Showing posts with label memories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label memories. Show all posts
Filled With Wonder And Amazement
Delight fills his eyes as he hears the word
"Sweet Treat"
Together we measure the ingredients and mix the batter.
The egg is added, the caution given.
"Not now my son, this isn't fit to eat."
Poured into the pan with anticipation building and the questions begin.
"How much longer?"
We talk of a journey taken long ago, from the cradle to the tomb.
His eyes brim with questions, these words don't hold meaning for him like they do for me.
Whispers of a son's longing to return home, a celebration awaiting him that is unlike any other.
His heart opens at the thought of coming home to his father after being away.
And still we wait.
And watch.
Speaking of friends dear to this son who also waited anxiously.
Of the concept of miracle, something that wasn't but now is.
A batter unfit to eat, but not for much longer.
Slowly the wheels turn.
This flour, sugar and spice now changed and transformed.
The buzzer rings as his little face glows.
Soon this miracle can be enjoyed by us all.
Basking in the wonder and amazement of this season our hearts united in anticipation.
For this year we celebrate, celebrate, celebrate the return of a Son to his Father.

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Sauerkraut!
That is what Baby Love Hollars when he wants to watch this and do the dance (well, our version of the dance). There is something so wonderful about sharing the classics with my kiddos. I am so grateful that my parents exposed me to some of these gems!


Come on, Do the Tapioca with us!

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My Kids Do The...Wait, What Was I Saying?
Anyone have those moments? We do all the time. Start telling a cute kiddo happening and poof! It is gone as quickly as it came. Unfortunately so much is happening right now that tracking it all is very difficult. Baby Love is so amusing and we don't want to forget an antic or episode. Which is why we are in love with these following items and look forward to seeing how they help us document our very documented little proteges.

LOVE this idea! One simple line, that is all it takes.

Simple, easy to use, colorful and all in one place. Can't wait to show this to our grandkids someday.

So messy, but oh so fun and outside of my normal Type A picks.

Purchased this for Kevin for Father's day and can't wait to have the adorable pages filled.

And TONS of these!

We have stacks of these all over our house and whenever a memory comes to mind or is created, we run to scribble the date and details in short hand (heaven help the translator).  These will be pasted all over that lovely journal that was purchased awhile back and has only a handful of complete entries.

How do you document your little ones precious moments?
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MYPUBLISHER Coupon Code
I love watching Jill's Steals and Deals on the Today Show.
And this morning she offered a deal for one of our favorite companies,
mypublisher.
This is good for the next 20 hours, so snap it up quickly!
For $10 you get a book that retails for almost $50. 
You will have 90 days to complete your book, what a great
way to document those Christmas memories.
Click here to see all of the details and to purchase your voucher!
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Some Mondays...
Even though I work 365 days a year, and have for almost 3 years now, there are times when a Monday asserts itself. Today Monday became a dominant force in our home as...

eager hands rushing for the completion of a promise sent coffee down my back and all over our green rug...


as a tired baby in need of a nap began to cry out in confusion and exhaustion amidst a chorus of
 "It's ok, it was an accident"......


as said baby was almost rocked to sleep when he was rushed in arms to the bathroom because an attempt to save the top drenched in coffee was causing this sink.....


to overflow. Cue crying baby again as he is set on the floor near the puddle that nearly became a pool....

as this sweet toddler so overcome with the events set in motion that he sat motionless with his crackers saying "so sorry momma"....

as this momma's eyes pooled with tears at the tenderness of his heart. 
Among the mess of Monday a Eucharisteo moment was gifted. 


*Curious about the references in this post and some previous ones to Giving Thanks and Eucharisto moments? They are all gifts from Ann Voskamps book One Thousand Gifts. One I would HIGHLY recommend.
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Faded Knees

The other day I happened to glance down and noticed my jeans
 faded at the knee.
Old jeans or poorly made these were not, yet the fade was unmistakable.
My heart
jumped
at the sight and I ran to grab my camera.
Five or six shots later I had captured it in full and my heart
settled down to ponder once more.
This gift I had been given at such a time of year is one that will not go
unnoticed
or
slip away in fear.
Long has my heart battled with fear and unrest over the quality of my work,
striving to be more than just the societal norm.
Late at night I can be found far down some bunny trail of how I
should have,
could have or
would have
done it differently.
 Next time I vow, next time.
You see, I fear the legacy I leave behind will be misunderstood
and fall short of future expectations.
And always do I wonder,
what if I were to leave them tomorrow.
How will they remember our time together?
 So these faded knees of mine are a testament and a gift.
They will be put aside when this chapter is done,
alongside those lovely torn edges of beloved books of times past.
As a reminder they will serve to settle my heart when the fears of uncertainty
creep in to rob me of my joy.
They testify that yes, sweet sons of mine, I was that mom who
chose to get down on her knees time and time again.

