teddy: I think we may have ourselves a walker by this guy's first birthday!!
birdie: she's just three month's shy of her third birthday and I can already tell this is going to be the best age!
Happy first day of autumn! So begins the joyous ride towards Christmas as all my favorite things descend upon us in the coming months. Including Teddy's first birthday... Which honestly, I don't even know if I'm excited about. A part of me is but a part of me (the part that spent last night looking at all his baby photos until I was an emotional wreck) is also in denial, emotional and heartbroken. Of course it went by too fast, it always does. Of course it wasn't all giggles and snuggles and there was a lot of really hard stuff too but my god if there isn't something painfully final about counting all those "never agains." I suppose I'll just keep focusing on his cake and presents and keep fighting the tears that threaten to come back at any given moment...
I always thought getting dressed in the colder months was infinitely more fun than summer - the layers, the hats, the woolen well... everything! But it turns out it's even more delicious when you have little ones. Pop a hat on a baby and it's an instant mood booster! Though to be fair they often don't see it that way. Here's a little something I put together for a little girl. I tried to mix high and low, similar to the way I actually shop for Birdie. I try to buy one or two well made and versatile pieces that may be a bit pricey and then I pair them with items I find at places like Target and Old Navy. Seriously, Old Navy has been so good lately, especially for little girls, and they have the best sales! Hope you enjoy!
I know this book isn't technically a "children's book," however because I read it when I was so young I ended up re-reading it in college and finding it so much more rich an nuanced than I did as a nine year old girl (obviously, lol).
Here are some lines that always stuck out to me:
“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.”
“There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense.”
“Angry people are not always wise.”
“Pride is a very common failing, I believe. By all that I have ever read, I am convinced that it is very common indeed, that human nature is particularly prone to it, and that there are very few of us who do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some quality or other, real or imaginary. Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what would have others think of us.”
“Nothing is more deceitful than the appearance of humility.”
“You shall not, for the sake of one individual, change the meaning of principle and integrity, nor endeavor to persuade yourself or me, that selfishness is prudence, and insensibility of danger security for happiness.”
“You have bewitched me, body and soul.”
"I know your disposition, Lizzy. I know that you could be neither happy nor respectable unless you truly esteemed your husband - unless you looked up to him as a superior. Your lively talents would place you in the greatest danger in an unequal marriage. You could scarcely escape discredit and misery. My child, let me not have the grief of seeing you unable to respect your partner in life.
Jane Austen
birdie: one little monkey jumping on the bed!
teddy: really, really into blocks right now and birdie loves to help out too!
I always enjoy doing one of these with the change of season. It's a nice way to slow down and really think about things and notice the changes not just in the weather or nature but in myself as well.
making: smoothies. lots and lots of smoothies. we finally bit the bullet and bought a blendtec and of course now i'm wondering how we ever lived this long without it.
cooking: big batches of comforting meals - soups in the slow cooker, mac and cheese and baking loves of delicious crunchy bread.
drinking: water. always trying to drink more water. it does wonders for my skin and i wish i was more diligent about it.
wanting: it to get cold already. it's september and yet we are still dealing with temperatures in the high 80s.
looking: for the perfect flannel shirt for fall. i like them thick, warm and long.
wasting: water. laundry for four people is no joke. especially when two of those people ruin at least three outfits a day.
sewing: nothing at the moment but there is a dress of birdie's i need to shorten...
wishing: for fall to come sooner to the south this year. last year it didn't get cold until late october.
enjoying: watching my kids play together. true there is a lot of fighting involved but most of the time they are so sweet it feels like my heart is going to burst out of my chest.
waiting: for the right timing in regards to a lot of big decisions we need to make soon.
liking: my hair lighter. i've waited pretty much my entire life to get highlights and now that i have them i'm not sure i'll ever go back!
wondering: what the next step will be for me. teddy was a total surprise and threw us for a loop putting a lot of my dreams and goals on hold. now that it's almost his first birthday and birdie's third is right around the corner i can finally start thinking about those things again. exciting and terrifying.
loving: my new hat.
hoping: to read more. i've gone from one book a year to one a month!
marveling: at birdie's imagination and seeing the world through her eyes. to be three again!!
needing: a new winter coat. i'm almost thirty and i still haven't found "the perfect one."
smelling: like medical grade body wash. my dermatologist gave me some stuff that smells like irish spring but worse. though it did clear up my back so...
wearing: my birks all day ever day. and i have big plans on transitioning them into the fall with some thick socks. who am i???
following: the refugee crisis in europe and wishing there was more i could do. grateful to organizations like this one for stepping up.
noticing: how monstrously fast time flies. my baby boy is almost one... how???
knowing: lately... nothing. just asking a lot of questions and doing a lot of digging.
thinking: about how often it feels as if time has passed me by and at the same time as if the world is my oyster.
feeling: nervous, hopeful, timid and lost. but in a good way. does that make sense??
bookmarking: autumn clothes for all of us. turns out the kids have outgrown pretty much everything.
opening: chocolate bars. i probably shouldn't but...
giggling: thanks to the hilarious songs birdie has been making up about all of us. here's a little taste:
"belle. is a girl. she always by herself. like a monster.
mama is a girl. she is always cleaning"
