Tag: aveline alenka

Poetry & Words

“For You, O Lord, have made me glad by what You have done, I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands.”

Gina @ Oaxacaborn

Aveline in Marc Ecko shirt holding felt feathers

It hasn’t quite been the weekend for sleep. But it’s been a good weekend for productivity. At 1 o’clock on Friday night? We finished filing taxes.

And tonight? We spontaneously rearranged all the furniture in our great room — at 10 pm.

Maybe we’re crazy.
Maybe we’re just celebrating being in the same house for nearly an entire year.

Maybe it’s a little bit of both.

Aveline in Marc Ecko shirt

A year ago, I was pale, dizzy, anemic, and could barely walk fifteen steps without holding on to the wall. Aveline wasn’t even two weeks old yet, and we* were packing to move to Florida. *my parents and my husband, i.e., angels

And here we are now, in a beautiful sunshine-y apartment, with a laughing, healthy toddler, and a full-time job for Josiah. Do we miss our families and our friends? Yes. (Does Florida seem like a soggy swamp sometimes? Yes. ;-) But, “the Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.” -Psalm 126:3

So, so much joy!

Poetry & Words

WRITING & WORDS :: Guest Post on The Organic Bird Blog – On Contentment, and Living in the Moment

Gina @ Oaxacaborn

Do you all read The Organic Bird? Andrea Levendusky’s treasure trove of poignant, honest writing has quickly become one of my favorite places on the web. It’s truly worth adding to your reading list.

I’ve been so blessed getting to know Andrea through Facebook and Twitter over the last few months, and was thrilled when she asked me to pen a guest post. So, you can find me on The Organic Bird today, talking a little about the ways God is using my daughter to teach me about being content.

Thank you, Andrea!

Oaxacaborn - Guest Post on The Organic BIrd Blog - Motherhood

“I’m staring. It’s that time of the afternoon where all I want is another cup of coffee, but Aveline’s bedroom is right off the kitchen. She’s the world’s lightest sleeper; if I even think about that cup of coffee too loudly, I know she’ll hear me & wake up.

There is a pot of white beans simmering on the stove. I’ll add some sage and garlic in a bit. I’m not sure why I bought white beans. I nearly always cook black beans — black beans with onion, garlic, lime, jalapeño, and cilantro. Once upon a time, when I lived in my beautiful California, I added epazote, too. It grew wild around my front step.

But here, here in the land of my sojourn….” [continue reading my guest post on The Organic Bird blog]

//Comments are disabled here, so you can leave them on Andrea’s blog. :-)//

Life in Photos, Little Style

LITTLE STYLE :: Aveline’s First Birthday – Handmade Felt Feather Birthday Crown, Stuffed Plush Toy Bunny, and Gluten-free Chocolate Cake

Gina @ Oaxacaborn

Handmade felt feather crown - Feathered birthday crown

Aveline’s birthday yesterday was such a lot of fun! I can’t believe she’s a whole year old. We had a quiet little party for her, just Josiah and I, since our families are millions thousands of miles away — but it was joyous and beautiful and so full of laughter. (She even got to FaceTime and talk with both sets of grandparents!)

And can I just say I’m really happy with the way her feathered crown turned out? Even if the feathers did keep flopping over. I’m hoping to make a different birthday crown for her each year. My mom made us special birthday hats when we were little, and I thought it was the best thing ever.

What are your favorite birthday traditions — either from your childhood, or for your own children? I think it would be great to make a new handmade toy for her each birthday as well!

Oaxacaborn - First Birthday - Handmade Kawaii Plush Toy Creature

Oaxacaborn - First Birthday - Gluten-free Chocolate Cake

Oaxacaborn - First Birthday - First taste of cake

Oaxacaborn - First Birthday - Close up of baby taking bite of cake

Oaxacaborn - Baby birthday cake

Oaxacaborn - First Birthday - Baby in highchair eating cake

Oaxacaborn - First Birthday - Cake Crumbs

Oaxacaborn - First Birthday - Pink first birthday candle

Oaxacaborn - First Birthday - Cake crumbs on IKEA Blames high chair tray

P.S. Here is the gluten-free chocolate cake recipe I used.

Poetry & Words

WRITING & WORDS :: It was a year ago today that I first met my baby girl, and…

Gina @ Oaxacaborn

…I thought that now, at one year later, I would finally have words for this.

Home from hospital with baby Aveline Alenka

Words for what it felt like to hold her, outside of my body, for the very first time.

Words for what it felt like to look at her living, breathing soul.

Widescreen baby portrait in black and white

2-Widescreen baby portrait in black and white

But I don’t.

I still have no words — only awe,

only wonder,

only joy.

So, so much joy.

To God be the glory, great things He has done!

Poetry & Words

WRITING & WORDS :: The Bestest Job in the Whole Wide World

Gina @ Oaxacaborn

Toddler Aveline running down the sidewalk

Today, this has mainly been my view — the back of a very quickly moving Aveline. It’s been a “part of” kind of day.

Part of the laundry folded.

Part of an article for Babiekins Magazine written.

Part of Aveline’s birthday crown made.

Part of the bathroom cleaned.

Toddler Aveline stooping down to pick up bark off the sidewalk

But that’s ok. It’s been a day full of life, full of laughter, full of joy, full of peace.

Toddler Aveline kneeling on sidewalk holding bark pieces

I wouldn’t trade my position now with any one.

I love being a mama. I couldn’t think of a better gift in the world than my little, hilarious, laughing miracle.

Toddler Aveline tasting bark

Christmas, Life in Photos, Travel/Moving

LIFE IN PHOTOS :: Christmas in Upper Michigan

Gina @ Oaxacaborn

Silhouette of baby in window of airplane

We’ve come back, on a jet plane, from our magical snowy Christmas in the north! And I do mean “north”. We spent the first part of Christmas vacation in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, which is literally as far north as you can go without being in Canada. Purdy neat dere, eh?

My dad’s brother has an amazing cabin there, situated right on a river, which is where we stayed. My youngest brother and cousins got the tree out of the surrounding forest just before we arrived. The river had even frozen evenly enough to make a perfect skating rink. And did I mention it snowed every single day?

Oh, I wish I were sitting by the stone fireplace right now, drinking bottomless cups of coffee. I already miss my family terribly, and we’ve only been back in Florida for a couple days.

Bokeh Christmas tree near window

Aveline in huge wicker rocking chair at cabin in Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Aveline in rustic cabin in Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Christmas, Poetry & Words

WRITING & WORDS :: Let My Eyes Always be Open to Your Beauty

Gina @ Oaxacaborn

There is something in this night that makes it quiet, even though the freeway is just outside my window. Between the time the sun bows down and the sun stands up again, the cars still shuffle past, slowing to pass between the concrete pillars marked with blinking toll lights. The drivers must slow down before they speed up again, driving away from one place and toward another, probably in a hurry, probably unaware that the hum of their car engine is a steady backdrop to my dreams.

Aveline holding yarn looking at tree

I could never have made these dreams come true, not on my own. But you know, don’t you, that the Giver of All Good Things takes these threads, one by one, and gently untangles them. He weaves each shining thread into my life-filled hours, weaving in and out, always with purpose, always with design, always toward a beautiful end, until I’m walking on a tapestry I didn’t even realize was there.

Oh, Father God, Creator, let my eyes always be open to Your beauty.