Baby Rhythms

Sorry for the lack of posts over the past month.  We've just been busy, you know, having a baby and all. Our beautiful girl joined our family on July 6th and life has been a newborn vortex of milk and sleep cycles and out of town visitors and adjusting big sisters ever since. She was well worth the wait and 48 hours of mild contractions - once she decided to make her appearance, she was serious about it - as in she was born less than three hours after arriving at the hospital. Still in shock thinking about it.

And we are doing great. Big sister A loves her little sister very, very much. She's been a little needier, a little moodier, perhaps a little more like we might see from her in her teen years through all of the big changes and transition, but overall she's as amazing and funny and grown up as ever. She still loves her "treasures" too, no worries. And two months in, I think I can safely officially say that she is potty trained and did not regress when her little sister arrived (take that, everyone who told me she would).

And sweet J is just that, a sweet and lovely little peanut of a human who gets bigger and better by the day. We are so blessed, our little family of four, and we're taking this all in grateful stride. There have been some small blips over the past month (can't believe it's been a whole month!)...the dreaded mastitis boobie fever, some unexpected job changes for me come fall (good thing I deal so well with unexpected change, ha) but overall, dare I say it, we've had a very smooth transition into a family with two kids. And for that, there is much gratefulness.

Tonight I enjoyed the break in the heat and sat out at a park with my dear group of "Spilling" girlfriends, convening for our August chance to connect over good food, wine (ah, welcome back to my life) and words spilling out onto empty pages. The writing prompts led me to think about my girls, and how could they not at this moment in time? And I wrote this for my littlest love...

and through these days
of floating conversation

the world comes to luminate with light

in bleary eyes and cuddles and small bear cub starts
in sticky milk and nourishment from friends
in life to tired souls

in the tiniest of blessings
the abundance of life
of friends
of hope

reveal themselves exactly

like the summer morning light streaming in
stirring me from a quick, tired, deep sleep
to say, at once

awake.

there is life to be lived

to wish for
the hope of growth
of love
of all the things I could ever dream of for you
ever awaken

beyond my imagination

beyond the confines of the four walls of this room
of humdrum rhythms of milk and diapers
and hushed "shhhs" in the night

lies my heart
my opened hope
my belief in a God that is good

a God that must be
that has to exist, despite my shortcomings

and inequities
and doubts

because there is you
small, starry, piercing eyes
trusting hands, ever exquisite and tiny
body melting into mine

and I want to whisper it all
I want to protect
carve your path
know that ahead of you is joy and hope
and love

beyond your wildest imagination

and so I say all of these things to you
through arms that hold firm and kisses tickling your soft cheeks
the words you can know right now, that ring true from my body to yours

there will be plenty of time later for all the others

for the incessant noises of this great big world

and so

we are here. now. the cyclical rhythm of this moment drumming a story into my heart

we wander through these jasmine days

of mystery and hope



* To babies. And to blogs that don't get written because there are much more important things to attend to. *