I have missed my blog. I frequently catch my kids sitting on the couch with one of my blog books in hand and it makes me feel happy. It's why I write - so that they may know their Mom and that they may remember the amazing things that we have done, the people we have known and the places we have seen. Their little lives have been so full, I don't want them to forget a single thing.
So many things swirling in my mind! If I only had a transcript from my brain from the last year and a half...we would all be extremely bored, and probably confused, but very caught up and hopefully, a little entertained.
One of my hesitations of picking it back up again was a year lost. A whole year! But it isn't really lost. It's in a million moments, a thousand memories, a bajillion pictures on my phone and a whole new little person running around our home.
My last post has me intrigued. It's like a cliff hanger of great insight except that I can't even remember where I was going with it. Maybe I should start a voice recording each night, kind of like Captain Picard's star log. Heaven knows my Doogie Howser one liner journal entries aren't cutting it. Did that bother anyone else? As a wanna-be journal keeper I see his little end-of-episode journal posts to be grossly incomplete. Like, years later he will go back and read his profound tiny entries and have no recollection at all about what actually happened. I could be wrong, he was a child prodigy after all. I wonder if you can watch Doogie Howswer on Netflix. I just checked, you can't. Am I the only one who relies heavily on emojis to complete a thought with emotion? I find myself needing little emoji posters to hold up during conversations as if I can't quite articulate what I want to say well enough without the little eye rolly face, or the contemplative hand to chin thinking face....I digress. Which seems to be the pattern around here. Never in my life have I felt so inconsistent about moving forward. Maybe its the constant shift of kids in different stages and phases, maybe it's that I'm going on nearly 16 years of disrupted sleep, who really knows?
In any case, I want to catch up. I'm afraid it might be the only way that I can move forward, in bloggyland. I simply could not abide such a hole of information on my bookshelf.
Chapter 1, I am born.
Just kidding. I'm not going that far back but I will pick up where I left off.
January 2016
This could be a very long process, considering the fact that I just went to open my January 2016 picture file and got lost in my newborn Ezra's adorable first smiles. Where does the time go?!!
Like every mother that has ever lived (and spent any time on social media) I had grand intentions of regular photo shoots to not only document my growing [last] baby but give me a chance to work on my photography skills (or lack thereof, or rather, my budding interest in...) But seeing as how I haven't done this with any other child, it seems pretty fair that I have forgotten to do it with Ezra as well. Thank goodness for phone cameras and the fact that I almost always have it within arms reach. This kid has not lacked for proper documentation.
I love, no, adore looking at pictures of my kids. It makes my mommy heart all soupy and melty and sentimental. Not just because I think I have made the most beautiful children that ever lived but so often I look at these pictures and I see them, really really see them. It can illicit memories of what they were like and what kinds of things they did, I remember their personalities and all of the little and big things that I love so much about them. Even and most especially in pajamas and messy morning hair.
Haley has shown an interest in photography as well in the last couple of years. She was able to take a photojournalism class her freshman year which I think gave her some good technical training. And even though I hate that she grabs my nicer camera (that I had to wait years and years for before justifying its purchase) and even though she was given her own "starter camera" for her class that was more than fair and appropriate for someone her age and skill level (enter eye roll emoji right here.)
In any case, she takes a pretty good picture and I love her interest in it.
Ezra loved to be swaddled as a newborn. He grew out of it probably around 6 months when he started to move around. But those first few months, he was perfectly happy to be wrapped tighter than a burrito and it helped him to sleep like a champ.
An interesting thing about this catching up game is the ability to see so many things in hindsight. I'm sure that I would have all sorts of other insight if I were writing about it when it was fresh in my mind but I also appreciate the gratitude I have for the things we have done, now that we can't do them anymore. One of our favorite things to do while living in Texas was to hang out at the high school in our neighborhood. It had a enormous parking lot, plenty of room for model rockets, bikes, scooters, and lots of friends.
In our efforts to create memories, we took the kids down to the water wall in Houston, near the Galleria. I'm sure we didn't even scratch the surface of what Houston had to offer in things to see and explore but we did what we could from time to time. It's a season. We have had other times and seasons where getting out and about was just easier and more doable. With so much family and friends so close I think we did less sight seeing while in Houston this time. The water wall is an understated little icon in the Galleria area. It's nothing special really but pretty cool to a kid that has never been there before. I might have been a tad more fun if it hadn't been freezing that day but we still managed to have a good time.
Jonah running away is a pretty typical thing.
See?
