Kelle, Author at Enjoying the Small Things

Father’s Day

June 20, 2010 By Kelle

I wish I could really find the words to describe what kind of father he is. How tender his heart is for these little beings he created. What it’s like to be witness to the magical love he has for these four blessed little souls.

And just typing the beginning of this post has me in a mess of tears. Because speaking of Brett as a father is a language of its own. It is magic. It is beauty. It is as if every cell in his body has been blessed with daddy genes–the kind that instinctively know how to cradle a baby, how to cure an attitude, how to soothe fevers and heal broken hearts, how to nestle a newborn into a secret nook where they fall asleep enchantedly.

And the very first time I ever saw Brett–before I fell in love, before we held hands in hospital delivery rooms and cried tears as our babies entered the world–before all that, I watched him climbing out of a car with his boys. And I saw something then. The way he loved them. The way he stroked their hair, held their hands, called them “Buddy.” He was made to be a daddy.

And the four luckiest souls to be called his children know it.

I am so blessed to have seen Brett as a father before we had our own babies together but that was just the beginning. Because the moment I found out Lainey was on her way, I discovered a new kind of magic…a deeper kind of love with the soul I chose to spend my life with–the kind of love you taste when you tell him you’re pregnant and his eyes fill with tears and he hugs you so tight, you think your insides will burst. The kind of love you know when you watch him spend four hours interpreting directions and alternating tools to put a crib together for his first little girl. The kind of love that rips you apart when the doctor tells you “Nella has Down syndrome” and you feel his grip on your shoulder a little tighter…and you don’t even think for a minute to question how he’s going to take it because you know. You know deep down in your heart that he’s there for the long run. That his daddy heart will stretch deeper and stronger.

Happy Father’s Day, Babe. I love you for the amazing father you are and for the amazing father I know you will be for the many years ahead.

I love you for how much you value family. For how much I have to push you out the door to go do something fun for yourself–and for how much I know when you actually say yes to going fishing that you wish you had your kids inside that boat with you. I love you for Isle of Capri Sundays and for popcorn and movie nights. I love you for talking baby talk to our girls and for the precious nick names you bestow upon them. I love when Lainey gets bossy and you call her Boss Hog or when Nella gets the hiccups and you call them “da hickers.” I love the way you get mad when I decide to take the girls with me for a night out because you’d rather they stay with you. I love the way I catch you saying “I love you” to your boys every night and the way your face beams when they say it back.

Thank you for giving me two beautiful, amazing little girls. I dreamed of this life ever since I was a little girl–this life of being a mama. And, because of you…it is so much more beautiful. I never worry about who they will become because you help me model so much love, I know they will be confident. I know they will be okay.

I love this journey we’re on together. I love it because I get to spend it with you. You were made to be a father, and you are so amazing at it. I will always be applauding you and the way you love, and I can’t wait for the day I get to hear our girls telling you how much you mean to them. How much this legacy of love you’re giving them has shaped them into the beautiful women I know they will become.

Happy Father’s Day, Babe. xoxo

And when I asked him what he wanted for Father’s Day, I wasn’t surprised by his response…a full day of family. With a family swim and a family picnic.

Wish, granted.

And later tonight, we will huddle around the picnic blanket that furniture’s been pushed aside for–an indoor picnic to celebrate our daddy because, Lord knows, it’s too damn hot outside.

It’s poblano pepper-stuffed cheeseburgers and sweet baked beans and homemade potato salad tonight…and the cutest BBQ themed cupcakes we made this morning…

(from Family Fun magazine: “kabobs” are cut gumdrops and carmels skewered on a toothpick, “steaks” are hand-formed carmels with piped black frosting and “hot dogs” are hot tamales)

And to my own dad…our Poppa…thank you for everything you’ve been. This year, I have needed you more than ever and you’ve been there every step of the way. I love you so, so very much. Happy Father’s Day, Dad!

And Happy Father’s Day to my F.I.L.–we love you, Grandpa Brian!

