Dancing.

This is what happens when we listen to Elvis Costello during lunch-time... Lots of bouncing, food-tossing, dancing, and chaos. So wonderful.

After the Rain.

When I was pregnant with Gabriel, my aunt said to me, "Having a child changes everything. For the first time, you feel the whole world." After nearly eleven months of motherhood, I can say that I most definitely agree. Never before have I noticed so much; watching the seasons change, the difference one small rain can make to the branches of the trees, the color of snow, the sounds of the morning birds and the sounds of the night birds, even the patterns on our hardwood floors. I'm in love with every detail of this chaotic world.
After the heavy weekend of rain, everything is just sighing with springy relief. It's so beautiful to see. I've never seen our grass look so green, or trees and bushes so filled-in. Aah. Spring, you're wonderful.

Our most recent addition to the house is this sweetest, hand-picked hanging basket. I love the yellow ones. It's very fun to water, because it leaks all over, but if you ask Gabriel, it's even funner to spin!

A very happy Crab-Apple tree is coming back extremely strong after a hard cutting-back this last late winter. Yay!

Mmm, gotta love those lovely indecisive spring skies...

And our sweet, old, lopsided Evergreen has some new greens.

Brand new mushrooms who sprouted up after the rainy weekend. They're super fluffy and white, sadly I don't think they'll stay around very long.

A Soggy Holiday.

Our long holiday weekend was full of family get-togethers, barbeques galore, and much time spent in the sweet company of a handful of extra sweet people. We've had four days of rain, which is very unusual for Denver, though we enjoyed every drop. It made for some very soggy parties, happy, happy grass, and muddy children, all of which are thoroughly welcome in this high-desert land I call home. And a few snapshots from the beautiful home of my aunt and uncle:

Gabriel got his share of summer snacking: bits of raspberries, cupcake frosting, grilled potato salad, and even a very animated sip of ginger ale. He's been standing on his own for longer periods of time, and will take a few, very well-planted steps when he wants to, but he laughs whenever he loses his balance, so I think the fun of falling outweighs his urge to walk on his own at the moment. :) He's also taken to petting my eyelashes, which he found last week, and can't get enough of now. Last night he was nursing to sleep in the dark, as usual, and his little hand found its way to my face, where it proceeded to scout out my eyelashes. He laid there, stroking them until he fell asleep about ten minutes later.

Sometimes this whole baby thing is far too sweet to bear.

Sweet Messes.

In a house with a floor full of old building blocks, puddles of drool, broken toys, dirty little socks, and applesauce handprints, it's easy to become overwhelmed with endless messes and constant diaper-changes. I sometimes catch myself grumbling about having to re-pick up the house every few hours. However, after the soggy onesies are washed, the finger-painted food tray is wiped clean, and I get a moment to sit down, it hits me. Soon, the crayons will be traded for mechanical pencils, the coloring books for textbooks, and the stuffed animals for acne. My son is so young, but I am still taken aback every single day by how quickly he's growing up.

And, of course, at the end of the trail of toys and wet diapers, I oftentimes find this:

Growing up is so beautiful and sad, and is one of those small pieces of motherhood that I'm still learning to deal with.

When We Were Young.

For the past week or so, we've been putting together a digital picture frame for my Oma's 84th birthday this July. It's a very sweet idea (she has five children and dozens of grandkids), but involves a great deal of scanning, cropping, and banging the cheap plastic remote onto the desk. The fun part, however, has been going through old photographs and looking back on a very happy life. It's easy to forget how magical a time childhood is, and I am blessed to say that mine was beyond extraordinary. I try to remember every day what kind of a life I want my son to live, the experiences he'll have, the places he'll see, things he'll learn, and people he'll meet. It's a good thing I learned from two very lovely people.

I am an incredibly lucky girl.

My Bed-Sharer.

Good Morning!

Each time I wake up with a little, cooing baby pawing at me, I can tell it's going to be a good day. Despite however long the night has been, any bad dreams I may have had, or a busy day ahead, rolling over to look at my son, his eyes still soft and sleepy, his legs stretching, toes reaching up, and a small smile on his face, I remember the real reason I want to wake up.

We have a lot on tap for this week: a visit to the zoo, a tie-dye party at Washington park, a fairwell party for my old wonderful high school art teacher, and lots of little projects to do around the house. It's supposed to get in the 90's by Wednesday; time to dust off some shorts and toughen up my feet. Warm days also mean extra care for our poor Colorado grass and garden, which I'm off to water right now.

Spring is Here!

We are nearly two weeks deep into May, and I can't seem to sit still any longer. Lately, we have been spending our days taking long walks around local parks, muddying up our new herb garden, barking to neighborhood dogs, and learning the names of all of the trees in our backyard. There are also a great deal of chatty squirrels and fat, fuzzy bumblebees ambling around our flowers who we've been getting aquainted with. I love this season, and from the arm-wiggling, foot-kicking, squealish reaction I get from my son every time I take him outside, I'm guessing I'm not the only one.

Gabriel has been taking a few solo steps this past week, and we're both ecstatic about it. I think he'll be waddling around on his own by the end of May- what a thought! It always melts me to watch his little pink feet trot around in the grass. Happy May!