To build towers to the heavens,
 crawl into forts too small,
 to speak words of love and discipline intimately.

The fading is a badge that this choice of mine
has brought me to my knees and for that
my heart soars. 
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"For auld lang syne"
Auld Lange Syne: 
Time gone by,
 for the sake of old times,
 or in our case for the sake of seasons past, 
we remember 2011 one last time,
 in pictures!
It's A Boy!

Love, Stronger With The Passing Of Time


Faithful Friendships

Our Baby Becoming A Little Boy


Preparing For Baby


Our Living-Life-Together Friends



This =




 Happy New Years!
See you in 2012!
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Now Where Were We?
I have contemplated publishing many of the back posts that were partially written, or needed just "one more photo". And while the discussion isn't completely closed at the moment the decision has been made to pick up here and post in the present. 
The absence from blogging has been drawn out longer than necessary because of the countless excuse posts I have written in my head. As a child I was known to be able to sell "ice cubes to Eskimos" if you have heard that saying. It means that I am a good sales person, but in that vein an expert at explaining anything away or into existence, depending on the situation. A trait that was supposed to set me on the path of a lawyer in training and one that now I work hard to expunge from every crevice of my being.
With that confession being made, we have missed blogging and look forward to returning!

Here is a peek at what we have been up to in our absence:
Sweet days of summer coming to a close
New treats and experiences in this town we call home

Brotherly love blossoming
Planned a 2nd Birthday for our little Sir...

And executed a party...

Family Time

Fellowship with those we are privileged to call Friend


Milestones for our littest

Baking. Lots of baking

Less of this...


...and more of this

and an abundance of 
Thankfulness
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Slipping Through My Fingers
I can feel these precious moments with our Baby Love just slipping through my fingers. Desperately I am trying to hold on tight and get every last memory out of the moment. The milestones are no longer documented on a monthly basis. We aren't tracking development in a hawk like manner that we did for the first 12 months. Yet now more than ever I am reaching for scraps of paper to write down a memory that I can't bear the thought of losing.
The sentimental poems about leaving the dishes for later because hugs won't always be in abundance in a short period of time, blah blah blah, have always rubbed me the wrong way. In my mind keeping a pleasant and clean home provides a safe and relaxing space for creativity to blossom. Today I realized what my sentimental ode to childhood moments would look like and it explains the reason I am so tired. As my son followed me around the house, periodically asking to be held, I held him tightly. When he rested his head on my shoulder, I cuddled and rocked him. Never did I think that there wasn't time for these acts of love. As he nuzzled into my neck and began to play with my hair I began to make lists. Not of what needed to be done, but of ways to extend our closeness. And now that he is down for a nap I turn the speed up a notch and those dishes still got done. The house is picked up, clothes put away, stroller collapsed. Check, check, check. Because for me, the ability to truly dwell in those moments becomes more natural when I power through his down time. But that is just me. I am sure there are many type A personalities that would relate to my sentiments, and tons of you who wish I would just give it a break. But these moments are so precious, and I simply can't let them escape because part of my mind is elsewhere.


As we walked, no stroller just a genuine stroll, hand in hand to Starbucks. We pointed out the cars and birds, talking about what sounds they make and my breath caught a little in my chest. I heard my heart whispering to capture every element of this moment. I took a long deep breath, memorized the scent of the day. Dwelt on the smallness of his little hand in mine. Took a visual picture of what he was wearing, what I was wearing, what the world around us looked like. In that moment I knew that this scene would never repeat itself again and so I captured it earnestly. It is forever encased in my mind and I know that when I am old and gray I will be able to pull it up and relive every little detail as though it were yesterday. And onward we go, new memories to make and moments begging to be captured. And capture them I will, piece by piece.
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Safety Circle
Safety is something that always comes up in conversations when people find out we live in the heart of a larger city. When we had Baby Love we discussed in depth different precautions we would and wouldn't be taking. It was our desire to raise a healthy, secure and loving little boy who wasn't afraid of the unknown. One of the tools we used for reaffirming who was in ours, and by proxy his, safety circle was this little look book.
Sassy Look Photo Book
We filled its pages with photos and he started actively looking at, and chewing on, it by 3 months of age. Now approaching two he still loves this tattered and torn little book. We just updated the pictures inside (something we have tried to do every 3 months or so) and he spent all morning carrying it around, pointing out the people and gabbing on and on to the different loved ones. Before visiting with a loved one that he hasn't seen in awhile we will pull out his look book and find their photo. We then talk about fun things he has done with them, something memorable that might be in his memory bank. Maybe they have an animal he loves, or play a certain game with him, or have a special treat waiting upon his arrival. You get the idea, concrete consistent elements. Since we have a tight circle of friends that are like family their images are in their as well. We decided that anyone we would consider in our tight trust circle would be in his book. These are people we want him to trust as we do and so far we seem to be successful. It is exciting to think about making one of these for Baby Declan. Maybe that would be a good weekend project, eh?

