I always post the beautiful pictures from the wonderful Tracie Birch. When we do a photo shoot with her, I often feel deflated afterwards because I can’t imagine that she got anything lovely out of the madness. But she is a miracle worker. Or either has mad photoshop skills. But today I thought I’d share some of the photos of the pictures that did not make it into a wall frame.
The poop blowout.
The sneer.
Today is my love’s day of birth! Hoorah for this man in all his yumminess.
And all his playfulness.
And his snuggly daddiness.
And his we’re-gonna- get-through-this-ness.
And his sexiness (enhanced by the porn star glasses).
I’m a lucky lady.
Scott, enjoy the day! I will spend it remembering all the birthdays we’ve celebrated together. You are amazing!!
Happy Birthday.
My husband is a holiday fanatic. This is not the first time or last time I’ll blog about it! I often think life would be so boring if the girls only had me around. Today Norah turns 5. And so the day involves Scott’s birthday scavenger hunt fun. He began this tradition as a way for him to be involved in her birthday when he is at work. She gets as many presents as years. Today, the clues are:
Message 1
Happy Birthday my little HotStuff Norah Beany Pants Moss Byers Squirmy Wormie Dancer SuperGirl!!!!!
You are now 5 years old….not 4, not even 3….but FIVE!!! Whoa! That’s one whole hands in fingers and thumb! Thats 5 little piggies…
I hope this is your most special birthday ever. So lets get started.
You remember the rules last year?
Mommy will read you clues to 5 (thats right 5) hidden birthday presents. Each clue will also tell you when to read the very next clue.
Are you ready? You’ll have to think really hard now that you are FIVE I’ll be hiding your gifts with harder clues.
First Clue:
There is nothing worse than being cold! Daddy wanted you to be extra specially warm this year so he left your first gift (just like Santa) warming up near the hottest place in the house….its so hot that you could roast marshmallows. Good luck!
Next clue can be opened at 9:00am
Message 2
Ah….how are those pj’s? You know how much l like brown?!
I bet you look amazing.
Ready for Clue #2?
Your second gift is also the complete opposite in temperature….some might even say a bit frosty. This gift had to stay cool…so I hid it in a place for cold items. Not really cold…only pretend cold…I’ve heard that it is also a great place to test a hypothesis.
Hope it makes you a “Jolly Happy Soul!”
Love you Birthday Girl….next clue at 10:30
Message 3
Is it already 10:30???? Are you sure??
Maybe we should wait until 11 o’ clock? What do you think?
Oh well….I wont keep you waiting.
Birthday Clue #3.
This Birthday gift is hidden in a coniferous forest, but not outside. This special gift loves the bright lights and is best friends with our buddy Jude.
Clue#4 at 11:30
Message 4
Do you love your Horse? Dont let mommy wash it….Speaking of washing….are you ready for Clue#4?
I thought so.
Birthday Clue # 4
This SLOWPOKE animal is kinda dirty…but he was afraid that a washing machine might mess up his hair too.
Anyway, he felt it was better to hide behind a big curtain.I think he thinks he is Spiderman….crazy
Clue #5 at 12:30
Message 5
This is it…your last hidden birthday present!!!!
Have you been especially good this year? I think so too. I am pretty sure that Santa put you in the NICE list!
Birthday Clue #5:
hmmm….this one is going to be tougher.
Did you know that we do not have any LIONS hiding in our house? Its true. I am so sure that I hid your next gift in your scary place.
Little Foot, Rudolf, Scooby and a couple other good friends are holding this one for you. Dark places should run and hide….Norah is now seeing things much brighter!!!
Good Luck! Have Fun!
Beany – I love you…and hope you had as much fun finding your presents as I did hiding them for you.
Enjoy the rest of your special day…you 5 year old girl you!
(The excitement builds and builds for a small birthday girl. I love this man and how excited he gets by holidays and how magical he makes it for his girls. Me included).
I haven’t talked about Cedar in a while. Here is a snapshot of her 14th month:
Cedar loves: adrenaline. She loves the feeling of falling. She likes to be thrown very high into the air, slung onto my back for wrapping, spun in circles, and playfully frightened. She has mastered one of the playground slides and can go up the stairs and down the slide by herself (982 times). She’s a big fan of food and pretty much eats all day long. And last week, she learned to tote stools around to reach high places. A whole new world of mischief opened up.
