Friday

I can't believe how awesome this vacation's been so far.

My niece is absolutely gorgeous, and has the sweetest disposition. She scrunches her little nose up every time she smiles. She loves hugs and loves being held. I am absolutely in love with her - I started crying when I saw her yesterday!

My grandma made the special grandma cookies that... well, defy explanation. It's chocolate chip cookies and Reese's cups, but the whole is so much better than the sum of it's parts. Also, Grandma's mostly retired except for a little bit of work on the weekends, so we get to spend lots and lots of time with her.

My stepmom has lost a ton of weight since the last time I saw her and looks amazing. We haven't been able to spend much time with her yet, but she's got the whole weekend off and is hopefully going to be getting inked with me. Hopefully looking at the pain on her face will distract me from mine. Nothing like marking your body permanently to bond with family.

Drew is great as usual. I'm always so happy about how well he blends in with my family. So many husbands are so uncomfortable around their in-laws. So not the case with the hubster. Today, he even babysat Ace and Betlee while Grandma, Amanda, and I went to get lunch. And by babysat, I mean he slept while they slept.

Amanda's definitely looking better than she did the last time I saw her, which is great considering all of the personal issues she's facing in her life. I miss her so much and so wish that we could be closer.

Ace... well, Ace is showing me how detrimental my constant, uncontrolled coddling has been. He's not reacting well to having another baby around - every time Betlee makes a little squawk, his bottom lip stretches out a mile and he starts bawling. Being around other people makes him really uncomfortable normally - being away from home and meeting lots of new people has been a little overwhelming for him. I'm trying to keep his routine as normal as possible to counteract all of the stresses.

We're having such a good time. The weather is great - it's rained a few times, but when you're swimming anyway it doesn't matter. Ace had a blast swimming today, and I can't wait to do it again with him tomorrow. We haven't gone on the beach yet since it's been a little choppy and I didn't want Ace getting knocked over.

Boring blog, sorry. Not much else to do. Weird feeling, not having anything to do. I feel like I should be cleaning something.