…spent with my parents climbing rocks, throwing rocks, and watching the last bit of light disappear beyond the horizon.
Instafriends
I’ve come to learn that evenings spent with Tara are evenings where time is well spent. She radiates beauty and there is so much love in her relationship with her kiddos. When connections are felt so immediately and so deeply, I trust them and feel gratitude wash over me. Feeling grateful for this one. And my boys are pretty head over heels with the “big kids”. Some sweet connections going on right there. Now who wants to watch said children so that Tara and I can have an adult beverage together?
Summer in winter
It’s hard to decide whether to frolic in what feels like summer weather as if it actually were summer or to swear off the warm weather and beg for the crisp autumn air that makes you long for – and eventually appreciate summer all the more – to come back. For now, we frolic.
Summer Nights
In summer, the song sings itself. ~William Carlos Williams
Conquering Routine
Even though I have yet to be cleared to return to my “day job” as a RN, my life as a stay-at-home-mom still runs on a very routine Monday thru Friday schedule; mostly because it’s all on me as Willy works most of the day. I thought that being home so much would be freeing; that a schedule would not be needed and that the possibilities would be endless. I was right, to some extent. We’ve gotten to go on lots of little day adventures, which is something I didn’t always have the energy for having worked a grueling 12
hour shift the day before. Also, the boys are older now; I mean, Van can walk. But come evening, when Willy is done with work, it’s back to the monotonous turn-on-a-cartoon-and-get-
We have a sliver of a view out our window of the ocean and watching the sunset while Cat-in-the-Hat plays in the background has been torturous. So, I proposed that we make dinner a little bit earlier than usual (sometimes we don’t sit down to eat until almost 8pm) and get the heck out of the house.
And, we have.
And, it’s been great.
I’m trying to sell myself on the idea that you have not squeezed everything out of the day until you get into bed dirty, with sand in your hair and dirt on your toes.
Long Live Summer
We’ve been spending more time than ever at the beach. Partly because we now live closer and partly because it’s the one place I can take them where we only have to walk a mere twenty feet from the car and I can give my back the break it asks for often, but rarely gets.
The boys love it too. Collecting rocks and throwing them into the water, using their dump truck to transfer sand into buckets, building forts with random pieces of bamboo and seaweed; it’s play at it’s best — imaginative, entertaining, and the kind of dirt-under-your-nails fun that makes you feel most alive.
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If I’m granted enough time and patience by the I-will-prevent-your-kids-from-driving-you-insane fairy, I pack a lunch and snack for the boys beforehand; it makes it so that we are one step closer to nap time (aka mama-needs-a-break time) when we get home.
Hoping that by the end of the summer they’ll be more into the water. Hell, I’ll even be happy if Van would let go of my hand by water’s edge.
Long live Summer (never mind the fact it’s not technically Summer. If it feels like Summer, it’s Summer. Right?). Not sure what we’ll do come Winter…
Childhood Unplugged
He claimed to have taught the seagulls how to catch bread mid-flight. I know enough not to argue with a man who comes to the beach on a weekday with a bucket full of baggettes to feed birds he seems to know on a first name basis. It’s my hope, in fact, that one day I too will have time to sit with the birds and take my boots off.
We all have a cause
Worth waging war
Worth making peace to keep
We all have a love
Whatever that is
Or whom is thee to seek
There comes a day
If we’re lucky enough
And the cards fall our way, I pray
To sit with the birds
And take the boots off
-Chuck Ragan, “Congratulations Joe”
Please help me in supporting my fellow photographers who are also participating in the childhood unplugged movement by visiting our collective monthly submissions here. 
A day with my best friend, part II
It surprises me every year when we find ourselves at the beach in the “dead” of winter. This day was particularly beautiful; a warm 70 degrees and no wind. Sometimes the elements just come together when your soul sister is in town. After the beach, we grabbed a bite to eat at my of our favorite local joints. It was a day for the memory bank for sure; all of them, with her, are.
