Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Sweet Sunshine

 ...
We had waited all day for it to arrive. Whom am I kidding? We had waited all week. All this time, we could see something great just beyond the brink... waiting for that perfect moment to light up our lives.

Isn't that how it always works?

Oh, how life could be so comfortable if it ever actually worked according to our own "ideal" plan. Think about it. No unknown. Not one hiccup in the road. We could process through each day never in danger of late night tummy bugs, recipes gone wrong, hurt feelings, unexpected expenses, car troubles, career changes or having to wait just a little bit more for something oh-so coveted. Easy breezy, right?

And yet...

All that excitement that comes with anticipation... would be gone.


We would never feel the thrill of discovering something new.          (Meet "squirm the worm")

Without all that unpredictable messy living, how would we ever come to know the beauty of being swept away?


If you find yourself just waiting too long for the perfect moment to light up your life then perhaps it is time for you to change that ideal plan and welcome in the new. While it sure can feel scary, how else can you come to know the possibility of unprecedented joy? Change can be beautiful.


"Sometimes, it's up to you to make your own sweet sunshine"
Davy Jones

Monday, February 20, 2012

Gabey's Four

...
I have a really hard time recognizing the daily changes happening in my little world. Perhaps, this is just the nature of living--- we don't notice the change as much until it isn't there as often. If that is true... I am so grateful for the past 4 years of being fully present...even if it seems like just yesterday he was my favorite little smoosh-smoosh.

Who am I kidding. He still is. And today, has been nothing short of a celebration for our "big" little man on his birthday.

If laughter is the way the to the heart than this kid sure has that concept nailed down. I have never met a funnier person to date. His stories, impressions and theories on life are the most amazing part of my day... everyday.

You have so much love to give, sweet boy. How lucky are we to get to be your parents for these past 4 years and just soak up all the greatness that is you.

Happy Birthday, Gabriel!

*Sappy Montage headed your way. Be sure to pause music on the side.




Untitled from Julie May on Vimeo.

*In case you just love watching movies. Here are the others!

Gabey's Three


Gabey's Two


Gabey's One

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Chasing sunlight

 ...
The weekend started us off gloomy and cold. For all the anticipated joy that a Friday night can bring, our skies in no way celebrated it's arrival. So, as the afternoon greeted us today with a change of pace, we did as any sane person hungry for warmth would do. We chased the sunlight.

Windows down, music pumping, off to a great and based by all of the various individual singing happening at one time in the car, a very loud, new journey.

Sunlight moves people. When just right, it can shift the whole momentum of a day. After all, great wishing grows best in the sunlight.
It always has.
When all this is mixed with the your favorite company of specials
attacking the clouds by celebrating something new...
 how can you expect anything less than wonderful?

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Favorite Part of the Day.

...
In a bleary-eyed moment of my not-so-blogged about days of parenting, I sat a puddle of a person, waist deep in diapers and about three years short on sleep. I was nails broken, a hair-clogged drain, thyroid on sabbatical forms of crazy-head living. The clothed version of myself felt just about as vulnerable and exposed as the naked one.  Uncomfortably squished in the darkness between the familiarity of "before" and the shifting balance of "now", I became sorely lost. One cannot muster the kind of light to see the forest through those trees.

So, you didn't make me try to.

Instead, we just sat there. Sometimes we talked but mostly, I cried. Through it all, you sat there beside me and didn't make me move until I felt ready. We sat there for such a long time.

Days no longer carried the expectation of greatness.Too much pressure for too little zest. We grew it small. Every night, in the quiet security of almost slumber, we each shared just one thing to take from that day. A favorite part of the day. What started as an apathetic task gradually made way for change. Through time, the soft light gracefully trickled in right where it was most needed.

For all the large ways you show your love, it was in tiny quiet talks I felt it the mightiest.

Just shy of 7 years of marriage and 15 years of life together, I now know that contentment waxes and wans. Some years, it just ain't there like the others. Sort of like El Nino and rain. While the date nights, love lunches and beautiful Valentine flowers are so special to me, it is in our "daily favorite" discussions that I always feel my smile the most.

