Tuesday, April 19, 2011

A Letter to Simon

To my dear, sweet Simon,

For 4 years, 9 months, and 2 days I have loved you... and before that I loved the idea of you.  When I saw you the first time inside my belly and marveled at the beautiful curve of your spine and the already sweet way you opened and closed your mouth, I loved who you might one day be.  And when they told me you were a boy, I envisioned watching you in mock horror as you hung perilously from the monkey bars.  I dreamed of the rough and tumble ways that little boys have.  I pictured you charging full speed ahead in life on dirty-kneed, little boy legs.  But you, my gentle, loving boy have completely turned those ideas into a much more beautiful reality than I was ever capable of imagining at that time.  You are so different from me that I often wonder if you were put here just to challenge the way I think about and see everything.  Yet because of our differences, my eyes have been opened to so many wonderful things I might never have otherwise noticed.  I delight in your excitement over fluffy, pink clouds that look like cotton candy.  I love that you find a gold sequin, hold onto it tightly and call it treasure, and  the reverent way you watch water flow swiftly over rocks.  And my heart swells at every interaction you have with your baby brother.  No one can make him laugh the way you do and I already see how much he admires you.  I admire your sensitivity.  Yet, your gentle ways make me fear for you as I send you out into the world.  My breath catches when I think about the first time someone breaks your heart or makes you feel different.  I am doing my best to give you the tools to deal not only with life's joys, but also life's disappointments.  My promise to you as your mother is to always be your soft place to land.  Please always be you...

Love, me

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Shadows

This year I made a commitment to improving my photography skills.  I don't have time for traditional classes so I've been researching and reading and spending time scouring the blogs and Flickr pages of tons of portrait photographers.  One place that I have found lots of great info is I Heart Faces, a wonderful community of photographers of all skill levels.  Each week they hold a themed contest (for bragging rights) that anyone can enter.  I've been hesitant to enter anything because I still (and probably always will) doubt myself as an artist.  But this weeks theme jumped out at me and I also happened to have just taken a lovely photo that fit.  So here is my entry in the I Heart Faces: Shadows contest. 

   
My beautiful friend Brittany at 35 weeks pregnant