October Life Lessons

At the risk of sounding like a broken record... October has flown by.  We have had some really special times with family though, and we are busy making memories with these two amazing boys.  Miles helped me set up the tripod for a fall family photo. I love this picture I snapped as he helped adjust the lens.

Here we are, "We're all together!"

Then we went for a little hike around our property.

That ended with a roll in the hickory leaves that just dropped from our tree last week.

Ruben was very focused as he examined the leaves, and he adored the sound of them crunching under him as he crawled.  He has abandoned his walrus crawl and moves like a big boy on hands and knees now... I kind of miss my little sea mammal - he is growing so fast!!

He also has three teeth on the bottom to meet the four on top.  He has begun pointing and waving and interacting with people.  He also loves music like his brother and his Papa!  He will dance to any tunes you play, all styles of music too!

Suddenly big brother Miles is an "almost" three year old, and he just seems to be such a boy not a baby anymore.  I think we have all grown leaps and bounds in this last year, but he especially seems so grown up.  He loves to play hide and go seek now... though he usually hides in his same favorite spot. 

We started the month with a pilgrimage to Robinette's for the traditional "apple picture."  Here is Mile's first fall picture there on the left (2010), and Ruben's on the right. 

Fall always feels like a time to "circle the wagons" to me.  Pull up the harvest, begin to gather indoors, spend more time baking, and taking stock of the growing season that just passed.  This Fall is not any different really, but the growing did not take place in the garden this year.  Instead our heads and hearts have shifted and changed with the new perspective brought on by many of the changes - planned and unplanned - that have taken place in our lives this year.

It seems like this season will not end without another major shift occurring in our lives.  As I write this my heart is heavy with the realization that our beloved GG has become gravely ill.

Right now it feels like October is telling us to slow down, take stock of the beautiful memories we have been blessed to form in this life, and give thanks for the beautiful matriarchs that grace our family.  As I reflect I have been flooded with all the wonderful memories that my grandmother and I have shared. I know it is only selfish that I wish she could stay here with us longer.  Instead I know it is time for her to go to where she belongs. Heaven is about to gain the most beautiful angel with crystal blue eyes and a southern accent... who adores cookies and snowmen! 

I always thought she was the truest sense of a "snow bird" because of the fact that she would fly to Michigan towards the snow, instead of away from it, every winter.   Now I am going to picture her rolling the white fluffy clouds into fields full of snowmen... while singing Christmas hymns.

Right now I pray for her peace and for her comfort.  I hope she feels the glow of all the love surrounding her right now as we elevate her life and her light to the next level.  We love you GG.  We will forever hold your smile in our hearts.

September's gone too...

I feel like September ended before it even had time to begin.  I don't mean to sound overly dramatic, but this month literally felt like it had plagues of biblical proportions.  We had our own versions of fire, locusts, and we ended the month with a flood... in the form of a major water pipe breaking.  But, I digress.   Let me start at the beginning before I go to then end.

There were many more dandelion hunting expeditions as fall fell upon us here in Michigan!  What a beautiful fall it has been, filled with blue skies, colorful trees, and visits from lots of animals to our new home!  We have a 'rafter' of turkeys (my new word for the month) that has been visiting us recently.  Miles loves to count all thirteen of them.  There used to be sixteen, and when he got to fifteen he would call it "five teen."

Not only have I been trying to teach him that for some reason fifteen follows fourteen, not "five teen" like you might think, but I have also tried to come up with an explanation for where the other three turkeys in our rafter have gone.  Sounds like the start to a good children's book doesn't it :-)

Miles loves to eat meals from his "big boy" trays that were hand-me-downs from Leo and Ava.  On this particular morning I even got him to try arugula because it was neatly arranged as part of his colorful lunch tray.

We knew Ruben was feeling better when he started giving "Rolly Cart Rides" to his big brother again.  Miles likes to stand on the back and Ruben literally pulls both their weight across the floor.  They laugh hysterically the whole time; my favorite background noise when I work in the kitchen!

