i’m sitting at my nook with a cup of lemon tea and just kiddy-corner to me is an open window welcoming in this heavenly breeze that smells like spring grass and afternoon sunshine.

it seriously feels like summer here…and i can’t get enough. we live outside these days which means the bottoms of our feet are black, the apples of our cheeks are pink, and lainey’s hair is lightening up to this delicious sunny shade of blonde.

brett’s off with the boys for a night of fishing, so the binks and i are already jammied up and ready for smoothies in bed and a nice dose of animal planet until the down comforter trances us into what will hopefully be an early night as the last few nights have been rough with two year molars, a few fevers and a very stuffed up baby. humidifiers do wonders though.

after a grocery run today where i rolled over my own bare toe with a very heavy cart and seriously considered curling into a ball on the floor of aisle ten and screaming obscenities thereafter (but didn’t), we took a nice saturday detour to the pet store to buy a fish… because… well, it was high time we bought a fish. and he’s blue, and he’s beautiful, and he doesn’t have a name yet, but watching him loop around his little plastic plants and feather his ‘mane’ makes lainey very happy. and so did the pet store.

and, oh i think sprinkly ice cream cones might very well be my favorite foodie thing to photograph. ice cream cones are so happy. and summery. and child-like.

her not feeling well has been rough the past few days…because no one’s sleeping. and it must be this motherly ‘stuff’ that just kicks in…but i’m actually surprised at how, when she’s clawing and crying at two in the morning when i am this close from a sleep coma…that this love and protective mama instinct just kicks in. no matter how exhausted i am or how many nights this has gone on…i still am roused with compassion for her discomfort and at that moment, there is nothing i’d rather be doing than scooping up her warm little body, kissing her rosy cheeks and making it better. not that i thought i’d be perturbed but…still. the instict thing always amazes me. especially because it’s the whole ‘not getting any sleep’ thing that seems to be the scare tactic for new mamas.

so, that’s my thought for the day…

happy saturday. ~k

it’s been a fast-paced crazy week.

and i feel like i’m so behind in all that i have to do…

…but that thought is not as overwhelming as it used to be when i know i am behind by choice because i choose reading books. and playing ‘go fishin. and rockin’ baby dolls and goin’ to bed early with a tired little binks. and i will get caught up…because i always do.

and while i’m treading water in the work pile, i’m also chasing and re-diapering a gets-naked-in-two-seconds-flat baby…about fifteen times a day.

we tried packaging tape today but miss houdini pulled it off in no time.

and so it is…naked never hurt anybody.

this post won’t be long as i’m so ready for bed after being up three hours last night with her…thrashing and whining…and it finally dawned on me after three hours, a little dose of tylenol and a morning google search that yes, there is such a thing as two year molars.

it is warm these days. and very, very sunny happy. with breezes and barbecue scents and evening bikerides. and i’m happy to live in a neighborhood on these kinds of days. even though i often dream of a big old farmhouse in the country…or a city brownstone…or a seaside escape. our little neighborhood house makes me happy too. with its clean sidewalks and familiar faces and quaint green street signs. it’s friendly. and friendly is a great place for a kid to grow up.

(ahhh…our little linus and her beloved blank)

…enjoying the that’s-all-for-now things. ~k

and then there are days like this one.
where goodness is commenced with an early morning text from neighbors:

bacon and eggs. come on down.

and we do…in comfy sweats and pillow-flattened hair.
we push our jammied girl (with cowboy boots, mind you) on her tricycle down the block to meet her brothers from their sleepover.
and their house smells like bacon. …and happiness.
and we drink coffee and breathe fresh air from open doors while kids run amuck.
and suddenly our dogs are there too, so there’s just this giant mess of beautiful chaos while we eat eggs. and argentinian sausage. and good, well-done bacon. and heavenly biscuits straight from the oven with butter and honey.
and it was so unplanned…so spontaneous….so come-as-you-are…
…so delightful.
thank you, dave & charlotte. mwahh.

but as delight usually goes…there was more in store.

like sunshine that rained its love right into our yard this afternoon and begged for us to just be.

so we did. with a garden hose and ribbons of cold water that kept her happy for hours.

and i’m a deep person and all…
but, seriously… i couldn’t not drink it in.
couldn’t not just sit there and think that this was a positively beautiful moment. the way she smiled with all trillion of her spaced-out little teeth. the way those sweet little yellow straps kept slipping down her willowy shoulders.

the saggy butt of her bikini bottoms that were pleasantly garnished with loads of mud and grass. squelching and squirching our toes into muddy puddles. watching her attempt to tote a heavy bucket of water just a few steps…and happily wincing when the water splashed her face. hose drinking. sun basking. and just…being.

and when it’s all said and done…i want to dissect it. label it with all the words and feelings i can muster so that it has more relevance in my memories than just a day. it was a special day.
they all are, really…but there are some that just stand out a little more precious than the rest.

…and then, i even had the blessing of taking pictures of a beautiful family…on a perfect sunset evening downtown.

another sweet nugget of a weekend.
amidst a little house painting, some much-needed deep cleaning (fyi: mopsticks make great karaoke mikes), a saturday night wedding, and some sweet time with brett’s mom…i realized…

…that i forgot how much i love tracy chapman.
…that i really want an exact replica of lainey’s yellow bikini in my size.
…that i love my camera so much, i’d make out with it if i could.

…that i’m thankful for a beautiful girl…a beautiful family…and a beautiful life.

~ enjoying the just-enough-sap things. ~k