Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Happy Half a Year

I truly, honestly, really cannot believe Birdie is SIX months old today. The time has flown by in a flash. He has such a sweet, easy-going personality, loves his Big Sister, rolls to where he wants to go, and boy-o-boy does he love his food! The first six months have been a thing of magic and beauty as I watch him grow and change literally before my eyes.

6 month check-up stats:
Weight: 18 pounds, 12 oz.
Height: 28 inches

Happy, healthy, and growing strong.


Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Cookies

The other day I felt a flutter and I excitedly paused to feel it with my hand... then I realized mid-pause that a) I'm not pregnant and b) the "flutter" was my lunch digesting.

True story.

A friend of mine told me her Mom, who had 3 children (all of which are grown adults now), will still wake up at night sometimes thinking she hears her children's cries only to realize they no longer live at home. This got me to thinking about how strong the connection of being a Mother is. Certain sounds, smells, sights, tastes, and touches can instantly transport a Mom back to her baby, no matter how old the Mom or the baby. The brain associates the 5 senses to memory, this has been proven. With Logan, I stayed at the hospital (due to my complication) for 5 days. That was a long time. In that time, Joe would raid the hospital snack bar at 3am for us. One thing we ate a ton of was their chocolate chip cookies. I liked chocolate chip cookies before I had Logan, but now, I will always equate them with nursing my baby boy in the glow of the light that shone underneath my hospital room door from the hallway. Joe would sit across from me in the rocker and we would chat about how Emmi was doing at home, what we guessed Logan would be when he grew up, how I was feeling... And just like that they tasted sweeter.

While I will miss being pregnant immensely and I realize that one day my faux flutters will really be a thing of the past, I will always have my cookies memories.

A week after we brought Logan home, I found these, placed upright in our pantry. Joe obviously felt the same way about them and brought them home, unbeknownst to me. I don't think we'll ever open them.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Telling Your Story

My life changed the day my husband and family banded together to buy me my first DSLR camera.

Looking through the lens now, I see my children in a whole new way. I am learning as I go and have been reading a fabulous book that demystifies many of the common DSLR pitfalls and is making shooting fun, easy, and stress-free. I still need to practice. My shots aren't perfect all the time. I will probably never learn everything my camera can do and that's okay.

My camera has afforded me the chance to move away from the typical posed, "say cheese" shots. Not that those don't have a place, but I am able to start storytelling with my photographs. No more Captain Obvious photo captions... others can finally see the photos and figure out the story for themselves.

And the best thing? Birdie & Peanut will now be able to look back and see their stories. The biggest gift I can give them right now is to tell them that...

 Yes, their Mama was there. She saw them.

So, while I never take out my camera anymore expecting to get the shot (although nice if it happens), I always have the lens at the ready and I shoot to tell the story. And at the end of the night, when I pop that card reader in, I am constantly amazed, touched, and tickled by the images that flash before my eyes. 

My children... their stories... my stories.