If I May

I've been here and there lately, having to remind myself when I feel mentally challenged that my baby is but 4 months old.  

June already?!

 I am new at this, this having two babies.  And somedays are without a doubt, trying.  It seems that 'struggle' is a common theme around here.  Especially surrounding eating and sleeping times, combined with the abundance of activity that Spring time presents.  We are tempted to go-go-go, and it's exhausting.   But we are getting by.

Every few days I must pull back the reins on the goings and doings, and bring our energy back home.  Today is one of those days.  Maintaing balance is important, I have found.  Sometimes the weight of socializing can tip the scale just to the point of breaking and therefore, this Saturday night:: we rest.  Stay in our PJs, snack and watch toon-movies, and recharge for another week of park, play, sunshine and friends.  For Summer is just around the bend.

***
Although we are one week into June, I want to back track a bit, recap our May and hopefully as the season changes so will my presence in the blogosphere.  Because it's fun. And I feel a bit satiated of my desired to create.

Our May flowers came in the form of street fairs, warm temperatures, playdates, meals with friends, and togetherness...

Block Avenue Block Party was hot!  The second annual street fair on our town's favorite avenue was quite the event!  I am very proud of those who worked so hard to create such hip extravaganza for Fayetteville.  

We've attempted to make it to our beloved Farmer's Market at least weekly.  Loukas is clever at finding mates to enjoy the town square with.  

Yard sitting while the kids play is rich and easy.  I am always grateful for Lady-friend visitors :)  "Wash Rody with the bubbles Skye brought" was popular that day .

Family Parties, I am finding,  are A+!!!  Loukas enjoys outdoor sports.  He's uninhibited and cheerful, and content to explore all his own, but still cautious where he needs to be.  I like that about him.  

 

We saw Wilco!  And Jasper came with!  Then there was another amazing wine dinner at the restaurant,  this time with a local food/ sustainable wine theme featuring our favorite band of all time!  Jerrmy has been hard at work both at the restaurant and on his side project, a classy music festival that will take place in August, for its 3rd year(!!!!).  I really am astounded by how much that husband of mine gets done!! Always proud and grateful.

We had unexpected visitors!  My mother surprised us with a quick overnight visit as the month came to an end...  It's always fulfilling to see your children in your Mother's lap, especially when it happens but yearly :) (That's baby cousin Lexi hanging with Percy Bear, it was great to see my little brothers and sisters, Cody & Whitney, Gage and Addison)

***

 Speaking of Mothers... My third Mother's Day as the celebrated was the best yet.  It seems letting go of any expectations of what the day is "suppose to be" led to my experiencing a joyful present-minded day.  And it was Fun. 

Nothing Like "getting out of town" for an afternoon.  (Also, nothing like a Spring shower to arrive just as you pull away to drive home.)

We found our way, that puffy cloud filled sky blue sky day, to our area's state park.

The babies were properly Sunday'd and our heart were full.  

Complete with a heart shaped rock find and super-secret-very unexpected SURPRISE envelope for yours truly in the contents of our family picnic!!!  A very special, easy, lovely day that did not, however go over without a toddler tantrum or two ;)

***

Oh May... Where did you go?

Sidewalk chalkin... colored pencil sharpening (this is a pretty big deal for LFG)... easy days

Holding hands, park dates and car port hoop-play, back seat shade-dunning days...

Oh and the special days that we share special meals with our Favorites...

 It was good,  May... see ya next year
***
As the days are reaching their longest, the sun staying a little later each day, we are happy to be visited by quite the array of woodland friends, right here in our yard!

This little fox has been spotted three times this week!

Mr. Groundhog is a regular too...

The bunnies like to visit at sunset

and a sweet little finch has commandeered my hanging lobelia to nest away...

 How grateful we are to be surrounded by such lovely Ozark friendlies, and how grateful that for this year, at least, we have no garden to be pilfered.
***
And for now...

The biggest news around here is:: we've got a movin' Bear.  Jasper is a regular floor gymnast, dazzling us with his perfect 10 form as he twists his chubby little body around to roll from his back to his belly, then pulls his arms from under his body and pushes himself up into perfect sphinx pose.  Maybe this  little boy will practice a bit of Yoga with me one day...

