Sun and Rain and a Lifetime of Happiness

Yes, I love taking pictures, and would be happy to one day do it for more then just pleasure. But who knew spending all day photographing a wedding would be a workout!? Am I really that out of shape!?

Justin's sister Alyse got married in the Alaskan wilderness this past weekend, at Justin's Mom's cabin in Tenderfoot, Alaska. The wedding and the couple were both beautiful. But I learned one thing, being a guest and a photographer at a wedding, doesn't quite work. I had to abandon the guest title to take pictures. I heard that the food was excellent and that my kids and husband enjoyed themselves, but, I'll have to take everyone elses word for it. And then when I thought I could spend the next day at home relaxing, I instead woke up feeling like I spent the previous day doing squats.

We did get some wonderful pictures though, and I'm sure they will treasure them many years down the road, so the busy day was worth it in the end.

We were lucky to have sun on their wedding day, but overall we have had a crummy summer. The sun will maybe peek out for one day out of every 4 or 5. I'm really getting tired of gray! So on days when we have even the littlest bit of sun we have been taking advantage of it and playing outside, and making do inside when it's a little too soggy for us.

And even though today looked to be falling into that soggy category, it was the day of our town's "Golden Days" Parade, in celebration of finding gold here in the interior. I debated going or not, especially since Justin was at work, and the gray sky was letting down a little rain here and there. But at the last minute I decided that we could always bail if it got too cold. I'm glad we made the trip though. We happened to land a great spot, courtesy of my neighbors who we happened to run into. We were on the raised porch of the old state building downtown. So we were covered from the rain and a safe distance from the road so that I didn't have to worry about Wyatt. He was so thrilled to see all of the floats, and fire trucks and old cars. And old Mother Nature even held the rain off for a little while. So we enjoyed the morning, Ben wrapped snug against my chest, and Wyatt whooping and hollering at everything that passed by.

And Ben, oh my Ben, did I mention that in addition to not only being perfect, that he's a month old! Where does the time go!?

Comfy Cozy

From our tops...

To our toesies...

A Grand Welcome

Somethings in life are deserving of a grand party, and I couldn't think of a more fitting reason to celebrate than a birth.

Some people have baby showers, where you put on your pretty little sundress and gather all of your best girls together to ooh and awh over your belly and hold up little outfits for the whole room to see. This time around, that particular scenario didn't seem to fit. Ben needed a proper welcome, and one with not just women.

So we held, in Ben's honor, a welcome party. Although the forecast that day seemed threatening, with talk of dark gray clouds and winds that would whip our nicely done hair all about. Yet someone seemed to be on our side, because the skies were a beautiful shade of Carolina blue and the sun warmed the air to a toasty 80 degrees.

Our friends and family started to arrive, and the grill was fired up and ready to go. We ate until we were stuffed, hamburgers and hot dogs, potato salad, bean salad, dips and chips and this and that, and dessert, dessert, dessert.

We enjoyed the company and the conversation. And mother nature even gave us a slight cloud cover to mask to hot rays that were scorching us earlier. We passed our little easy going bundle of Ben around, and we toasted to the life of endless opportunities that lies in front of him, as he curled up and dozed off in yet another pair of arms.

It's times like these, when the people you love all gather together, that I treasure. And it touches my heart even more that they took time out of their day to come celebrate my Ben.

The weekend carried on, floating on the high left over from the party, and when our weekend spilled over into Monday, we just rolled with it. We packed up our boys and went to "choo choo park" as Wyatt now calls it. A Huge local park with shops and train and carousel rides, and plenty of space to play. Ben wrapped snug against my chest, we walked, Wyatt's hands holding each of ours, swinging his legs in the air every few steps after he called out "two three!!" Until we reached the gravel play area where he took off towards the slide, full speed ahead.

We stayed and played until the skin on Wyatt's cheeks started to turn a slight rosy pink from the sun. Then we capped off the day with an ice cream cone that melted and dripped slowly down his chin as we walked to the car.




Summer is grand, just as grand as Ben's welcome and events so grand will stay forever in my mind.

Easy Chair

Moments

It's hard not to get caught up in the craziness that is everyday life with two kids. It can be easy to not see the simple beauty, or relish in the little special moments. And most of all, it's hard to find time in the hustle and bustle to just dance.

When my swiftly growing Wyatt was born, there was a moment when he was about a week old that will forever be imprinted in my mind. We finally crawled out of bed about 10am and walked into the living room to find a snowy scene through the front window. The lawn was being covered with the very first snow of the year. I held Wyatt up, both of us in our warm pajamas, his head resting between my chin and my chest, and we watched the snow flakes drift down from the sky together. No one else in the world mattered. I remember how he smelled, I remember exactly how I felt, completely bliss full.

I've been waiting for that special moment with Ben. One that I would always remember fondly. And yesterday, I got that moment. With Wyatt down for a nap, and Justin off at work, I settled into the couch to nurse my little boy. A short while and a nice full belly later, his eyes started to get heavy, and he curled his little naked besides his diaper body into mine and drifted off to dreamland. I pulled out the laptop and went to visit my favorite photo blog, and on that site a version of Blackbird by the Beatles poured out of my speakers. And when the music reached his ears, Ben's eyes popped open, he looked around, then right at me. He suddenly looked so awake and alert. So I stood up, that warm little body wrapped snug in my arms, and we danced.

Blackbird played on repeat in the background, too many times to count, and we swayed and twirled and he held my gaze and looked deep into my eyes as if to say, "I know this, we've done this before." And indeed we have, since dancing is not a rare event in our house. And little tears of joy slid down my cheek as my eyes stayed fixed with his. And a feeling of pure happiness came over me, this was our moment.

And sometimes those special moments are meant to be shared. So when our wonderful Daddy came home from work, the eye gazing, and the dancing continued.





This weekend was full of those perfectly special, unplanned, but couldn't go any better, moments. Complete with impromptu after dinner walks to the park, carousel rides, and cuddling with Papa.

When life is good, it's really good.