Cedar hates: baby containers. She screams in terror when placed in contraptions. No playground baby swings, kelty backpack carriers, wagons, strollers, most high-chairs, etc. I’m not sure why it is so scary to her. She loves being worn in close-to-the-body carriers. She hates when I leave her and she is very suspicious about it. When we arrive at new places, there is clinging and digging in of fingernails until she is convinced I’m not leaving. Then she’ll run from me and find something (dangerous) to explore.
Mommy loves: Cedar’s most-used words “thank-you” and “uh-oh.” Both said with great solemnity. Cedar pats me on the shoulder, gives open-mouthed kisses. She laughs exuberant belly-laughs. She has a very definitive nod for “yes” and “no.”
Mommy struggles with: her velociraptor scream. shopping with Cedar–it is impossible. Her refusal to stay with anyone other than Scott without screaming. Her hair. We’re talking CRAZY matted up hair. Cedar also removes her diaper. Any chance she gets.
Other notables:
She has four teeth. But considering her nursing frequency (addiction) these past few days, I would guess another is on the way.
She weighs 20 lbs.
Her favorite toys: cell phones, dress-up items, dolls, my dishes.
She sings Bob Marley’s “Buffalo Soldier.”
She likes to squat over small containers and pee on them (see above item about removing her diaper). So we bought her this potty. So far, no success with that.
Here she is standing on a table with diaper half-off playing with markers. This was around 11 months. Danger+bare bum+mischief=success!
After our traditional Sunday lunch, Norah ran down to my parent’s pond to fish with Scott and her Papa.
Norah has a snazzy Barbie fishing rod.
With her first cast, she managed to toss her entire rod into the pond. She ran off to get Papa.
Scott waded in to get the rod. And ZIP…she’d caught a fish!
Whatever works, I guess!
I’m at the coast for much-needed leisurely pursuits before the next wave of busy time hits us. While we shake sand from our towels and taste salt on our tongues, I cannot help but think of what waits when we return.
Here are the happenings on the horizon:
Saturday (August 28) I’ll be speaking about baby-led weaning at the monthly Blessingway. If you’re soon-to-be-adding-solids to the baby’s menu, join us! If you’re struggling with making baby food or spoon-feeding your little one, join us! If you are an expert at baby-led weaning, join us! You could maybe speak and I could maybe just listen?
I begin a new Hypnobabies series Sept 5. I have two spots open. This class is a 6-week group series.
I am teaching two private classes. One is a Hypnobabies class and then other is a Mindful Birth class. Both go for 6 weeks.
I have two births for September. Both will be lovely, I am certain.
Norah begins soccer this Thursday. Her first team sport. Her first sport. I have no idea how this episode in her life will look!
And Norah begins school. Just one morning a week. Still, a new responsibility and discipline.
I’m hosting a playdate at a river on Monday.
Then the usual babywearing groups, playdates, consultations, postpartum visits, prenatals.
I’ve heard rumors that my husband might take me to High Cotton for a hot date.
Speaking of husband, he is doing his ritual “man-weekend” sometime in September. I’ll be alone. With the girls. All. Weekend.
Also, have I mentioned I have a new nephew? I really want to spend loads of time snuggling with him!
Wonder how I’ll do about keeping up with the blog? We shall see.
I received this exact text from my husband today:
“hope your xlose…i am prisomer”
My reaction was poor. “WHAT?? I can’t leave the house for 2 measley hours to run errands without you needing me to come home and rescue you from your 4 yr old daughter?? Who rescues me when I’m home with both girls all day, every day! For the rest of my young life!”
Play the martyr often, do we?
Granted, I said all this in my head. Still…there it was.
When I got home, I was greeted at the door by my firstborn.
“Where is your father?”
Norah led me to her dark bedroom where I found my husband tied up with three ropes, his phone clutched in his hands. He couldn’t bring the phone above his waist because his hands were held fast by a rope looped about his feet. He also had a rope around his neck. I saw the red marks on his wrist where he tried to wiggle out. I wish I’d taken a picture.
Could he have gotten out? I honestly don’t know. He looked securely tied. These were sturdy ropes; the kind Scott uses to tie kayaks to cars.