With that said…to all the mamas…make their day extra special today!
~k

Friday Bliss

June 18, 2010 By Kelle

I found it. A polish to match my summer watermelon.

Essie’s Watermelon. Matches my melon slice so good, I almost bit my finger. Got camoflauged there for a minute.

And I’m not the only one who’s diggin’ it.

Looks good on her too.

And speakin’ of lookin’ good, look who was stylin’ her stuff at the beach last night.

It was the first time I put her in the sand, and as soon as I laid my little kitten’s tummy to that beach, she was all smiles…

I took the kids to Fort Myers Beach for something different and with the hopes of getting some pictures for Brett for Father’s Day but–and I’m going to put this nicely–no one wanted to be there. It was hot and a little out of the way and, although I haven’t gone through everything yet, I’m pretty sure in every picture at least one person’s crying or purposefully not smiling. Lainey did enjoy some brother time though.

And Nella got to feel what it’s like to have her tummy to the sand, so it wasn’t a total wash.

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Finding more summer inspiration out and about this week…

I just love when new seasons come in. I thought it was all about summer–and it is–but I’ll do this all over again come fall. I’ll pine over russets and golds and stalk Pier One for its spiced apple scents. The blog will blow up with seasonal overstimulation then too–like pumpkins and apples and my mom’s pie crust. But, for right now…it’s all summer, Baby. Warm, sunny, colorful summer that promises much more to come.

Love how her little feet were thinkin’ about dippin’ in the mud in the first pic…and by the second pic, she’d decided to go all in, Baby. And smilin’.

This weekend will bring some speical time with my girls…

More enchanting thunder storms and more delicious summer.

…and some lovely ramblings about the man I love on Sunday.
Stay tuned.

And while I’m obsessed with Ingrid Michaelson, let me just say how proud I am of my super talented niece who sang at her school’s talent show a couple weeks ago here. Savannah, you sing just as beautifully as you are, inside and out! xoxo

Summer Lightning and Corn-Shucking Memories

June 16, 2010 By Kelle

When all goes well during the week, my midway point will have the kitchen looking like this…

It hardly ever happens, but tonight, the planets have aligned. There are candles. And the countertops are so clean and reflective, I can apply my lipgloss in them. And instead of day-old Shepherds Pie, it smells like Capri Fig Frangiapani.

Oh, there’s so much I could blurt out here on this little space of mine. So much enjoyment of life and all these little thoughts I’ve had here and there that I wish I could have the time to pencil them down at any given moment in one of my beautiful journals. And then those birds. Those damn birds that were singing so loudly in the middle of the night, I swear there was some aviary audition for Chorus Line in the woods. I’m all for enjoying the small things but last night I wanted to chuck something out there to make them go to sleep. Seriously.

Summer continues to unravel with all its color and splendor and this week, the “release” of all my friends from their teaching demands means for the next three months, we can huddle together whenever we want for morning coffee and waffles, waterpark afternoons, library breaks and pool dates.

Today, they gathered at our house and we mamas talked and laughed and made fun of Stephanie’s razor burn while the littles jumped into blue ripples of refreshment and showed off their swimmin’ styles.

Lainey kept waitin’ for her friends all morning, so excited they were coming. “My lotsa lotsa friends comin’,” she said.

And these three?

They’re pure trouble when their mischievous minds collide. Today, it was Q-tips. About a hundred of them, scattered across the wood floor. I like a little trouble. Keeps it interesting.

And then there’s this mess of love that happens when the mamas relax on the floor while the kids are wrecking havoc on toys and books and piles of snacks that have placed for them on little tables. We all swap babies and lay kisses and catch up. It’s just lovely.

And about a hundred billion times, it gets brought up that So-and-so’s just getting so big and Where does time go and My, it seems like just yesterday they were born. I just love the people of my Village.

