Shoulder Kisses

I had to title this blog post "shoulder kisses" because if I ever forget the way that jane gratefully and lovingly kisses my shoulder each time I pick her up, I would be real ashamed of myself.

Since we have been apart from Jeff, her attachment to me has substantially increased, and for the most part, it really melts my heart. I mean, her looking up at me and saying "Momma!"..."Hold you!" will actually NEVER get old, even if she says it 42 times a day! Essentially, she is an appendage, but definitely the cutest one I have.

We have really enjoyed living in the small little town called Willard, Utah. My aunt and uncle and cousins are all angels...they give us lots of love, a room to sleep in, food to eat, and a house to play in that has A LOT more square feet than our wymount apartment had. :) It makes entertaining Jane so much easier. A big space to play in and extra people to play with- people who LOVE her too! What more could a little girl want?

We went on a little road trip this weekend, just me and my little janie girl. Rexburg, Idaho. And I can now confirm all "frozen tundra" jokes directed towards that little college town. I learned to never leave anything in the car overnight that you don't want to be frozen. Including baby wipes... Speaking of baby wipes, Jane's greatest fascination during our weekend visit was to watch her baby cousin Ian get his diaper changed. Whenever she watched him get his diaper changed, she would then beg me to change her diaper. Ha! And usually I have to chase her around and tackle her in order to do so.

Jane and Ian were so cute together. She legitimately loved him. And he gave her SO many smiles that I couldn't help but think that he legitimately loved her too. Cousin love, the best.

Despite the fact that my hands felt like icicles whenever I drove anywhere, (because the steering wheel is not exempt from the frozen in the car if left overnight category) we had a great time. Laura and I talked about our kids, made huge amounts of breakfast burritos and crafted. Total mom stuff (the best). And I got to hang with my brother Brendon. I mostly just bought him food, because that is every freshman's love language. I loved that we got to spend some fun time with Laura, Tom, (Jane looooves saying "Tom") Ian, and my brother Brendon. 4 of our favorite people in one cold, cold place.

making a matching game for jane//breakfast burrito assembly line//straight up diva in a craft store//Jane and Brendon. She looks like 5 in this picture. what the heck?

On our way back from Idaho, I had a moment that I don't really want to forget, as simple as it was. We had been driving for only 20 minutes when I had to stop for gas. Jane had already gotten her whine on and was not a happy camper. But when I was standing outside her window getting gas, she saw me and her eyes lit up. I started making silly faces and before I knew it, her tears had turned into an eruption of the happiest giggles. I just loved that moment, that all she needed to be happy, to be comforted, was her mom. And I am the lucky one who gets to be that person. I know it won't always be that way, but I just feel like this beautiful, daunting, and wonderful responsibility of being everything she needs is just the coolest feeling in the world.