Nine years ago today I married your dad and embarked on an adventure of marriage and eternal companionship with my closest friend. It’s amazing how fast the years go by, and all that we’ve done and seen together. We’ve had lots of fun and we’re fortunate in all that we’ve been blessed with. We’re loving our little family that we’ve created and we look forward to many anniversaries to come.

I had to leave for another trip today, and your dad had to leave the house early this morning for a training for work. When he left he put you in bed with me and we snuggled and slept for a couple of hours. I relish these quiet moments with you and had such a hard time getting out of bed; I never wanted it to end. I was asleep and something woke me up so I rolled over and you were right next to me on your belly, you’d pushed yourself up with your arms and you were just staring at me. When I turned my head around to face you your face lit up with a big smile; it was like you were saying, “Good morning, mama. I’ve been waiting for you to wake up. Let’s play!”. I showered you in kisses and hugs and thought about how thankful I am to have you in my life. Then I somehow found the motivation to get us up and ready for our day.

We went for a walk with the dogs. Your dad does this almost every morning with you, but I haven’t done it for awhile. It sure is a bit chaotic, trying to hold the two dog’s leashes and not trip on them while keeping an arm around you in the Baby Bjorn to keep you secure. And now that you’re so active you kept grabbing the dog’s leashes and trying to eat them, and at one point you’d even somehow gotten a hold of one of the (empty) dog poo bags and you were trying to stick that in your mouth. But, we enjoyed our time outside and on the way home, with the dogs finally tired out and walking gently alongside me and my arm wrapped around you, I had a hard time returning home to get ready for my trip. All I wanted to do was to just keep walking around the neighborhood indefinitely with you three.