Miles has also taken to rocking Ruben, an exercise that must certainly be chaperoned because they get a little rowdy!  I can only imagine what kind of wrestling matches are in my future!

Big news this month was that Ruben sat up front in the grocery cart with his brother for the first time!  They had a blast banging on the horn and telling me to "go go go!" through the store.  I learned quickly that you must steer this thing down the center of the aisle... much to the dismay of other shoppers, or little hands can reach everything on the shelves!

Ruben suddenly seems more than ready to give up his walrus crawl and start exploring another level of the world. He has begun to pull himself in earnest up onto anything and everything available.  He is also already wearing Miles' twelve-month footie pajamas.

I have managed a few hikes despite all the "plague" drama of the month.  Work and home have been especially busy, but I try to remind myself to take time to get outdoors no matter what!  Miles loves walking/ biking the trails. I have been able to carry Ruben in the backpack leaving hands free to collect rocks and pine cones with my toddler... I am in heaven!

In other big news Ruben's been getting tons of teeth - he has four on top and (almost) three on the bottom now.  This has changed his eating habits immensely!  He want to feed himself often now and he eats little chunks of food rather than having everything pureed.  He still loves a good bottle after his morning nap and before bedtime, but when he is not sipping his milk he is eying what is on everyone else's plate!  As sad as I am that my baby is growing so fast, I am looking forward to the time I can cook ONE meal for all of us to sit down to eat together!

One of the best things about September was that we had a beautiful visit from Aunt Jessica!!  Here she is sharing in the wonders of the walking stick that Miles captured on our back porch.  Our time was precious but all too short - only because weeks wouldn't be enough to enjoy all the time we wish we could share with her. 

Other firsts included Ruben learning to drink from a sippy cup.  Not his favorite thing, but he did not like the bottle at first either, so we will keep trying.

Both boys had their monthly photo taken while enjoying a pancake breakfast, one ritual that seems unfailing as everything else around us seems to be in chaos.

Ruben joined the pancake feast this month and has his first taste of blueberry buttermilk pancakes!

Here are my beautiful boys with Aunti Ei on one of our many trips to visit Yia Yia Liz recently.  Miles adores the cookies she shares with him when we visit.  In fact, one night when we returned home and were getting ready for bed he asked me for another cookie.  I explained that it was bedtime, and there were no cookies at our house anyway, so he was out of luck.  He was not happy and he replied with, "No Mama!! You need to call Yia Yia Liz - she will let me have a cookie!"  So true!  She always has the best cookies, and she always says yes.  Such a perfect Yia Yia memory that is obviously ingrained in his mind.

Ruben has also made yet another giant leap to being a big boy. On the last day of September I found him standing in his crib.  Miles immediately asked if he could join him!  I love this photo of the two of them just looking at each other in amazement.  Strange to realize that Ruben is so close to experiencing his world from the vertical perspective.  Miles kind of looks astounded too.  His "Baby Ruben" is growing fast, and what a first year he has lived through!

Where did August go?

Where did August go? In all honesty I must wonder where September has gone as well - full disclosure - as I type this post about August it is actually the last day of September.  

As we settled in to our beautiful new home we found that in addition to the most wonderful place to live and grow, we also have the most amazing new neighbors!

One of the best things is that our new neighbors keep chickens, and so my seven year search for a reliable good source for eggs since I moved back from New Mexico seems to have finally come to an end.

We spent many mornings and afternoons walking the fields and forests nearby during the month of August.  My solace right now is found by watching the clouds pass or the hawks stalk the songbirds that are grazing amongst the drying wildflowers.

Miles adores the "trick" that "Aunt Ann" taught him and has stripped half the Sassafras trees on the trail to toddler height as he picks the leaves to chew on the stems. 

Here is a picture of Ruben helping me and Michael identify the trees in our new backyard.  We still have lots of work to do - but we are dreaming big dreams about sustainable gardens, greenhouses, solar powered sheds, rain barrels, perennial gardens, and maybe some chickens and bees of our own one day!

