Day 1 - April 1st

What better way to start my "A Picture a Day for a Year" than with my two most very favorite people in the world! Russell is my handsome prince, my night-in-shining-armor, the love of my life, and way more than I ever thought possible. He is a blessing and a gift from God. We've been married for 5 1/2 whole months now!!

Ginger is my angel, the reason I laugh, my gift from God, and my mini-me. This kid is funny and full of life and love. She has compassion and a yearning to want to understand everything. I keep telling myself, "Amber, it's good she asks so many questions, she's learning." But you know what...this little thing will argue with a wall. I swear she loves to hear herself talk...about nothing.

We have a bedtime ritual every night. That's what this picture is. We race to bed. We start at the designated spot in the living room and listen to "On your mark...get set...Grow!!" Then Ginger pretends to run in attempt to trick us, but this happens several times...every night. We still get "tricked". Finally we hear, "On your mark...get set...Go!!" And for the most part we all make it to Ginger's bed without getting hurt. Occasionally a leg gets bumped on the edge, a head gets banged into the top bunk, or a head gets smashed on the wall. Then we laugh and tickle, sing and pray, kiss all the toys, agree on an alarm clock time of 7:04am, and enjoy the occasional ritual of blowing up Russell's nose. We always leave with a kiss and the refusal of licking the ceiling, kissing a light bulb, or taking the butterflies off the wall.

Yep...every night. And I wouldn't want to change it for anything. I know she'll grow and it will change, but I'm going to hang on to it now for as long as I can.