Brink party of 4!

Here's a sneak peak at Amelie's newborn shoot with the amazing Claire Pelella.

5 days 'fresh' !

ps. Where is Rue, you may be asking? Well. 

We did attempt to include our son in this shoot. Attempt, is the key word here.

He was quite hyper. Quite. He would get on the bed, stand up, jump, do a barrel row and fling himself off the bed. Sitting still for two seconds?? Out of the question!

So, we are not pretending that our daughter is perfect and that we don't have a son....

honest!

Photos courtesy : Claire Pelella

November Showers bring PINK girly stuff

My incredible Mother, MIL and best friends showered Little Miss and I last night. Best party ever!
Pink champagne for the ladies, cider for me. Delicious stinky cheese and crackers [my love language] Dried fruit and nuts. Turkish lamb meatballs and chicken kebabs. Tabouli and Fall inspired salads.

The gifts were outta control. Little Miss' shoe collection is quickly overshadowing mine, receiving 8 shoes and booties, all pink and silver. Add those to the 4+ pairs I have already for her, and she owns more shoes than I do! She got a tutu and a crown [YES!] a rad quilt, some sweet headbands and the most incredible hand made baby book. So much pink! I love it. That is just a tiny taste of the love [in gift form] that she received. I can't wait to dress my little fashionista.

I was honored to be sitting in a room full of women that truly love me and are cheering me on as I bring another little life into the world.

The food

The flowers

The Invitation

Cheese & Fruit

Beautiful friends

Beautiful friends continued

Little Miss, Mom, & Me

The handsome Moses Kingsley

Imagining my cider is champagne ;)

My Mother-in-Law & Pastor's wife

Pink cake pops!

Gift bags for the ladies

Opening gifts

Loving friends

oohing & ahhing

Ladies

with my 'baby'

My Beautiful Moms

The man responsible for it all ;)

this is what Joy looks like

We had the privilege of working with the super talented, amazing, creative, lovely, sweet [shall I go on??] photographer Brittany Fray, of Brit Fray Photography. On saturday night we took our family photos, with baby girl at 20 weeks. It was a gorgeous day, with the golden sun and beautiful broken down barns as our backdrop. Here is a sneak peek.

the little [big] things.

Last week an epic thunderstorm blew into town. Something about the crazy wind and thunder and lighting rolling in the distance got me thinking, got my heart churning. Standing on the balcony next to Chris I blurted out:

'why is it so hard to live in the NOW of life??'

Like most people, I spend a lot much time thinking about the future. About our next house. The next baby. The next horizon. Thoughts like 'when that one thing comes through...when that one thing changes...when those pieces to fall into place.' Dreaming is crucial, of course. Without dreams we would be hopeless. But dream too much and you lose sight of now. Of what's your reality. So I question, why can't I just live in the 'now' and be satisfied? I propose that maybe the day-to-day, the ins and outs of daily life can be mundane. Tunnel vision of sorts. But I don't want to wake up in 10 years and realize my babies turned into kids while I was sleep walking.

Truly, I want to embrace and savor this life that I HAVE, not the life I want. The life that is staring me in the face, daring me to enjoy the little things and not just the grand moments. The life that is messy and crazy and beautiful and challenging.

Rue woke up at 12:30 [thank you tooth #8] and at first I was in a mumble-groan-gripe-exhausted-bad mood and tried to get him back to sleep with no avail. So, I picked him up, and for the next hour or so, I snuggled him in the rocking chair and ran my fingers through his hair. I stroked his little cheeks and stared into the deep darkness of his eyes. He stared right back, and talked to me, in his sweet little mumbo jumbo jibberish language. He rubbed my arm. And then one moment he cupped my cheek so gently and just held my face in his hand. My heart exploded into a million pieces and I couldn't find a trace of bitterness that I was losing sleep and that I would probably be useless the next day. I was enjoying and savoring and soaking up every second of our little nighttime rendezvous.

Today, I am certainly tired, but ohhh so satisfied. I enjoyed a little [big] thing.

high/low

Rough week.

On the way to NJ for work training, Chris's Saab died.

He was towed to a little shop and the mechanic confirmed. Engine death.

And sadly it's not worth fixing.

So, we find ourselves sharing [closes eyes and shudders] one car.

That will last only so long; until:

A. I tire of driving to Chris & from work, aka getting out of sweats before noon.

B. Chris tires of the downgrade from his Sexy Saab Turbo to my Dented 97 Honda Civic aka 'Phoebe'.

Commence car dreaming...now. The Honda Pilot is nice. Acura MDX, nicer. We are a growing family here people, SUV's are where it's at!

A dead car was the low of the week. But!!! There is a high! I think Ruehl may be over his lactose sensitivity! [and the crowd erupts in exuberant joy and the angels sing the hallelujah chorus] The last few weeks I have been giving him dairy and I haven't noticed any changes in his demeanor or in his diaper. When I gave him dairy two months ago he cried all day and night and his diapers looked like pea soup. Bad, bad, bad reactions to dairy. I guess his little gut couldn't handle it. Our Pediatrician told me he would probably outgrow the sensitivity around a year and I am so relieved to say I think he has!

That is reason enough for me to say my glass is half full, one car or not.

xo,

Y

Circus of Love

My super talented friend/brother-from-another-mother Benjamin Dunn is an amazing musician and he recently released his latest album. Along with my husband our closest friends, I had the privilege to participate in his first official music video. It was so fun! You can see me standing behind the drummer. Chris described me as 'as the girl doing high-claps'.

Also, his website and his album is available for sale on iTunes.

cheers!

Y.

living in a dream world

It's 2:26 am.

I can't sleep.

It's not that I ain't tired.

I just can't stop thinking about him.

When i'm awake I dream of him.

I feel like I'm cliff hanging.

It's the midnight hour.

He WILL be here soon.

I don't want to sleep, my heart is too full of excitement, and anticipation.

I feel like i will burst.



I had some tea, toast, a juicy pear, and some search time for cloth diapers.

At 2:26 am, I am exhausted and thrilled for these next few days/weeks of waiting.



I'm living in a dream world.