Sometimes joy is simple…

When I watch my wee girl sleeping, laying in bed next to me, joy is simple.  Nothing could fill my heart more than watching her here, quietly breathing.  Each rise and fall of her tiny chest elevates my happiness a little further.  This type of joy is easy.  This love comes easily.  Some joy, some love, you really have to work at…  but for now, I’m blissfully happy just laying here in the dark with my wee one beside me.

Families who don’t co-sleep may find certain things easier (like couple time for mom and dad).  LOL  But I wouldn’t trade this closeness with my daughter for any of it.  She sleeps soundly knowing I’m right here, and I sleep better knowing she is safe and sleeping deeply.  This, for me, is a natural.

The wee girlie has her own bed.  It’s a loft we built in Autumn.  It’s right above our bed (I even posted a couple times about it here).  And she slept in it for quite a while…  and I missed her while she was up there.  LOL  But as she grows and changes, sometimes  she needs us closer than at others.  And right now, she needs these night times.  It won’t be long until she rolls her eyes when I ask for a hug and kiss, so as long as she wants me close, I’m happy to remain so.

Co-sleeping is worth any tiny sacrifices we may have to make…  but honestly?  Those sacrifices are nothing compared to the rewards it brings.  In a world full of people with sleeping disorders, I know my daughter sleeps soundly.  She  is safe, secure, and attached.  Just as she should be.

Soundly Sleeping Sweetie

Merry Christmas!

Just a quick upload…  I’m sure I’ll have lots of photos to share in the coming days, but whether I’ll get online to upload one a day or not is a big question.  So here’s one from tonight.  At the annual family and friends Christmas Eve party.  Thank you Jamie for snapping this one for me.  It means a lot.

Merry Christmas from the Wee Girlie and I.

 

Hope you all have a safe and happy weekend surrounded by your loved ones.  Make merry and a happy ho ho ho to each and every one of you.

The Yule Tree!

Today we put up our Yule tree. Now… before you say anything, I feel the need to defend our poor little fake tree. LMAO

We live in a house with just over 600 square feet. Within this house live people, dogs, and other sundry animals (cat, parrot, turtle)… That’s a lot of life packed into not a lot of square footage. So. Would I like to have a real tree? You bet your buttocks. Can we make our space work to fit in a real tree? Uhhh… no. LOL

Our little tree is a goofy little thing. It’s half a fake tree that gets hung on the wall. It takes up a depth of about six inches. And takes up no counter space, no dresser space, no table space. It takes up no surface space at all. And for a brief time while it hangs on the wall, the only thing displaced is the calendar that usually hangs there.

So yes… While I would LOVE to have a real tree, I’ve come to love our funny little half tree thing. It works for us.

Now back to today: We put up our Yule tree. And it was the first Yule tree that the wee girlie decorated on her own. Damon sorted ornaments, I handed them to the girlie, and she placed them all – thoughtfully – where they needed to be.

This years Yule tree is not the most balanced or aesthetic one we’ve had… but I think it’s awesome.

We’ve already had several ornaments fall off, calling to the girl to come carry them back home. I’m choosing to think of it as the fun of the holidays just extending itself out to last as long as possible. Why decorate a tree in an hour when you can spend days doing so? My only hope is that none of the little glass ornaments from my childhood hit the road, as they might not be quite so forgiving. LMAO It’s a good thing there is carpet beneath the half-tree-thing.

So here is my photo for today. I’m calling it “Ode to half-faux-tree-dom”.

Ode to half-faux-tree-dom

Now I’m heading outside to see how the eclipse is coming along. Should just be getting started about now, I figure.

I may or may not be back on tomorrow with a post/picture for you all. Tomorrow is Yule after all.

Take care of one another, and may the spirit of the season warm your hearts and hearth.

A life gone in an instant…

Earlier today I took a really cute little snapshot with my BlackBerry.  The wee girlie took Clifford (her stuffy version of him anyway) to school with her.  They are doing an entire month dedicated to the big red dog, and Emilie Elizabeth is one of her favourite literary characters.  Lily-Ann looked absolutely adorable in her red jacket with her navy blue jumper and tights, carrying Clifford…  bright blue sky behind her.

