It is a good day because my kids and I all have new pajamas tonight. I think things like new pajamas don’t get the attention they deserve. I mean, why aren’t more people blogging about new pajamas because, to be honest, I can’t stop making the mental note of “these pajamas are fantastic.” No, I’m not going to write an entire post on new pajamas. But, just so you know, I could. And it would be fantastic.

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This morning, shortly after breakfast, Lainey walked out holding a balled-up t-shirt in her hand. “Wear this,” she said. I opened it up and recognized it as the shirt a friend of mine had made way back when Nella was a baby. Screen-printed on the front is the photo from the cover of the book–Nella’s little feet stretched out against blue sky. “Mama, it’s your book,” Lainey finished.

I smiled, realizing that maybe she understands more than I give her credit for. We talk about things and she’s aware of why I went on a trip. She’s flipped through the pages of the book and pointed out her favorite pictures, and I’ve explained a bit before on what this whole book thing was about. But today I felt the need to tell her more.

“Do you remember what the book is about, Lainey?” I asked.

She smiled sweetly and I sat down, pulled her on my lap and reached for a copy of the book on my desk while I quickly prepared an answer.

“I wrote this book because I love you and Nella so much. It tells the story of all the special things we’ve done together and how much I love being a mommy. Someday I’ll read it to you. And look–” I flipped open to the dedication page and pointed to her name. “I dedicated this book to you. All by yourself. See your name right there?”

And her smile stretched further into her cheeks, wrinkling her nose and squinting her eyes.

I can practically hear her growing lately. Her curiosity, her courage, her independence, her wit–it’s palpable, and I’ve caught myself looking at her in a way that searches for glimpses of who she will be. I see a teenager, a young woman, a mama.

Our first visit to Children’s Museum of Naples, Tuesday

Both girls have been completely entranced with babies lately. Lainey takes an extra five minutes to buckle her dolls in the back seat before we head out. Nella drags dolls down the driveway, pushes them in strollers, kisses their foreheads. Both girls relieve Heidi of her mothering duties the minute she walks in our house and sets the car seat down. They swarm for Ivy. So it was only appropriate the other day, after Lainey and Nella both stood over Ivy and gently touched her head, waiting for Heidi to finish nursing, that Heidi smiled and gushed, “Kelle, they’re going to make the best mamas someday.”

I smiled back. “I hope so,” I answered, “–but Nella…” And I stopped.

Heidi quickly continued, “Oh Kelle, I’m sorry. I mean, she can–right? But if she–I mean…”

We talked it out in the way best friends needfully talk things out.

While individuals with Down syndrome can certainly get married, have intimate relationships and yes, have children, it’s complicated. But the fact remains for both of my children, that the future is unknown and the choices for the events in their life truly belong to them. We guide those choices in the beginning, but gradually we let go and listen.

That’s hard for me sometimes. Because I know the things that make me happy–and I want my girls to have those same things. I want them to like the beach, yellow, adventure, music, writing, babies and pretty things.

But my girls might have different dreams. They might express themselves differently. They might need me to show love in a way that is different from how I want to be shown love. Maybe they won’t dig unicorns. And that’s okay.

I am learning, not just in parenting but in every relationship, that multiple languages exist and not one is superior to another. The more I listen, the better I love.

In picturing my girls as teenagers, as young women, I often wonder “What will they say about the kind of mother I was?” I hope they say that I made mistakes but learned from them. That I taught them how to be happy not by expecting them to choose what makes me happy but by pursuing whatever it is that makes them come alive. I hope that at least one of them becomes a mama so they can fully know the depth of how I love them.

But really, it’s all about happiness.

I just want them to be happy.

Life didn’t go as planned for me, and I’ve never been happier. That truth is about the most valued thing I can give to my girls.

I did give applause tonight as I proudly watched my four-going-on-fifteen-year-old dance in her new pajamas right before bed, her arms outstretched before her, her right foot perfectly pointed just how she learned in ballet.

“Little girl,” I said, “I wish I had a daughter like you.” She stopped dancing, ran to hug me and smiled with all her Chicklet teeth.

