fiesta birthday 3

My baby turned 3. Poof, just like magic. Little legs shot up, toes inching out longer all the time and growing out of new shoes. Oh my, she's a little girl now!  
She's getting all big and independent now, reading books by herself from memory, taking off her own shoes, making her own choices and asking questions all the time. This morning… "mommy, where do elephants go potty" & "mommy, why is there a baby in your tummy." She's still kinda my baby too. She stays curled in her little bed until I come in. I'm sure that won't last long, but I love seeing that little grin all tucked in the sheets when I open the door. And the child loves to be carried, but who wouldn't?!
We threw her a birthday party on Saturday with a few friends. A proper fiesta with tex-mex, papel picado (flags), mexican brew, and a pink donkey pinata. I'd delivered some colorful invitations and the house was all ready with some special things from La Mariposa. Miriam had been really sick the day before with an ear infection so I was thrilled when she woke up feeling back to normal. She kept asking, "mommy, have my guests arrived"? Cute thing. All she'd been talking about was her party and her party supplies, and who was coming. It was all a very big deal.
Saturday was of course a scorcher, but the cold beer helped and the queso still went fast. Plus kids don't really care about the heat. They were all over the place, inside & out destroying my clean house in about 20 minutes. It looked like a bomb went off in the playroom. Why do I bother except that I want to pretend my house looks this orderly all the time. Birthday girl was miss popular and all her friends kept pulling her to play with them. It's good to be the queen for the day. We only had tearful moment. I asked her what happened and she sniffled "I spilled lemonade on my special party dress." Oh the drama! I think it was all the excitement that got her overwhelmed. Back to the party we went though and it was so nice to celebrate her big milestone with new friends and neighbors. I haven't met a lot of folks since we moved here, but the few that I have are very special.
I was so tired once it was all over and oh lordy did my feet hurt! The next day we totally peaced out and spent the afternoon eating watermelon outside while watching Miriam score in her new goal. Pure and good, you are so very loved baby girl.

birthday girl is… old

I took Bran for a walk around the block last night. The air was so hot and still. Bunches of lantana were sprouting all down the sidewalk and perfuming the air like grapefruit. Tree branches just sat motionless without a trace a wind. That hot air was stagnant, but it felt good on my skin and I was grateful for our quiet walk. I turned 35 yesterday. That's impossible to believe, but in an effort to embrace the here & now I'm letting that fact soak on in. I know I'm not "old" but baby that sure sounds old! I had a good mix of work and fun on my day. Ate a ladies lunch at the T room with Whitney (my favorite gal in Texas), opened a sweet card from my momma that of course made me tear up, played play-doh with a naked toddler, received a way cool pot from my husband, heard some jazz at a real dive bar, and heard happy birthday sung by my girl.
Anniversary number 5, baby turning 3, and birthday 35. I'm thinking there's some good juju going on from the numbers 3 & 5. Right? As I was walking in the heat thinking about getting older I thought about how quickly time flies by. I mean seriously flies! Good times and bad, life just keeps going by. Maybe it's having a child that shows you the passing of time. Maybe it's just with age and wisdom (hopefully). No matter, it makes you pause and look around at what you have and what you want.What I have are friends that called with wishes and gracious does that make you feel the love. So nice just to be remembered. So I'm going to try and really dig 35. Make it a good year and not complain about getting old and not complain too terribly much about this heavy heat!

I'll leave you with a video that totally inspired me this week. It's this years commencement speech at Trevor's old high school. "The death of a dream is usually the birth of another." Douglas Thomas has a poetic way with words and I promise it will leave you smiling.
 

sweet tooth

Since I'm off the wine (boo-hiss) I have had a major craving for something to indulge in. I've made the following and decided it was beyond my duty to share. I take no credit for these just found on Pinterest and fell madly in love.

No. 1 : Strawberry Yogurt Cake. For breakfast or a snack, it will change your life and you can thank me later. That is all.
No. 2 : Basic Chocolate Chip Cookies. So easy and simple. I doubled the recipe & froze them so they're always ready to roll. How nice to have something I can bake off and deliver to a friend in a jiffy?! The only thing is I thought they were too chocolaty the first time. Maybe I'm weird, but I halved the chips and they were mucho better. Just saying.

And just because I can't leave the week without sharing this little nugget. Here's my tiny dancer. Ain't she the cutest?! She adored her first ballet class this week. She walks on her tip toes all the time any way so I'm thinking this is the perfect fit!

celebrating, loving, and dreaming

If I were to describe the last 5 years I would say they were… eventful, inspiring, challenging, surprising, growing, blissful, hard-won, lucky, and blessed. Kind of like life. Just messy & complicated and amazing all at once. Together we promised to support one another and love one another through the good and bad. The love came so easy, but the real support has grown and progressed into something I'm so proud of. What I loved about Trevor that day as we stood in the grass, holding hands, and saying our vows is the same, but I love him in so many other ways now too. Mostly I love watching him be a dad and making Miriam laugh with her whole body deep down in her belly.

Trev took off work so we got to spend the whole day together - just us two love birds. Our big morning was spent at the doctor. A very special doctor, because our family is growing! I'm 18 weeks now and the truth is we're over the moon. Another baby. I can hardly believe those words, but baby it's happening. Even when you've done it before, seeing that tiny ultrasound is so overwhelming. Life changing. We had the doctor circle boy or girl on a little card I'd written out and seal it up. I wanted to wait to reveal at our anniversary dinner that night. Give us another thing to celebrate! So off we went to lunch at 20 Feet Seafood Joint to take our minds off the envelope. Amazing lobster roll and fish & chips. Oh my gosh it was delish and I wish I had some right this second. We spent the rest of the afternoon visiting shops that aren't so toddler friendly and just enjoying some time together. Our perfect day ended with a special dinner at Oak. We didn't find out what we were having the first go round, but that envelope was burning a hot hole in my pocket and we were both dying to find out. Vino was ordered, glasses were poured, and it was time to open. Dum, da, da dum… it's a B O Y! Oh me oh my!

It was a moment I won't forget and such a happy surprise. Trevor's face said it all. I think I'm still in shock, but I've got quite a while for it to sink in. The next morning we shared the news with Miriam. She was sort of in shock too, then excited, then all she could say was, "but I wanted a little sister." Sad pouty face. It's alright sweets. That's sort of a huge piece of information for a little girl to take in. We spent the rest of the weekend outside enjoying this unusually beautiful Dallas weather. Fleeting, but so delightful. Just the way the breeze feels on your skin makes you want to close your eyes and drift off into daydreams. We've been dreaming a lot around here lately. Here's hoping our dreams and love carry us far over the next 5 years.