Crista Acosta Photography »

Happy Birthday beautiful girl!  We are so blessed to have you, and to be able to celebrate you turning seven!!  On your birthday, I want to tell you how much I love you, and how proud I am of you.  You are an amazing little girl, and I am incredibly lucky to be your step-mom.  Thank you for always being so helpful, and so sweet… and for loving all of us.

…and because we have the sassy seven picture, I had to include the sweet seven too.  The one that shows your sparkly eyed, real (adorably crooked) smile.  I love you!!

A few weeks ago, we headed to the Vineyard for a long weekend.  We were only going to be there a few days, had packed all of our things into just one suitcase and weren’t bringing our car over.  I decided to leave the big camera at home and attempt to capture our sweet getaway with just my iPhone – just a little collection of memories with the ease of a quick snap.

For me, our vacation starts when we cross over the Bourne Bridge.  My heart beats a little faster as it approaches, and I let out a long sigh of contentment as we pass high above the water.  The ferry ride is an adventure for the kids, as they flit around exploring the ship.  This year, I seem to have developed some form of motion sickness on the boat, which is incredibly odd because I’ve never had that before…. soooo, I spent most of those 45 minutes trying to focus on my breathing instead of enjoying the view.  Total bummer.

The island – my sweet island – was beautiful as always.  The hydrangeas that sprinkle nearly every yard were about a week away from blooming, the sailboats stood proud and tall in the water, I took an afternoon run through one of the causeways, pausing to take note of the pretty blue boat waiting in the tall grass to be taken out on the ocean.  The kids jumped off the docks, and watched in awe as other islanders caught crabs one after the other.  C and I woke up early one morning to go pick up muffins from The Black Dog – pumpkin cream cheese – if you haven’t had them, they are one of the island’s hidden gems.  We spent long afternoons on the deck, letting the little ones run around… and P2 latched onto my brother, insisting that he give all his attention to him.  Then, in the blink of an eye it was time to board the ferry again and head back over the Bourne Bridge, celebrating the sunset as we cruised down the highway towards home.

We’re headed back in just a few weeks, and I can’t wait.  The air of peaceful love that hangs over that island is intoxicating, and my heart is full every time we pull up on that big ship into Vineyard Haven.

This is the only photograph I have of my whole family since  March of 2009 when my friend Christa did our maternity and family pictures while I was pregnant with P2.  Two years of photos of my kiddos – playing alone, playing together, hamming it up with their dad, growing up in front of my lens – but no mom in sight.  God forbid (and excuse this morbid thought) if something happened to me, they would have very few pictures to look back at to remember us all together.  That thought breaks my heart… mainly because I know I’m not the only mom out there who feels this way.  Nine times out of ten, we’re the ones who grab the camera and snap our kids and our families playing together – because you see that moment and think “man, I never want to forget exactly as they were right now”.  The thing is though, that as they get older they’ll want to see you as YOU were too.  To have those photographs to look back on and reminisce and feel the love that pours out of those images.

So on Father’s Day, as we were headed out to church C asked if I wouldn’t mind taking a picture of him with the kids.  I rounded everyone up and planted them in our yard and suddenly realized it was a Father’s Day miracle.  They were all clean and dressed nicely (not really coordinating, but at least not in dirty play clothes like they usually are when I bust out the camera).  No one was crying, or running away, and heaven help me – they were all voluntarily looking right at the camera.  My heart skipped a beat, and I said “no one move – I’ll be right back”.  I ran like a wild woman into the house to get my tripod and fumbled to assemble it as I was bolting back outside.  I set the timer, grabbed P2 and crossed my fingers behind my back.  We got just this one shot off before the miracle moment passed and L.A. decided that riding his scooter would be more fun.  But we got it.  One picture that commemorates our family just as we are today.

