Five

 

Today is the day my daughter turns five. 

 

Five years since I held this tiniest of humans.

And now my days are filled with this bubbly, energetic, bouncing-off-the-walls little girl.  And I can hardly remember what life was like before I knew her.

This daughter of mine is someone who is independent, outspoken, and opinionated.  She has got attitude that goes on for miles...and although we find ourselves frustrated with it at times, I know that she will be a feisty, brave, courageous woman, and I am proud of that. 
I work every day to find ways to encourage and guide her toward good behavior, respect, and humility.... while not squashing that feisty spirit.

She loves her family unconditionally and knows that the most important relationships in this world are with family.  She has deep, loving, interesting relationships with her grandparents and aunts and uncles.  She understands that her cousins are going to be her lifelong best friends. 

 

 

 

 And she also knows that there are people in our life who are not related to us, but are family just the same. 

 She loves the outdoors, she loves to camp, and she loves to travel.

  She is learning to have a deep respect for this planet, and she's learning the value of science as a way to understand and appreciate the natural world.

And she is a true festivarian kid.  Although she will continue to develop her own interests and hobbies, we sure do love that for now she's willing to join us on all our adventures.

  
She is musical down to her bones.  Her life is full of dancing, singing, performing, and singing some more.  She composes her own music, and can also immediately memorize every lyric to every song she's ever heard.  Our days are set to a soundtrack of Sadie's songs. 
She knows that music is one of the absolute most important things to her mama and daddy, and she has embraced this musical life of ours with open arms. 

 She is learning to be thoughtful and empathetic. The work of parenting right now revolves significantly around helping her realize how her actions affect others around her.  Her heart is big and loving and as she gets older I know that she will learn how to let that lead her actions.

She has a style all her own.  Her guiding principle in how she presents herself to the world is simply to choose whatever she thinks is most fabulous. 
I love this about her...she glitters and sparkles and shines and is nearly always the most colorful person in a room. 

Photo credit: Ian Terry

She is truly the most interesting person I know.  The thoughts, ideas, and stories that she shares with us never cease to amaze and entertain me. 

And she is my favorite person in the whole world. 

Five years.  Five years of looking into the eyes of this little human who is as much a part of me as my own arms and legs.  Five years of doubt and frustration and worry about the responsibility of raising a child  in this crazy world of ours.  Five years of adventures and laughs and stories and bedtime snuggles.  Five years of the biggest joy and inspiration and contentment I have ever known.  Five.  Wow.  

Maya Carol Ingersoll

 My beautiful, perfect neice, Maya Carol Ingersoll was born on Friday, January 17, 2014.

 She is the first child of my only sibling, my younger brother Adam.   There is something so strange, and so shocking, and so amazing about your sibling becoming a parent.  It's so exciting when anyone you love brings a new life into this world.  But this time...it seems a little different.  This sibling relationship is so unique and so special.  And so this baby of my little brother's...she's extra special too.

 This family is head over heels in love with this sweet girl.  She is so surrounded by love and adoration.  You can feel it oozing out of our pores all day every day.  Truly.

 

 And we are here to support these new parents in our midst.  They are taking to this parenting so beautifully from what I've seen, and I couldn't be prouder.

And Mari....oh what a good mother she is!  She's always had such sweet, mothering, nurturing qualities to her...and she's embracing new motherhood, and all its uncertainties and fear and sleep deprivation, with the same beauty, grace, calm, and patience that she brings to everything else.

And my Sadie, of course, is thrilled beyond words to have a sweet baby girl cousin to love and teach and play with.  And I can't wait to see their relationship grow over time....it's going to be great!

Welcome to the world sweet Maya.  We love you so much and are so glad you're here! 

Gratitude Overflowing

The holiday season was oh so busy, but so worth it.  I feel like we squeezed every last drop of joy and togetherness out of it.  I'm still reeling from all the loveliness....

We were so happy to host the 2nd annual neighborhood holiday pajama breakfast.  This event, perhaps more than any other, makes me feel so thankful for the people in our lives.  We ate and drank, watched Christmas movies, and snuggled our kids.  As we lazed around on the couches and floor, in our comfiest clothes, I looked around the room and just thought to myself how very lucky we are to have randomly landed in this neighborhood of people who have become some of our very closest friends. And then we ate more bacon.

For the first time since I've known Brian, we were home together on Christmas Eve.  Knowing that we had some busy times ahead of us, knowing that although family gatherings are lovely, they can also be stressful and frustrating at times, I started my Christmas Eve celebration with a beautiful solitary walk.  I breathed deeply, I thought about all I had to be thankful for, and I set some intentions for myself about how I wanted to feel and act during the coming celebrations.  I thought about maintaining control with my eating, I thought about listening more than talking, and I thought about being patient and loving with my family members. 

 

And then I headed home to my loving family, and settled in to celebrate in our own special way.  

After a quiet Christmas morning at home, we moved on to Denver for a beautifully relaxing day with Brian's family.  The day was so lovely because it was so calm, restful, and we really had a chance to visit and connect. And this has been the first year that Sadie and her cousin Elias were both old enough to really enjoy each other...it was the best thing ever to see them playing together and being silly.

After a quick day of work, and a family day for running errands and squeezing in a viewing of Disney's Frozen, we packed up the car and headed to my parents' house for the weekend.  I went into the weekend with a wish list which included playing cards, watching christmas movies, hot tubbing, walking in the woods, reading, napping, playing my mandolin, and drinking beer. 

Done.  Crossed all those things and more off my list...it was such a good weekend of connection with my family.  Oh how I love them..and absolutely cherish nothing more than when we're all together in the mountains in front of my favorite fireplace of all.

We left my parents house and made our way to the Peterson cabin and settled in for the rest of 2013!  We loved having one more night with Brian's parents, and even had a sledding party the next morning before they headed home.  We spent a peaceful day with just the three of us.  We played and napped and I cooked up a storm preparing for our New Year's Eve festivities.  We anxiously waited for our dear friends to arrive and got ready for all the fun to come.  As soon as they were unpacked and settled, we got right to playing tunes, painting faces, eating, drinking, singing, dancing, and laughing. 

What a perfectly, perfect way to end the year...surrounded by beautiful children, good friends, cooking, eating, and drinking delicious creations, and playing fiddle tunes!  I am SO filled up with love and joy and thankfulness for all the beauty in our lives.  How on earth can we be so unbelievably lucky?