When you have little ones and your friends have little ones eating at home is the key to having dinner with friends. Tonight Holli, Shanon Saylor and baby Sloane came over for a week night dinner. The best way to have a little bit of adult interaction in an atmosphere that accommodates the needs of three babes under the age of 3.

Sometimes when you don’t see your friends it is easy to use the excuse we are so busy. But I love these week night dinners. We alternate whose house and who cooks. The kids play and fight and still demand our attention. But we get time to catch up or just be together for even just an hour or so. It means so much to just be with friends who are in the same parenting boat we are.

Reagan’s newest game. Pull all the decorative pillows on the floor. Get her babies. Get some blankets. Then cover them up and say night night. Cutest game ever! 

Reagan loves shoes. She literally carries multiple pairs around the house as she repeats: shoes, shoes, shoes. We sometimes even have to change her shoes during the day because she wants to wear a different pair. 

A week ago at Target when we passed the shoe department she starts yelling and pointing, shoes, shoes! And of course we were there to find some summer clothes so sandals were on the list. She had to wear them as we shopped!

Tonight we played with her shoes for over 20 minutes. She is just so cute with all of her shoes and it makes me smile daily!

I love movies. My husband does not. So we rarely watch them. Tonight my parents were over for dinner. Afterwards Ryan and my dad wanted to sit in the hot tub. The perfect opportunity for me to find a movie, because my mom is a great movie partner!

On Starz I found a movie called the Meddler. Looked entertaining enough, so we pushed play. And we were so glad we did. The movie was cute. Funny. Witty. One of those you are sad to see end. One on the best I have seen in a long time. And when my mom stays until it’s over, you know it was engaging! 

A wonderful evening spent with family. But the best couple hours were on the couch with my mom and our Saturday night movie! 

I am pretty sure Reagan noticed her shadow for the first time today. It was adorable to watch her bob up and down making it move! Watching her learn and grow brings so much Joy!

Reagan isn’t your best all night sleeper. She has probably slept through the night entirely 10 times, maybe. And she just turned 18 months. 

Over the last month she has seemed to get a bit more demanding in her needs in the middle of the night. She has four teeth she is cutting and I think that’s why she is up more than once a night most of the time. 

Last night at 12:17, I could hear her crying. It kills me in the middle of the night so I go to her quickly. When I arrive she is standing in her crib with her wuba (binki) in hand. She reaches up and wraps her legs around my waist as I pull her into me. I try to sit down in the rocker but she points at the door and whines. I ask, “do you want a baba?” And she nods yes. 

In the kitchen I sit her on the floor as I make the bottle in the dark. She looks up and says “mama” and I say “Reagan” back. And I know she is smiling, this is our game. Her bottle is done and she happily takes it as I swoop her up again.

In her room she drinks her bottle as I rock her. A couple ounces later, she hands it back. I ask for a kiss. She purses her lips and kisses me good night again. I lay her back down, give her foxy and tuck her in. 

I return to my bed. Hoping she will sleep the rest of the night. It is 12:28. She needed eleven minutes from me tonight. The number hits me for some reason. The last eleven minutes were dedicated to loving my baby, meeting her needs and making her feel secure. 

So while the multiple ups and downs throughout the nights can be tiring they are also incredibly special. Some day Reagan won’t need me for eleven minutes in the middle of the night. And my quiet moments spent rocking and looking at my sweet baby will end. So I will love every exhausting moment, because these moments will become memories sooner than I realize.

So when I first had the idea to blog each day about my Joy, I knew it would be hard to do for 365 days. But in a moment of inspiration you just go with it, sometimes. I say sometimes because often times I talk myself out of doing the things that my heart says “go for.” 

My reservations often come from a place of caution. The little voice of doubt in my head that says “you don’t have time” or “you can’t possibly add another to do to your list” or “how will you manage.” Do you know that voice? The one that we seem to listen to more than we realize.

I am not sure how I feel about that voice. I appreciate it often but wish it would just let me dream without input others. Either way, that voice of caution told me, “don’t commit to this, you won’t do it, 365 days is a lot of days.”

I literally said, out loud, if I can’t find 365 things to be joyful about or grateful for then I have a problem. And as I reflect on the past 26 days of this blog, I can see where I found Joy and where finding Joy was a struggle. 

What I love about this blog is it is about my own personal Joy and where it is found each day. Some days it is easy to identify and easy to share. Others, the Joy is simply in being human and experiencing one of those exhausting days that can’t be over soon enough. But in each day there are moments we can be grateful for. Big or small. And taking time to reflect and identify them is my reason behind these 365 days.

So, I reaffirm I will share my Joy for 365, for no other reason than I am working on being more grateful and present in my own life for myself and my family. I promise myself even when the day is hard I will be honest in what I share (no matter how vulnerable that makes me feel), be grateful for the life I have been blessed with and be authentic. Because being authentic is one of the most important things I can do. And in the pure honesty of authenticity comes great Joy of knowing you were true to yourself!

When you are feeling a little under the weather and a little worse for the wear, a delicious homemade bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup hits the spot. A comfort food that also nourishes from the inside out. And we have leftovers too! Bonus!

Today was a Monday. And I survived it! Thankful  it is over. Sometimes Joy is hard to find. But at the end of the day,  Joy comes from being alive and human, and having a Monday you are glad is over, is just part of the ride!

Those foods that have a story behind them. Do you know what I am talking about? Tonight I made two things that have a story. 

My Grandma Olive’s potato salad. The best there is. Made with mashed potatoes, miracle whip, black olives and other standard potato salad ingredients. But it isn’t your typical potato salad. We don’t actually have a recipe because she always just threw it together perfectly. And my rendition tonight was pretty close. Each bite was delicious and reminded me of my grandma! 

I also made what we call Aunt Janet’s chocolate cake. One summer while we visited California, Aunt Janet made us about 3 of these cakes during our weeks stay.  It is the best cake and tonight reminded us why we LOVED it then and still LOVE it now.

Sometimes food brings you joy in more forms than just taste. Tonight it tasted amazing but brought back memories and feelings.