“so nice!” – luigi

lucas to grammy over the phone - discussing last nights halloween festivities: “everyone kept asking me where mario was!”

baby mine.

gavin west -  month nine
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still no teeth.
the two of us have officially kicked andrey and  lucas out of our family bed.
we snuggle. we laugh. we don’t sleep.  
says, “mamamamamammmmmma”
sucks on his thumb for fun.
has new fall boots for his yummy baby feets.
is wearing all of my favorite lucas-baby clothes
(kurt shirt & bob dylan tee & this lucky fave)
was born in my bedroom.

“and it will be good for me” – kim taylor

“…days like this
you look up at the big sky above you.
…and days like this
you think about the ones who love you…”
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tonight’s gratefuls:

+marilyn’s honey bee mix
+the pins on luc’s sunday vest
+my brother’s glasses
+andrey’s new green striped tie & my mustard yellow sunday shoes
+a real conversation with lucas over milk and mr. sketch markers
+amy olsen’s powerful testimony shared in a simple sunday lesson
+new friends & caramel apples wrapped in ribbon & lace
+a couch full of ruby stella pillows
+converse & leaves flickr photo
+thinking about christmas gifts
+gavi’s peace pants
+cath’s visit to the ocean & dad’s casper hot dog
+shanna murray’s autumn desktop calendar
+mario tips from jade @ two in the morning via text  

you?
love, lin

a good : strong : loving boy

we have no pictures of andrey as a little boy.
ok – one. we have one picture and he’s about six or so years old.
we were however given this sweet gift:  our boys look exactly like him.
i  often stop myself in our everyday life and catch a glimpse of my dear husband as a little boy while i watch lucas play or gavin napping.
++++
lucas took off into the corn maze last week. he just wanted to ruuuuuun. fast. and as i chased after him, i was overwhelmed with love for andrey’s mother. something about the corn stalks and the crisp cold air and lukey’s corduroy jacket took me somewhere i’ve never been before.  i imagined her watching her boy run through ukrainian fields. i imagined that she wished the same sweet wishes for him – that i wish for my boys. i imagined also – the tinge of fear we probably shared that these boys of ours might just run too fast and we may just lose them to the adventure of the fields if we couldn’t keep up.  
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i’ve never met andrey’s mother – lucas and gavi’s babushka. she’s been on my mind lately. especially this month for some reason. i’d been meaning to ask andrey if there was any significance to me associating this autumn season with his mother – until this morning. when i woke up to tell him happy birthday.

this was her growing season.

on october eighteenth, twenty-nine years ago, she first held her baby boy. i wanted to call her today. really bad. i just needed to know what time of the day he was born. something i think a person should know about themselves. i wanted to know how she labored. what kind of blankets he was wrapped up in? if his hair was dark like gavin’s was. was he a good nursling? did he cry? and then i just wanted a minute to tell her how much i love him. how i will try really hard to take better care of her boy. i’ll remember to love him good.

i wanted to let her know – what a good, strong, loving man her boy has become.

one sweet little hot potato

gavin west has a fever. and i’m thinking/hoping it’s because he’s teething and not because we weren’t prepared for how cold it was going to be at the pumpkin patch on saturday. he was sluggish and crabby and attached to my hip all day today. sweet boy.

this was my free minute. to read some blogs, finish some projects, pay some bills – but mostly i just want to go snuggle up in my bed with my baby boy. he’ll keep me warm on this oh-so-chilly october night while i nurse him & love him & sing him get well soon lullabies.

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on the nightstand:
hylands teething tablets
infant tylenol
an adiri bottle full of water
people magazine
my journal and favorite pen

on the t.v:
rachel zoe season finale

in my bed:
one sweet little hot potato       goodnight loves, lin

i am made of sunshine & love

  
my sister phatnat {green thumb extraordinaire} gifted me this little spider plant. the fourth generation of many lady plants before her. over a year ago. it was just a little sprout at first and i stuck it in a tiny red anthro dish until it started growing some roots. just like she said. then i shopped for the perfect pot for my girl. this ceramic glazed beauty. and while this little plant’s mother & grandmothers before her are cascading over their potted edges -  my girl… is stuck.

i feed her sunshine. water her with love and well… laugh everytime i see her four skinny lady leaves. i am no good at growing things. except humans. i grow healthy humans. 

the other day lucas spotted a  greenhouse kit at the hardware store. we followed the directions exactly and i was so worried that my bad plant karma would rub off onto him. i really really wanted his seeds to sprout – so i didn’t touch them. just told him what to do and watched his sort-of chubby hands carefully work.

each morning i spy on him while he checks in on them. over by the kitchen window. he lifts the lid, checks to see if  they have water  and says “good morning little cucumbers!” then tucks them back in for their daily sunbaths. he even so lovingly tells them “sorry little guys” when one of the sprouts gets squished by the lid. 

i am learning from him - and caught myself saying, “hello there, girl” to my silly stunted planted this morning.

++++

baby mine

gavin west - my little ukranian boy at eight months old:   spunky.