Officially in the "cling" stage

M is smack dab in the middle of the 18 month must cling to mommy everyone else is no good phase, which was especially true with the travel and new faces last week. Luckily, we were able to get shots of her playing during each of the 2 minutes stints she was willing to spend with others. 

Family

Family is fantastic. May I present a study in similarities:

Expected:

Less so:

And of course, the piece de resistance:

You're welcome :o)

So much gratitude

Well, while I very clearly didn't make my original goal of posting every day this month, I did spend the last week feeling amazingly grateful.

Grateful for family and friends,

for save travel (and the fact that all flights do eventually end), 

and for excellent cameras :o) 

Should have photos to last for a few posts, but I have to make sure this one includes my new favorite picture of the cousins.

and take two :o)

The top of the pyramid

For today's gratitude I'm moving down the stack (as they say in the tech world).

After catching up on the news from this weekend I can't help but focus on just how lucky we are to be in a position where we can be grateful for ice cream treats after practicing a religion of choice. Going back to Maslow  (thank you wikipedia for the image)...

While I'm not sure I'll claim self-actualization, I'm grateful that I wake up ever morning with my physiological needs met, safe and sound in bed with my love who's a huge part of making that all possible.

Good company

Tonight I'm grateful for good company. C and I had a wonderful night of attending services at temple (where we officially became members!), and then of course having a treat afterwards.

Flexibility

Today I'm grateful for my job, which allows me to work from home. As a result, instead of fighting with traffic on 80 during the first real snow fall of the year, I'm warm and snug at home with a cup of coffee, a snoring dog, and a fantastic view :o)

Building

Today I'm grateful for all of the women who came before me and paved the ways for girls to build, and to the next generation of engineers in the making. Tonight at dinner C told me that she wants to build buildings when she grows up, and from play time after dinner it looks like m's not far behind...

...but still in need of some supervision :o)