What a great way to start off Thanksgiving week

Yesterday was a great day for many reasons. First off, my cousin Kim and her husband Danny came down from Bakersfield to visit. I have talked to Kim quite a few times since I had Inara but haven't seen her since her wedding. It was great to visit with the newlyweds. Kim and Danny are just awesome! The girls sat and talked about the baby, being married, and Kim's nursing experiences while the boys played Guitar Hero. (Shawn converted another one. I can't believe Shawn loves playing this game as much as he does lately.) Anyways, it was great sitting and catching up with Kim. She has grown into a truly amazing woman. She's so beautiful and damn skinny too. I love her so much and am deeply proud of my little cousin. The 5 of us then headed over to my parents' house because my Uncle Bob and Jim drove down from the bay area to visit. They are staying for the week, which means Thanksgiving will be even more special having them here. Uncle Bob may be 79 but he's still got that young spunk about him. I haven't seen them since my wedding over 3 years ago, so I'm so grateful they came down to visit us. Uncle Bob couldn't get over how small Inara is. He said something that totally warmed my heart: he said he knows Nana would have adored Inara. I say this all the time actually, as does my mom. This time of year is always a bit hard because I miss my Nana and Paka so much. They were two of my most favorite people in the world and I wish more than anything that they could be here to hold Inara. They would have loved her and Nana would have given Inara big kisses and left big lipstick marks all over her cheeks. I used to love when Nana would do that. So seeing Uncle Bob brings a little bit of Nana to the house. It's great to see him!

Now for a bit of a chuckle since I made myself cry a few minutes ago. When we got home last night, I fed Inara a bottle. She was super gassy and suddenly farted so bad it about knocked me out. I told Shawn he needed to change her poopy diaper because I knew it was a doozy and he has his mask. So Shawn started changing her and we were both about knocked out by the stench. Then Shawn got some of it on his hand and about passed out as did I from laughing hysterically though. We were laughing for about 10 minutes straight. Shawn then took her into the living room carrying her over his shoulder. Inara then spit up really good and it went all down the back of Shawn's shirt and onto the carpet. Again we couldn't stop laughing at the absurding of it all. A few minutes later as I'm trying to clean up a bit, I absent-mindedly stepped in the spit up on the carpet. Shawn then asked if I loved being a parent. I wasn't sure how to respond in all honesty. After all the mayhem settled down, we were both super exhausted and instantly ready for bed. Unfortunately, Inara was wide awake at this point and ready to play, so the three of us sat on the couch while Inara smiled and smiled and talked to us a bit. It was truly priceless even after all the grossness of the poo and spit up. As I keep saying, oh the joys of parenting. But I am truly grateful for all of it!