Adventures.................................

You know, if you're having a baby, I'm your girl. I got you covered. I know what your vision is: healthy mom, healthy baby. And I can help you get there.

Now, say, if you want pictures of your family, I'll be so excited to help. But true confessions? I'll be terrified. Because you love your family. {I love your family} And your family is beautiful. And I want to make sure I capture that vision you have.

But I'm just a beginner. Like, for real beginner.

And maybe I'd feel more comfortable rushing you to back to the O.R. for a prolapsed cord.

I'm just saying.

I'm so grateful for my lovely friends who have faith in me to capture their people. I'm so honored. And I really had a great, great time. And despite my total fear, I wanna do it lots more.

You guys are the bees knees.

Anybody else up for it?




















And this next one is just funny, because these two have history. In the middle of a lake full of freezing cold water.

Oh, any my girlies want lots more days of picture taking. Because they had the time of their life. Seriously. We had the exhausted post picture meltdowns to prove it!!

The One About Parenting.................................

I used to be a lot of things. Or, rather, I used to consider myself a lot of things. I used to think I was easy going. I used to think I was patient. I used to think I had good judgment. I used to be confident.

Then I had kids.

And now each of those things I thought I was, have been tested.

I've said this before, and I'll say it 100 times more before I die. This whole parenting thing is not just about being a kind and caring person. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that there are lots of people out there with kids, who aren't super nice, but may be superior parents than me. Because I get stuck in the niceness. And the trying to please. And the peacemaking. And the wanting everyone to be happy factor.

And I forget about the balancing act.

The fine line that has to be walked everyday. How much do I give in? How much do I push? How much should I smooch it all away? How much do I fix? How much independence do I let them have? How many spoonfuls of frosting constitute a breakfast?

How are they going to turn out to be kind and caring people?

How do I know?

This is an amazing season of my life. I don't know when I will ever wield as much influence on the world. This season is requiring a lot of faith. A lot.

There is no answer here. No conclusion. No wrap up. Just observation. That this is really, really, hard.


The big girl completely dressed herself for church on Sunday. Down to the headband and bilateral barrette placement. And then she asked me to take her picture. In this spot. With this pose. And there was no way I could argue. Because I thought she was perfection.

And the little girl has sensibility to her sister's sensing. She inherited my peacemaking. And she glimmers. And I think she is perfection.





And the boy. He found his screech. On MAX. On the way to IKEA. And I didn't think it was perfect. Because we were stuck. And he found his screech a lot.

But those hands in the air, and the constant curiosity, and the dirty boy he's turning out to be. Well, you guessed it, perfection.

Now I'm off to perfect my parenting.

{Loved c jane's post on life seasons. She nailed what's been on my brain.}

Here's the boy. His first major interview.

Please don't ask why he has been set up in the backpack, in the parking lot of Mr. Walton's Magical Mercantile. Because I have no real answer for you.

Seemed oh so right at the time................................

El Primero......................................

Thank you to mother nature for busting out chunky bits of sunshine and blue sky minus precipitation.

Thank you to lovely friends and family who traveled far and wide to come and celebrate my boy.

Oodles of happiness in my spirit today. He's a whole year.
{But still my baby}

The Duel......................

Another First......................

It was preschool. The first day. She was excited. Like really excited.

One minute.

Then the next minute, not so much.

And this would be the only proof in pictures of her first day. Of school. Ever.

There was some worry on the drive to school. And a few tears. And then she entered the classroom and donned her nametag, she was oodles and oodles of smiles.

But she still wouldn't let me take pictures.

Sheesh.

So I came home and got this one instead.

This Girl....................................

She is something else. She has it all. She's intense and sweet. She's hysterical and dramatic. She's a great big sister and strong competitor. She's sassy and silly. She's an athlete and an artist.

And she's unmistakably beautiful.

And she's a first grader.



And this boy. Well, you know.


And because I always want to remember:

~Lilly has a stand up comedy routine. Her character is an "Old Grandpa" with a cane who tries to dance and jump. It makes my sides split. She practices it every night, standing on her bed for Hads and I. We howl. What she doesn't know? Is she has perfected and old Jewish man, 100 year long smoker, from Queens. Seriously, I can't make this stuff up.

~It took all day for me to get details about her first day of school. All day school. Her first statement "BO-ring." Turns out it was anything but. Her teacher put everyone in jail for talking too much. She got lost after lunch with two of her friends when the class left for recess and she had no idea. Oh, and about lunch. Her packed meal was completely untouched. So here's the conversation:

~Me: What did you eat, girlfriend?

~Lils: Um, a hot lunch, of course!

~Me: But sweetie, I didn't give you any money for lunch, how did you pay for it?

~Lils: MOM! They gave me a plastic card! I used it. It was really easy.

{*There is a slight possibility she received easy plastic card usage from me. But, whatever.*}

~Oh yeah! That picture of Lils round house kicking the cumulus clouds? They are using it for the advertisement for the school! Locals: watch out for your next installment of the Clipper.

~And lastly I hope I never forget how much Lils loves her siblings. They make her belly laugh. {Don't get me wrong, they make her scream like a banch as well. A lot.} But Coop dog? I bet he thinks he deserves a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. For comedy. Because she laughs at simply everything he does.


NEXT UP: Hads goes to preschool for the very first time. Don't miss all the action!

Hello, My Name is Heather, and I'm a Wobbler.......................

I do a considerable amount of wobbling. Thought wobbles. You know, the back and forth thing. Sometimes I think I'm pensive. Sometimes I think I can't be pleased. Sometimes I think that I just simply think too much.

For instance.....................

Sometimes I feel organized, on top of it all, put together. The very next minute I feel engulfed in total chaos and unrest.

Sometimes I love to snuggle with my kids when they get up at night. (Because, you know, they won't always let me snuggle.) The very next minute I pray for just one night of solitude and no interruptions.

Sometimes I find profound meaning in the help and nurturing I give my children. The very next minute I want them to grow up and make their own peanut butter sandwich.

Sometimes I feel great about our budgets goals and progress. The very next minute I want to throw caution to the wind and splurge it all at Boden and Anthropologie.

Sometimes I feel great that our family is so closeknit in this house of ours. Actually scratch that. I never feel great about being packed into this shack. I pretty much only fantasize about the future digs/crib/domicile with closets, and master bathrooms, and a bonus room and, and, and..........

Sometimes I am so joyful and the human spirit, and resilience, and survival that I see in other's journeys. The very next minute I wonder when I will triumph.

Sometimes I feel inspired by the talents and creativity and generosity and genius all around me. The very next minute I feel envy.

And then sometimes I feel like I want summer, and all it's casuals, and warmth, and sunshine. And then very next minute I desire the early bedtimes and routines and engagement that school brings.

So there you have. I glimpse into the nooks and crannies of my thinker. And just for the record? In the wobbly tug of war, the "sometimes" usually beat "the very next minutes."