Showing posts with label Love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Love. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Claire Bear is Two!


It's amazing how you can love two children so differently, yet so very completely.  When I was pregnant with Claire I had a fear many second-time parents have...will I love her as much as the first? The answer is, "God yes! And in such a new and awesome way from the first!"  These are two different human beings, of course I'm not going to love them the same way.  I just love them both the way they need to be loved.

Two years ago, Claire burst into our lives 10 days early and with little fuss.  I went to bed as normal the night before her birthday, and at 8:30 am we were holding her in our arms, slightly shocked at what had just happened, but already in love.


I was so nervous to introduce Claire to Anna, certain that I had just ruined her life as she was no longer the only center of our universe.  But, again, my fears were unfounded.  Anna marched herself into the hospital room that morning demanding "where's my sister?", and they've been an unstoppable team ever since.





Claire has brought so much joy into our world.  She is the happiest child I've known and truly has zest for life that brings smiles to everyone around her.  She is affectionate, snuggly and loves throwing her arms around my neck and kissing me square on the lips.  This kid really loves life, and seeing this as a parent brings me insurmountable joy.












Claire has changed so much this year...from baby to toddler.  From helpless to determined.  From straight-ish hair to spiral curls.  Along with her joy, Claire has some serious spunk!  She let's her needs be known, she doesn't let Anna get away with picking on her, and she does everything just a little louder than most would deem necessary. She is her own person through and through. And oh oh oh how I love this little person.



Happy Birthday Sweet Claire Bear.  You are my Bear, my Muppet, my Monkey, my Bear Bear, my very heart and soul.  I love you so much.  I can't wait to see where this next year brings you.




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Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Getaway

This is where Mace and I got to spend three amazing days all by ourselves.  No kids, no distractions, just each other.  It was quiet. It was magical.  It was awesome.


Mace and I are a couple that crave alone time together.  We get out on dates as often as possible, and count the minutes til the girls go to bed so we can be alone together.  We love spending time with each other and are pretty good at making that happen.  Except, just for short periods of time.  

Anna was 15 months old before I left her with my parents overnight and went to a Bed & Breakfast for a whopping 12 hours.  We have done one or two other overnights, but never longer than 24 hours.  Never longer than 24 hours, I said.  When Mace and I finally realized that we hadn't been away together for a weekend in over four years, we knew that had to be remedied immediately.  And remedy it we did.

We packed the girls up and sent them to my parents for two nights, and then my sister and bro-in-law's for a night. Three whole nights!  72 lovely, uninterrupted, kidless hours.  It was unbelievably heavenly.

We got to connect in a way that we've never done in the past four years.  We got to finish every conversation we started, unless it was interrupted by a spontaneous kiss.  

We got to eat entire meals without children on our laps or hearing the inevitable, "I don't like that!"  

We got to hike for miles and hours on the Superior Hiking Trail, thinking only of our own need for water, food or rest.  


We spent an entire afternoon in almost complete silence, reading and dozing as the feeling struck us. 


We drank too many glasses of wine without worry of having to get up in the middle of the night with a child.

We browsed in art galleries and shops in Grand Marais without fear of something being broken by little hands. 


We laid in bed until 9:00 each morning and let the sun soak in and warm us through the windows. 



We talked and we talked and we talked.  We fell deeper in love, though neither of us thought that possible.  And we dreamed.  We remembered dreams we used to have and created new dreams together. We had time. Beautiful time, just for each other and ourselves.  


We vowed to make sure we don't go another four years without a weekend getaway.

When we returned on Sunday we were met with the sweetest smiles and hugs.  We were all ready to be together again, refreshed and renewed from our time apart.

And, something unexpected from our trip, was this new bond our girls formed with each other.  They were apart from us, but had each other the whole weekend.  From that time together a new kind of love for each other was created.  Awesome.


Oh life is good.  So very wonderfully good.  

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