musings....

Driving...

Mama: "Avonlea...look in that field...do you see all of those geese?"

Avonlea: "yeah!"

Mama: " they have to fly away when it gets cold. Where do you think they are going?"

Avonlea: ".......to Santaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

:)

my delicious little elf

What do you get when you pair $1 leggings from target with some froggy boots and the cutest cloth diaper ever?

This is what....

Some of you may think it's cruel to dress your toddler up like an elf...but man.....she is so delicious! How can I not? besides....she had more fun than I did. :)

I know I haven't posted in forever. But life is sad here in my little gingerbread house. And I have been trying to be the very best mommy that I know how to be.

And that requires $1 target leggings. and froggy boots. and silly photo shoots. and gingerbread cookies while cozying up under our favorite blanket watching Elmo's Happy Holidays video. Over and over. And over.

When I'm with my littlest elf, things here aren't so sad. And everything is merry and bright.

So Merry Christmas....

Enjoy your holidays, whatever it may be, with full bellies and new memories. Lots of love, overflowing hearts, and laughter. I know we will.

And may all your Christmases be white...

MUAH!

my little star

This is what happens when your 20 month old puts the star on the tree.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

I am loving this christmas season, sucking the marrow out of every moment. She is so fun, so little, so smart....

I cannot WAIT to see her face on christmas morning. :)

Merry christmas!!!

reds for benji

In anticipation of my best friend's baby due mid november, I had a little photo shoot during Avonlea's nap time one day.

Blair told me she was doing her nursery in whites, creams, and wood with hints of red and vintage finds. So, that got me a'thinkin....

Avonlea and I went shopping in the morning for some vintage-y reds, and found them in this little truck, some crayons, and this fun double decker bus. I set up shop on my porch railing with my 50mm lens, a macrofilter, and some good ol' fashioned sunshine.

Here are my finished products...I had them printed and framed and gave them to Blair for her birthday.

I can't wait to meet Benjamin, and hope he loves his prints as much as I do!

Care Bear- I expect to see pictures of this infamous nursery soon!

:)

love you!

oh she speaks....

i know i am ridiculously overdue on a newsletter....i have one partially written, but just cant get my act together long enough to finish it off.

so i thought i'd give some satiating stats.....

avonlea is 18 months old.

which means she is basically 2 years old, because that's how she acts now. :)

she is smart and stubborn, and a little ball of sweet love.

last week at the doctor, she was 31.25 inches long, and 22.25 lbs. she has thinned out, and gotten taller, and still fits in her 12 month clothing. i must admit, her 18 month clothing is ALMOST perfect for her but for the huge gap at the waist.

she is a picky eater. for only mommy and daddy. and eats everyone else out of house and home.

she loves elmo, and the muppets, and You're Baby Can Read videos. and books. good goddess, that girl loves her books. and being outside. she will run, and swing and slide all day if you let her.

here are all the words she knows:

hi/bye

yeah/no

muhma/dada/love you

baba/gaga/gramma/grampa

auntie

kitty/owl/octopus/elephant/duck

more/milk/water/eat/book/ice cream/waffle/egg/apple/hot/cold

elmo/cookie/oscar/count/big bird/telly

feet/sock/shoe/hat

i know there are more....but i can't seem to think of them right now. if you ask her to repeat a word, she will repeat almost anything...but these are her every day words now.

edit:

also, add these words to the every day list:

ernie/right there/up/down/thank you/bless you/stinky/nose/eye/ear/cheek/hair/head/hot dog/all done/toes/buns

she knows the animal sounds to-

dog/kitty/owl/snake/elephant/cow/monkey/duck/lion (and anything else that looks vicious enough to rawr)/cookie monster :)

i know this is a poor excuse for a newsletter...but it's just a little update. :)

i hope you enjoyed it as much as i am enjoying her....she is too delicious to share blogging time with. :)

October in photos

she loved him...

my favorite poem.....

she loved him all her life

and when she thought that he might die

she tied her wrists to his at night

so that his pulse would not flutter

away from her

suddenly

and leave her

stranded.

the author's name escapes me. i have loved this poem since seeing it tucked away in a margin of my high school's freshman year world lit book. i remember how my soul sunk when i read these words, and i would find myself returning to it for many mid-class daydreams. i have written it and rewritten it in the margins of homework, papers, scribblings and journals.

it is still my favorite. of all time.

i don't know anything about this little story. this little author.

who was he?

was he her lover? an unrequited love? and when she learned of his fate, did she rush to his side? so that he would know that she had always loved him? never forgotten? did he love her still?

was he her devoted husband? did he give her violets on their wedding day? did he make her waffles on sundays? did she raise his babies, all grown now? was he a young man, dying in his prime? or old and wrinkled with a life well lived?

Was he her daddy? was it just the two of them now that their matriarch had passed away? did she remember him promising her sweets before dinner, that she could do anything, the moon and the stars and everything beyond?

sometimes, with better known authors, you can discover these trinkets of information...but i have never tried. i like not knowing. i like to imagine....

she is old and weathered.

sitting at his bedside. white walls. white linen. white flowers at his side.

she lays with her grayed head on his chest, and her thin, delicate fingers interlaced with his. she is holding tightly. so tightly.

a fine red thread wrapped three times and tied at their wrists...

it doesn't matter so much who the man is to her. their love is otherworldly. i always imagine this the same. the same way, every time.

i have many otherworldly loves of my life. my great loves. i imagine that i will do the same as this woman, tethering their souls to mine, for as long as they will have it. to never be alone. to never be stranded.

and when it is time for them to leave, i imagine that my pulse will slow with theirs, thready and weak. and we can go together, peacefully and quiet into the light. with hearts full, and long lives well lived.

what is your favorite poem?

Mystic Seaport

For our final summer adventure, we packed up the babes and took her down to Mystic to visit the fishes. We had been telling her about it all week, hyping it up, not knowing what kind of reaction she would have. Would she be scared? Would she be overtired and fussy? Would she be overstimulated? Or would she be so insanely in awe of every gorgeous sea creature that she might see? Fortunately for us, she was the latter.

So. In. Awe.

And so were we. Of her.

We took her to see the Belugas first, to see how she would handle the outside tanks before bringing her inside into the dark to see the remainder of our new fish friends. When we walked up to the glass and she glanced across the pool to the huge beluga whale before us, her hands tightened into little fists and for just one split second I was so sure that she was going to have a freak out. But no...instead, her little body started shaking with excitement, and for the first time since she started cooing, she was utterly speechless. She was SO excited and so in awe. It. was. amazing.

After she got acclimated to the outside tanks, we took her inside. And she was all over the place, pointing and saying "THAT! that! THAT!!!" and bouncing from tank to tank to show us what she saw with her wide little eyes.

I think she loved the penguins the most...they would come to her from behind the glass and "kiss" the little hands that were smooshed up against their world...but in reality, they were trying to bite her. :)

Avonlea may have loved the penguins...but mama loved the jellies...they were so amazing to photograph!

I waited all day for this turtle to come out so I could snap this pic. :)

A zombie tuna in the shark tank! ah!

This little fish was so homely. The Steve Buschemi of fish.

Although summer is coming to a close, I know that there are many adventures on the horizon for this Autumn. School starts tomorrow for the husband, and "school" starts on wednesday for the babes. We have lots of home improvements planned, and lots of lovin' to sneak into this season. I can't wait to see what Autumn brings us with her breath of colder winds and flamed trees. No matter what, we will make the most of it.

And everything is gonna be alright.