amelia at five months

just a few pictures to scatter about in the wind. tiny little bits of color that represent our home, i suppose, but of course not really. because how do you capture a home in 4x6's? the home lies somewhere beneath the layers of color, woven into the rugs and splattered a bit on the walls.

"my like our new house," henry says one day after school. "what day we going to go back to our old house?"  

"we're not going back to our old house, babe. we live in st. paul now."

"when we going to go back to dc?"

"we live here now. do you like living here?"

"yeah, me do!"

when we get home from daycare pick ups - henry from preschool, amelia from our sweet friends' house - we mill about settling into borrowed routines from our past life in dc. henry understands that his role in it all is to take off his shoes and coat and find something to do until dinner. on some days he finds the responsibility much easier to handle than on other days. 

"my listened at school! now me watch tv?!"

"just wait henry. can you bring me your shoes, buddy?"

sometimes he does. sometimes, he throws his shoes as far as he can get them instead. 

"what's daddy doing?"

"he's still working babe. stay upstairs, he'll be done in a little bit."

"my just going to give him a kiss and a hug."

"no, henry. please stay upstairs. what do you think we should have for supper tonight?"

sometimes he stays upstairs. sometimes, he can't take the wait and he pads down the carpeted stairs towards joey's office instead.

life in st. paul is breezy and sweet. no rush hour traffic to contend with. our family is a (relatively) short drive away. we are blessed. we are so content here.

two days ago, amelia turned five months old. she makes us all deliriously happy. sometimes i wonder if i developed the opposite of postpartum depression when amelia was born. i can't get enough of her gummy smile. i miss her constantly, even if she's just in the other room. she flips immediately to her tummy if ever laid down on her back, and she sleeps like an absolute angel. she falls asleep at almost exactly 6pm every night - just an hour after we're home. she usually wakes around 3:00am for a bottle, but she's back down - tummy plump - 10 minutes later.

in a month's time she will have been here half a year, and i can hardly stand to think how quickly it's all gone. the long days and nights i remember with henry have turned so quickly into a blur of giggles and hurried week nights with two precious babes i have never felt so lucky to know - much less mother. life is such a crazy whirl of bitter and sweet, and i am constantly floored by the flood of emotion that comes when i think of how lucky we are.

amelia at 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 4 months.
henry at 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 4 months, 5 months, 6 months, 7 months, 8 months, 9 months, 10 months, 11 months, 12 months, and 13 months.