Bean's second first birthday and good news

Sorry that I've been absent for so long!  This last weekend was super busy but a lot of fun.  My girlfriends from college all came to visit and we celebrated Bean's first birthday again.  This time it was much more of what I had in mind.  First of all, Bean wasn't sick and I didn't have anybody that I had to worry about pleasing except her.  My friends are really amazing, more like sisters really (I think anyway, I don't have any sisters so I can't tell you for sure) and I always love it when they're here.  It feels totally easy and not like I'm entertaining at all.  So we got to spend the day doing things that Bean really likes, like being outside and going to the library.  She LOVES the library which I totally love too.  The one in our town is a little sad and doesn't have anything for kids before they turn 2, so I found one in a neighboring town that we went to check out on her second first birthday.  It was perfect and she had a blast.  We all did.

While my friends were here we also went to a wedding.  The wedding was for one of my dear friends from college and it was so nice to see him so incredibly happy.  Technically kids weren't invited but we didn't have anybody to watch Bean, so we took her to the reception (I cleared it with him beforehand) and she did so great.  I didn't get much sleep while all of this was happening but the weekend certainly recharged me in a way that I really needed.  It reminded me that there are a lot of people in the world who love me and who love Bean.  I know that my family loves us, but right now, that relationship is really draining.  The relationships that I got to enjoy this weekend were exactly the opposite.  It was so nice to not have to worry about every single detail, to let other people carry some of the load, and to just soak up the lightness and fun.  

I've spent the last couple days getting my house back in order, running all the errands that didn't get run, and trying to figure out the whole two nap to one transition (more to come on this soon because advice is needed!) but I'm finally feeling like I'm getting caught up.  I'm thrilled that everyone was here but I'm so happy to get back to our routine, get back to focusing most of my attention on Bean, and figuring out what the summer holds for us.  We have a lot of obligations, but also a lot of potential for fun and that's what I'm going to focus on now.  

And now for the good news.  My aunt got all of her test results back and the cancer has not spread at all. They're able to use the lowest levels of chemotherapy and she'll get started on that next week.  As scary as this all has been, so far it's looking like it's the best outcome for a terrible situation.  I can't thank everyone enough who has had us in their thoughts and prayers.  I know there's still a long road ahead, but I have faith that we'll get through it and that my relationship with her will be stronger at the end.  It's never good when something like this has to happen to really be a wake up call about how much someone means to you and I'm going to take that lesson with me going forward.  No more taking things for granted.