Norah does love tying knots. She sometimes ties my skirts strings to the kitchen drawers when I’m cooking. I almost destroy myself, dinner, or a drawer when I turn to walk away. We are ever untying the most complex tiny knots from headphone cords, blanket tassels, silk streamers…
Should we be afraid? Or proud?
My family is tight. I have one sibling. My parents still love each other. We have weekly Sunday dinner during which we sit at the table talking long after the coffee has cooled. And for this rare moment, we all live in geographic proximity.
When my sister became pregnant, I coached myself on:
All the while, I wondered how I could possibly be her doula in the hospital setting. I imagined scenes of security guards forcibly removing me from the hospital. But they chose a homebirth and I breathed a sigh of relief. I wouldn’t need to guard her or time her arrival at the hospital just right. I could relax into supporting.
Ha.
As her time approached, I had so much anxiety. If she had to transport, I would blame myself. I knew this. Deeply knew this. A big sister thing, you know? I did a Hypnobabies “fear clearing” before her birth.
Then her birthing time began. And it felt so normal. The anxiety melted away as I moved into the familiar and comfortable space of birth. I hunkered down to support her in the work of bringing a baby.
What I was not prepared for was the emotion. The powerful emotion that hit me full force out of nowhere as she was close to birthing. At this moment:
Yes, this moment. Do you know what I was thinking? I was remembering the time I left her in my uncle’s hayloft. She was little and refused to come down the ladder. So my cousins and I left her crying. My horrible brain fired off many of those memories in rapid succession leaving me a pile of mush. I wept in her shoulder so she wouldn’t see. I was entirely unprepared for the onslaught memories. I never cried at my own births.
She was a warrior, as I knew she would be. And Zach was a strong birth partner whispering prayers and endearments throughout.
Her sweet babe weighing in at 8lbs 4oz was a precious dumpling.
And her doula was busy remembering every mean thing she ever did to her.
When loneliness comes stalking, go into the fields, consider the orderliness of the world. Notice
something you have never noticed before,
like the tambourine sound of the snow-cricket
whose pale green body is no longer than your thumb.
Stare hard at the hummingbird, in the summer rain,
shaking the water-sparks from its wings.
Let grief be your sister, she will whether or no.
Rise up from the stump of sorrow, and be green also,
like the diligent leaves.
A lifetime isn’t long enough for the beauty of this world
and the responsibilities of your life.
Scatter your flowers over the graves, and walk away.
Be good-natured and untidy in your exuberance.
In the glare of your mind, be modest.
And beholden to what is tactile, and thrilling.
Live with the beetle and the wind.
–Mary Oliver (from The Leaf and the Cloud)
You might remember that my sister was one of the fabulous four who threw a blessingway for me last summer.
I wish every expectant woman was given a Mother Blessing or Blessingway. We don’t have enough rituals surrounding the transitions in our lives.
For Noelle’s celebration, I chose a few special rituals to honor her.
Each guest brought a bead to be made into a birth bracelet for Noelle during Asher’s birth. Everyone had such amazing beads! My mom made a pendant containing beads that belonged to her, her mother, and her grandmother. Noelle’s mother-in-law found a fantastic bead featuring a babywearing mama. One friend gave Noelle a bead from a necklace she bought during their first overseas mission trip. Take a look at the gorgeous bracelet.
Each of us also wrapped an ankle or wrist in a Mothercord. We’ll wear this cord until Asher is born; each woman using the cord to remind her to pray for Noelle’s birth.
I had Noelle’s mom and her mother-in-law each braid a side of her hair. In the back, I joined the two braids with a hydrangea flower from our grandmother’s garden. Our grandmother is no longer living and I wish I’d asked her more about her own births. I know that she had all her children at home except her last born, my mother.
I set up a table for an art project. Each guest was invited (ok, ordered) to participate. They were to create a piece of art called “Becoming Mother” as a gift for Noelle.
Finally, my talented friend, Katy, henna’d Noelle’s feet. She also graciously gave each guest a small henna tattoo as a reminder of Noelle’s birth and transition into motherhood. The henna work was my favorite part of the blessingway.
Now, we wait for sweet baby Asher.
Inexplicable Ways 
