Just Us

Three years ago, it was "just us" for Christmas. Three years ago, Dani was six days old.

And if you'd have walked in our front door, as many neighbors did that week, you would have bumped into the pack-n-play in the dining room. And you would have picked up one of the diapers from the antique buffet buried under baskets of butt paste and burp cloths. And you would've waved it around with a "Oh would you look at how TINY these are?"

And you would have asked how I was holding up. And I would have said, "Better than it looks!"

And you might have seen an empty box of Hot Nows that the McCoys delivered straight from Krispy Kreme. And a guilty look on my face.

And I would have told you that it was just us, that my mom would come in another week, when Larry had to leave again, and that we were just so happy to be a family of four.

(Well, at least Larry and I were happy. I'm not so sure Caed had warmed up to the idea. And yes, Dani is screaming her ever-loving head off in this picture. Little did I know this would soon become the norm.)
:::

This Christmas, Dani is three years and six days old. And unlike the past two years, Larry did not have to work a 30 hour shift starting Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. He was home. It was "just us"--all of us.

And it was wonderful.

Other than nearly knocking over the lobby Christmas tree on two separate occasions, it was a beautiful, peaceful Eve.

And isn't it good to see how they've warmed up to each other over the years? How far they've come from this....
To this?
Three years ago, it was "just us". And it was just the beginning.