With the occasional exception, Hazel is really the only one who has me still do her hair. I kind of miss the days of a cute line of girls waiting to be primped. I appreciate that I still have at least one that will let me pick our her clothes and put a bow in her hair. For almost the whole time we lived in Houston, Hazel had a thing with taking selfies while I was doing her hair. I would find loads of them on my phone. I had to erase the majority of them because I am not usually fully dressed and ready for the public eye while I am doing her hair. But it was a funny little quirk of hers, noteworthy to my memory.
Making fun things and doing crafts that I know my kids will love but destroy in a matter of hours is a rare enough occurrence these days that I feel totally justified in documenting every single one. See? Cute robot. In all actuality, I don't think I even made this. Credit goes to his sisters. Doesn't he look happy? He might be in character. He might be annoyed that I made him stop for a picture. These are the things I will never know.
I think I already documented somewhere, Ezra's habit of staring at the corner of my headboard when he is being fed. We like to think that his host of angel friends would sit and coo at him while snuggling his Mom in bed. He grew out of it after a few months, but I thought it was adorable and a beautiful thought. I really enjoyed these last two babies, in a different way than the others. I have loved all of my newborns, even through the hard bits but with these last two there was a feeling of longing and gratitude that this was so fleeting. Nighttime feedings were special times, quiet, serene and bucket filling. So often I wish I could go back for just a moment and hold each of my babies in a quiet room with nothing in the whole world to distract us.
I have an entire file of pictures of Jonah just being Jonah. I won't ever call him naughty. Busy? Yes. Rambunctious? Yes. Curious? Definitely. But he is a good boy and sweet as can be. He sure has made a lot of messes in his short little life.
There are very few places that I feel anxious when I parade my crew - I don't really care what people think or assume when they see large families. Most of the time I am rather proud of all of these wondrous little people. One of my favorite places to take them is the dentist. I don't know if it's because I like that we totally take over the place or if it's that I am checking something huge off of my list, good for another 6 months. PS TVs in pediatric dentist offices are brilliant. My kids don't care what the heck you are doing to their teeth as long as they get to watch a movie while you're doing it.
I don't know who loved her lessons more, me or her. I love watching her ride. I love watching her listen intently to her instructor. I miss horseback lessons like crazy, as much for me as I do for her. I hope we find a place for her soon - she truly has a talent for such things.
Another Jonah activity spurred by a mother holding a newborn and needing something to keep the other one happy for a time. An entire roll of aluminum foil and a scooter on the trampoline? Go for it. Knock yourself out little buddy.
And a million moments like this. Jonah has been nothing but sweet with Ezra since the day he first saw him in the hospital. He is the perfect big brother. With the exception of our first little photo shoot above where Jonah refused to hold Ezra because his belly button was "disgusting". They connect and they adore one another. It's a good thing.
Ta daaaa! January 2016, out.
So many things swirling in my mind! If I only had a transcript from my brain from the last year and a half...we would all be extremely bored, and probably confused, but very caught up and hopefully, a little entertained.
One of my hesitations of picking it back up again was a year lost. A whole year! But it isn't really lost. It's in a million moments, a thousand memories, a bajillion pictures on my phone and a whole new little person running around our home.
My last post has me intrigued. It's like a cliff hanger of great insight except that I can't even remember where I was going with it. Maybe I should start a voice recording each night, kind of like Captain Picard's star log. Heaven knows my Doogie Howser one liner journal entries aren't cutting it. Did that bother anyone else? As a wanna-be journal keeper I see his little end-of-episode journal posts to be grossly incomplete. Like, years later he will go back and read his profound tiny entries and have no recollection at all about what actually happened. I could be wrong, he was a child prodigy after all. I wonder if you can watch Doogie Howswer on Netflix. I just checked, you can't. Am I the only one who relies heavily on emojis to complete a thought with emotion? I find myself needing little emoji posters to hold up during conversations as if I can't quite articulate what I want to say well enough without the little eye rolly face, or the contemplative hand to chin thinking face....I digress. Which seems to be the pattern around here. Never in my life have I felt so inconsistent about moving forward. Maybe its the constant shift of kids in different stages and phases, maybe it's that I'm going on nearly 16 years of disrupted sleep, who really knows?
In any case, I want to catch up. I'm afraid it might be the only way that I can move forward, in bloggyland. I simply could not abide such a hole of information on my bookshelf.
Chapter 1, I am born.
Just kidding. I'm not going that far back but I will pick up where I left off.
January 2016
Like every mother that has ever lived (and spent any time on social media) I had grand intentions of regular photo shoots to not only document my growing [last] baby but give me a chance to work on my photography skills (or lack thereof, or rather, my budding interest in...) But seeing as how I haven't done this with any other child, it seems pretty fair that I have forgotten to do it with Ezra as well. Thank goodness for phone cameras and the fact that I almost always have it within arms reach. This kid has not lacked for proper documentation.
