"To be in your child's memories tomorrow, be in his life today."

Here is little Ollie, looking to me just like a mini-Matt. I picked the quote for today because we are doing such a crazy thing by having Matty stay home with Ollie, just like he did with Zoey. It is a huge sacrifice to give up the money Matty could make working full time; however, when I come home and I have such a happy baby, money doesn't amount to much. Matty can actually make Ollie laugh--I haven't been able to yet.

It is an unusual undertaking--Ollie, like Zoey, will only be taken care of by family, and only Matty or me until he is walking. I look at Zoey and how amazing she is and know that it is worth it. Again though, people tend to devalue the experience but maybe that is simple because most people don't choose it. Moreover, I am so proud of Matty because he is still managing to do his work at the Sun, freelance (he just got a WNY Family article on co-sleeping), and keep our house in relative order. It is amazing to be married to such a great guy. We are a good team.

I guess some people may wonder why I am writing this. I've been really doing some soul searching about the concept of family lately, and I've come to realize a few things:

1) just showing up is a big deal--Chris may not always want to babysit Zoey at 7:15, but she puts on her game face every day. She always makes it seem like it is her pleasure to watch Zoey.
2) families are chaotic, but synergy is amazing when we are all working towards something
3) kids pick up on everything
4) it may not take a village (sorry, I hate Hillary), but I'd say it takes a tribe--my family, my church, the library playgroups, my friends, etc. all impact how our children will turn out
5) if you blink, you'll miss something
6) establishing a "history" is so exciting!
7) a little goes a long way--my sister, Sissy, emailed Zoey a little note yesterday and Zoey printed it out an showed everyone

With that being said, Zoey and I are going to make spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. (Funny thing--we call Ollie our little meatball since he is getting his cute little round face)

Amber