Five on Friday: The "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas *and* I'm feeling sentimental" edition

I'm sitting upstairs in my office with the door open, working, on a Friday night at 7 p.m. while Dave watches Nick downstairs. I can hear their conversation. And I want to stop working and go join them. Every day my little boy is getting bigger, and I'm endlessly conflicted about the way I divide my time between him and my work. Both are important. One is fleeting though, and I can't get my time with Nick back.

So here are my five sentimental-and-somewhat-holiday-related thoughts tonight:
1. That hearing Nick and David jibber-jabber to each other with Christmas music playing softly in the background is the sweetest sound I can imagine.
2. That even though I do my best every day for everyone in my life, and go to bed absolutely exhausted for that very reason, it's still not good enough and probably never will be. Even though ironically it has to be.
3. That Nick is now 20 months old and will be able to tell Santa next year what he actually wants for Chrismas. Scary!
4. That I already long for the days when I could pose Nick for pictures in front of our Christmas tree because now he gets up and walks away. Hmph.
5. That Christmas is so much more extra-special for me now that I have children. It just seemed empty for a while there. How kids refocus your attention on what matters is truly miraculous.

Have a good weekend!