I love, no, adore looking at pictures of my kids. It makes my mommy heart all soupy and melty and sentimental. Not just because I think I have made the most beautiful children that ever lived but so often I look at these pictures and I see them, really really see them. It can illicit memories of what they were like and what kinds of things they did, I remember their personalities and all of the little and big things that I love so much about them. Even and most especially in pajamas and messy morning hair.
In any case, she takes a pretty good picture and I love her interest in it.
Ezra loved to be swaddled as a newborn. He grew out of it probably around 6 months when he started to move around. But those first few months, he was perfectly happy to be wrapped tighter than a burrito and it helped him to sleep like a champ.
An interesting thing about this catching up game is the ability to see so many things in hindsight. I'm sure that I would have all sorts of other insight if I were writing about it when it was fresh in my mind but I also appreciate the gratitude I have for the things we have done, now that we can't do them anymore. One of our favorite things to do while living in Texas was to hang out at the high school in our neighborhood. It had a enormous parking lot, plenty of room for model rockets, bikes, scooters, and lots of friends.
In our efforts to create memories, we took the kids down to the water wall in Houston, near the Galleria. I'm sure we didn't even scratch the surface of what Houston had to offer in things to see and explore but we did what we could from time to time. It's a season. We have had other times and seasons where getting out and about was just easier and more doable. With so much family and friends so close I think we did less sight seeing while in Houston this time. The water wall is an understated little icon in the Galleria area. It's nothing special really but pretty cool to a kid that has never been there before. I might have been a tad more fun if it hadn't been freezing that day but we still managed to have a good time.
With the occasional exception, Hazel is really the only one who has me still do her hair. I kind of miss the days of a cute line of girls waiting to be primped. I appreciate that I still have at least one that will let me pick our her clothes and put a bow in her hair. For almost the whole time we lived in Houston, Hazel had a thing with taking selfies while I was doing her hair. I would find loads of them on my phone. I had to erase the majority of them because I am not usually fully dressed and ready for the public eye while I am doing her hair. But it was a funny little quirk of hers, noteworthy to my memory.
Making fun things and doing crafts that I know my kids will love but destroy in a matter of hours is a rare enough occurrence these days that I feel totally justified in documenting every single one. See? Cute robot. In all actuality, I don't think I even made this. Credit goes to his sisters. Doesn't he look happy? He might be in character. He might be annoyed that I made him stop for a picture. These are the things I will never know.
I think I already documented somewhere, Ezra's habit of staring at the corner of my headboard when he is being fed. We like to think that his host of angel friends would sit and coo at him while snuggling his Mom in bed. He grew out of it after a few months, but I thought it was adorable and a beautiful thought. I really enjoyed these last two babies, in a different way than the others. I have loved all of my newborns, even through the hard bits but with these last two there was a feeling of longing and gratitude that this was so fleeting. Nighttime feedings were special times, quiet, serene and bucket filling. So often I wish I could go back for just a moment and hold each of my babies in a quiet room with nothing in the whole world to distract us.
I have an entire file of pictures of Jonah just being Jonah. I won't ever call him naughty. Busy? Yes. Rambunctious? Yes. Curious? Definitely. But he is a good boy and sweet as can be. He sure has made a lot of messes in his short little life.
There are very few places that I feel anxious when I parade my crew - I don't really care what people think or assume when they see large families. Most of the time I am rather proud of all of these wondrous little people. One of my favorite places to take them is the dentist. I don't know if it's because I like that we totally take over the place or if it's that I am checking something huge off of my list, good for another 6 months. PS TVs in pediatric dentist offices are brilliant. My kids don't care what the heck you are doing to their teeth as long as they get to watch a movie while you're doing it.
I don't know who loved her lessons more, me or her. I love watching her ride. I love watching her listen intently to her instructor. I miss horseback lessons like crazy, as much for me as I do for her. I hope we find a place for her soon - she truly has a talent for such things.
Another Jonah activity spurred by a mother holding a newborn and needing something to keep the other one happy for a time. An entire roll of aluminum foil and a scooter on the trampoline? Go for it. Knock yourself out little buddy.
And a million moments like this. Jonah has been nothing but sweet with Ezra since the day he first saw him in the hospital. He is the perfect big brother. With the exception of our first little photo shoot above where Jonah refused to hold Ezra because his belly button was "disgusting". They connect and they adore one another. It's a good thing.
Ta daaaa! January 2016, out.
2 comments:
Happy you're back!
Woah!! I was a just thinking the same thing and realized I haven't posted anything for 3 years. Now that my parents are leaving I thought I ought to keep it up again! What a nice surprise to see you are back, too!!!
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