“You do,” she answered. “I’m yours.”

For now.

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Congratulations to the Linkel Designs $50 gift certificate winner, Comment #219, Charlie’s Mommy: First off, I am so delighted to say that I am almost done reading Bloom on my Nook. It’s bitter sweet…cause I don’t want to stop reading.
Secondly, Nella looks so grown up in these pictures. It’s like she has sprouted inches within the last weeks. I love the pic of her in the white dress reading the book! Lastly, I’m changing it up a bit for me. I just registered for a 7K run that helps with our city’s health initiatives. This is ludicrous for me….I don’t run unless I’m chased!! Have a great day!

“Charlie’s Mommy,” please send your contact info to kellehamptonblog@comcast.net with subject line LINKEL GIVEAWAY WINNER, and you will soon receive a coupon code.

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Welcome back to Melody Joy whose beautiful handmade mama bird nest jewelry is making quite a splash. My two-egg nest ring and necklace are some of my favorite pieces to wear and always conversation starters. Several friends also wear Melody’s art, and our kids love to point out which egg is “theirs.”

Melody’s nest egg jewelry makes a wonderful Mother’s Day gift, and she is currently offering Buy 2, Get One Free for all nest jewelry. Plus, use Code BLOOM for free shipping! Check out Melody Joy’s shop (cowls and paintings too), and make a mama happy!

One comment will be randomly selected (random.org) to win a $75 gift certificate, courtesy of Melody Joy.

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I have new pajamas. It is a good day indeed.

(P.S. Any People magazine readers? There’s a full page review of Bloom in the April 22 issue!)

There are a few things in life of which I am certain, based on repetition of circumstances. I am quite certain Lainey will ask to go to the bathroom the minute we’ve left the house. I am quite certain the item which I’ve been pining for will go on sale the day after I paid full price for it. And I am quite certain that after any given flight, my bags will be the very last ones to appear on the conveyer belt. The last one proved true when I arrived in New York last week and met up with the driver who was taking me to my hotel only to stand at Baggage Claim Station 5 with him twenty-five minutes later, watching every other brown suitcase except mine fall onto the belt and go for a spin.

“You sure it’s brown?” he asked.

“Yep, it’s brown,” I answered, “—with a dent in the side and a broken zipper. But it’s brown.”

“This one?,” he pointed out.

“Nope, I’ll tell you when I see it.”

“This one?” he asked again, pointing to a different brown suitcase—not dented, not mine—and clearly not getting it.

“Nope. Not that one either. I’ll let you know when I see it,” I told him.

Another brown suitcase was spit out on the conveyer belt, and my driver turned and waited for my signal.

“Not that one either. Listen, trust me. It’s going to be the last one. It always is.”

Sure enough, seven hundred suitcases later, my brown dented suitcase came rolling around the bend and I jumped and clapped and hollered “That’s mine! There it is! That’s my suitcase!” while I waited for my driver, half-sleeping now, to reach and pull it off the belt.

So you can imagine my surprise when, late Thursday night, I arrived in Fort Myers, walked down to baggage claim and saw my suitcase, already slowly revolving around the carousel like strawberry pie on a dessert turntable.

Three minutes later, I was cruising south on 75, home to my babies when Heidi called. She was there with our friend Laura, at the airport, waiting for my arrival with posters and flowers and smiles.

There’s another thing of which I am certain: When friends go out of their way to surprise me, I am quite certain I will blow it.

Heidi and Laura share my love for making the best of things. So they celebrated with random strangers at Southwest Florida Regional Airport.

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My dad followed our tracks when he flew in to the same airport in the middle of the night late on Thursday, just in time for my first book signing at our Naples Barnes and Noble Friday night.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was thrilled and humbled by the outpouring of love from both our community and readers that traveled to be there.

I decided to read a passage just fifteen minutes before the event, and so I huddled in an office next to the children’s department, skimming chapters for something that wouldn’t make me cry. And something that wouldn’t involve skinny dipping and champagne. I settled on the last pages of chapter 12, the story of Jeremy, the dear man who taught me something important almost two years ago.