The other big news is that Loukas is becoming quite the singer at 2 1/2,(Happy Half Birthday to Lou...oh, yes we celebrate the half birthdays at our house :)   At a delicious Thai food meal on Thursday night, this #1 son serenaded us with "twinkle twinkle little star" his first ever breakout into song.  We received many a sweet stranger smile...  And he has continued to impress us with his diddies... mostly with themes from his favorite toons.

***

Thursday was a big day for firsts::  I (with a lot of help) folded my first origami crane.  At the most breathtakingly beautiful community art installation to benefit a yoga instructor, mother, and stellar human being who was last year diagnosed with ALS; where one thousand folded cranes  were intended to be crafted, I folded 4 paper cranes.  With an open heart and many laughs at my awkward hands, I fashioned these fellas::

The blurry photo does justice, for this first born just barely passed for a crane... 

#2..

These were my favorite!  Such fun paper, so I made twins!!!  I see an origami folding habit in my future, I've already been stalking kits on amazon!

***

Onward toward Solstice::

Homemade popsicles are on the ready...

Out with the coffee machine and in with the juicer!!

Two weeks remain of Spring, and that Summer buzz is in the air.  

Oh, we will be making rainbows this summer...

7 days a'week

When he woke from his nap the other day, Loukas cheerfully stated, "I happy...!" in an almost surprised/assured tone. 'You were right Mom', was the quality of his statement, "I rest... I happy!"  His excited little body zipped into the kitchen where he found Papa Phil and Jerrmy working on our busted hood vent.  "I happy Papa!  I rest!"

You see, there's much coaxing involved with achieving that happy, rested  two year old of ours.  Convincing- gently and sometimes not so gently- our bright little light take his afternoon recharge.   Daily, there are tears, giggles, kisses, whines, coverings up, and sometimes (ok- often, I regretfully admit) there's some yelling on my part.  Lately our nap time routine includes a pep talk about how "you need to rest to feel happy and have fun this afternoon," with enticing details of what may or may not be planned for the remainder of the day (park, vacuuming- he loves vacuum time, yogurt, a visitor...)  And eventually... he settles.  His eyes close and his little hands meet and tuck themselves under his cheek and he drifts off for that much needed rest.  

It seems like a large percentage of life as parents of young children is consumed by the sleep situation.  When and how much is a hot topic.  It's generally the first thing everyone wants to know about when you have a baby:  does he sleep?  are you getting  sleep?  I never know what to say...  My life revolves around sleep.  "Through the night" is this illusive benchmark, and Naps are standard.  Both are delicate and rely on each other for rested happy times.  The getting there is messy. And hard.  And rewarding.  And reminds me of this book Jerrmy and I laughed out loud at while reading at our favorite local bookstore.

But other days, like today, shenanigans are minimal, and I'll likely be greeted by a wild haired sweet boy carrying his green bwanket sleepily but excitedly listing off the grand things we've planned for this afternoon, little gasps inserted here and there for added cuteness.  "wap-poom (vacuum)... I eat whoa-gurt... go a-si-de (outside)" all with this drawn out quality that  mimics the tempo with which I sold him on rest time.  I realize how one day it will not be so.  The stages of a child growing are temporary and fleeting. And no matter how ever many times or how ever much I ever do complain (to myself or anyone who's around) about how exhausting the coordinating everyday life with sleep needs can be, there are millions more elations and gratitude for my children's very being.  To share in their childhood and to learn and grow with them is a gift.  One that feels circular when looking down into bright happy eyes I am reminded that when "I rest... I happy."

(True story:: he woke from nap just as i imagined...)

***

It's MAY!!!  And today Loukas is 29 months and Jasper Bear is 12 weeks!  Which means, it's been nearly three months and I've yet to complete a birth story for Jasper's birth.  I like to reread Loukas' birth story every so often, and did two nights ago before bed.  It was written in the early weeks of my becoming a mother and  I am grateful that I have it to revisit.  To listen to my new mom voice and relive that wondrous night/morning that as my son was born, I transformed into who I would eventually grown to be today.  And continue to grow...

Soon I'll share the morning Loukas became a big brother.  Loukas made me a Mother and Jerrmy a Father.  Jasper made Loukas a big brother.  Hopefully, by his third-month-birthday, I'll have all the pieces to that puzzle of a lightning fast birth experience together.

These sweet rings are a treasure.  Jerrmy surprised me last week with a Jasper Bear

to match my Loukas Fox.  A treasure indeed.

