St. Pat's, 2012.

Jon and I agree, our St. Patrick's day this year was, hands-down, the best since we've been married. I always feel compelled to celebrate by going to a pub, preferably one with live Irish music. The trouble before we had kids was that such pubs were always crowded beyond reason, charged a cover, and it could be hard to get everyone in my group of assembled friends to agree to go through such a thing.

The trouble after we had kids was, we had kids. So that was that.

(Note the recycled shirt! Who wore it better??)
This year, our church's JTA program (stands for Journey to Adulthood; basically, youth group) had a fundraiser of a Saint Patrick's day dinner and celebration. There was: corned beef and cabbage, kale, beer, Irish music in the stereo, a sing-along with some traditional Irish songs, and some traditional prayers and readings. Just what my heart has always desired, and at 5:30 pm, completely kid-friendly. I felt truly lucky this year!


Here's my little shamrock, thrilled with his party favor.


The folks at my church know how to wear the green! (and some orange)

Some good friends of ours and the rector enjoy the holiday (and sharing a table with us, obviously!).

"Someone left this unattended! It was fair game!"
(just before breaking into a jig)


(Partially) Irish eyes are smiling!

I am sure Saint Patrick was personally gratified by our evening :-)

Below, my favorite rendering of him "driving the snakes out of Ireland."

Growth

Here we are, at the equinox already. My children seem to be growing as rapidly as the bean plants in plastic cups that we tended in elementary school. As fast as the spring flowers that have abruptly burst into bloom.



As fast as the moon waxes, and as fast as dawn comes during my walk to work.



As fast as the bugs return from their winter home in Hades (the return of the bugs with warm weather frequently makes me want to move to Alaska).

It's easy to feel as static as marble St. Francis here, looking on at all the growth around him.

This little sprout, for example, is 4 months today. Solidly an infant, with newbornhood left far behind. Rolling, laughing, goo-ing and grasping. I wish someone had warned me how fast the second child's infancy goes by!!

One interesting development where Mr. Miles is concerned is his sudden attachment to his babydoll, given by his Grandma as a Christmas present before he was born.

Here he "wears" her in a "wrap," intended to resemble the Moby wrap I use with Adele.

Here he feeds her with "leche" in a bottle, like a good Papa. He burps her expertly (grasps her to his chest and says "BURP!") and places her to sleep in crib we fashioned out of a cardboard box, in his room. Caring for his babydoll seems to help him to cope with those times when a parent cannot be spared from his baby sister. He has named the baby doll "Adele" by the way (what does this mean...?).

Nothing negative, I'm sure. Miles' attachment for his real baby sister grows weekly. Here he "helps her" to play with her gym while Mum does laundry.


"Watch closely, big brother. I am growing fast, and right before your eyes!"

Happy four months, darling.

We let a professional take the pictures

The following is not an advertisement so much as an enthusiastic endorsement. If you are a Rochesterian, or plan to be in the future, and you are in the market for some maternity, infant and/or child photos, here you have evidence of the skill and attention that Claire and Matt of Mendick Photography give to their work. We went over to their home (although I am told they usually go to the homes of their clients to photograph) where she set up a comfy area for my kids to play and just be themselves.

As a second child to a professional firstborn child, poor Adele maybe hasn't had so much attention as she deserves. She just soaked it in at her photo session, though! I have never seen her so cheerful for so long! Here are a few of my favorite shots from the day:










These aren't even all the shots! If you think these photos are beautiful, be assured that I heartily agree, and only wish to add the modifier "breathtakingly" to the description. And I'm not just saying that because Claire is my stepsister (and Matt my step-brother-in-law). In these pictures I finally feel like other people can see my baby, my family, the way I see them all the time. Now that's a gift!

Spring Break in Rochester

We are returned! From our heroic first voyage as a family of four!

Google maps says this trip takes 10 hours. But Google maps does not have a route that you can click on for a family with a nursing infant and an energetic, potty training toddler. So the trip up, which we began at about 1pm, took about 13.5 hours to complete, and the trip back, which started at 10:45 am... well, let's just say we had some rather extended rest stops between our two kids' differing needs and pulled in to our house in Blacksburg at about 1:30 am.

It was a great adventure, though, in which we learned that our kids can travel (on the whole) much better than we thought or feared they could, and also in which we made this happen:

Dad and Kate finally got to meet their granddaughter, 15 week old Adele of Wonders :-)


I got to see my hometown again. Early March is as I ever remembered it here, muddy with occasional snow. I was rejoiced to be able to drive through the city when I took Jon to do some research at the U of R to see the various new constructions downtown. (Kodak or no Kodak, it looks like urban decay is on its way out! But that's another topic of more particular than general interest.)

Anyway, Miles was happy in the attention of family he had not seen in a long time. He got to see some of his long-lost buddies, Aunt Claire and Uncle Matt!

Adele is being test-driven here; the next day Claire and Matt gave us the gift of a photography session from Mendick Photography, some of the gorgeous fruits of which will be displayed on the next blog entry. Stay tuned...

Miles soon found that this new environment meant a greater adoring set of adults : Miles ratio. He took full advantage.

...and so did his parents! :-)

Miles also made great progress in learning to assert himself amongst dogs who, though bigger than he is and heavier, are gentle and obedient. He learned faster than I did what commands would communicate his wishes to them. He also now knows what it means to "be brave." And he is.

I was blessed to have a real vacation to spend reconnecting with my husband and kids. Here's my girl in her sling, at her ease. We're so stuck on each other.

My Uncle Doug very kindly arranged that our visit to him would also include a visit with my grandparents and cousins! What a beautiful surprise!

Adele meets Great Grandpa and Great Uncle (or perhaps he would prefer Awesome Uncle?). Great Grandpa loves babies; always has.

Miles had a productive floor romp with cousin Rebecca, visiting from college.

And here Adele met her Great Grandmother Cornell (her meeting with Great Grandma Revell will have to wait until Summer). I love that she got to meet this strong lady who I would love her to emulate. There is, of course, one face missing in this generations photo. We do not forget her, but we live hard, to make her proud.


On a less serious note, Miles had the opportunity to earn a chocolate mustache face. He didn't even finish the bon-bon, so I suspect most of it ended up on his face and hands. He's been saying "I'm a man!" a lot lately, so perhaps he accepted the chocolate as a means to get a mustache.

Alas, all good things must come to an end. On Tuesday morning, we said our goodbyes.

One more head-bonk with Grandpa Jim.

One more hug with Silly Morai.


A fond farewell to Adele, who will be very different when they see her again in summer.

And we were off! Miles amused himself very impressively on the way back.
His only real complaints were when Adele was screaming her way through some gas at around 6 pm when he requested that we turn her off. He settled for turning up the volume on his music.

And we have returned, to Blacksburg, in time to welcome spring. Now I have seen snow three times, I can really delight in the warming days and first flowers.
My walk to work these past days during the remainder of spring break has been a joy.

Miles senses, I think, that he's about to be released from his long winter captivity.

At Lenten soup supper last night, he must have run the labyrinth five or six times (very prayerfully, I'm sure). Spring is something you can smell right now.