You can click here to see a little video Janet put together of our time at the beach. It definitely brought me through some dark days of recovery.
Summer
When summer gathers up her robes of glory,
And, like a dream, glides away.
~ Sarah Helen Whitman
Perspective.
“Now then, Pooh,” said Chirstopher Robin, “where’s your boat?”
“I ought to say,” explained Pooh as they walked down to the shore of the island, “that it isn’t just an ordinary sort of boat. Sometimes it’s a Boat, and sometimes it’s more of an Accident. It all depends.”
“Depends on what?”
“On whether I’m on the top of it or underneath it.”
-A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
Side note: Votes are reset over on Top Baby Blogs. The Stork & The Beanstalk finished this last round in 3rd, thanks to all of you who vote daily. Would really appreciate your vote today! Voting is easy… simply click on the button below and then again on the owl on the left side of your screen. Check out some other blogs while you’re there. Some of my favorites are: Oh Dear Drea, Inked in Colour, Lamb Loves Fox, and Hello Sisilia. What other blogs from TBB do you follow?
Is It Summer Yet?
We showed up to the beach the other morning totally unprepared. There’s a lot I’ve learned since becoming a mom, but one of the most important is this: pack the night before and think ahead. I did neither. Thus, we arrived at the beach Monday morning looking more like we were going to play at the park on a cold winter day. Clearly I had delusions of grandeur thinking I could handle both babes and Sarah. We met a friend down there with her two boys and their dog because it’s always better to have a friend that has delusions of grandeur as well. In any case, we came with pants and sweaters. Then Hoop rocked the t-shirt and diaper. Realizing I didn’t bring any Kleenex, his shirt quickly became the snot rag and when Van spit up, I used it for that too. So Hooper ended the day in his diaper, which he really shouldn’t have had anyway because we’re trying to do the whole underwear thing. I ended the day feeling like a lazy and unprepared mom. How do so many do this motherhood thing? And how do so many do it so eloquently? Hash tag: Still learning.
Last Days of Summer
Last week it was still in the triple digits here in Southern California. I had already turned the calender page and welcomed October into our lives with hopes of fall joining the pumpkin party. Summer had other ideas and I’m not one to complain about the sun wanting to hang out a little while longer. So I packed up the boys and headed to the beach, in October, to properly thank summer for lingering around. I had the radio on and the Rolling Stone’s “Miss You”, one of my favs, blared through the speakers. I turned it up. Hoop bobbed his head in the back and I dedicated the jam to summer, knowing fall would be gracing us with it’s presence soon enough. It was a perfect day at the beach. A week later and it has cooled down to a comfortable 80 degrees. With a visit to the pumpkin patch in the near future, we’ll have to replay our wee little video to remind us of the last days of summer spent with sand between our toes and white water crashing at our ankles. Dear Summer, thanks for lingering.
Last Days of Summer from The Stork & The Beanstalk on Vimeo.
You can check out my other videos here and here.
A Family of Three.
Sunday was my official due date. I picked the latest due date based not on dates (which gave me an earlier due date) but instead on ultrasounds done at seven and eight weeks, which apparently are more accurate. I stuck with the latest date possible for my own piece of mind. I’ve read that second babies typically come earlier and by allowing myself a longer cushion of time it seemed like I was providing myself with the best of safety nets. Though I mentally told myself I needed to prepare to go past my due date, honestly speaking, I didn’t think I actually would. But, here I am with a baby still bakin’ in my womb. Must be a pretty posh life in there.
