Welcome to Must Love Babies!

I am assuming you are here because you love babies. After all, the blog is called "Must Love Babies," not "Kinda Love Babies" or "Sort Of Love Babies."

Now that we've cleared that up, let me start by introducing you to my two babies. First, we have Josie:

She's independent, spirited (not the euphemism kind of spirited, really and sincerely spirited), smart, reserved at times, easily overwhelmed (she gets that from her momma) and opinionated. She was late to sit up, late to crawl, late to walk and late to talk but she could stack blocks a dozen deep at 11 months, she knew her ABCs at 14 months and now at 25 months, counts to 50. She loves numbers. She loves identifying, lists, putting things in perfect rows and reciting things in order and then in reverse order. She doesn't seem to care about pleasing people. She reads like crazy. She is getting dimples. She likes to observe. She's a daddy's girl. She's our firstborn and she'll always be my baby.

Then we have Caroline:

Caroline was born a scant 13 months after Josie. She was a vocal and expressive baby from her first day on earth. She is a comedienne. She wears her heart on her sleeve (literally, in this photo). She's either utterly thrilled with life or desperately unhappy (usually the former, thankfully). She's cuddly and snugly and affectionate and loves to copy. She has hit the big benchmarks in a typical fashion but has been talking for what feels like forever. She gets her feelings hurt easily. She's emotional (she gets that from her momma). She's a mommy's girl. She's the little sis and she'll also always be my baby.

Then there's Mom and Dad:

We met in 2005, married in 2007, had Josie in 2009 and Caroline in 2010. We are people who don't like to waste time. Well, actually we can waste time like no one's business, and it takes us several hours and much debate just to decide what we feel like for dinner, but when it comes to giant life decisions, we're cliff divers. We are fairly simple people, down to earth, prone to mistakes, huge music lovers/snobs, flawed but always trying to improve. And since we've had kids, our days and evenings have become more about Laurie Berkner cds, diapers and floor time and less about where we should go out to eat. I should clarify: we don't go out to eat, like at all, anymore. But, like the vast majority of parents, we wouldn't trade it for anything in the whole wide universe.

I should also mention our dog, Stevie:

She was our original "child." She is an awesome dog though she has a severe anxious streak that is slowly dissipating with age. S-l-o-w-l-y.

I am pretty thrilled with our family right now. Yes, I do fondly remember when the biggest decision in my life was which 6-pack I should buy for the weekend or if we should take the long way or the short way to an impromptu weekend getaway, and I do miss that at times, but we have a whole life ahead of us with all our girls. We also have a whole new sense of purpose and some great built-in entertainment. Right now, life is pretty awesome. Even if I don't get to brush my teeth until 2 p.m. some days.

Ok 4 p.m.