It still made me cry.

Thank you to everyone who came Friday night to support the book, to say hi, to wave your flag of “living this big, purposeful life” with ours. Community is an awesome thing, and we felt it Friday night.

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By Saturday morning, the high energy of the week had been subtly and appropriately replaced with good calm energy, apparent from the very first sleepy smile that emerged from the crib and continuing with coffee refills, a big French toast breakfast and my dad’s initiation of the Hampton House Feng Shui.

Sleeping in Sunday morning

He does it every time he comes, really, and maybe it’s just a nice way of saying “please, get your shit together.” Like when I lived with my grandma in college and she was so disturbed by my overflowing laundry basket but didn’t want to offend me by actually doing my laundry for me, so she’d “pretend” she was doing her own load and just needed “a few” more things to make it complete. And by a few, I mean a full load of my stuff. Swear, she used to tap on my door and sweetly say, “I’m doing a load of laundry and have a bit more room. Do you have two or three or twenty-six things I can throw in with it?” And I would smile and hand her my basket and know it made her happy both to do something nice for me and to give her one lone sock some company in the washing machine.

Likewise my dad did a lot of “hey, this laundry basket would look a lot better if I emptied it,” or my personal favorite—“Seriously, why do you even have a dresser?” which led to moving the bookcase, sliding the toy trunk, opening up the living room furniture and rearranging, reordering, and reigniting the energy in our home.

Lainey puts curlers in Nella’s hair

Feng shui. Periodically, we all need it, not just in our homes but also in our routines and perspectives. This weekend, we switched things up. We got creative. We moved things around in our home, creating more light where clutter once dwelled and restoring peace and order where laundry baskets sat too long.

Motivated by an energetic week, we made efforts to reinstate dinner table traditions, barefoot walks outside and trips to the hot tub.

And I feel energized on this Monday evening, eager to find more ways to make little changes in our routines, simple renovations in our home to create more peace, more focus…good chi.

A friend recently asked me, “So, what’s changed since all of this?”–all of this indicative of a couple crazy busy weeks, a book, a dream of continuing to do what I love and connect with people in a really big way.

What’s changed? A few inevitable things, but really life’s the same.

Dancing with P.T. Jonah this week

We wake up every day, look around and make note of what we have. We smile and say thank you in every way imaginable. When things aren’t so great, we do what we can to make them better. And we make it a very important priority not to let life get stale.

We feng shui.

Lainey and her new dog, Chocolate Chip, for whom I stood in the longest line at the NYC American Girl Store to buy. It was worth it. This dog hasn’t left my girl’s arms. She’s even given her two baths.

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Friday Phone Dump from last week:

Friday Phone Dump photos are taken on the Instagram iPhone app (free) and dropped into a 12×12 collage using a photo editing software (Photoshop Elements works). I am @etst (enjoying the small things) on Instagram if you want to follow the feed.

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We are happy to welcome back a blast-from-the-past sponsor, an old favorite, Linkel Designs. Featuring colorful, handmade jewelry and an impressively stocked shop, Linkel is sure to have something for everyone. I love the vintage-inspired pieces and the whimsical details.

My new favorites? My red Large Statement Byzantine Earrings (lots of comments on Instagram). All of Linkel Design’s jewelry is modestly priced, so pick out a few for yourself and some extras for those you love.

Use Coupon Code KELLE for 10% off your order.

One comment on this post will be randomly selected to win a $50 gift certificate, courtesy of Linkel Designs.

If so inclined, please share some ways in which you can “feng shui” this week–what little changes can you do this week in your home and/or in your routine that can reignite good energy?

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Also, Target.com is offering another generous promotion for Bloom: 10% off Bloom and 10% off of one non-clearance baby apparel item, when purchased together. Use Code TGTCTVHV for promotion, valid until April 30, 2012 11:59 EST.

Spend $50 at Target.com, and Bloom ships free! And, when you use your Target REDcard, the book ships for free (plus an additional 5% off).

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Have a great week!