On STEP and Snuggling

Steve is currently 4.5 weeks into studying for the USMLE STEP 1 (hence his current reading material), so he is studying a lot. Because USMLE stands for United States Medical Licensing Examination. So he is taking it seriously, and studying a lot. Really. In fact, last week he studied all day every day but Sunday. It makes him feel like this:

Steve still managing to look handsome while his brain explodes.

He has been doing a really amazing job keeping his momentum up, and through we miss him very much, we are all very proud of him (Gracie currently chastises both of us if we finish a prayer without saying "AND THANK YOU FOR DADDY STUDIES!").

Of course we are all a little Daddy-deprived, and therefore in need of extra snuggling, so to help make up for the fact that everyone seemed to get up earlier and then still have no Daddy to cuddle, I started letting Gracie come snuggle with Charlie and me in my bed after they'd each had breakfast. It quickly became one of the sweetest parts of my day.

She likes the camera. But then, she came by it honestly. Genetically. Her mother is Hammy McHammerson. It couldn't be helped.

We made some ground rules, of course, like that we have to be calm and quiet and not climb all over Mommy. (Somehow Gracie translated this to “quiet and reverent.” Yes--my room demands reverence now! Either way, I got the point across I guess.) So we hang out and cuddle and Gracie tells me about her stuffed animals or the ladybug in her ear (still there, still named Robot, in case you were wondering). We admire Charlie and he smiles and coos at us. We sing songs. And Gracie (reverently?) crawls around trying out all our different pillows and telling me that she is on my or Daddy's “fot” (spot) as she lays down. And—lucky me!--I get to start my day with this cute little view:

And you can see why that would make me happy.