Right now the only birds we keep are the pie birds that sit in our pies.  I have managed to make one or two this summer, but the canning, preserving, and baking have all basically been shelved in order to focus on making baby food with the little time I have.

I have found that my new garden already contains some of the most beautiful roses ~ something I am going to need to learn to care for as I have not had much success in the past, but I look forward to learning more.

Ruben spent much of the month with a cold/sinus/viral infection - in that order.  Here he is with the gooey eyes that we were sure were pink eye - but the Dr. was unconvinced.  Either way we he had a tough time of it in August - and we were truly exhausted by the end of it.

When he was feeling better he got a lesson on the drums in the new studio!  So nice to have a place to be creative in our new home.  Each day we are more and more thankful for this beautiful place we have found to live!

 

Ru started enjoying meals at the table with us in the high chair.  No more bouncy, or Bumbo seat for this big boy!  My baby is growing so fast, and this first year of his life has been an unbelievable one.  

Miles ate his weight in cantaloupe from the farmer's market in the month of August.  It was his preferred snack when he was not hunting for "dandelion flowers to blow on."

We did a lot of dandelion hunting!!  He would squeal with glee when he saw one across the yard and then do this funny high step run / skip over to pick it!

We did manage a few family walks - especially in the evenings. It was a great way to wear out our very active toddler before bedtime.

Ruben will sleep just about anytime, except for the middle of the night.  We have been struggling with night waking, and I just have to remind myself it won't last forever. (Something I did not have the luxury of knowing from experience when Miles was a baby.) Regardless though, we are all tired around our house.  All except for Miles - he manages to sleep through the two a.m. screaming...lucky him.)

This has truly been a glorious summer, no matter the fact that there never seems to be enough time.  One thing that has forced us to slow down and hug life just a little bit tighter is the fact that our dear Yia Yia Liz has become very ill.  Right now there are not words to express all that I want to say...

...so I won't even try.  I know we are all just thankful right now 

to have the time and the opportunity to shower her with love.

Such a bright and beautiful light she is in the lives of so many!

Your Children Are Not Your Children

July ended surrounded with loved ones and celebrating the newest boy in out tribe ~ Samuel Zeppelin!  It was so much fun to line up our boys and take these photos.  Right outside of the frame, sitting close watch, are the mothers of these three babies. We literally have decades now of photographs of the three of us lined up together. Now we have the next generation to line up for pictures. So cool!

This first meeting of Wynn, Ruben, and Sam was especially sacred because we gathered for Sam's blessing and baptism in the most beautiful ceremony that his mother crafted to mark the day.

I had the privilege of reading the writings of Kahlil Gibran, On Children, in which he explains, 

"Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. 

You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable."

As I read I looked out into the audience of family and friends and my heart smiled to see the next generation of babies (lots of boys!!) listening.  I looked at all the "grown ups" that have brought forth these babies, and I was so thankful for the amazing friends that I have, and that will be part of my life as I raise my children. 

I looked to Mere's mother and realized how thankful I am for the generation that came before us, cared for us, and helped us become who we are.  I am so happy to be here to share in the life of her grandson and see the joy he brings her.

I also felt the very strong spirit of Mere's father with us that day. I know that he smiled to see all the love surrounding baby Samuel as we gathered to celebrate his life.  I definitely feel it is part of my role in Sam's life to help reiterate and impart the essence of the amazing man who is his grandfather, and share with him those qualities that I see have been preseved in his own mother.

The proud parent were glowing with happiness.

The godparents were beaming.

Anthony surprised all of us, especially, Sam - by hoisting him into the air at the end of the ceremony, but the motion matched the buoyant atmosphere.

I adored the fact that we were all there, friends and family, to pledge our faith in Sam's future and to promise that we will be there to help love and guide him along the way.

Now that I am a parent I can understand more wholly the meaning in the poem that states that our children are in fact not our own.  We are here to help mold them, but the life they make is their own.

I am so looking forward to watching this little bean grow into the most amazing young man!!