Kitchie Coo

Our holidays were filled to the brim with love and noise.  My love cup is full and I am entering the new year with a heart that is simply oozing with feelings of goodness, joy, love, luck and happiness.  We spent the holidays in Minnesota with the bulk of my immediate family (with the exception of my Momma who lives in Virginia.  Our hearts ached for her, and she was missed dearly).  For the first time in almost two years all my siblings were accounted for at one table on several occasions, and those occasions were the most beautiful organized chaos...they always are.  I have three sisters and one brother and when the five of us are together, the rest of the world falls away.  Together we can be ourselves in a way that we can be with no one else.  Crazy, weird, silly, utterly ridiculous...and all without any judgement or reservation.


And I know I've said this before, but there is nothing in the world like watching the people you love loving on your little ones.  There is hardly a greater joy than watching my girls soaking up the love of those around them.





The other cool thing was seeing the instant strong bond between our girls and their cousins.  There were no moments of shyness or warming up...as soon as they saw each other they were running through the house shrieking and laughing the way only little girls can do.





We say this to each other all the time, but our family is so lucky.  And this is why: we all get along.  No kidding.  It is a point of awe and amazement when we sit down together and realize there are no long-standing resentments or awkwardness between anyone.  Of course we fight and have our issues, but we are able to work through them with love, and they are often gone shortly after they arrive.  Wow.


Even with a newborn in the house we live a pretty quiet life.  So, while the two weeks we were away in Minnesota were amazing and filled with overwhelming joy, they were also exhausting.  We were on the go constantly and it feels good to be back in our home and finding a groove again.

Claire, ironically, found a sleep groove while we were on vacation and was sleeping 5-6 hour stretches at a time (and is still sort of doing a version of this at home).  Anna, on the other hand, was severely sleep deprived on our travels and it has taken a full five days to get her back on track.  I think she's there, thank God, because she has been more than a handful these past few days.  Mace is back in class this week, and me, I am floundering a bit.  Trying to figure out my feelings about going back to work in February and trying to find some organization in the days I have remaining on maternity leave.  Generally, though, life is good.  I am so blessed and thank God multiple times each day for everything he has given us.