cozy*love

luca and i recently had our photos taken for a local photographer's blog series. she took pictures of fifteen mamas and their nurslings for a beautiful celebration of breastfeeding. 

we had our photos taken at a park at sunset in front of the prettiest frozen pond. i was thrilled that she was able to get a couple lovely captures because little luca was much more interested in chasing his big brother and sister around the park than sitting down for mama milk and snuggles.

if you would like to check out the rest of this wonderful series start with this post. then view the photos here. she will be posting photos of mamas and their babes for the next three weeks so be sure to pop in for a visit each day!.

by the way, luca, i can hardly believe you are 20 months old already. oh time, if i could just catch you in a bottle... but instead i will treasure each and every snapshot of you growing and changing, sweet boy. i will never forget running my fingers through your long, strawberry curls while you nurse or gazing into your eyes while you drift off to sleep. my mama heart will always remember ♥

 Pin It

almost*

i just made the appointment for his cast removal. eight more days. looking forward to soft baby hugs!

yellow*

daddy is painting walls (guess what color!), mama is sewing curtains. new cheerful art to hang, new places to store small treasures.

it is an itty-bitty bedroom makeover! i can't wait to share this new cozy space for our sweet small folks.

happy friday, friends! i hope you are spending it doing something you love!

{barefoot in the sunshine print from FreyaArt}

happy*day

 it was theverybest birthday ever. 

gorgeous sunrise, bright orange sky, text from hubby telling me he special ordered it, just for me.

i spent the afternoon with my kids and my friends and their kids. 

food, coffee, tea, cake, playing, visiting, laughing, fun*fun*fun.

 {me and my sweet friend bethany}

{two of my very favorite people :: chelsea and bethany}

 {my dear friend heidi and baby solace}

{a new BIRTHday just around the corner}

{fun birthday games!}

{we celebrated my little friend xaria's birthday too!}

 {lovely gifts from lovely friends :: fabric, yarn and handmade lotion. perfect in every way}

soon after our friends left daddy was home from work! yay!

 {and look! he got me a shiny new dutch oven!! gahhh, so happy!}

{birthday dinner, just me and my love}

i feel blessed, loved and completely renewed. thank you for that, dear ones. xoxo

the night before...

everyone else has been sleeping sound for hours.

i am watching a documentary about religion, and pinning lovely things, and knitting and drinking the ice cold can of coke that has been hanging out in the very back of the fridge.

this is my birthday eve, big things planned for tomorrow. looking forward!

goodnight, friends! xo

{birthday candle photo from pinterest}

winter*hoop

 it snowed today. fi-nal-ly!

get outside and enjoy yourselves today, friends! xo

catching dreams*

busy dreams last night. a result of a busy mind, perhaps? one holding onto more concerns and worries than this mama recognizes?  

let's see, it started with an upsetting dream about parting with my baby carries, every last one of them. i was very sad and reluctantly handing them over to an unknown recipient. the truth is luca just doesn't love to be carried like harper did. i put him on my back when he is extra fussy and often he will sleep but other than that he would rather be free {and wild}. i haven't worn him a single time since he broke his arm. mostly because he is casted up over his elbow so i cannot bend his little arm to get it under the strap.

up next i was browsing around a children's consignment shop when the lady beside me lifted off a shelf the most beautiful blue-green le creuset dutch oven. that's right, at the second hand kid's store. she happily scurried up to the register and paid next to nothing for it while i pouted over tiny jeans and t-shirts.  

and the last dream i remember was about chicken pox, or the lack of pox, rather. three weeks ago my sweet local friend and her kiddos all came down with chicken pox. as soon as i heard i packed my boys into the car, stopped for a take and bake pizza for her family and headed over for a visit. we were at her house for 20 minutes in which time luca played with every toy in her house and with her 4 year old daughter who was covered with pox - bless her little heart. 

so here we sit 19 days later with no sign of chicken pox. esmé and niko have both been exposed and have not had them either. i was really looking forward to getting it over with especially with harper starting school next fall. now what to do? have their titers checked? consider the vaccine and boosters to protect them later in life. 

so friends, that was where my subconscious mind went while i rested. feel free to analyze away! i am sure some processing would be good for me but instead i am going to vacuum homemade granola off the living room rug {second time this morning} and then take my boys out thrifting. and who knows, maybe i will discover something amazing...

connecting, confessing and verbalizing change :: a vlog

abandoning self criticism and insecurities. this is my very first video blog. i am putting it all out there in an sincere effort to put it all behind me.

thank you for being here, friends.

xo, erika

love*LOVE*LoVe

 yesterday while walking in the park the kids and i discovered these rocks. some are difficult to read in the photo. let me try to remember a few, there was ::

"don't chomp you gum!"

"have and emergency fund!"

"treat your mom like a princess"

"get out and PLAY!"

