Magic

"Children see magic because they look for it."

-Christopher Moore

I celebrate.

Today I celebrate the anniversary of my sweet baby's birth.

I celebrate one year of life and blessed motherhood. Of experiencing a love I never knew possible, and finally learning what a full life consists of.

I celebrate the joys, the laughter, smiles, cuddles, kisses, milestones met, and challenges overcome.

I also celebrate the tears, frustrations, struggles, confusion, sleepless nights, and endless dirty diapers.

As I think about the past year with my little girl there are an extraordinary amount of feelings and thoughts that come to my heart and my mind. Gratefulness, happiness, beautiful memories, joy, LOVE, LOVE, so much incredible love.

And yet at the same time there is always that one overwhelming feeling that will never leave my being. The knowledge that I am completely unworthy of such a beautiful, precious and angelic gift that I get to call my daughter. I am overcome with more love, delight and wonder that I could have ever dreamt when I look into her beautiful brown eyes.

All the while I know that no single explanation nor eloquence of words could ever describe the sorcery of beauty that connects a parent to their child.

When I rest in stillness with my little one after a full day of pure and exhausting fun, I observe her breath as she sleeps, watch her chest rise and fall, brush her hair out of her eyes, I sit in awe of her perfection...all I can whisper is thank you, thank you, thank you.

I celebrate that unexplainable, ungraspable perfection of my underserved blessing; my daughter.

Grasshopper Haiku

Along came a friend
To rest in my garden shade
And soon hop away

photo: iPhone5

Rainy Day Play

It is a rare occasion that we have an overcast, wet day. Penelope isn't used to the sounds of raindrops and the lack of sunshine through the windows. Not able to go outside and play today; still, its a nice change from the extreme heat of summer. 

Playing around with a little photo editing in between study breaks and baby girl's nap time.

Salt

There is something about the salt.

Purifying. Humbling. I am small.

I breathe it in the air,

Swim it in the surf.

Raw. Grit. Crystals on my skin.

A memory of summertime senses.

Gulf of Mexico

The Austin Zoo

With an upcoming deployment, we have been trying to take as many small vacations together as possible, squeezing them in the cracks of Abhi's somewhat demanding work schedule. We had a nice little family outing around Austin with a visit to the Austin Zoo along with a little sightseeing and plenty of shopping this weekend.

I've been to a good amount of zoos in the States and the Austin Zoo is quite different than your typical zoo. Its actually a non-profit animal sanctuary for rescued and abandoned animals, which I love. Many of the animals had suffered from injuries or abandonment in the past. The Austin Zoo was small in size, but we didn't mind because staying outside in the summer heat for long periods of time isn't really an option for us with little Penelope.

Reaching for her furry friend.

Penelope loved the animals; she wanted to touch everything.

On a funny note, while we were observing the primates a group of about 8 zooworkers ran out with their nets searching for one of their animals that escaped! We're guessing it was a monkey because they were searching high in the trees, and the rest of the monkeys seemed to get riled up in excitement that one of their friends was on the loose.

Cheering on his escaped comrade.

11 Months of Sweetness