My "word" for the year is...

4 pages, 2 layouts... all for Peyton's book. Teaching my kids about where they came from is very important to me, those are great people and great stories that they need to know. These pages are about my parents and Merrill's parents. I love to have the baby pics with them, they are so much more interesting than their boring adult pics... just kidding.

Jaclyn posted her word for the year, which got me thinking, and helped to keep me awake last night, well, along with the discomfort of my growing belly... I finally came up with it...

EMBRACE

I will embrace my family, friends, and experiences that happen with them. I will not continue to dwell on what comes next, I will enjoy what is happening now, I will embrace it.

I started to think of how I want to be better this year. I started to think of the naggy wife I was as the year began... I kept nagging Merrill as to when we would "try" for this one, and I have continued to nag him about the "next one". Mom tells me to leave him alone, I am pregnant after all. But I feel like I need to "seal the deal", so this won't be it. I could happily go on to have a dozen or more children, it's Merrill's poor gray hairs that can't, or his wallet for that matter. But I now realize how many things I truly wasn't enjoying or in the moment for, looking ahead to the next event to happen. I wish that I would have enjoyed the girls at their individual stages more, not dwelling on when I could bear their next sibling.

So I will embrace every moment that Peyton has as an infant, not trying to rush it along so I can look forward to the "next one". I will embrace what I have now, two healthy, yet emotional little girls, and the awesome relationship (although there is some slight nagging...) that I have with Merrill.

This all stems from another great lesson I learned from Christie, who also brought me a yummy treat today :)... Thanks buddy!