So that is one of the ways we have approached safety while raising a baby in the city. We would love any and all of your questions, they fuel many of our posts and are great food for thought!
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Mommy Moments


Before Easter is too far in the recess' of our memory I thought I would share a little Mommy Moment with you from this last week. 

During nap time on Monday the Easter Candy was sorted and cleaned out. The "good" candy was put into a little bag for us to enjoy and the rest made the trek to the trash can. Included in this was the large chocolate bunny that Baby Love had made ear-less in a matter of minutes on Easter Sunday. It was amazing how fast he gobbled it up and we realized he would have the whole thing devoured before breakfast was on the table if we didn't act fast. So we made a trade for a muffin and put the deaf chocolate bunny up and out of sight. 

Fast forward to Monday, post-nap time. Baby Love gets up and proceeds to clean my floor, crumb by crumb. A new hobby of his that is wonderful. Suddenly he pauses and says loudly in distress "Mommy!". In his depositing of crumbs into the trash he had glimpsed the packaging of the monster bunny and was trying to wedge it through the tiny gap that a child proof lock allows on a door. As he freed the poor dirty chocolate bunny he looks at me with wide sad eyes and says "Nummy?". I would love to say I had a wonderful moment where I soothed him and managed to put the bunny up until a later time when I could get rid of him. But no, that's not what happened. "Oh no! Poor bunny, well he is all dirty because he was napping in the trash. Bummer, we will have to put him back in the trash. Bye Bunny". That is about how it went. Not my proudest moment. Note to self for next year, trash Easter candy deep in the depths of the trash can. Or take it to a secondary location for destruction. 
Have you ever had a mommy moment like mine? Please share! It will make me feel a little better! <wink>
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3rd Trimester Blues~ When Will I Ever Learn?

From My Heart
I have a habit of making great lists that usually far exceed my limitations of time, energy or resources. For example, when planning a party my menu has an absurd number of food items to cook and assemble. I go into the process knowing that only about half of them will be completed, but they all go well together. This gives me the ability to change my mind if something doesn't go as planned, and having too much on the list pushes me into over drive to accomplish the tasks at hand efficiently and well. Unfortunately it is also exhausting. This bad habit of mine has carried itself from my last pregnancy into the present one and it always brings about what I call the 3rd Trimester Blues.

This is the point when I realize how little I am able to get done in a day and I start counting the days left of the pregnancy. Then I compare these against my list of To-Do's and To-Want-To-Dos, and see the gap. My heart breaks a little as I have to go about crossing things off the list because they just aren't possible. And unfortunately I struggle with feeling a teeny, tiny bit of failure in knowing that I just couldn't get it done. Almost succeeded, but as I have always said, "almost never accomplished anything".

This time around I have struggled to see the hope and joy in my bad habit. I have realized that thankfully I am self-aware enough to pre-empt exhaustion and poorly planned moments, which is why my list consistently exceeds the time alloted. If there are 11 items on the list 9 will without a doubt be accomplished and my drive to succeed will propel me into tomorrows daunting list of 8 to do items. As a stay at home mom (SAHM) there is an absence of competition and I realize this habit has allowed me to compete against myself, which motivates me in the tedious tasks.

So here I am in the 3rd trimester, crossing impossible items off the list and finding joy and peace in knowing that my best has been put forward. Thank you for hearing my heart.
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Thankful Thursdays~ Dear Loved Little Books


This is what we are thankful for...



...a son who loves to read as much as we do. For little books that have been repaired time and time again not because of abuse, but because of being so dearly loved. These signs of wear on the spine and cover, show the little person he is becoming. We couldn't be more thrilled when we see these little glimpses into his personhood. He takes books to bed, always has them under his arm, is easily amused for long periods of time in the car by them and intently focuses on their content page after page. I know that someday I will look back on these tattered little books and have a hard time getting rid of them. They will always remind me of his intent focus and fascinating little mind as he developed into the little person he is to become.
*** Don't forget the giveaway ends tomorrow! Get your entry in and let us know what YOU want if you were to win!
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