I hope you know

I was walking the other day. I can't quite remember where or who was with me. I may have been walking on July-hot pavement with you slung on my hip. I may have been pushing a bright blue stroller up a hill with raindrops sliding down my nose.

Or actually, I may have been perched tub-side with splash-soaked legs while you gnawed on a rubber ducky. I may have been laying on my stomach straining to rescue the red plastic triangle under the couch for the umpteenth time. I may have been debating whether to yank sweet potatoes or squash from the cabinet while simulatenously avoiding your tiny toes underneath mine. I may have been counting every eyelash while you lazily drank milk after a long nap.

It was then that I felt it. The weight of being a mother. The heaviness that is the full realization, eyes wide open, that I am entirely responsible for you. That what you see, I will have shown you. That what you say, you will have heard me speak. That what you taste, I will have fed you. That what you have felt, I will have put in your grasp.

It is a responsibility I have never known before. It is heavy only because I take it seriously.

Thankful Thursday

For strollers

For brooms

For dreams

For sunrises

For cul-de-sacs

Dear Teddy,

There is so much to say these days. Homes have been purchased, boxes have begun piling up, days have gotten longer, day cares have been explored. Life in this house is changing almost as fast as you are growing. You have now been an outside-baby longer than you were an inside-baby. 9 months today - the day of fireworks - and boy are you a little firework these days!

You are into everything - drawers, cabinets, bookshelves, trash bags, diaper bins, refrigerators. And anything you find in said places you heartily pick up and turn over in both hands, exploring the heck out of whatever you've gotten in your grasp. It's fascinating to watch you examine, to see the wonder in your eyes over an Altoids can or a remote control or a shoe. After 9 months you are still finding things to learn about. And you are still finding ways to teach me.

About how to keep you still during a diaper change (singing). About new ways to make you laugh (peek-a-boo under the bill of a baseball cap). About how to get on my sneakers without you untying my laces (by putting you in the stroller before I put them on). About patience and forgiveness and grace (mine and yours). About the best way to show excitement (with your whole body - arms and legs flailing).

About how a heart can grow and grow and grow.

Love,
Mom

Thankful Thursday

For the option of moving companies

For the coolness of pools

For the cuteness of baby overalls 

For the convenience of the train

For the crispness of iced tea

Overheard

This morning coming from the kitchen:

B: Teddy, you can't eat the refrigerator.

Filed under "things I'd never thought I'd hear my husband say" and "things I never thought we'd need to say." 

Teddy got spoiled this month

We have gotten to see both sets of our parents this month. Last weekend Grandma Jan and Grandpa Bob were able to stop down for a quick visit. We packed lots-o-fun into their stay! (P.S. I am now officially lusting after Grandpa Bob's camera...le sigh...)

Teddy's model pose. 

He always seems to be the center of attention.

The swinging is always his fave.

Laughing.

Three generations.

Thankful Thursday

For internet recipes

For shadows

For cool nights

For unexpected kindness

For fathers