Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Lady Babies


Column 1: Linley Brooke
Column 2: Eden Rose
Column 3: Tessa Jane

Row 1: Birth
Row 2: One week
Row 3: One month

I wish I had the patience to post 100 pictures.  Sometimes Eden is the spitting image of Linley.  Others, she could be Tessa's twin.  Regardless, these 3 ladies share some serious DNA.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Fleeting

 Eden Rose turned one month today.  How that can be?
 What a glorious month this has been.  Quiet days with limited responsibilities.  Allowing for endless amounts of enjoying Eden.
 Except it isn't at all endless.  It's fleeting...far too fast.  
That special and surreal newborn sensation that has settled into this home.  That sacred link to The Almighty.  It's precious and anything but permanent.  And so, I have not allowed any demands on my time.  I have ensured that life is simple and uncomplicated, because right now it is brimming with beauty.  And life inevitably busies and that satiation of serenity will be fleeting.  
A couple days ago, while holding Eden, Linley confidently and with no context declared, "She knows Heavenly Father." That pure, piercing feeling that this little being is fresh from our Father...she felt it.  We all feel it.  But life comes and clouds us, and that feeling is fleeting.
At the end of General Conference, when the choir sang "God Be With You Till We Meet Again," Eden perked up. Her head lifted and her eyes brightened.  Almost like she had heard the hymn before.  I choose to think that family and friends serenaded her as she left her premortal world to join our family here on earth.  But her familiarity with the former, as we have all experienced, is fleeting. 
And so, I'll continue to sit on the couch and snuggle and stare and nurse as the days flash before my eyes.  I'll be content with the load of laundry still sitting in the dryer and the breakfast dishes left in the sink.  I'll smile through the sleepless nights and I will sacrifice every second I can to make these fragile fragments freeze.  Because whatever this masterful and majestic moment is, it is all too fleeting.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Pumpkin Picking

 Yesterday we made our annual trek to Wightman's Farms.  With the crispy cool Autumn air, the whole event was perfectly festively Fall.
 It was also super sunshiney.  Hence every. single. picture. features sensationally sexy squinty-eyes.
 That's one attractive family.
Dude is fully toothless.
 New Jersey is prettier than your state.  True story.
A hayride was had, pumpkins were picked, donuts were devoured, cider was sipped, and pie was purchased.
 Not too shabby for our first outing as a family of 6 (granted we neglected to put a stroller, or a sling, or any sort of convenient infant transporting device in the car...whoopsy).
 Real life.  
                                                        Eden doesn't stand a chance.