It isn’t perfect – no one is really entirely in focus, P2 looks slightly like he was super imposed and I have no idea why.  {Two side notes about that child – 1. when in the world did he get so tall?  I swear he still feels like a peanut in my arms, but those long legs in this picture tell me otherwise.  2. yes, his 2 year old noggin really is almost as big as mine.  10th percentile for height and weight, but 95th for his head.  Lots of brains in there!} There is dappled light, and lots of other photography no no’s – but we’re all in it.  Look at C, so proud with arms wrapped sweetly around the two oldest.  SG – who has come SO far – all snuggled up to her dad, and L.A. in a rare moment of calm cooperation.  I love it.

Here’s my challenge to you – it’s a nice long weekend, there will be parties and barbecues, and leisurely days at the house – get into a picture with your family.  Your whole family.  Set the timer on the camera as you snuggle on the couch, have a neighbor walking by stop to take a quick snap of all of you together, ask a stranger at the beach to take just one shot.  I don’t care how you do it, but do it.  It’s so important to get out from behind the camera and capture memories with you involved.  Later this summer, we’re vacationing with a group of amazing photographers.  12 adults, and 10 kids.  It’s going to be wonderful chaos, but one of the highlights is that we’ve agreed to do family portraits for each other – one family per night, and I can’t wait.  I have a giant space on my wall that is begging for a massive canvas of our whole family together.

How I love you.  You and your long days, filled with shrieking laughter of the little ones.  Brimming with the promise of summer… of hours spent outside letting the sun slowly kiss the shoulders of my babes until their skin is a nice golden brown.  I love the simple pleasures that come with beginning of summer, the pure joy of slowing down to enjoy family and friends.  The countless barbecues, and impromptu get togethers.  The long summer nights filled with meandering conversation among friends under the twinkly lights in our little tent on the patio.  The dirty little feet that parade up our back steps every night, exhausted and protesting bath time with the pleas of playing outside for “just a few more minutes, peeeeeease?”.  The sprinkler swirls around in our yard much to the delight of the littles, who easily lose their afternoon running through the streams of water and creating their own games.  The driveway becomes an every changing mural of sidewalk chalk, and my heart is happy.

June, don’t tell October, but you’re my second favorite…. and I welcome with you with open arms.

I can’t believe you’re already two.  Yesterday we celebrated your birthday with all the people who love you, and I thought back to the day you were born.  The moment our Dr announced “it’s a boy!” and Daddy looked over at me beaming with pride and said “that’s L.A.’s best man” will forever be seared in my memory.  A whole lifetime of you two playing, wrestling, and leaning on each other flashed before my eyes.  From the very beginning, you have been the snuggliest little man in the world – something I soak up every chance I get.   You’re our soulful one, the one who sits back and watches with those big brown eyes, taking in the entirety of a situation before deciding if you want to participate.  In the quiet safety of our own house though, you are a jokester and a crazy man.  You’ve taken to stripping down to your birthday suit on a regular basis and parading around the house proudly pointing at your chest with a big smile saying “I King Nakies!”.  Though slightly inconvenient, it makes me laugh and I never want to forget that.

I love everything about you.  Your crazy surfer curls, your crooked little teeth, those deep dark eyes.  I smile every time you ask when the phone rings “Who dat?”.  I marvel at how tall you’ve suddenly gotten, and wistfully take notice of the way your face is changing, the baby features slowly fading and being replaced with those of a child.  I relish the way you snuggle your face into the curve of my neck when you’re tired, sometimes closing my eyes and just breathing in the memory.

My little peanut, my monkey baby, happy (day after) your birthday.

One year ago today, on a Thursday evening I was working late in my office when when your dad came home from work.  From the minute my eyes met his, I knew something was going on.  It was the day that we learned about you.  There were tears, and shaky hands, and a million questions, but you were already a part of our family – a part of our future.  From that very first night amidst all of the confusion, there was never a question that you would be a part of our lives.  It would be a little over a week until we actually met you, but over the next few days more information started to trickle in.  Your name, bits of your personality and your past, a picture of your sweet face.  I will never forget the first time I saw that picture.  I cried, because you looked so much like your brothers.  I’m not going to lie, those first few days (weeks?) were a blur of emotion and pockets of numbness, fear of the unknown and a whole lot of hope.

