Happy Halloween

Sleeping Beauty hopes you and yours have a wonderful time tonight, no matter where you are!

Fall in paradise

Okay, so nowhere on earth is truly paradise, but I like to believe that where I currently live (and, not-so-coincidentally, grew up) is as close as I can get to shangri-la.

Alas, my paradise doesn't really have any distinct change of seasons...unless you want to count the annual migration of the northern 'snowbirds,' (i.e., part-time retirees who come down just for the winter months), as indication that Winter has arrived. They get here literally the weekend after Thanksgiving and stay until right after Easter (their departure is another indication, this one that Spring has sprung).

And while the official arrival of Winter is still two months away, meaning we've got two more months of being able to go out to eat dinner at a decent hour without waiting to be seated (which will not be the case once all of the snowbirds arrive), for me the arrival of Fall means lazy weekend days spent enjoying the beach, not frying alive on it as is the case during the Summer months.

So, can you guess how we spent yesterday afternoon? (And yes, after this Xmas card photo session, bathing suits were donned and much fun was had by all--particularly the littlest little, who learned that sand tastes good...well, to her it does.)

My (eye) bags are packed

About those eye bags in the last picture...yeah, a few weeks back we transitioned J from her crib to a full-size big-girl bed (otherwise known as "what in the hell were we thinking?").

We held off as long as we thought possible--waiting until we caught her red-handed jumping out of her crib when she didn't want to take a nap. Imagine A's surprise when he opened her door to check on her and there she was, striding up to him. So, being the suckers doting parents that we are, we made a trip to a big-box kid's furniture store and $2K (I shit you not) later, there went our somewhat restful nights. (Okay, but in my defense at dropping so much $, we expect that this set should last her through the teen years; still, talk about sticker shock.)

Sweet tender mercy, what I would give for 7 to 8 uninterrupted hours of sleep. Between J getting up out of bed, or calling out to us, or walking into our room, and the little one waking up once a night for a bit of a nosh, I am plumb wore out.

Our (11th) anniversary is next month. We've come up with a wonderful way to celebrate--we're going to go out to dinner, just the two of us, and then stay the night at a local beachfront resort...all in the name of sleep. I can think of no better way to mark the occasion.

Decadence, I tell you, decadence.

Where does it go? aka happy 8 months baby!

(Picture taken earlier today. Why, yes, I am tired, thanks for noticing.*)

Thank you for being a fighter. Thank you for gracing us. Thank you for so much...but, especially, thank you for that glorious smile, little girl.

Happy 3/4 year to you!

P.S. Those blue eyes you're looking into? No, not mine, obviously. Those came courtesy of my MIL; A, J, and I are all of the brown-eyed variety. D, not so much. Lovely, as is the rest of her.

P.S.S. * Post forthcoming about J's recent transition to a big-girl bed, to be known as "Why Mommy's (Eye) Bags Are Packed" or some other such fitting title.