From the moment you came into this world you were already proving to us that you were going to do things your own way. I had planned a home birth, which to some may seem a little unconventional, however I did NOT plan on you coming in the the middle of my bath time.

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As I watched your daddy (assisted by a midwife, for the record) pull you out of the water and place you in my arms I knew our lives were about to change forever. You have brought so much joy to us in the past two years. Your smile multiplies into more and more smiles from everyone around you. Your squeals are a recipe of shear delight. You dance, dress up, and even fly, or at least you think you can when you jump off of furniture (we’d appreciate it if you would stop that). You are the softest cuddliest thing I’ve ever known. And girl, you are so very peculiar. There is no denying it.

As an infant you’d like to dangle your head upside down while you were being held. It scared the crap out of people. I think they thought your neck was broken, but you just liked viewing things a little differently.

When your teeth came in you got your lateral incisors (the ones on the side) before your front teeth. For the longest time you looked like you had fangs, which may be trendy at the height of the Twilight monomania, but we’re glad you are NOT a vampire.

You’ve never reached out to be held like most children do, instead you just stick your elbows out like you are doing the chicken dance and expect that someone will scoop you up.

For almost a year now you have been able to color, brush your teeth, eat with a fork, drink from a cup, unscrew lids, and dress yourself. It’s like you have the dexterity of someone twice your age, but you WILL. NOT. TALK. Oh, we’ve heard you say mama, brubu (brother), up, and bye bye in context, as clear as day, but the vast majority of the time you communicate verbally about as much as our family dog.

And while you may perplex your mother and the people around you, I wouldn’t change a thing. In fact you inspire me to be an out of the box thinker. Every time you don’t do something by the book I realize that there is more than one book, or maybe you are writing your own book. I love that about you. I hope and pray that you always break the mold. It would be a shame to stifle the unique, creative individual that God created you to be. The sky is the limits as far as what you can become. Don’t let the world distract you from that. Stay beautiful. Stay true. Keep being you.

J and I have been “courting” Louisville since that is now the closest major city to us. As it stands I think we are in love with the place. One of the reasons is the vintage store density. They have thrift and consignment shops everywhere. Last week when I was there found a few pieces to ad to my collection of previously owned clothing (which is pretty much what all of my wardrobe is).

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I got it as a Valentine’s present and he said this dress was made for me. Awwww!

When I envisioned myself moving to Kentucky, thinking this is for real, you will no longer be in the place you lived for half of your life, I panicked and worried that I would literary start flopping around like a fish out of water. So I took a deep breath and decided to call the first week vacation and ease into it. We’ve been living with my parents for about a week now, but with little attention to setting up a routine or unpacking our boxes. In fact, I am practicing an art that J and I have accidentally become estranged to. It’s called relaxation. I am making it a goal to put more useless activities in my life.

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Before:

Unfortunately I couldn’t find any pictures of our house when we moved in other than this one that is still existing if you looked it up on google maps.

Since then we added a cedar fence, a wrought iron gate, did a ton of yard work including taking out and adding trees. We also put up a gable, and recently had a new roof put on, along with a fresh coat of paint.

After:

There are SO many things I have loved about this back yard. I will miss the rose bushes that I had clipped from for my friend when she was in the hospital. I will miss the Gladiolas I had photographed for a college project, and the Daffodils that come up right around my daughter’s birthday.

I will miss the pecan trees that I was so eager to harvest from that my in laws gave me a nut cracker, and I put it to good use. I will also miss all the beautiful crepe Myrtle trees, which our city is known for, and I loved them even after my son fell out of one and had to get 5 stitches.

I can’t forget the fig tree that my mom and I made jam with.

or the smell of Wisteria especially when I was pregnant.

and my favorite, the Redbud tree!

All this talk about plants make it sound like we lived in the master gardeners utopia which is not the case at all. Our back yard was pretty simple. We didn’t do any gardening we just let the plants do their thing. These perennials, which were part of the package when we moved in, were faithful to bring us delight year after year. I guess if you were to sum up what I loved the most about this yard, I would have to say- Life!