Lucky?

Lucky for us, we have family who live in wonderfully warm places. And lucky for us, we get to visit.

I am grateful for holidays that bring family together... holidays that give us an excuse to drive 10 hours to see each other. (Um, did I say an excuse to drive 10 hours???) Well, the time, money, patience, and boredom that we spend in order to see each other may seem too high a price for just 3 days. Sometimes I think I'm just convincing myself it's worth it during hour 12 of the supposed 10 hour drive. But, when all is said an done, the miles have been driven, and re-driven, the spent sunflower seeds litter the car mats (ew), and the tune of baby einstein rings in my ears, I have more. More memories, more love, and more warmth.

It's then that I assess the sacrifice IS worth it.

Our trip to the desert gave us a blast of warmth to last us through the cold winter ahead. Yes, lucky for us.

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Photos courtesy of Grapefruit and Rachel

Chicks

Together again, dressed up crazy, we rekindled our friendships from high school. It was so fun to get together and reminisce about old times and make more fun memories that included the guys.

Colonel Sanders' beard and goatee scared our little chicken too much so that he couldn't even wear them. She was a little over tired for our Halloween festivities, and every time someone shouted or made a loud noise (and let's be honest, we were never a quiet bunch of girls in high school, and not much has changed in 5 years!) Mary lost it. Every cry started with a huge frown.

Halloween was way more fun this year with our little doll to dress up. She loved her costume, so much that she even fell asleep in it!

FALL

Inspiration

This inspires me.

I wrote in my 8th grade autobiography that she was my queen... She was the one that I looked up to and wanted to be exactly like.

Not much has changed in a matter of ten years (wow, has it really been that long?). Yes, we have taken different roads. Yes, her road led her faraway places. Places where I couldn't sit on her bedroom floor anymore and watch her get ready with big, eager eyes. Places where she had to face fear and heartache alone, with only God to hear.

Through each new stage she faces, I still see the queen I wrote about. I didn't know then, when I was 14, that she would accomplish all that she has.

But I could feel her light. If you don't know her, and you haven't felt it, it is the kind of light that oozes out of someone who has a lot of faith. Someone who has excitement and passion.

So the moral of this post is, I still want to be creative like she is. I want to be as passionate as she is. I want to be beautiful and graceful like she is. I want to have faith like she does.

***Photos taken at Laguna Beach, Dawson Cole Art Gallery.

September Highlights

I considered that Mary had SIDS. And I'm not trying to make light of a serious thing that sadly, happens all too often. She just doesn't usually, well ever, sleep for more than 2 hours during the day. Which is why Mary's 3 hour nap brought me to that morbid conclusion. I hadn't heard a sound. Not a PEEP for 3 hours. I finally decided to crack open the door to see if she was still breathing. To my immense relief, this is what I found...

...just waiting. So happy. So content, exploring this crib that she sleeps in every day. Discovering it for the first time.

Her discovery of the world continues...

She liked playtime and dress-ups with her cousin, Noah.

She is anticipating crawling, but still enjoys playing on a blanket on the floor.

Mary is sleeping through the night (YES!) but not without her precious little bear.

She giggled in her new swing at Grandma's, as well as anxiously eating any new solid food within reach.

And she has to be dressed up, even when she just goes to the grocery store. What can I say? She is my girl! (well, let's be honest. I can get away with sweats if she is dressed up, right?)

Ordinary

I do ordinary things every day. Like the dishes. And I eat cold cereal for breakfast. I wear ordinary clothes. I brush my teeth, I make the bed. I slap on some make-up here and there. I cook dinner. Not fancy dinners, but at least I cook them. I put clothes in the washing machine, I drive to the bank, the grocery store, and Target. I pump the car with gas. I check the mail. Nothing special, nothing exciting.

There are a pair of little blue eyes that watch me do these ordinary tasks. Beautiful blue eyes, that remind me, every time I look at them, of someone else with matching ones. Each morning these bright eyes find my face and spread a big, open-mouthed grin across hers. Her eyes fill with wonder at each ordinary chore I do. The dishes are shiny, they make noise. My cold cereal looks curiously sweet, and her tiny little tongue gets ready to taste it with every bite I take. She reaches out to touch my clothes, to scrunch her fingers around them. Holding onto the end of my vibrating toothbrush sets her into a fit of giggles. She watches so intently as I cut up the bright fruits and vegetables. The pots and pans, the steam, the smells... her dainty fingers reach out to pull in anything she can reach in order to examine it. Her head twists back and forth down every aisle of the store in order to absorb all of the colors, the sizes, the textures, and the sounds. The mail comes from a shiny box- with KEYS, and the paper crinkles when she touches it.

All of my ordinary tasks become something more when she is there, wondering, waiting, and watching. Ordinary is much more than mundane... with Mary, ordinary is discovery, it's nothing less than exciting, stimulating, and wonderful. Light oozes from her little self like a morning ray of sunshine, touching everything in sight.

Today, Mary made me feel more than mundane, more than ordinary. She made what I was doing really matter. Ordinary wasn't so ordinary today, not for me, and certainly, not for her.

California Dreamin

Mary experienced the beach for the first time this month. Her favorite was trying to eat sand, wondering where the wind was coming from, and of course, playing with her aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins.
We had a great time going back and forth between Newport and Huntington Beaches, where we visited with Jon's grandparents and family on both sides. We will never forget games at night with Grandma and Grandpa Alexander, some yummy home-cooked meals, our conversations about family and fashion, and loads and loads of our favorite phrase, "A boo boo Mary!"
The Crosby beach traditions held strong... bike rides on the boardwalk, dollar tacos at Great Mex, Ruby's shakes, Jack's surf-shop, morning runs/strolls ending with donut holes and apple fritters... (watch out for those next time Jess :) Life at the beach is so chill, and considering that we only spent a little over a week there this year (which, if you know us, is really cutting down on the usual) we want to go back very soon!