The Space Between

Where at once there were protruding teeth from sucking his thumb, there is now a space between.

i heart faces- yellow

"Look at the stars, look how they shine for you. And everything you do. Yeah, they were all yellow too."- Coldplay

Yellow is the color of the week at i heart faces. I thought of lemons, bananas, sunflowers, and so on. I couldn't get my act together to properly work a yellow prop. My daughter said her hair was yellow and I thought of stars, thanks to a little help from a favorite Coldplay song of mine. So here's my little yellow haired star.

 Check out i heart faces for some yellow inspiration!

Peonies

"Still, in a way, nobody sees a flower. Really, it is so small, we haven't the time and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time." Georgia O'Keefe

For many years my favorite flower was the tulip. I thought they were so beautiful in their sleek simplicity. I received them in vases on birthdays and anniversaries. I picked bouquets of them up on street corners in the hustle and bustle of my city commute. I carried them in a beautiful hand-tied bouquet down a long church aisle. They were mine, my favorite flower.

 My loyalty to the flower had less to do with it's beauty and more to do with my lack of noticing any other flowers. The truth was, I never really stopped to notice any flowers, let alone smell them. I was always rushing through the day, the commute, the weekend and life in general. I did not even care much for spring as I was in too much of a hurry awaiting the summer. 

Somehow life slowed down when I had children, despite the whirlwind of it all. I played in playgrounds and backyards instead of pounding city pavements, rushing to get from here to there. I played matchbox cars in the dirt and made mud-pies with my children. Enjoying every moment, creating snapshots in my head of it all. 

My children taught me about nature with their burgeoning interests in flowers, butterflies, rocks and so on. I started to notice all of the beautiful flowers in my own yard and even learned each of their names. Hydrangeas, petunias, sunflowers and peonies. Oh my, the peonies.  

I first noticed the peony when awaiting the arrival of my daughter  during the beautiful month of June. I was so filled with joy and love that the flower enraptured me completely. When my daughter arrived, so vibrant and full of beauty I was reminded of the beautiful peony.  I knew the peony was now my flower and I would make it hers. She and I await their arrival from bud to bloom.  We cut some and place them in vases in our house. There truly is something so calming and invigorating about walking into a room where there are fresh cut flowers sitting on a table. Especially when it is my favorite flower, the peony. 

These feet were made for walking...

i heart faces- flowers and faces

"Can we conceive what humanity would be if it did not know the flowers?"- Maurice Maeterlinck

My daughter's current favorite pastime is picking flowers, or weeds... She will pick flowers anywhere we go; in the backyard, at the marina, the baseball field, on a walk, in someone's garden (alright, she's only done that once). I do love the pure innocence of the act of picking flowers. She gets completely lost in her flower picking and really does seem so content. I love that she reminds me to slow down and just enjoy those simple things we are so fortunate to have all around us.

Stop and smell the flowers over at i heart faces!

i heart faces- celebrating mom!

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."- Elizabeth Stone

I stumbled upon this quote during my first pregnancy while feverishly reading through what seems like hundreds of pregnancy books and manuals. The quote struck me immediately and I have had it tucked away all these years. Reading about my heart walking outside my body was something I instinctively understood despite the fact that my baby was still sharing my body with me. I knew that once he entered the world my life would take on a new meaning and that meaning was him. I remember going out to dinner with my husband weeks after my son arrived, my heart aching to be with my baby, like most first time mothers. The second we returned home I was okay, my heart was okay. The first five years of my son's life I was able to keep him (and my heart) in the bubble that being a stay-at-home allows. He would go to preschool, but I would be the one to drop him off and then pick up a few hours later. Never has that quote resonated more  than when two years ago that big yellow bus came barreling down our street. My son kissed me goodbye and got on the bus, along with my heart. I stood watching as the bus got smaller and smaller and this quote entered my head. Yes, there goes my heart. Thankfully, my son and my heart returned promptly after school and all was okay. Yes, my heart was okay. I experienced it again this year when my middle child got on that big yellow bus and then again when my baby started preschool.  I know as they get older it will only get worse. I suppose now I am okay with my heart walking all around, as long as it always comes back to me. 

This week i heart faces is celebrating mom in honor of Mother's Day. I do not really have many photos of myself with my children, but I do adore this one. My husband took it of me and my daughter on vacation in Turks and Caicos. The picture just radiates love. My daughter leaning into me with that big smile and the love I know I was feeling. Mother's Day is an amazing holiday. Without my children, obviously I wouldn't be able to celebrate it. It's just funny that they celebrate me on this special day, when really I am just so thankful that I get to be their mom. So, for me Mother's Day is me celebrating the fact that they are mine and I am theirs.

Now go check out the mom celebration over at i heart faces!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame...

He's been watching his older brother play sports farther back than he can recall. He has sat on lawn chairs, grassy fields and bleachers. He's hung around sidelines, stood behind home plate and snuck into dugouts. All the while cheering his brother on. Never wavering, always true to his favorite athlete. It never mattered what sport he was spectating; he was always his brother's biggest fan. He would practice with his brother before a game and re-enact a game the moment they returned home.  He has waited until the final inning to give a high-five or the last touch down to rush the field in pride. He knows all of the stats, the goals, the points and the final score. With sports bottle in hand, he patiently waited. Now, finally, it's his turn. He will swing the bat, run the bases and catch fly balls. And after the final inning, his big brother will rush the baseball diamond for a high-five from his favorite baseball player.