Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Finish Line



I can't really blog about this yet... 
I will just end up sobbing with joy at the computer.  
But I will say,
this was a really good day.
One of the best I have had in 3 years.

He did it!
We made it.
Together.




okay, bawling...
 try to write more later I guess!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

4 words



You know how sometimes there are somethings that only your mom can tell you. Tough things, the kind of things that you would only hear coming from someone who loves you, a lot. This past week mine told me one of those. It came as four simple words, and from a heart who really knows.

I complain to her, to many of you reading this, about how I never see Scott between school and work, how I'm not cut out for single parenting, how my children wake up at 6am, disciplining my dramatic two-year old, the list goes on (for a long time actually). It is easy to get focused on all these reasons, some of them quite valid, for feeling put out and totally overwhelmed.

She talked to me about her life while my dad was in law school.... 2 kids (at the beginning of 3 years, not the end), a sacrificed career, a non-existent budget for much of anything, and much more. I listened, feeling validated, amazed and very out-done in my so called "hard-life." But it wasn't until days later that she gave me her key to her survival, then and now.

So, straight from the post-it that now hangs on my mirror, here it is:

Focus on the Positive

Nothing really unique, but just very inspired. Life is hard. Really hard, and sometimes it stays that way for a while. It is in those moments, those years possibly, that our natures change (or have the opportunity to). If I ever want to share eternity with people who have sacrificed and survived much more than I ever will, I think I honestly need the hard times, need the opportunity to change. And so, I am sharing this hit-the-spot advice along with my ever-growing list of things I love about my life (coming soon).


Sunday, May 10, 2009

Signs of Summer

Splashing



Shade



Scott



Sunglasses


The Duckie

Bath time at the no-bath beach house






Wednesday, April 1, 2009

A work of heart

A couple months ago while staying at my mom's house I spied her old sewing machine sitting on a shelf in the basement, un-used and forgotten. It took a while to find a way to get it down here, and find a place in my house to put it (gotta love apartment living!). But yesterday I finally pulled it out of its old box and sat down to start a little sewing project for Leah. I sat there for a minute, suddenly stunned.


I could feel my mom. I could feel all the hours and hours and days and years she had sat at this very machine. I could feel her warm worn hands and see her brow furrowed in concentration to make it just right. I could see my Christmas nightgown and bathrobe from when I was 4, all my girl scout badges, the piles and piles of my hemmed pants, even my senior prom dress. So many late nights. So much time.
And I suddenly felt overwhelmed with emotion.

Does she even know how much all of that meant to me? How much more it means to me now as I sit, a mother myself, about to spend hours on a project that my daughter may only wear briefly. And suddenly I realized how stitched I am, heart to heart, with my mother. My angel, ever-sacrificing, ever-giving, and never selfish mother.
She is in every stitch of me.

And so I sat there, sewing an apron for my little Leah, and hoped, in some similar way, I was stitching us together as well. Adding my love for her to the tapestry of love created by my mom, and her mom, and her mom...



Sunday, March 15, 2009

Spring Break

We are going to be doing a lot less of this:



And a lot more of this:


for the next 2 weeks.

Spring Break has never been so welcomed.
(Well, maybe last year when I was in school too...)
For the next 2 weeks Scott will come home from work and NOT be doing homework.
What are we going to do with ourselves!!?!

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Classic Jenna Moments


It's another "no-go" on the baby food
...time, after time, after time...
Just another rice cereal mural on her face, clothes, feet, hair, and mom
Gotta Love that messy little face



We are in this exciting stage:


Reach...


Pull...


Ingest!


After a long day at Disneyland:


Classic Leah


Classic Jenna

Always a smile...always.