Happy Illinois Day!

A year ago today, my little family and I left Illinois. It was the saddest day of my life. We also left a big pile in the front yard of stuff we didn't have time to take to Goodwill. I still feel bad about that. I hope the landfill gods will forgive me for that one.

Today, Illinois (in the form of Noah and Cherry Ruggieri) left us. I was very sad to see them go. They also left a big mess.

I declare May 25th Illinois Day for the rest of my family's life. It will revolve around anything Illinois and making and cleaning up messes.

This gives you an idea of the mess:

Thank you, Elders, for helping us start cleaning it up today. 

A little piece of Illinois (though not dressed like it)

We were worried about a tree in our backyard that had a crack between the two main trunks. We were not expecting him to take us up on the offer, but we invited our good friend who conveniently happens to be a tree guy to come out and help us take it down. We couldn't believe it, but he said yes!

Just starting

Just finished. An unbelievable amount of work to get that tree down. And no one got hurt (although we won't mention the very close call and we won't count the fence).

See what I mean? Ginormous tree.

We were also lucky enough to have a visit from our other friends from Illinois, the Packs. It has been so much fun seeing these two families. Even though we have been gone for a year, it was as if no time had passed when we saw them again. The beauty of friendship. Thank you so much for making the effort to come out and see us. We loved seeing you. Please come again!

Since today is Memorial Day, which is much, much more important than Illinois Day, I share this picture. Amazing some of the things you randomly run across living in this part of the country! Samuel Whittemore, although apparently left for dead, wasn't actually killed by the British, but many others were. To him, to them, and to others that have given their lives, I say thank you. You didn't know me and I don't know you but I am the grateful recipient of the legacy that you left.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the women in my life!! (not just those that are technically mothers - because there are some women in my life with no children but that have been/are wonderful mothers.) This is my second Mother's Day as a mom and I know I often wax sentimental on this blog, at least after having my baby, so I will spare you that today except to say: being a mom is awesome! I never knew how much I would enjoy it!

I wanted to share a link to a blog of a friend Ashlee who wrote a great Mother's Day post last year. I was thinking of it recently and went back to find it and reread it. I love her message, so I share it with you here. She included pictures of many of her friends with their children and seeing those pictures makes me pine for Illinois and all the people I love and miss there...

And because I can't really resist posting pictures of C, here you go. Blast from the past:

I've been told a million times that the time goes quickly, they change so fast, etc. 

Well, those million people are right. These cheeks? they are a thing of the past. I miss them.

 I miss these moments too. 

Happy Mother's Day to my baby's grandmothers, great grandmothers, aunts and all the female role models she already has in her life. We both love you and are grateful for you!

A letter

A letter to my 13 month old daughter.
April 28, 2015 Dear Cecily, I want to write you a letter to tell you how much I love you and try somehow to capture these fleeting days and weeks before they are gone like sand running through my fingers. Now that you are over a year old and the dates and holidays we are living through are not your firsts anymore, I find my mind drawn back with some frequency to what life was like a year ago. It is hard for me to realize that memories of even those times are already fading.

Patriot's Day 2015.

Hi Paul Revere.

You have become a curious little person and like exploring things and places that are unfamiliar to you. You seem intent on mastering certain tasks, like putting the plastic coins into the slot. You don’t have many intelligible words yet, but it seems like every day we hear a new combination of sounds from you. You are social and like interacting with other people, often even strangers. You have started giving precious hugs, which melt my and your dad’s hearts. There is nothing sweeter than a hug from you. Leaving you with the babysitter often means that I endure frantic inconsolable crying on my way out, but I am always assured that you calm down quickly and are perfectly content for the rest of the time. You are a toddler now, preferring to walk instead of crawl. You are not completely steady yet but every day I see improvement. You are a good eater, but have started shaking your head to certain things and refusing even to try them. You take either two naps or one depending on the day.

Spring has finally arrived after one of the longest, and definitely the snowiest, winter of my life. Today we met Bex and Saul at Whole Foods for dinner and afterwards you and I walked some in the park by the river across the street from Whole Foods. You really wanted to pet the Canada Geese, and you liked picking up brown leaves and trying to steal my sunglasses. You totally messed up my hair when I put you on my shoulders to go back to the car. You pointed at the birds in the sky and I finally showed you the real moon, instead of all the pictures of the moon in the books we read. I love spending time with you and watching you learn things about the world around you. I love being your mother. Every day is an adventure with you. You have even started helping with small chores such as “go get your shoes” and “put these stamps back in the box.”

We visited Buckman's Tavern last weekend. This is where the Lexington Militia waited from about midnight until 4:30 am when the British Regulars showed up on their march to Concord. It is directly across from the Lexington Green where the fighting took place.

The painting on the wall is of the fighting that day.

I was thinking on the drive home today how every single human, those people playing softball over there, the drivers in the other cars, were also once tiny babies like you were a year ago. They all grew up and so will you. Someday I will look back and wish I could spend a few minutes with my one year old again, or hold my precious baby in my arms. That is not the way life works, though. We take the good with the bad every day on earth that we get and hopefully we are present, truly present when the good moments happen. That is the stuff life is made of.

I love you my sweet Cecily. ***

By the way, I owe you an ice cream cone, Candy!