Originally written on April 28th; video from April 24th.  Due to technical difficulties uploading video and forgetful mother syndrome, I am just now posting it.

I always thought I knew both how wonderful and how difficult it would be to be a parent (and stay at home mom), but the reality is that I had no clue!  It is both harder than I imagined and more amazing, more make-your-heart-melt fabulous than I realized it would be.  Here is a snippet of one of our moments earlier this week: http://youtu.be/n6jKfu7qUhQ

This laughter and general happiness is a daily routine…I manage to capture a tiny bit of it on video every once in awhile.  Of course, it is not always giggles and glee: we certainly have our share of fussy-buns moments around here.  I will post a video of visits with our adorable screecher monkey sometime soon so you can see both sides of the coin.   Fortunately, this (giggling gleefulness) is much more common than screecher-monkey days but we all have ups and downs, no? And I am learning to enjoy it all…or at least weather it all and appreciate what she is going through.  As one of our favorite books says: I love your happy side and your mad side.