darling duckie

tid bits in the sun

"No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace

As I have seen in one autumnal face."

~John Donne

That word: grace. It is the perfect word to describe autumn. Soft and glowing; and graceful.

 

autumn gardening

 

"Delicious autumn!  My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."

~George Eliot

 

I spent yesterday with the bees and a little butterfly. Billy took the child along with him to run some errands and left me home to (finally) work in the garden before the ground freezes and it is too late to plant the spring bulbs.

So there we were, just the bees and me. They pollinated the mums while I gathered seeds for next year. They talked of their winter plans while I quietly listened to their chatter, wondering at what fun they must be having on one of their last work days of the year.  And then a little butterfly joined in on the bees fun. It jumped softly from flower to flower, soaking in the sun and sipping the nectar from the mums. I wanted to talk to her but she was so distracted by her own thoughts that I let her be.

While they giggled and buzzed about their work, I pulled up the gladiolus bulbs to dry out for the winter and planted tulips and daffodils with a few iris inbetween. I wish it didn't take all winter for them to grow but this spring should be colorful and exciting. I beheaded the marigolds to save the seeds for next summer and gathered the basil and nasturtuim seeds. I churned the veggie garden, mixing in the tomatoes I didn't get to in time and the rest of the compost we have been decomposing.

All the while the sun kissed my neck and warmed my back.

photography

Back in May, Billy and I took an online photography class. It was a class that I really wanted to take for a while and Billy ended up winning a drawing and getting a free class. So he got a free class and I got a discount and there we were, watching the videos and walking around taking pictures for our homework. (We have taken other classes together too: ceramics, color pencil drawing, and now photography.)

We still have a lot to learn but we had fun doing this together.

I never got around to posting any of the pictures that we took for the class, so here are some of the better ones.

These next 3 are Billy's:

Millie was a couple of months old at the time and I get a kick out of the two different faces she pulled. Goofball.

We would highly recommend the classes to anyone who is looking to better understand and use the manual functions on their cameras. We learned a ton and the quality of our photographs increased even after the first class.

Go here to check out Nicole's Classes!

the rut

I tripped the other week and fell into a rut. It is probably not the biggest rut I have been stuck in but it seems pretty all encompassing.

My hair is in a rut. My hobbies are in ruts. My spirit has been in a rut.

When Millie was born,  I was in a bit of a funk. Not so extreme as to be serious but it took a couple of months and some visits with my doctor to get me back to being me again.

It was amazing the difference I felt.

In the last couple of weeks, though, Millie was so hungry all the time she was waking up when she had been sleeping peacefully. I fed her and took care of her. When the growth spurt was over, she was in the habit of waking up in the wee hours of the night. We moved her to her own room, a much more emotional experience for me than I would have expected, and let her cry it out. It was long and slow and very painful for my heart.

While taking care of this, I failed to see the rut in the road and fell face first. I find myself unable to pick my body up in the morning and go out to exercise with my friend. I take naps with Millie and we sleep for hours at a time. I want to get things done, but don't know where to start and, more often than not, never really do.

But give me a few good nights sleep, some time with Billy, and some creative outlets and I think I will be just fine.

 

Are you curious?

A few weeks ago, Millie turned two months. I know you hear it all the time but I am a little flabbergasted that it has already been two months. Two months. My heart is a little torn. I never thought that I would say this but I am sad she is not a tiny little new born anymore. No more "She is so small" comments... many more "She is getting so big!" And yet, at the same time, I love that she is getting rolls on her thighs and on her little arms and always smiling at us.

Would you like to know the stats?

She weighs 11 lbs and 3 ozs... that is over 4 lbs that she gained since she was but a newling.

She is 22.24 inches long. Heck, she's 3 inches taller than when she was born.

She's a little chubbier and a little shorter than average.

Would you like to know what she has been up to?

Well, she likes her schedule. Eat, play and get attention from anyone who is around, then sleep. She is pretty consistent... until her parents take her out and about and everything gets thrown through a loop. Then it is chaos. 

She has hobbies such as tooting, chewing on her tongue, and eating her hands. She has a goal to fit her entire fist in her mouth by the end of the summer. So far she has gotten half her fist in. I only once caught her sucking her thumb and sometimes, her index finger makes it in her mouth. This usually makes her gag, which makes her mama giggle.

She also enjoys looking around. She does not want to be set down as she cannot see the colors, lights, and people quite as well.

She used to like people. Unfortunately, we believe she was emotionally scarred during her 2 month old shots as she cries when other people hold her now. We are currently seeking out volunteers to hold her when she cries so that she does not get overly attached to her mama and papa.

She scares easily... loud laughter, sneezes, and bursts of music. When this is accompanied by groups of more than 3 people, she sticks out her lower lip and bursts into tears.

 Since the day she left the hospital, she has been working tirelessly to convince us that she does not like to be swaddled; always working those little arms out of the cocoon her have her in. She yells triumphantly when she gets out, but is soon in tears again. She always seems a little confused at why she is not happy after all that hard work. I wrap her tight again and she is asleep faster than the speed of light. Even after we have proven to her time and time again that she sleeps much better when she is swaddled, she never stops trying to work her way out. I will be making a new swaddle blanket for her soon as she is growing out of the ones she has... maybe out of jersey knit for the summer.

She is on the verge of laughing these days; she squeals with her mouth open as wide as it can go. She can do it... we believe in her.

She likes a simple style... onesies and socks and maybe a dress every once in a while. She likes to show off her chubby legs so pants are often not necessary for her.

As I sit here typing, she keeps crying in her sleep. Bad dreams? Tummy ache? Maybe I am typing too loud. She can be somewhat melodramatic, if you ask me.

We are not sure but we think she is going to be a redhead. Maybe not full blown red but a delightful little strawberry blond.

Though some say, decidedly, that she is a Fish and others say she is a Graehl, we are convinced she is a good mixture of the two.

We are terribly happy that she turned out so adorable and funny. I'm not sure what we would have done if she wasn't... trade her in?

{She is dressed in one of my old dresses... sweet, huh?

And don't this little lips just make you melt? Man oh maley!}

 

 {I love this picture with Millie just looking at her papa. Plus isn't he pretty adorable himself? I submit that he is.}

 

i go out walkin' {take one}

Our little family likes to talk walks around the neighborhood. Some days, when it isn't raining and Millie won't fall asleep, Millie and I go strolling around until she relaxes and sleeps. Then I sit on a bench and read or wander around, taking pictures of flowers and blossoms.

 

 

 

 

 

afternoon tea

Harry found the [tea]... seemed to burn away a little of the fear fluttering in his chest.

~J.K. Rowling

I helped put together a little tea party for the girls in Achievement Days and their mothers. My friend let me borrow her tea cups and saucers. They were so lovely, I couldn't help spending time taking photographs of them. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sunshine and hanging plants

My neighbor is a fantastic gardner. She even makes her own hanging plants. Last Friday, she let me plant them with her, so that I could learn the tricks to a hanging pot that blooms all season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the rain in spain stays mainly in the plane

After a busy weekend, Miss MaGoo and I are having a lazy day today. Rainy, mismatched, and not yet showered. But I'm too tired to do much more than that.

 

 

 

 

the lovely ring of spring

Miss Millie MaGoo and I have taken to going on walks during the day and these are some of our more recent findings!

Happy Friday!

And I'll just end with this...

... and this...

One more... the funny little monkey...