of repeating Aunt Azina over and over again to the tune of the alphabet song and the "my bum hurts" song which similarly repeats the same phrase over and over again but this time to Alaina's stock tune. I love those girls beyond words. (And just so you guys don't think I love you any less, it is sad to say goodbye to the rest of my family, but you guys won't change as much until I see you next and barring any head trauma are not very likely to forget me.) Jadyn & I really bonded this past week. She & I are truly kindred spirits. Every time my sister would make a comment about Jadyn's personality I so identified with it. She is strong-willed, sassy, at times crabby, she'll push the limits to see how far you'll let her go, but she can be the sweetest child when she wants to be. I know she will be a handful for Amber & Joe over the years, but I pray someday I have a child just like that. I can relate to her. I know that at the end of the day what will really matter to her is that no matter how far she pushes the limits and no matter how crabby she can be even if she doesn't mean to be like that (especially about something completely ridiculous like when her brother watches West Wing), all she really needs to know is that the people who really matter will still love her regardless of all of that because she will always deeply love them.

I'll really miss being awoken by children in the morning and having them constantly under foot. There's just something completely marvelous about having children around. They make 8:00am less spiteful, a cold day at the zoo more than worth it, and the possibility of having ketchup smeared all over your shirt not really seem to matter. I can't wait for Christmas . . . :\