A bit of poetry for a summer's day

From Blossoms
Li-Young Lee

From blossoms comes
this brown paper bag of peaches
we bought from the boy
at the bend in the road where we turned toward
signs painted Peaches.

From laden boughs, from hands,
from sweet fellowship in the bins,
comes nectar at the roadside, succulent
peaches we devour, dusty skin and all,
comes the familiar dust of summer, dust we eat.

O, to take what we love inside,
to carry within us an orchard, to eat
not only the skin, but the shade,
not only the sugar, but the days, to hold
the fruit in our hands, adore it, then bite into
the round jubilance of peach.

There are days we live
as if death were nowhere
in the background; from joy
to joy to joy, from wing to wing,
from blossom to blossom to
impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom.

Emmy turns two and goes to the zoo

Today was Emmy's first day at the zoo. The night before, Matt told her that she needed to go to bed because in the morning she would get to go to the zoo and see the animals. Sure enough, when I went to get her in the morning, the first words out of her mouth were, "Zoo! Zoo!" She had a wonderful time! She loved seeing the monkeys, elephants, giraffes, meerkats, and otters. The most exciting moment was when one of the elephants decided he needed to use the bathroom. Now when we ask her if she had fun at the zoo, Emmy says, "Eh-feet (elephant), pee-pee!"

Happy Birthday to Emmy

Emmy had so much fun on her birthday! She woke up to two singing and excited parents, got to go through her "birthday door" of streamers, and enjoyed one surprise after another throughout the day! Her favorite moment was eating her ice cream cone. She was enjoying it so much, she didn't want to open presents!

Although we had a practice session of blowing out candles a few nights before, Emmy wasn't sure if it was what she wanted to do, so her Daddy helped her out.

For lunch we had some of Emmy's favorite foods: smoothies, hotdogs, and fruit (canteloupe, watermelon, and strawberries . . . yum!) She ate everything off her plate, asked for more, and was at the table after all of her friends were long gone.

Emmy with her friends Kalijane and Nash. They made these visors and wore them with pride!

The kids had fun decorating these pictures with stickers and paint.

Grandma Jojo made these beautiful cupcakes! Emmy was very excited for her birthday party to begin and couldn't help but taste a few samples of the frosting when I wasn't looking.

Paradise=Grandma and Jojo surrounding her on both sides with M&Ms and Nerds after a swim in the pool.

If looks could kill . . . she's actually saying here, "no picture, Mommy." I guess even at two, she doesn't want to be photographed in the morning before she's gotten ready for the day.

Looking every inch of two here, the day before her birthday. Emmy wore these sunglasses throughout almost the entire first meeting of church!

After all of the fun and games and surprises, I put Emmy to bed (way past her bedtime at 9:00!) and felt so sentimental that my little baby girl is now a two-year-old! We sang Happy Birthday, talked about her day, and she went to bed with a big grin on her face.

28 Weeks Pregnant

For all who requested the picture, here I am in all of my pregnant glory!