Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you all have a fantastic day!
Here's a quick list of the things I'm thankful for:

• An amazing husband who works so hard for our family.
• The opportunity to be a mommy to the coolest kid ever.
• Our awesome families.
• Friends, new and old and all over the country.
• Modern conveniences such as electricity, plumbing and airline travel.
• Good food, good naps and good weather.

Calder at 1

About a month ago, when Calder and I were in Oregon, we met up with our friends Max & Danielle from Chicago. We had a great time together and had a marvelous dinner. Danielle was gracious enough to take Calder's 1 year old pictures. I have talked about Danielle's amazing abilities before. You can check out her last photo shoot for us here.

Danielle has this amazing ability to capture someone's personality in her photos. I love the facial expressions she caught that I see every day but don't happen that often with Calder. I love having the whole CD of pictures and could not possibly choose a favorite. This does make choosing one to blow up and frame quite difficult. I may have to do a large photo collage or something.

I'm so thankful for Danielle and her willingness to share her talents. And I'm grateful for Max and his encouragement of Danielle's talents. We greatly value their friendship and miss them tons.

You can check out Danielle's website for more information about her and to see additional photo shoots she's done. You'll love each and every one.

13 Months

Calder,

You've learned a lot over the past month and I'm so proud of you. I can't believe the number of milestones you've mastered. You can walk, gently pet Deebo, give kisses and hugs, blow kisses and have interactive play with your friends.

I feel so blessed to be your mom and get to watch all these things happen. I know we've been having a rough go at nap time lately. I think you're ready to drop down to 1 nap and I'm not. I see the advantages of one nap but I feel like big kids have 1 nap and I'm not ready for you to be a big kid. Although, based on the last few days I don't think I have a choice.

You make me so happy. I love being with you and taking care of you. I know Daddy is a little jealous that I get to see all these new things happen throughout the day. But I also know he loves that you know when he gets home from work and want to get out of bed to give him loves. You're the best!

Love,
Mommy