Happy Campers

This summer we loaded up the tent to go camping! It was Bee's first camping trip, and she was very excited because she had heard so much about camping from the tv show Bubble Guppies. In fact, I was surprised to know that she knew so much about it! She was unexpectedly skilled on things like the ingredients to make s'mores, campfires, sleeping under the sky, and most of all: telling spooky stories about BIG FOOT.

"somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond any experience"

There is something very special about being unreachable, even just for one night. It reminded me of the newborn period, when Bee would wake in the night and we'd go into the living room to nurse. Everything was dark and quiet and it just seemed like such a special time for the two of us to be together uninterupted. This was very similar. Just us and her dad. Some time to simply be alone as a family, uninterupted.

Bee took it all in. She inspected the sky, filled her hands with sand, crunched old leaves, collected rocks, and used a broken branch as a magic wand.

Floating in the summer sky...

who knows if the moon's a balloon

go sailing

away and away sailing into a keen 

city which nobody's ever visited

Spring has sprung.

Spring is like a perhaps hand 
(which comes carefully 
out of Nowhere)arranging 
a window,into which people look(while 
people stare 
arranging and changing placing 
carefully there a strange 
thing and a known thing here)and 

changing everything carefully 

spring is like a perhaps 
Hand in a window 
(carefully to 
and fro moving New and 
Old things,while 
people stare carefully 
moving a perhaps 
fraction of flower here placing 
an inch of air there)and 

without breaking anything.







We recently had the pleasure of visiting a farm and shooting Spring themed photos with Heartfelt Photography. Bee has become quite the animal lover and really enjoyed shooting with these sweet baby chicks and ducks. She got to see goats, a horse, dogs, and chickens! I'm very happy to share some of the photos with you!

Two years in review

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

One day, somewhere in between the hustle and bustle of the holidays, visiting relatives, a failed house purchase, moving, and the world's worst and most persistent case of strep throat, I woke up with a two year old. You're two. You proudly exclaim, "I'm a big kid." I feel proud, too.

I have a lot to be proud of, Sweet Bee. First and foremost, we met our nursing goal. When you were born I had a severe hemorrhage and I didn't get to hold you right away. You were in the same room, and I heard you and spoke to you, but your first moments weren't spent on my chest, skin to skin. They were spent in a warmer with strangers. I never felt that immediate sense of giving birth, the 'I did it' moment.

The first time I held you, you were 30 minutes old, and clean. And it wasn't the way I'd pictured our first meeting. But the experience that didn't happen after your birth happened the first time you latched onto my breast. The connection. The powerful feeling of knowing, 'I did it.' My 'I did it.' 

You are becoming more and more independent with each day, with each year! I know that soon you aren't going to seek out this comfort anymore. There are times that you fall and would rather have a kiss. Times you'd rather listen to a story than fall asleep with a cuddle. Times when you're simply too busy exploring the world. I know this is coming to an end, and I'll always treasure this closeness we've shared.

I'm proud of your curiosity. Your brave, inquisitive nature. Your capacity to explore, fully, and without fear. Your careful examination of objects you find.

I'm proud of your empathy. One day this year, while nursing you to sleep, I was watching a documentary about hunger and poverty in America. I wasn't aware that you were awake or alert enough to take any of it in, but to my surprise, when you heard a young boy say he was hungry, you looked up at me and said, "we have to take him something to eat." These moments are the foundation, the building blocks of an empathetic and caring nature.

I'm proud, perhaps most of all, of your warmth. The way you approach every day with such an innocent longing and eagerness. The way you brighten people's day, anyone you come into contact with. You are something very important, and I know your warmth will continue to impact everyone around you as you grow.

You love to read, you love to sing, you love to pretend. You love animals. You love people. You love music. You love your dog. You love to dance. You love to play. You love, fully, and without question or judgement. You really love. 

For Christmas this year you received a bright, red tricycle and a small piano to play. You went to sleep on Christmas Eve in pink pajamas, full of excitement. You woke up in the morning wiping your sleepy eyes and couldn't wait to try out your new gifts. It was still early and dark outside, and we went for a ride to look at Christmas lights. It was magical. 

On New Years Eve I took you to see fireworks. You fell asleep on the way and I took you out when we arrived at the river overlooking downtown. You said, "Mom, you hear that?" I said yes. You said, "Mom, you see that?" I said yes. You said, "It's beautiful." I said, "Happy birthday, sweet girl."

It's amazing how much you've grown this year, and how far we've come. As mothers, I think we expect to teach you so much about the world, and of course we do. The most humbling part, though, is how much we learn. 

You are two now, sweet bee. And you are incredible. 

DIY Play Kitchen

For months I have been keeping my eyes open for a great deal on a piece of furniture that I could turn into a play kitchen for Sweet Bee. A great wooden play kitchen can be anywhere from $100 - $400, and it was simply not in the budget.

So you can imagine my excitement when I saw these beautiful, matching nightstands on craigslist for $10.00:

A few craft store supplies including wooden discs and E-600:

 Some hardware from my local Habitat for Humanity Restore:

 An old cabinet door from the side of the road, and finally, some old-fashioned elbow grease:

Turned these fabulous nightstands:

Into this fabulous kitchen!