I can’t believe it’s already been a year, and yet I can’t believe it’s only been a year that you’ve been in our lives.  We’ve come so far – all of us – but you, especially.  From the quiet little girl who was so scared and unsure – to the crazy singing, dancing, loving one that you are now.  Early on you were so timid with Daddy, and while we understood it completely, I think we yearned for the day when you would feel comfortable and be able to let your guard down.  So on those nights when we’re all snuggled up reading in bed and I look over at you nuzzled into the nook of his arm with tears in my eyes, know that they’re happy tears…. insanely happy tears that come from a place so deep in my heart.

You are gift, S.G.  A gift that we were incredibly lucky to receive, and I hope as you get older you will understand how much we love you.

Happy one year family anniversary.

So says my little wiser than his years three year old.  He’s been having a rough time lately.  C and I aren’t sure what’s going on… he’s always been “spirited” (is that the latest PC way to say super fresh?), but lately he seems to have gotten more intense.  He’s having a hard time controlling his frustrations, and it’s wearing on all of us.  We’ve been spending an awful lot of energy redirecting, reprimanding, regrouping, and trying to figure out a way to help his behavior.  Yesterday was a really tough day for all of us, and as I drove to pick the boys up today, I said a little prayer for patience.

Funny how that works, because today was a gift.  The lift exactly when I needed it, from the moment he ran to me with arms outstretched – it has been a wonderful day.  The kind of day where you marvel at how amazing your children are, and tuck the memory away to pull out on a difficult day.  The type of afternoon where we dug in the dirt for hours and looked for treasures, where I chased the boys around the yard while they shrieked in delight, and music filtered over our fence from the neighbor’s yard as if providing a soundtrack for our fun.  Music really does help your heart.

It was a day that makes all the rough ones worth it…. and this?  This is the icing on the cake.

He needs a haircut, and I have a few of him with a super smile on his face, but this one… this one tugged at my heart because I know the twinkle behind those eyes is saying “mom, I really am not interested in taking a picture, but I will because I love you”.  The only trade off was he made me promise if I took his picture that he could take mine.  Not bad for a three year old and a camera that uses back button focus.

I love that boy so much.

I want to talk about the prelude to Spring we’ve had these past few days, but can we first touch on this little one?  My quiet, laid back, easy going guy?

Yeah, well… I may have jumped the gun a bit on that description.  It’s been a transition I’ve noticed happening over the past few weeks… a little defiance here, a little lack of fear there… and then before you know it we’re spending Saturday morning in the E.R. getting staples in his head after an unfortunate fall from the lego table onto a monster truck.  Le sigh… I swore he’d be the “easy” one.  Back to the drawing board there.

Prior to that incident though, there was Friday night… A night reminiscent of summer evenings playing in the driveway until the sun finally sets behind the neighborhood and our children protest as they walk up the back stairs, dirty and finally worn out.  We’re all having a bit of spring fever around here, and these couple semi warm (okay, not freezing) days have us already pulling out all the riding toys from under the deck.  Bundling up, and yelling over the fence for the neighbor’s children to come play.  The adults smile inwardly as the big ones have truck races, and then run circles around each other – while the little ones are learning how to share again after months off.  My peanut excitedly points to the sky as each airplane swoops low above our trees preparing to land in the next town over.

Those two little stinkers above?  Not gonna mince words.. that scuffle ended in a full blown meltdown complete with tears and the necessary mama cuddles at the conclusion.  The end of our Saturday evening brought another preview though… of our friends and neighbors gathering around our patio for a shared drink and good conversation as the sun kissed the sky goodnight.

The weekend was full of all things outdoors…. Sunday morning was a driveway coloring, basketball playing, bike riding, t-ball learning, Daddy snuggling kind of morning.  (Sidenote: How the heck does my sweet girl suddenly look 14?!?!)

It was a beautiful, long, love filled weekend.  Lots of lounging, and reminders of all the joy there is to be had once the last of our snow pile melts away and the ground finally dries up.  Picnics, and running through sprinklers, and late night chats with friends by the dim light of our gazebo.

Happy (almost) Spring, friends.  I can’t wait!!