We spent Sunday on the beach as a family. A family of three. And it dawned one me that even though it feels like this pregnancy is going on forever, Van will be here any day and then we will be four. My midwife said something to me at my last appointment that I truthfully hate to hear. She said, “You know, life is going to get very busy, even hard at times, once Van gets here. Try to relax and enjoy this time with Willy and Hooper”. I say I hate hearing that because it’s so easy for an outsider to say. So easy for an outsider to think logically. I remember people saying the same thing to me before Hooper was born and I vowed never to advise anyone expecting a child to make the most of the time before their child arrives. That’s because once you find out you’re pregnant, you spend the whole pregnancy adjusting your mindset and skillfully planning for the addition. It’s not like you start racing to cross things off your list once you become pregnant… If you planned for it, you do that stuff beforehand and spend the pregnancy, especially the end of the pregnancy, anticipating what’s inevitably going to come. It’s almost impossible to enjoy your time as just a couple because you really have no idea what you’re about to lose.
So as I sat there on the beach with my two guys, it dawned on me that there is a difference between this pregnancy and last: I am able to live in the moment and, as a result, I truly enjoyed our time as a family of three. The thought of it being my due date hardly even passed through my thoughts. I’m trying my best this week to find peace in the wait.
Boys & Sand.
A friend of mine gave birth to her second baby boy six weeks ago. Her first son is three days younger than Hooper. We met up at the beach the other day and while the boys fed each other blueberries and goldfish, us mom’s discussed the return to the newborn stage. It’s hard for me to imagine enjoying the newborn stage all over again. I watch Hooper now and he’s so entertaining and lively and enjoyable. When I think of newborns, I think of a parasite attached to my tit, long sleepless nights, and constant kink working outing. Do I sound cynical? I sense that I do. Anyway, in talking with Lisa, I realized that there is magic that accompanies giving birth. You see, when you birth a baby you are not merely bringing a human being into the world. You are also birthing a maternal bond, a maternal instinct. It dawned on me that I cannot feel it now because it has not yet taken place. I trust greatly that with Van’s arrival will also come a re-found love for all things fully dependent and cuddly and vulnerable. That’s what I saw in Lisa, anyhow, and it’s a beautiful thing.
So while the boys played peek-a-boo around the trash can and chased birds and exchanged hugs, I thought about what’s just around the corner. And an inner excitement started to reside where there was previously only fear.
Mamas & Tykes
Hot diggity damn have we had some warm days here in Southern California. We snuck down to the beach on Saturday and enjoyed lunch followed by a little stroll and some pigeon chasing. Here’s a special beach edition of Mamas & tykes, followed by some pics from our Saturday. 
Sunglasses from etsy seller Old Focals 1. Baby chick sunsuit from etsy seller Baby Shapes 2. Striped summer overalls from etsy seller Baby Shapes 3. Ruffled romper from etsy seller Peppermint and Cocoa 4. 1960’s Nautical swimsuit from etsy seller Starlet Vintage 5. Slingback wedges from etsy seller Nemres 6. Beach bag from etsy seller Fun Retro 7. Nautical sunsuit from etsy seller Baby Lamb Originals 8. Snorkling romper from etsy seller Lishyloo 9. Romper from etsy seller Baby Shapes
And some pics from our lovely Saturday afternoon:
Long Lost Friends
There were summers in high school where it felt like I lived at the beach. I’d drive down nearly everyday in my 1982 Turbo Diesel Mercedes with the moon roof open and Tom Petty blaring through the speakers. We’d bask in the sun, with no care in the world, checkin’ out the boys, eating french fries, and gossiping about this and that. Then there was a lull in my beach combing days when I lived in San Francisco for 5 years and traded the sun for the fog. When I moved back I was in school and my relationship with the sand and sea continued to suffer.
Now I’m a mom and it’s important to me that Hooper get out and about. I’ll do everything in my power to steer him away from the video-playing-couch-potato phenomena that seems to have sucked up much of the youth today. So, I turn back to the sand and sea and it’s like our relationship always was: sweet, peaceful, and warm. I could watch him run those little fingers through the sand all day long.
Friend Kim and baby Emerson joined us. Isn’t this little girl just as sweet as can be? Beautiful mom, beautiful daughter.
