Monday, November 29, 2010

Happy Birthday SweetPea!

9 years ago today I woke up at 6:00 am, showered, made sure my hospital bag was ready and then we casually drove to the Labor and Delivery wing of our hospital and checked in. Being induced is a funny thing. It felt like I was checking into a hotel. We were shown our room and we unpacked. Seriously.

But the nice thing was that I was so incredibly present in the birth of my first child. I wasn't distracted by trying to figure out if this was labor or how to keep it going. None of that.

My first words when I saw her were "Oh my God she's beautiful." To which my mother replied, "of course she is."

I can't believe 9 years has gone by. In a blink. That's what all the parents of older children told me would happen, but in those early days of middle-of-the-night feedings and a house full of gates and locks, I didn't quite believe it. But now I watch her long legs as she runs up the stairs or fixing her hair in the reflection she finds in car windows and realize how big she really is.

She is growing into this amazing young lady. Watching her unfold and peel back all the layers that make her who she is is an incredible thing. She loves to read, paint, play music on her recorder and viola, and has a smart ass side too that reassures me she'll never take crap from anyone. She is so determined, independent, and smart. So many qualities that can be troublesome in a 9-year old but that you know you will be thankful for in years to come.

My daughter is beautiful and she hates it when I call her "pretty" so we will stick with "cute" for now. But really we are just splitting hairs.


So, Happy Birthday to my dear SweetPea, the little girl who makes me catch my breath and marvel at how very lucky I am.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Holiday Joy: Tree Tagging

Every year the holidays sneak up and bite me in the ass. This year I decided to sign-up for a holiday photography course to help me not get lost in the mayhem and enjoy all the moments. I am taking the course from Willette Photography and I, along with a huge international group of people, will be snapping my way through the holiday season as I prepare for Christmas Day. It is actually forcing me to get myself organized so hopefully I'll be more on the ball this year and not wake up and find myself 3 days from Christmas with not a single photograph taken or kiss under the mistletoe.

Each year we normally tag a tree in Vermont and cut it down one weekend after skiing sometime in mid-December. This year we decided to stick closer to home and tag locally.


Some of the shots I am required to get this week for the course are getting the tree. For me, November 27th is just a tad early for that. I like to have a living tree by Christmas day and not a pile of needles all over the gifts. Today we brought some decorations to the tree farm so we could tag and decorate but NOT cut down quite yet.


We will cut down the tree in two weeks and bring it home to decorate and enjoy in full!And in other news, in three weeks we will bring home our very first family puppy.

Oh boy, it should be an interesting Christmas season!