***

The  past week and a half have been full:  park, friends, good food, and fun little happy moments.  Of course, the order of our home has paid the price- clutter has over taken our dwellings, but oh the lightness we feel when our little people are fulfilled (and properly worn out :)

Our last 10 days in photo collages (created using a fun iPhone/iPad app)::

Monday last found Jasper and I on a rare evening outing.  Jerrmy's restaurant hosted a fancy 5-course wine dinner featuring one of my favorite vineyard's wines.  Jerrmy and his team out-did themselves; serving beautiful cuisine. The food was delicious and the company was most lovely.  My best friend, Amanda, joined me with her new baby Oliver, who is five weeks Jaspers junior.  We met a little over a year ago, are neighbors and became pregnant with Oliver and Jasper just days apart, thus have become sisterly.  I feel lucky to have found this friend, and we really enjoyed our Monday date, however did not get a single photo of ourselves, together and/or with our babyies.

Loukas is mastering Park time!

1:  Our stroller is fun and my view of everyone's little feet is my favorite feature.  That and the nice one handed turning.  2:  The bunnies that frequent our yard in the spring are back!  3:  found treasures in a great attempt at organizing that consumed most my Sunday, and was mildly successful... you know, the kind of organizing that first leads to a huge mess and ends in little-noticable difference but feels nice all the same...

Everyone's handsy!  Jasper has found his and nothing is cuter than watching him gaze in wonderment of his little paws.  Loukas has long possessed jazz hands.  And.  We love it.  Also featured:: a fun arrival from Aunt Brandy, my sister, who at long last mailed our Christmas gifts which where delivered last week still in their festive paper wrapping.  Nice one, Sister.  Christmas in April is Rad.

The rain that washed away some unwelcome pollen and greened up our full Arkansas foliage made for a fun rainboot romp for Lou.  He was drawn to the 'waterfall' that trickled from the gutters.  He also found a rolly-polly, no doubt a wonder of childhood finds.   

There's a graveyard down the road that boasts a nice little pond with geese.  We decided to take some stale bread and feed the feathered flock down the way.  And there were Chicks(!) which are not very visible in any of these shotty iPhone photos, but oh how sweet they were.  The geese, however, where unafraid and hissed and honked at us.  These geese are obviously well fed as they snubbed our carrot shreds and, well, there was plenty of... eh-hem, goose s**t.  Everywhere.  So... that was fun... 

Amanda invited us to meet her at the Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks yesterday.  Oliver and Jasper relaxed in the stroller in the shade.  Loukas had a big time.  He was red-cheeked, sweaty and left with a  'goose-egg' on the back of his head after an attempt to escape my grasp, fell and smacked his head on the side walk.  Hard.  I had to resist the urge to lecture him with the "see, that's what happens when you run from Mommy" speech and instead offered a cold drink and a piece of oatmeal cookie and relished in the fact that even though his head hitting the concrete sounded like a melon hitting the floor, his unfortunate injury lent to our less-tantrumy exit from those glorious gardens...  Those toddler heads take a beating and it's never easy but gets less scary and the google searches of things like '28 month old hits head on concrete' are fewer these days, but I did watch him for the rest of the day and ultimately let the little guy skip his nap  in favor of quiet time with books... (he later walked into the post office door as I opened it and dinged his forehead to even the score, and has a nice 2" blue-line bruise) 

Our Jasper Bear is mostly a quiet presence... what with a lively Toddler Brother to cast a shadow.  Oh, but we are not without our special moments with this lovely, lovely, lovely soul.  My GOODness he is so soft and dear.  We are especially honored to stuart this little Bear.

Lastly:  who doesn't love a good pile of babies!  Amanda and I have been making efforts to do weekly meet-ups with other Moms.  Amanda is real great like that, a lover of community and an excellent influence in that way.  It is true about the village and ours is expanding with many bright lights joining us.  Top, left to right:  Frances, Oliver Palmer, Jasper Bear, and Maudeline Bee.  The Bottom right is an attempt to capture our Boys in their 'coordinating' outfits.   

***
Til next time...  Sooner than later, I intend.  Time to rest for a happy tomorrow.

-n


       

Take 2

Since singing on and posting my first blog post five days ago, I've been secretly bubbling with excitement over this virtual journal of mine.  Composing half baked posts in my head throughout the day of diaper changing, nursing, potty teaching, fanny wiping,  pace changing.  Flighty plans for what to share from our days.  Ideas that are lost in the quick turn arounds of being a full time mama to 10 week old and 29 month old boys, whom ultimately take precedence over silly nothings like blog post ideas.   


