the best medicine.

oops. i fell off the blogging bandwagon for a minute there. but this is my attempt at catch up. some days things just happen and i feel like there isn't much to talk about. i could prattle on about strings of nothing every day but i feel like if i give it time, something cool happens. today turns into yesterday and tomorrow turns into today and there is a past, present, and future and a different perspective about what is now. this is now.


today has been filled with lots of laughter and big huge bright smiles. that was a nice break from this new defiant toddler stage that zoe has entered. it is interesting and challenging and is making me take a long hard look at patience. it has made silence and bubble baths that much more amazing. but mostly it has caused me to affirm to myself, over and over (and over) again, that this too shall pass. whew.

so now for catch up... jesse was in vegas (or bay-gis in zoe speak) for a long weekend. zoe would randomly tell me let's go to bay-gis and meet up with daddy. it was pretty hilarious. and the mental image of zoe in vegas was entertaining too. the first couple days it was actually cool being alone and seeing life as a pseudo single mom. i have a whole new respect for single moms. you guys... are amazing. after day two i was so ready for him to come home. which was also cool in its own way because when i got to kiss him, i seriously felt like i was falling in love all over again. it was that good. the time away really highlighted what i miss and admire and appreciate and love about him... and reminders like that are always good. for love and for life and for gratitude. gratitude is so important.

some random times i picked up the camera...

some finger lickin' good strawberries.

food is no joke to my girl.

sneaky!

did you need something?


my friend ashley had all the girls over whose boys were in vegas. that was fun. we ate dinner and put the babes to bed and drank red wine and talked and laughed and loved on each other. it was perfect. it always amazes me what a good group of women can do for the soul.


all the dogs, too. (except mine because they're nuts).


we tried to get as crazy as the boys.

snuggling by the fire with my friend. love love love.

thank you all.

the next day was filled with lots of fun but a highlight was amelia's storytelling. she doesn't do anything half way. i love it.


and g came over to give zoe some much needed male attention. (that is a smock that she insisted on wearing to help me cook... and for the rest of the night).

then, before bedtime, we made daddy a picture to come home to. and then tired girl accidentally painted her face with the chalk by rubbing her sleepy eyes. off to bed.

she was promised at bedtime that when she woke up he'd be there. and he was. and she was a stage 5 clinger all day.



zoe and i gave ourselves matching manicures. note to self: i should never be a hand model.

but since i keep chewing my nails off, i thought if i gave them some love maybe i'd stop. we took a big long bubble bath and painting our fingers and toes and i shaved my legs and drenched myself in lotion [in preparation for my massage today, you're welcome calvert :)] and zoe washed her tummy 14 times in a row and splashed me over and over. it was super relaxing and just what i needed.

this morning, zoe's mind says, seriously weather?!

ridiculous!

mornings are my fav because they're calm and happy and the dogs flock to the sunshine that pours in our bedroom windows. they are lovers. (but also brother and sister, so that's kinda weird).

dude is very proud of his newly acquired trick - roll over.

shiva was feeling shy today.

more love.

my little sunbather.


we came downstairs and zoe did a self-directed paint project while i did the dishes. it ended like this.


but the bright happy lovely part of my day was this:




she just found me particularly hilarious today - for no reason at all. i love those kind of days. it was just what the doctor ordered and in the midst of her new found love for defiance, little moments of clarity happen like this. and i remember that things happen in phases and they pass. and just like her love of the word NO! will pass, so will her telling me she wants to snuggle on my tummy and laughing at the smallest of sounds of i make and her exclaiming watch! as she does a million new things. life is happening fast and she is growing up quicker than i could have imagined and i am trying to relish in all the little happy moments and remember that the moments that challenge me are challenging me for a reason. and so i affirm - i am patient, and happy, and in love with my life. i am patient, and happy, and in love with my life. i am patient, and happy, and in love with my life. ahhhhh. that's better.

and because her laughter was so infectious and so beautiful today, i tried out the video on my camera and i made myself figure out how to import it and put it together in a way that other people could see. this is my very first video and the transitions are not graceful but i did it in five minutes and now i know i can do it, so they can only get better from here, right? i want to try to do more video because i think video, especially to look back on years later, is so so special. i cherish mine from when i was a kid. so here goes, smile along!