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Goodnight Moon

Remember how I'm pregnant? Because I sure do. Two's health is finally moving in a good direction, and for the first time since I discovered this wee blessing, I feel like I have a moment to breathe... except that there's a rapidly-growing being who's moved into my ribcage, occupying space normally reserved for my diaphragm and lungs. It does complicate things a little. Bless her baby heart.

The little bean has also helped herself to a large part of my brain. I'm afraid it's the functional part (maybe not so large a portion...). Anyway. I wanted to post about the glorious snow that has blanketed our beautiful hometown, but I'm having some photo issues. Alas.

Words don't seem like a very good substitute, but they're what I've got. The sky here is a luminous shell pink and, days after the fat, fluffy, flakes stopped falling, Momo's backyard is still a pristine white wonderland. The snow is clean and deep; the Russian olive tree is covered with a thousand tiny icicles, glittering in the moonlight. It's a glorious vision for this sleep-deprived mama, up too late with some prenatal heartburn and mild writer's block. Magical as the vantage out window is, though, it honestly can't compare to my view in the other direction: Princess H, with her golden hair and rosebud cheeks; a slightly booger-crusted Tiny, making little snores and fluttering his impossibly long lashes; Mr. One, wearing a tee shirt I swear he's had since our college romance, older and more handsome now, smiling in his sleep...

Things have felt pretty crazy the last few months. Sometimes, just putting one foot in front of the other -- and compelling my two willful babes to do the same -- is utterly exhausting. Sometimes, I get overwhelmed just trying to make my brain slow down to a speed where I can try to keep up with it. But, on a night like this, as everything is perfectly quiet, and beautiful, and serene, I'm totally overwhelmed for different reasons: gratitude, happiness, wonder. I think a few minutes spent drinking it all in is probably even more restorative than sleep.

But only a few minutes. Then the sleep becomes really necessary...

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Carpe Diem


It was a glorious day in DC. It was one of those walk/eat/bike/dance/sing/read/knit/take-your-whole-darn-class-outside kind of days. It was a day where productivity ought to be considered a sin. And yet, for better or worse I was stuck transgressing the rules of frivolity as I remained tucked away in my office, dutifully typing away. I didn't take the time to look out my window, and the notion, the wish to wander didn't even enter my head. By the time I headed home it was twilight, and it finally struck me what I had missed. Unseasonable warmth in the middle of DC's gloomy winter *le sigh*...

Sweet Dr. P scooped me up from work, and as I moaned about missing out, he reminded me that even as evening approaches there is time and opportunity to carpe your diem. To pick yourself up and change your predicament. Perhaps I had lost the daylight, but the air was still warm, and the company was more than willing. I tend to resign myself to the powers that be. But Dr. P was right. This was a take charge moment. So I grabbed life by the reigns, and called to the horses named Destiny and Fate saying "Forward steeds! Chase the daylight!! And on your way, stop by Thomas Sweet for some ice cream."

And as I sipped my hazelnut praline milkshake, I didn't feel like I had missed out after all...






Tomorrow it's supposed to rain. I think it might be a perfect day for friends and ice cream too.

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Vintage Princess



My kids did their best to drive me insane today. So now that they're finally quietly settled for the night, I've been looking through some old pictures to help me fall back in love. My dear friend Andi took this one of Princess H when she was six months old. I think it might be my favorite ever. I love how she looks at once so utterly naughty and angelically sweet. I'm going to try to remember that those two things can coexist in children the next time Tiny dumps an entire bowl of dog food inside his onesie, or Princess H styles her hair with chocolate milk, or the two of them engage in a death-match over one of 15 identical fireman hats at the children's museum. Because they really are the two most delightful creatures in the entire world. Most of the time....

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Sunny Days Ahead

Sometimes, you forget how lovely a day in the park can be;


there comes a point (sometime between constructing sand piles and seesawing and climbing the wrong way up the slide) where you realize --

"I should do this more often."

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Stop Your Fretting

Two days ago, as I waited anxiously outside Charity's ICU room, the man in the room next to hers gestured in my direction. I glanced around--sure he was beckoning someone else. After realizing there was no else around, I walked over to his bedside. He seemed be about sixty. He was very thin, had short salt and pepper hair, and wore an over-sized hospital gown which revealed a large scar across his chest. As soon as I walked over, he clasped my hand and gave me a huge, warm smile. Without any words, he explained that--because of the ventilator--he couldn't speak. Instead, he traced a little message onto the palm of my right hand, one letter at a time.

"S""T""O""P"--"F""R""E""T""T""I""N""G"--
"S"'H""E''''--''''W''''I''''L""L""--"B""E""--"J""U""S""T""--"F""I""N""E''.

In the midst of his recovery, this dear man went out of his way to reassure me. I was overwhelmed - and I can still hardly believe his generosity. The interaction was brief, but so kind, so selfless, and so unexpected. It was one of the sweetest encounters I've ever had.

During the last weeks, countless people have clasped my hands and reassured me in their own way - like the elderly man who brought his Newfoundland to the hospital to greet and comfort anyone in need of a furry friend, and the family of another patient who shared the special fudge her friends sent, and the children of a respiratory therapist who made Charity "Get Well" cards. And, of course, all of you. We are so grateful for the kindness.
It has been a beautiful and humbling thing to witness.
 

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