Everything to me.

I scrolled through my weekend photos last night and couldn't help but pause and soak this one in for a while. It may not seem like much, but it's everything to me. They are everything to me.

Liam has finally chosen walking over crawling and is his happiest self outdoors. He'll hold his shoe in one hand and claw at the door with the other, whining, "'side? 'side?" until I can throw my hair up and look halfway presentable to the neighborhood and head outdoors. He knows all the hangout spots of his favorite neighborhood dogs, and drags us along until we stop by the fence and talk and pet. His face just glows. I adore being his mom.

Shawn has been working an incredible number of hours for our church's missions conference over the weekend, but even when he had only an hour off, he'd speed home to spend it with us. When he's home, he's fully engaged. I know that's not the easiest choice to make - and it's one I struggle with as I crave alone time - but it's a choice I appreciate more every day. Watching him gracefully navigate these new toddler days with Liam (where those delightful tantrums have just begun) is sometimes funny and mostly inspiring. I hope his patience wears off on me someday.

Our neighborhood is wooing me like never before, especially as the warm wind blows Spring into the air. This photo reveals one of our neighborhood's best qualities: its lack of garages. It means we get to see our neighbors every single day. Our neighborhood is just what we hoped it would be: racially and economically diverse, walkable, and just a stone's throw from the nearest park. We also landed the best neighbors around: they now fit the category of friends. Good friends. The house across the street just sold to a couple who will move in soon, and I'm afraid they don't know what they're in for... in the best possible way.