"keep trying"

and LOVE. love. LoVe. ♥ ♥ ♥

of course we now plan to make our own affirmation rocks and scatter them throughout the city to make people smile. and think. and laugh. and you all should totally join us in your own neighborhood! 

 this is my monday self portrait - i actually took a few self portraits yesterday. i was just having a happy day, that's all. i was all dressed and primped up to meet a brand new photographer friend in the park to take a some pics for a really neat project she is working on. something very near and dear to my heart and i cannot wait to share it with you. i should be able to link it up before the end of the month.

and, i am working on my first video blog post. just some random new year musings i would love to share with you all. hopefully i can get my act together and get it posted tomorrow evening. looking forward!

much love,

erika

january*FIVE

a quick snapshot of my five on the fifth of the month. they were all a little grouchy and waiting (some patiently, some not so) for dinner to be ready.

i just might post a similar photo of the five of them together on the fifth of every month in 2012, however i am going to run into a little situation around the middle of the year - riley will graduate high school and turn 18 in june. can you believe it? big changes for inspired mama. i suppose the family five photo each month will be a little tricky but i am totally going to try!

{monthly family photo inspired by lovely steph from adventures in babywearing}

also, um, this was supposed to be posted yesterday but i forgot until like 11:58 when i was on my way to bed. let's just pretend for a moment it is the 5th of the month, okay?

sweet*teeth

it was an impulsive purchase, at the fabric store of all places. we don't do it often and we went straight into the bathroom and brush-brush-brushed when we were finished. and it was fun.

too, too good.

my*january

i decided that i was completely serious when i said i was going to devote the entire month of january to selfish projects, just for me. i am going to knit and sew myself some lovely items and not feel one bit guilty.

i have a couple knit skirts all lined up and we are going to head out to the fabric store in a bit for thread. 

i also have that lisette pattern that i bought so many weeks ago on my mind. 

i am currently knitting a brea bag for myself in green - amazing green.

i might stitch up some pretty patchwork potholders for my kitchen and toss all of the old, charred and ugly potholders.

and i need a duvet cover for the down comforter we received as a christmas gift from my mama.

i likely will not get even half of this list completed this month, or this year. but all of these ideas started swimming around my head the second i allowed myself to think only about {me}.

so, how about it, friends... does anyone want to join me in a month of selfish crafting? be sure to let me know so i can come visit and see your wonderful projects! looking forward!

disclaimer :: i started knitting my sweet husband a pair of charcoal gray knucks early last year and still have not completed them. one is finished and the other only needs the cuff. i might take them to our mom's night out this friday and get.them.done!! just to completely clear my conscience, of course. he really does deserve those hand knit knucks!!

itty-bitty, rough and tumble, hurt and broken.

we ended 2011 with an tiny broken arm. no good. it happened in the car two wednesdays ago while we were out looking at christmas lights. i sat in the back seat with the kids and let them unbuckle while we watched this light show. when it was time to drive i put luca in his rear facing car seat then daddy came around to push the seat next to him forward so we could access the third row and sweet baby's teeny little arm got caught and pulled back with the seat. ouch. we sat in the car for another 15 or 20 minutes trying to console him and decide if a trip to the ER was necessary. he finally calmed down so we drove home and looked him over again. no swelling, no bruising or even redness and full movement of both the wrist and elbow with no pain. we put him in his jammies and i nursed him to sleep.

the next several days he was his happy little self but would fall on it or bump it or be pulled by harper and cry and cradle his arm. just when i was ready to take him to the doctor he would be fine and playing. we really thought he may have just sprained it. finally on wednesday, that's right, and entire week after the initial injury, he fell off a dining room chair and i had had enough and took him to urgent care. while i attempted to  sign him in he ran through the waiting room, climbed on chairs and even tried to rearrange their furniture. the gal at the front desk actually questioned whether he was really hurt. i told her i didn't know, that was why we were there. 

a brief doctor examination and x-rays of tiny arm confirmed it was indeed broken. one minor break in one of the bones right in the middle of his forearm, between the wrist and elbow. an appointment was made with an orthopedic specialist for friday afternoon and we were sent home with a small-ish sling. small-ish as in it fit harper and esmé pretty well, but not luca. turns out 19 month old kiddos do not like to wear slings and will angrily tear them right off in a hot second.

this is luca waiting to see the orthopedic specialist on friday. climbing, playing, happy as can be. she looked his x-rays over and informed us that both bones were actually broken - one is more "smashed and dented" and the other fractured.  my poor, sweet little guy. i feel sick that he was hurt for so long before we had him seen. and of course his gentle, loving daddy feels absolutely terrible too.

since both bones are involved he had to be casted all the way up over his elbow. bright red cast, it matches his shoes. he will wear it for four weeks. i keep thinking that if i would have listened to my mama instincts and taken him in that night we would already have a week in the cast behind us. but i am trying to not beat myself up.i am working hard to conscientiously let go of all the stress and guilt. passing on the tension and loving on my boy. that is precisely where i am today. healing hearts and healing bones in a one day at a time, one hour at a time, one breath at a time process. 

 small people are resiliant, mamas and papas less so, but we are all going to be alright.

brand new year blessings to us all, friends. 

happy 2012