On Sunday, Nicholas' actual birthday, his family came over for cake and Katelyn and I stopped by a local coffee shop for coffee for everyone. Cooper took a few really good naps, and we watched basketball on TV, Nicholas opened his gifts, and we just visited. And it was lovely.What a year we've spent together...

Once this is done, I can look forward, with clearer eyes, a lighter heart. I so often feel lighter from observing the heavy pieces one last time before putting them to the side, emptying my hands in order to take up the next year in our life. Knitting: Creatively, the start of the year felt a little slow, since morning sickness derailed any interest in much of anything. I did regain my knitting mojo, but then life circumstances were hectic with a cross-country move, etc...

This past Saturday, August 17, marked six years of marriage for us. This anniversary was wildly different for us for lots of reasons (hello, baby boy!) When I look back on the last year of our marriage, there was so much that was hard and good, and the impetus for growth.This year brought so many changes to our life, not the least of these being the arrival of our sweet Cooper. On our last anniversary, I wrote that that year was the most fun of our marriage yet...

This past weekend, Nicholas and I took a whirlwind trip to my hometown in Minnesota to see family and have my third and final baby shower. Friday, I drove to pick up Nicholas from his workplace downtown Chicago, and then we hopped on the road (albeit through some Chicago traffic), heading north. I had packed us sandwiches and fruit and snacks, as we were eager to make good time and minimize stops. We drove the route, through Illinois, then Wisconsin, and finally Minnesota that I had driven countless times as a Purdue student, a route we hadn't driven in years(!) since we moved to Texas...

This past Saturday was Nicholas' birthday! My sister-in-law, Katelyn, has been visiting us the last several days. The three of us started his birthday out with an early breakfast at Snooze, followed by coming home and opening his birthday gifts. Katelyn and I baked a Mary Berry cake recipe—vanilla with chocolate buttercream—and we drank decaf coffee and ate cake after Nicholas blew out his twenty-nine candles. We played Dominion, one of his birthday gifts, and spent a cozy evening inside, with rice and crispy orange shrimp for supper...