on the move

just in case you thought i was kidding about that 15 month old on the move thing...

joy seeker (july)

as evening pulled on the afternoon sun, we shared a small bowl of blueberries tucked under the cherry tree in the backyard. you kept trying to give me a few of your blueberries and would laugh each time i said, "thank you. now here is one for you."

i always want to remember the moment when i noticed you were waving at the fence, and i looked up to see a house finch hopping from post to post. you were waving to that finch! and you had the biggest smile on your face as though you were greeting an old friend. i am in awe of the way you seem to intuitively understand that joy is the way.

*****

the series, "joy seeker," is one way that i plan to document the "joy" superhero power that ellie jane has. i hope to gather these glimpses here on the blog throughout the next year, and then around her second birthday, i will put them all together and have them printed in a small book. 

the many faces of ellie jane (july 9)

twenty minutes on july 9

joy seeker (june)

in this moment, you paused in the midst of your snack and looked up at the blue sky and took a breath. your big blue eyes taking in the birds flittering above us and the trees slightly swaying. we talked about how noticing the birds and the trees and the sky and feeling the breeze across our bodies was a way to just be right here sinking into the joy of being alive.

your superhero powers bloom more each day, and i am so glad one of them is that you are a seeker and bringer of joy. as we walk this part of your path together, i will take notes so we can both remember the beauty and joy that surrounds us.

*****

spending time with ali at the your story retreat has inspired me to think about how i can continue to gather words and photos together in more tangible ways. i recently created my first shutterfly book (more on that soon), and i love how simple (and rewarding) it is to pair photos and words together in this digital world. this series, "joy seeker," is going to be one way that i document the "joy" superhero power that ellie jane has. i hope to gather these glimpses here on the blog over the next year, and then around her second birthday, i will put them all together in a book.

the kindred project: day 8 (a birthday)

The Kindred Project: 12 Days of Light and Yes is about sharing our stories of light and hope. The moments where we said "yes" to choosing beauty in the midst of it all. The moments where we stood in our own light. The moments where we saw someone else choose hope. The moments where another became our teacher and where we taught ourselves. Read more about the project and share your own stories in this post. During these 12 days, I am sharing a few of the lights along my path that have pushed me and taught me and held me in the midsts of it all. 

*****

2010 :: 2011

As she sleeps down the hall, I think about how this time last year I had lost a sense of time and was deep inside a bravery I never knew I had within me. There was such joy and pain to come in those next few hours, days, weeks.

And there is so much I want to say. I want to tell you about the fear and beauty and laughter. I want to tell you about getting lost and forgotten, then standing tall as a mother in a way that had been within me all along. I want to tell you about the cracking open and the stitching it all up again only to have life leak through. 

Side by side we are healing and laughing and living it all.

May it always be like this, even when she stands farther away on her path and lives her own dreams into reality. May we always see the laughing and the healing and the love.

More stories to come, but right now there are presents to wrap and I need to remind Jon to pick up the cake and the sky is so blue and it is so warm outside and I can hear her calling me. We have some living to do over here.

(Homework: Close your laptop, turn off your phone, and go do some living of your own dear one. You deserve it.)