I need them....

It's true that every child needs someone to love them. That no child should ever have to endure not knowing what true unconditional love is. But I think for me, as a mother, I need my children more. I need them to point out the beauties that are in life amidst all the hardships and sorrows. I need them to love me unconditionally as only children can do. I need them to show me the beauty in despair, to show me the face of innocence in evil, to show me how to live and love fully.

Two bloggers that I regularly follow (Kristen and Mckmama) recently embarked on a trip to Kenya with Compassion Bloggers for two weeks to witness the despair, slums, and hope that their sponsored children live in. What these two women do and open their hearts to amazes me. But it also got me thinking as I do sponsor a child as well that as much as that child needs the money that I send to them, I think I need them more. I need to know the wealth that I live in that can be deemed not very much, but when compared to the slums that they live in and the hardships that they go through and are witness to every day I live like royalty. And maybe I do. In their eyes. I'm sure that my modest home, that is heated by the gigantic oil tank in my basement, that has electricity that I so frequently forget to turn off, the hot and more important running water that flows through my house that is clean that I wash my babies in, the hot meals that I can cook, the abundance of food in my home that allows for my 3 year old to "snack" all day long, would be viewed as a palace to these children that huddle together at night just to stay warm, whose families try to keep an impeccably clean living arrangement which can be difficult when the "floors" are made of dirt or even worse garbage. I implore you to read the stories here and here and if you are able sponsor a child through Compassion bloggers. It may not seem like a lot to you but to these children you'd be their hero.

And to my children who have the ability to open their hearts so freely and openly and willingly share everything that they have, you are my heroes.

Happy Birthday Lil' Man

The snow outside is gently falling, exactly like it was one year ago today when I met the little man who would steal my heart away. Lil' man was a scheduled c-section and was scheduled to arrive between 8 and 8:30 but he decided to make a grand entrance when the doctors lost his heart rate and he rolled onto the umbilical cord so at 7:19 am on December 31, 2008 I met the man of my dreams. I can't tell you how much I love you because there's just not enough time in a lifetime but know that you and your sister have my whole heart. You were a perfect 9lbs and 2 oz and 21.5 inches of all boy. You have learned so much in your year it amazes me (and frightens me somewhat), you're starting to walk and have mastered the art of climbing on anything and everything, can say "mama" with absolute conviction and are one of the happiest babies I've ever seen. Happy Birthday baby boy, and remember the whole world is celebrating with you!!!!



12/31/2008


12/31/2009

Fall

I love fall. Just about everything about it, changing leaves, falling leaves, apple picking, the pumpkin patch, eating or drinking anything with the hint of pumpkin in it. Wearing sweaters and jeans and being comfy. Football Sundays and Mondays (and sometimes Thursdays and the occasional Saturday college game too which means then sometimes on Friday night as well), Sunday school is in full swing. But most of all I love it because it's a time when my kids are a little more likely to want to snuggle up to a warm body and because that means its time for fall pictures.

What a whirlwind

.....and I have loved every minute of it. Last weekend I took the kids to the Hyde Park Quadricentennial. This has importance in two ways for me especially first its a free thing to do with my kids, second it is believed that Henry Hudson anchored his ship in the Crum Elbow Creek in 1609. It was a nice day without it being too warm, fall was definetely in the air especially when the wind blew. It gave Emily a chance to go from table to table and come away with a souvenir from each. There was the paper rose she got to make (marking the rose gardens in FDR's lawn), the piece of wooden furniture stamped with Val-Kill (a la the furniture at Val-Kill Eleanor Roosevelt's estate), a wooden sailboat (to commemorate Hudson's Half Moon ship), and a dutch hat. It was a wonderful event and really got the kids and community involved.

Here are some of the pictures from the day:

Already breaking hearts.....

...unfortunately it's my heart. I type this as I listen to my son not cry himself to sleep. He hasn't napped all day, is cutting teeth, and is incredibly tired. I know he needs to sleep and I think even he may know it, but at 7 months old it's way more fun for Mama to hold you than it is to nap. If it feels like my heart is breaking now what in the world am I going to do when he starts dating?