Today was no exception.

This year, my Valentine "date" was not documented in pictures. Ironically, you weren't even there. Our love lunch came in the form of pint-sized tables, crepe paper decorations and bunches of grabby hands. But that wasn't even it, really. Rather, it came in just one moment. Rounding the corner of the doorway to that creeping-across-the-face shy smile of our oldest, now sitting a little taller on the circle mat because her Mommy was one of the few to be there to help at her holiday party. No brother. No baby sister. Daddy took his lunch to sit at home with a sleeping sister and brother was away at school. It was just her and me.

And I wasn't the bleary-eyed, uncomfortably squished, lost Mom from her tiny days. All because you loved me in that darkness the way I most needed you to.

You gifted me my favorite part of the day and so much more.

What a Valentine.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

10 Months!

...
Yep. We're here. While Kelly and I aren't ready to accept the almost walker we have on our hands, Lucy is beyond thrilled.
Oh, that independence!
This morning, Lucy and I took some time to celebrate her big milestone at Mayfield Park. Just Lucy, me and the peacocks soaking up the sun and eating some Torchy's. If you choose to visit this park just make sure to do it in SPRING because they are mating and all their feathers are open! It is incredible... and LOUD.

Lucy loves her some Mayfield Park.
Lucy loves a bunch of things these days! Her personal favorites include dogs/cats, babies and shoes. She kisses them all. In fact, we are in the kiss everything we love stage and this mama ain't complaining one bit. Lucy now climbs to the very top of all the playscapes and we slide down together. Some days, I have to book it to get there before she does... this girl is FAST. She is still a sucker for the swing but now must be watched SO close. Last week, she kept trying to stand in the swing... and the target basket... and her baby jogger. She's a thrill-seeker.
Such a personality, Lucy can now say Mama, Dada, Bye bye, Hi, Baby, Puppy, Yaya (pacifier) and More. She also signs more and all done. It is so fun to be able to understand what she want a little more. If we ask her where Gabey is... she will go off to find him. Those stinky sibs love to hide until she can find them. It drives her crazy. Lucy has mastered this really obnoxious scream to let us know when she wants something that we aren't giving her. This month...we are going to work on breaking that scream.... and the love affair with outlets.
Lucy still LOVES to eat but man, it sure isn't showing in her body size. She has one rockin' metabolism... just like her sister. Aside from sticks, rocks and pea gravel, she has a fancy for eggs, yogurt, grilled cheese, meatballs, avocados and especially rice. Lucy still eats her food in sections... it is so crazy to watch! When we feed her yogurt, we have to give use three spoons. One for each of her hands and one for us to feed with.
Lucy, these months just seem to be flying by and we are starting to get excited with first birthday plans coming so soon. You are at such a fun age and we can't wait to see about your adventures in the month to come!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

a hundred

...
In a day there are about a million different ways to calculate importance. See, it's right there--- a million. This number while seemingly insignificant to some for another it can represent a huge milestone marked by relentless perseverance and the successful journey into something new.

For us, it has been a hundred days of new.
What a fruit loop.

A dog-eared day on our calendar does little to represent the efforts and growth of the past 100 days. It is amazing really. The marked beginning to this whole exciting chapter of living that was punctuated with extremely early mornings, large opinions on wardrobe choices, 100 notes in the lunch box and shortened nap schedules to grab the girl at school. There was the quiet, the missing, the budding of a new sibling friendship and of course... all that living in between.
It's been a happy hundred for sure.

I have taken some time recently to step into my own little world and transpose a quiet willfulness on to my daily routines. The pull of committments had peaked for this May and in the respite of home, I finally found the calming energy to break barriers within a cluttered mind. Never too early for spring cleaning, right? I am amazed at the level of peaceful clarity that can be found in a space of quiet...

All that unplugged Julie time--- just a number really---











representing a refreshing lot of living.

Gearing up for an exciting month to come of birthday celebrations for one little man and his gaggle of snakes...
Never a dull moment here. I love this.