Be Mine

Our sweet little Valentine.


I was lucky enough to share my Valentine with someone this year. I have loved having Todd as my Valentine for the past 5 years, however this year, he wasn't mine only. I had the privilege to share him with our sweet little Josie bear. I love the thought of Josie being able to experience the kind of selfless, unconditional love that my husband has to offer. Cheesy, but true. (And on a side note, yes, this wasn't Josie's first Valentine's Day, but last year was sort of a whirlwind and I'm sure I didn't sit back and think about how special it was to share Todd with her. So I'm thinking and writing about it this year. Better late than never). Back to our little Valentine. I am right now feeling so blessed that Josie gets to grow up with a man in her life who will love her probably more than she could ever imagine. Or at least until she has a little baby. Josie gets to grow up experiencing unconditional love from a daddy who adores her and that's what we celebrated on Valentine's Day. Unconditional love. And in this family, our goal is to make sure that there is always more than enough to go around.

Easy as 1, 2, 3

Josie loves waking up in the morning and heading straight to the office. Her little office, that is. In the front room. With a beautiful view of our front yard covered in snow. I love when she's busy. I love to watch how her mind works. I love that she acts like this is something of real importance. Like she has a deadline to meet. I imagine her saying, "Sorry mom, wish I could play dolls, but the boss is asking for this report by mid-morning, so I have to get busy."


But first things first. The purpose of this post was to highlight her new skill of climbing up onto the chair all by herself. It's as easy as 1, 2...well, something like that. It might be easier to just show you. So, with her serious face and all, she climbs up onto her chair in order to prepare for her work. It's easy as...ah, here we go, big push...


...a little more oomph...


...almost there...


...got it!

Of course, we've learned that if we try to help Josie climb up the chair, we've seriously ruined not only the moment, but apparently her whole life. Or at least, that's the type of cry we get from her. So we just back off and watch from a distance. And don't worry, my "spotter" hands are ready in an instant to catch a falling baby. So what if I'm protective? This is new for both of us. :-) So anyway, that's how it's done! Then of course, we climb back down (taking nearly as much time as we did to climb up in the first place), just to perform a mini-cheer "hooray!" and then start the process all over again.