But tonight I will attempt to continue to break ground on this project from the heart.  You see, I mean to document the tiny moments that last for so little, come and go so quick.  The moments I swear to record in my mind, but can in no way guarantee will be remembered.  I want to have this place where I can come and reflect and be and save, so that these moments that I so desperately wish to hold close are not forgotten.  So that I might let go of my yearning to preserve this one wonderful time when my babies are still small and Enjoy them while deep in my being Yearning for it all to slow.  I will forgive myself of my ignorance of blog-page-building and my novice writing style, and just do this thing.  Heart first.  And hopefully, at least, my Mom and Dad will get a kick out of my ramblings about holding on to the beauty of this time in our young family's life and letting go of the discomfort that blinds us from seeing that beauty.
****

Our public library proved to be an enjoyable outing with my little ones.  We've visited 'baby bookworm' and 'story time' before but yesterday was the first time we stayed awhile after story time and had a morning at the library.  We read books, played a Dora computer game (which consisted of Loukas taking the ear phones off and on saying, "Too Woud"- I'd adjust the volume and he'd turn it back up "Too Woud") and finally segued to the lobby coffee shop- a needed transition for a smooth exit- to have a little snack.  All while baby brother nursed and slept in the sling. 

Before his post 'libary' nap, Loukas said so clearly "I love my Brother." "I love Jasper."

I didn't cry but it seemed like I should have.

(My photos are all taken on my iPhone for now, so the quality is not great.  I'm saving up for  this camera)

****

Today, my boys and I were solo most the day while Jerrmy worked a wedding catered by his restaurant.  He lovingly prepared a meatloaf, placed it in the oven and headed out just before noon and returned home half an hour ago (just before midnight).  

Loukas' favorite new game (besides playing diggers) is to trap his ball in this small tree where he can then spring it from its wedged position; he is mimicking a scene from earlier this week when Jerrmy kicked the new bright orange orb into the air where it lodged itself in the branches of a hickory tree and had to be rescued by tossing another ball to knock it down.  Needless to say- this act was a major Win as far as cheap entertainment goes.

We enjoyed the chill of a sunny spring day.  Jasper is a fan of the outdoors.  But we are not fans of the  gangster blue jays which sabotaged our friend the Robin's nest which for the second year is perched on the magnolia tree branch immediately outside our picture window.  Last year the robins' made it through to hatching, their sturdy nest weathered the rainiest of rain seasons seen by these parts in a century, only to be Plucked from the nest by a Nasty Crow!  Nature is tough!  I was pregnant with Jasper just after the Robin's nest charade of 2011, and was thrilled to see another Robin mama make it her own this year.  Damn those bluejays and crows, or heck, maybe robins are just really delicious... 

These lovelies were an impulse
buy at a local shop on the
square last week during farmer's market.
They've been a nice presence this week,
a sparkle in my eye!

Loving the spring time colors on my feet and on my body.  I scored a fancy kimono style robe on Ebay which came this week and when flowing behind me as I do housework, does make a mama feel beautiful!  My fun red espadrilles are simple and add a nice spark to my comfy postpartum look this spring.

Loukas Fox does love him some play dough time!  That's for sure!    It's a fun exercise in letting go of expectations as an adult, allowing the freedom of his toddlerhood to explore and mix the dough colors together.   A reminder to not censor his creativity with my conditioned thinking, letting go of that play dough is a precious commodity that need be kept in tact.  (I've recently come to realize that I am a bit of an art supply hoarder, as if my doomsday scenario includes a giant craft circle.)  No, son, no.  Your play dough needn't be rationed for tomorrow- live for now "Make Colors" as you so beautifully sang while loving your dough time today.  Until the sun had set and it was time for bed and you sang, "time for sleep" to your colors... 

***

We made it through the day and the meatloaf is all gone (we ate it for lunch and dinner.  it was a mini-meatloaf.  and it was super delicious) and here I sit and it's tomorrow and my guys are all at rest.  My head is floating and my eyelids are heavy and I feel so happy to have made this effort tonight... 

Perhaps I'll even share this one this time...

hello.

my name is Nicolette. i am a mother of two small children and the wife of a really nice man. we're just an average little family, learning and growing. we don't fit into any box. i don't know much about much but i have come to find that life is a series of moments that come and go so quick. being a mother, watching my children grow, reminds me of this. that the present will soon be the past. this blog is about just that.