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And, what I’m loving about summer right now…

When, mid-afternoon, the sky splits thunder and the clouds grow dark and cold rains come in to cool the sidewalks. And I drink it all in from the quilted chair by the window where I feed Nella who’s so sleepy all she needs is a two-minute snack pack and the accompanying cozy rains to lull her into an afternoon nap.

And evening post-rain walks where the big sister pushes the little sister…

…and sometimes doesn’t make it very far before she kinda loses it in front of the neighbors, dropping to the cement, kicking off her boots and yelling at Latte who has jumped out of the stroller to take a poop in someone else’s yard. Love it when that happens.

And Hibiscus in full bloom…

My little cue-ball whose tiny head bobs beautifully from behind her new adventure…the exersaucer.

(And to those who have asked, physical therapy is going SO good!)

Watching my three-year-old enjoy summer like never before. When did it happen? When did she become a girl? A lanky little willow who marches to the beat of her own drum, says “No, Thank You,” reminds me to take my vitamins, loves to pour her own milk and still opens the door after her nap, finds me with her eyes and then runs with everything she has to jump into my arms and burrow into my neck. Oh, I love her.

Swoon.

One of my favorite summer memories was visiting my grandma’s farmhouse as a kid. It was quaint and rustic with a walk-around porch that stretched around its perimeter where an old rusted porch swing hung. My grandma taught me how to shuck corn on that swing and we’d spend hours peeling off husks, throwing the scraps to the ground and marveling at the satisfaction of the golden kernels that were hidden underneath.

Actually, I just made that story up. I never shucked a single corn with my grandma and she sure as hell didn’t live in a farmhouse. Made for a great summer story though. Oh, she did have a porch swing.

The real truth is, I like the word “shucked” and I wanted to throw it around a bit. While I might not have shucked a lot as a kid, I thought Lainey might enjoy some good summer corn shucking sans porch swing. And she did. Stretched out in our driveway, and how was that I put it? Oh yes…throwing scraps to the ground and marveling at the satisfaction of the golden kernels hidden underneath.

A summer without corn is like a wedding without dancing.

And don’t get me started on watermelon.

My girl ate three pieces this afternoon and if watching her tear it apart, its pink sticky juice trickling everywhere, isnt’ enjoying the small things, then I don’t know what is. Well, maybe shucking corn with your grandma. Or listening to a bird choir in the middle of the night.

Regardless, it was so very summer and ought to be repeated thrice weekly if you ask me.

I keep scrolling back up to look at those…love how very summer they are. Now, if I could just find the perfect shade of nail polish to match that watermelon, then we could just take that summer list of mine, ball it up and pitch it because my summer quests would peak out right there.

And, this is slightly off topic but something I’ve been meaning to say for quite some time. And it goes something like this…

Thank you.

Thank you every one of you for your comments, your e-mails, your support, your readership, the beautiful kind things you have said and done and for finding it worthwhile to celebrate the amazing beautiful things of life with us. This blog has opened up a lot of great opportunities for me but it’s still just the place I go to put it all down…all this wonderfulness of life. And sometimes I forget that “Down syndrome” is what kind of propeled all this because, in my mind, it’s such a tiny part of our life now. Because it doesn’t change the bigger things of life. It doesn’t change any bit of the happiness we have as a family…or our future together. And celebrating all that we love here on this blog and being supported by such an amazing community of people has played a magnificent role in changing me as a person…allowing me to live through this as beautifully as possible. And I’ll never forget that so much healing came from the very beginning when lovely “strangers” reminded me that it’s all okay.

So, thank you for that. Thank you for loving life and so vibrantly embracing it all with me. It inspires me.

And, I guess that’s all.

Oh, that and the fact that it’s magic outside right now. Rumbling thunder and a purple sky that keeps igniting with light…and there’s a movie humming in the background, I can hear the pop-pop-pop of Orville Redenbacher in the microwave, the biggest little is curled up on the couch and the littlest little is all jammied up and humming sweet sing-songey coos, attempting to put herself to sleep. She needs a mama.

So, goodnight.