It was such a pretty moment, so adorable, so sweet.  It was what I’d planned on sharing.  But plans change.

Today my little sister’s bus driver ran over an 11 year old boy – while my sister and several other special needs adults were on the bus.  The boy died at the scene.  In an instant a young life was brutally cut short, an entire family is now left to mourn.  School children watched, as did my sister and her co-workers.  Lives forever altered in a moment as brief as any other.  That fast, and everything changes.

Please, tonight, hold your children close.  Tell them how much they mean to you, and how much better your life is because of them.  Read them a story, sing them a song, do a craft together…  just be with them.  Be present for them.  Be actively involved in as many parts of their lives as you can be.  Because all it takes is a moment to have it all ripped away.

My heart is with the family of that boy, and all those (including my sister) who’s lives have been affected by his tragic death.  Tonight an entire city mourns.

Peaceful Blessed Samhain!

I’m posting earlier in the day than usual, but there is much to do today, and I likely won’t have another chance to sit at the computer later.  I’m also cheating a little…  The picture I’m sharing is one from yesterday AND is one my mom took.  But I didn’t think anyone would mind. 

Cinderella and her mouse friends

Be safe and blessed while you celebrate Samhain tonight.

For those who celebrate Halloween, have a ton of fun.

For those who don’t celebrate the season, just enjoy your evening.

We celebrate Samhain, and have a little Halloween fun too.

Samhain (pronounced Sow-en) is the Celtic new year.  The celebration of the beginning of the dark half of the year.  It’s a festival of the bounty received from the years harvest, and a time of remembrance.  So say a prayer for those you have lost, and celebrate their lives, their love was a gift and this is the festival of thanks.  It’s not about ghouls and ghosts and vampires or the creepy things that make up the frivolity of Halloween…  but we enjoy that part of it too.  So get all dolled up, go out trick or treating, let out a witchy cackle, and then settle in, hold your family close, warm yourselves with a glass of hot cider, and remember the blessings of the past year.

Much love everyone!

We wore purple today, did you?

Today, people around the globe, were encouraged to wear purple in solidarity against homophobia, against bullying, and in memory of the several young people who have committed suicide in the last month because of homophobic bullies.  In it’s simplest terms?  Today we wore purple for equality.

Did you wear purple?  why or why not?

We love purple people!

Me and My Girl

Lily-Ann fell asleep in my arms today…  and you’d be hard pressed to find a moment I find more lovely than a moment when I can hold her close and know that she is safe.  My love for her is honestly overwhelming at times.  And I’ve made sure she knows just how deeply she is treasured, loved, and appreciated.  I tell her every day, and more than that, I show her every day.  I tell her stories about when I was pregnant, and the things I felt then.  I tell her stories about how she came to be, and how much even the nurses loved her…  that they all thought she was so special that they had to tell the other nurses, and soon enough ALL the nurses had been by the room to see this perfect special little person that I was lucky enough to have and love.  I really am blessed.  She’s amazing.  So now I’m just rambling.  LOL  That’s what happens when I get sentimental about my girl.    So….  before I bore you to tears, here’s the photo for today.  Just me and my girl.

Me and my girl

So, this picture won’t win any awards…  in ANY categories.  LOL  But it makes me happy.  Just snapped it with my blackberry held out in my right hand as far away from us as I could reach.  Then worked with it afterwards in iPhoto.

What a lucky, lucky mommy  am I. 

Hotel Waterslide

A friend of my dad’s was staying at a local hotel this weekend, so we headed out for a visit.  While there, we took advantage of the hotel’s amenities.  Here’s a picture of my two sweethearts – my daughter and her daddy (my husband) – waiting in line for the waterslide.

Three stories up - Daddy & Daughter

Puzzling

Mom & Aaron - Puzzling

My mom and my brother started a new puzzle today.  Here they are at the kitchen table, hard at work.

Royalty

It’s always a great thing when your wee girlie is best friends with your friend’s wee girlie.    Such is the case with Lily-Ann and Ainsley….  seen here as the royal duo.

Friends

Amber (Ainsley’s mom) and I had stuff to do this afternoon.  Thankfully, with the girls being such great friends, we got a lot acomplished while the girls played and played.