kismet art

TEN

A look at you, in photos, from birth to age 10, and a letter from your mom.

Dear Ben,

I truly feel as though it was only yesterday that I was first holding you in my arms, not ten years ago. That day is one of my most beautiful and vivid memories, bringing another person into the world is an amazing, life-changing event, and meeting you for the first time has changed my life for the better in so many ways.

As a child I loved my family, books, music, dolls, riding my bike, and playing with my friends.  From an early age I was drawn to playing "mom", at parties I would round up all the children younger than me and play games, read, or just take care of them.  As I grew older my loves turned to things like going to dances, participating in school activities, spending more time with my friends, and of course, boys, and during that time my thoughts of becoming a mom were put away.  Until I met your dad.  Between the time we met, became friends, dated, then married, I knew that I had found the person that I wanted to have my family with.  And just a few short years after we wed you came along and made me a mom.

Because of you I realize the advice I was given by other moms before you were born, like the many moms who would tell me that time flies by in a blink of an eye, or the mom who said you can never hold your baby too much because one day they will be too big to hold, or the mom who told me how she couldn't believe how much love her heart could hold until she held her firstborn in her arms, were not just words but the honest truth.  That sleep would become a precious commodity.  That while your heart grows so does your passion for protecting your child from the smallest to the biggest of harms and heartbreaks. That your heart also learns that you can't protect your child from everything, but that your can be there for them, to wipe away their tears, offer your ear, and an open heart so that they know they can talk to you about the bad as well as the good. That your house will never be really clean. That each stage in your child's development brings something even better than the last. Did I mention that sleep deprivation thing?  I can't remember, I haven't slept much in the past ten years.

Ben, you bring so much joy to our family with your funny jokes, your shy smile, your daily hugs, your capacity to love our family, including your little sister, especially when what she is doing really irritates you, your passion for reading and learning, your Lego creations, your infectious laugh, your "Human Beans" comic strips, and your easy going nature.

And on today, your 10th birthday, while you are making a wish as you blow out the candles on your cake, I will be making a wish in my heart too, a wish for you to continue to grow and change and love and learn, to find what makes you happy and passionate so that you can live your life to the fullest.

Oh, and that every once in awhile you will pick up your phone and call your mom.

Happy Birthday Ben.

Love,

Mom

Sweet 16

For starting out as "just friends" I'd say we're doing pretty well.

Happy 16th Anniversary Dave.  You truly make this journey worthwhile.

The Big Girl Bed

What does one get a 3 year old when a real pony just isn't an option?  Why, a big-girl bed of course. Last summer we bought this heart-shaped frame at our neighbor's garage sale and stored it with this day in mind: 
One of the best parts of this big step was taking Emma to the mattress store to try out mattresses, we had been there earlier in the day but wanted her to get a chance to try them out.  As the saleswomen encouraged her to jump from mattress to mattress (did not happen) and to curl up and pretend to sleep Emma's smile just kept getting bigger and bigger.  She tried out several mattresses only to go back and pick out the first one she tried (much to our relief, it was the one we had also picked out.)

Every day last week she would ask "is my big-girl bed coming today?'

And on Friday afternoon when the two men delivered her mattress I thought she was going to hug them both, she just kept clapping her hands together and telling them how beautiful her bed was.  Despite the pouring rain they left with big grins on their faces.  

We spent some time fixing her bed up with new sheets and a quilt and she kept climbing on, making this task take a little longer than it could have.  She spent all afternoon playing and reading on her new bed. As for nighttime, so far Emma is doing fairly well, she has woken up every night around 1 a.m. but we have been able to walk her back down the hall and settle her back in.  And most nights we don't fall asleep next to her (it really is a comfy little bed.)
So a big thank you going out to Grandma and Papa, we ALL love the big girl bed.

15 years and at least 5,479 kisses

 some highlights in numbers:

15- years we've been married

2 -number of sweet kids we have

T2- our first date movie (I know it is a letter + a number but I am making an exception)

22- number of years we've known one another

19- number of years we've been together

3- how many places we've lived

7- states we've visited together

5 -cars we've owned since we started dating

0- pets we've owned

4- years we dated before we married

84- our ages, combined (lame, I know, but I was running out of cool number factoids)

105- our marriage in dog years (because you love goofy statistics like this)

6- how many months we were engaged

5, 479- according to you how many times we've kissed assuming we've kissed at least once a day since we married (I believe the number is much higher thank you very much...)

1- the number of times either one of us is ever going to get married.

I love you Pilar.

yours, 

Feta

And Now You Are 8

Here I go, it's time to get all mushy and senitmental because my baby, ok my first-born, turns 8 years old today.  And yes, it seems like only yesterday that we found out we were having a baby, then finding out he was a boy, and then mere moments since he came into this world.  And he really does fill our lives with joy and fun and adventure.

And as you can see from this photo he has gone from blocks and stuffed animals into the world that is Bionicle.  And as much as these are not my favorite toy in the world I do find that Ben plays out scenes of good vs. evil (with the good guys always winning), he researches them online at lego.com, reads about them, draws pictures of them, and is pretty good about sharing them with both his friends and his little sister.

So because of his great love of all things Bionicle I took the following photos and turned them into the invitation for his birthday party this past weekend (his friends came to our house to play, well, Bionicles, out in the playhouse, watch the new Mata Nui Bionicle movie, "The Legend Reborn", eat popcorn, and play with, again, Bionicles.  This is Mata Nui, a Glatorian Legend- am I winning points here Ben?- holding up a sign about Ben's birthday. Here is Mata Nui, with some of his friends, hanging out and waiting for the movie to begin (this was the inside of Ben's invitation). All the boys who came to Ben's party bought him, yes, you guessed it, Bionicles.  And amazingly enough no two were alike and he didn't get any that he already owned.  And that smile of pure joy- this is why I put up with Bionicles... This is the word cool being formed by Ben's mouth:And this is the card an 8 year old gets from his parents (and don't tell him but we got him a Bionicle for his birthday too.)Tonight we will celebrate with a Ben-chosen dinner of cheese pizza from Track Town Pizza and ice cream with these cookies from a local bakery (he is not a big cake fan.)

Happy Birthday Big Guy, we love you. 

14 Years

Happy Anniversary baby, got you on my mind...

14 years of marriage have gone by so quickly, cliche, I know, but they really have.  I love you, Dave. And I love our kids.  And I love our home.  And I am so glad that we are good friends.  Life is good, even on the bad days, I know this life of ours is good. 

 

This is one of my favorite photos from our wedding day, especially since you can see my tennis shoes peeking out from under my wedding dress- hey, at least I was comfy.  You still look at me that way, you know, and it makes my heart full.  So here's to the next 14, let's remember to give them something to talk about.

And I know we will have fun tonight, the four of us, you and me and Ben and Emma, celebrating somewhere that serves cheese pizza and chocolate milk.  Because in the big scheme of things isn't that really what it's all about???

Emma's First Haircut

Slight pause in the December Joys book to take time to celebrate Emma's first haircut (not that it wasn't a joy- she did great, slept until it was her turn, never cried, didn't love it but didn't hate it either.)  Judy, the woman who has cut my hair since I was a teenager cut Emma's today. Judy has a lot of grandchildren and a lot of patience.

When we got into the car she looked in her mirror and said something that sounded a lot like pretty.  The little bangs are pretty sweet.  

Special thanks to my Mom who not only paid for Emma's first haircut, she held her while she slept and also took all the photos, and some artsy ones too I must say!