The Non-Things, Q1

On the day that I celebrated my fourth year of being a Mommy, I'm already feeling particularly blessed.  My precious Carter Lilly brings more joy to my life than I can even begin to describe and invigorates me in a way that causes an ordinary day to feel anything but. It only seems appropriate to continue in this reflection of blessings by taking note of the Non-Thing Things that created full lives for us in the early months of this year.

Here are my tippity top Non-Thing Things of 2012, Q1, (a bit behind, but who really notices)

1. Visiting Family Far and Wide... I've often noted  how grateful we are to have so many visitors come to our home in Denver. In the early months of this year, though, we became the visitors. It began with a trip to Pittsburgh over MLK weekend in January. Lindsay's Our cousin, Kyndal, and her family of fellas live there, and after they visited us last May, we knew that we would be returning the favor. It was so refreshing to be the guests of folks who are in our same stage of life... who understand crazy kids and schedules and quirks and are able to adapt and roll with the punches. We had a couple of adults only date nights at some fun Pittsburgh eateries and even took in some bowling. We also had plenty of time to love on each others' kiddos. Then, just a few weeks later over President's Day weekend, Carter and I took a long overdue trip to Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, to visit my Aunt Holley and Uncle Terry, their grown up kids, and their granddaughter Gigi . I had been telling Holley I would come for the past few years and finally just booked the ticket. I loved traveling with just my big girl; she is quite a fun little airplane companion. Our trip was full of trips down memory lane, delicious home-cooked meals, rousing games of Catch Phrase, and simple reconnecting. Over spring break, we made it back to North Carolina. The trip was planned around my cousin, Amanda's, wedding, but we managed log a ton of quality family time all around. Meeting my cousin, Christene's, sweet baby girl was a big highlight for me as was spending an evening just chatting with my Grandma. Carter loved fishing with her Pa, and Murphy, of course, was happy on whatever hip she happened to be stationed. 
2. Taking Our First Ever Family Vacation... as is obvious by the above, our kids have done a lot of traveling in their young lives. We have visited family in Oklahoma, Texas, North Carolina, Arkansas, and, now, Pennsylvania over the past four years. We had not, however, ever taken a vacation with the kiddos (except a night or two to the mountains.) Lindsay and I fell in deep like with Arizona when we were there for less than 24 hours for a bowl game in early January. We decided then that it would be a fun place to bring the kids since it's such an easy flight from Denver yet miles away from the Colorado winters. When a work trip landed Lindsay in Phoenix for a Thursday meeting, we took advantage of the time and the girls and I met him at the Arizona Biltmore for the weekend. As many horror stories as I'd heard about 'vacations' with small children, we had a ball! The girls slept great, despite all being in one room, and were pleasantly occupied by the resort's beautiful grounds and the many swimming pool options. It was so lovely to take in some serious sunshine while our own backyard was still covered in snow. We also discovered on this trip that Murphy Girl is quite the natural in the pool, and I'm interested to see if this skill continues into the summer. (I should note: I'm by no means implying that we're ready to take on Disney World, but our first experience of getting our toes in the water of the family vacation was a success.) 
3. Creative Carter... as I documented back in January, Carter has quite the creative side, and I've really loved watching it evolve over the past few months. She seems to have inherited both my childhood imagination and Lindsay's artistic skill (not that he's not imaginative, too, because he is; far more than I am as an adult) and watching it all unfold has been fun. She is a lover of all things nature and enjoys going on nature walks to collect things to use for a project or an idea. She and Lindsay have spent Saturday afternoons making birds' nests and dinosaur habitats from pine-cones, leaves,  and glitter glue (she IS a girl, after all.) I try not to curb her creativity, but I have had to lay down the law on the amount of nature that's allowed in the house... I can only roll over in bed to feel a twig in my back so many times... 
4. My Hubby's New Job... after nearly five years working for the company that moved us to Denver, Lindsay took a bold and wise risk and accepted a new position (as CEO, but who's bragging?) at a new company. This new position is ideal in many ways, but it does require him to be out of town at least two nights a week but often three or even four. Now, before you start wondering what I'm getting at by listing something that takes my husband away from us 1/3 of the time as a Favorite Non-Thing, let me explain... I am happy because he is happy! In fact, I'd dare say I've never seen him in a happier place, career-wise. He is mentally stimulated; he is passionate about what he's doing; his creative juices are allowed to flow; he's excited about both the present and the future. AND, when he's not at work he's with us, really truly present. There is something so exhilarating about watching the successes of those we love, and I would gladly take a few nights of sleeping alone (likely in bed by 8:30 with a box of cookies watching Toddlers and Tiaras or Dance Moms) to share in that success.
5. The Adorableness of the Murph.... now, I'm not going to sugarcoat things and act like my Murphy doesn't with a somewhat regularity still have days like these. She certainly has many opinions about how she does and does not like things to be done and is not at all shy about expressing those, whether through verbal or physical expression. She continues to enjoy being front and center in my space, so to speak, and I often carry her around while I go about my daily tasks. The older she gets, though, the goofier she gets. Her little 'throw her head back and shriek with glee' expression is down right darling. She has a clever thought process and can thwart most any obstacle to get her hands on her beloved Mousey for some mid-day thumb-sucking. When caught doing something of the naughty variety, she is quick to run away often saying, 'Hide! Hide! Hide!' as she goes. Her love for both the I-Pad and my wallet (shrieking the word 'MONEY!' whenever she spots it) has me a tad alarmed, but I'm sure she'll just grow up to be a financial analyst. Or an account hacker. 

Despite a season that has been full of change, asthma, babysitter departures, stomach bugs, a dreaded doggie diagnosis, ear infections, and so on and so on, it feels great to reflect on the Non-Thing Things that have been just splendid throughout all the yuckies. These are the Things that keep us keepin' on!