Ahhh

Tonight, Will and I took the kids to a shopping center in our area that has lots of restaurants, shops, huge fountains, wide open grassy areas, and a playground. It's a place we used to frequent when Charlie was a toddler, before Anna came along. After her arrival, attending a place like this with a finicky, clingy, crawling infant was just not worth the hassle.
Today as Will and I sat back in chairs along the sidelines and watched as our two little monkeys giggled and chased one another along the stretch of playground, I breathed a huge sigh. A sigh of relief, as well as gratefulness for the beauty that is our life these days.
Don't get me wrong, as soon as Anna really got the hang of walking, she got the hang of running. Away. And into trouble. But that is something I actually like about parenthood. While the midnight feedings and leach-like dependence of infancy is fun for some, I prefer the insanity of books in the toilet, markers on the wall, cereal in the guest room, and underwear in the pantry.

And there is nothing in the world like the feeling of seeing your children running together and laughing aloud, creating their own childhood memories together.