Tag: aveline alenka
LIFE IN PHOTOS :: Surrender, Flamingos, and Aveline’s Cameo on Disney Baby
It’s taken me two years , but I’m finally accepting Florida for what it is. Funny, isn’t it, that along with the peaceful surrender and acceptance there comes a realization of so.much.beauty. (And yes, I am embarrassed to admit it took me this long. I’m a stubborn soul, and not proud of it.)
Aveline, on the other hand, knows nothing of this hesitation. She’s such an example to me. Aveline teaches me how life is meant to be lived: loudly, fearlessly, with an utterly joyful abandon. Like the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, she’s not worried about tomorrow.
She’s not worried about anything.
She’s a picture of who I want to be in this life: hands outstretched, head thrown back, full of pure unadulterated joy, eyes pointed up and heavenward, fearing nothing on this earth and giving all the glory to Jesus.
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P.S. A big welcome and hello to new readers who found this blog via Aveline’s photo appearing in Disney Baby’s What Baby Wore! It’s an honor and I must say, this wee ol’ blog appearing alongside bloggers I so admire is a little crazy to me! Thank you Living on Love for including me.
LIFE IN PHOTOS :: This Little Piggy
These are the everyday, middle-of-the-afternoon little moments I want to remember forever…those tiny toes, the look of concentration, her adorable little baby lips.
I’m so blessed to have her in my life.
LIFE IN PHOTOS :: Turning Cacti Upside-down
Sometimes, on nice evenings, if dinner’s ready and the floodgates of heaven aren’t open, we step outside for a few minutes waiting for Papa to get home.
We talk to ants, point at airplanes, tell birds to hurry up and fly, and ask where all the puddles went.
Sometimes we stop for a moment, pick up our favorite succulent, think…
…and then question the wisdom of what we’ve just done.
LIFE IN PHOTOS :: There Ain’t No Grave
“Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6:4)
There ain’t no grave can hold my body down…
HAPPY EASTER, friends! ♥
LIFE IN PHOTOS :: Waking Up
She reminds me of my mother, sometimes. A little dog-lover.
She can’t help herself.
And she can’t stop hugging dogs, either.
POETRY & WORDS :: Why This Will Never Be A Parenting Advice Blog
Oh, this little person.
She’s very much a two-year-old. Perfectly quirky. She loves pirates and hates greens. She’d rather eat kefir than a donut, or almost anything else, except “mac and roni” which trumps all. She yells “Hi, baby!” to every non-adult she sees, no matter their age. And she has her own way of talking. “Fat put-tee”, of course, means “splash puddles”. And “kay yay-yi-yo” is her own little riff on “thank you, Aveline”. She sleeps every night surrounded by dozens of stuffed animals, but among them all, only Mr. Fox, Baby Fox, and Football Dog need to be kissed goodnight.
She loves to have her hair and teeth brushed. She always is sneaking into the bathroom to dab at her cheeks with mama’s makeup brushes. And destroying one of papa’s paintbrushes in a muddle of dull brown mixed watercolors, well, that’s a delight all its own.
She sings about the itsy-bitsy spider every chance she gets, “Fider, up. Fider, wain, down, ‘way. Fider, up sun, Fider, ‘gain!” When she hears dogs or neighborhood kids outside, she yells “Some babies! Some barks! Some dogs!” and runs to the window.
She’s a perpetual motion machine, my wild child.
And I’ve never done this before, this wild-child-raising.
I don’t know how.
Every day, I’m faced with situations that don’t make sense. (Toddlers don’t make sense. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying.)
I don’t have all the answers. And in my very short experience so far, I’ve seen that parenting is simultaneously humbling and exhilarating and terrifying and rewarding. I don’t have it all figured out. And I don’t imagine I ever will.
And that’s why this isn’t, and never will be, a parenting advice blog. First of all, I don’t have any to give. And second, my goal isn’t to figure it all out. I’m not chasing the answers. I’m not chasing perfection (thank goodness!) I’m chasing joy. I’m chasing hope. I’m chasing Jesus.
So you won’t find answers or advice here, because don’t have any. But what I do have, I can share; glimpses into our lives, beauty in the everyday, and the reason for our hope.
And I can tell you this — there’s not a day in which I don’t ask beg God for wisdom!
LIFE IN PHOTOS :: Aveline’s Room Tour
Happy Monday, everyone! I’m hitting the ground running this morning. My dear sis-in-law arrives in a few days for a week-long vacation, so I’m whipping the house into shape.
As I was tidying Aveline’s room — and doing laundry, and singing along to The Lumineers, and stopping Aveline from throwing away all her broken crayons — I realized I haven’t posted a tour of her room in a long, long time. I was going to wait until I finished the big “Forever Young” typography piece I’m designing, but I’ll just share that later when I’ve finished it.
Here’s her eclectic little room!
Framed canvas of Paris: Ikea || Felt bunting: handmade || Paper lanterns: leftover from my birthday years ago || Sweater: handknit by Auntie Lauren || Heart-shaped glasses: a gift from Bumpa (Grandpa Jim) || Curtains: Ikea || Dresser: Ikea || Doll: Goodbye Blue Monday
California map: AAA || Page from vintage book: Little Miss Heirlooms
Original portait of Aveline: Blue Egg Illustration || Washi Tape: Michaels
Pages from Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit: Target || Washi Tape: Michaels
Mouse: Starbucks || Pillowcase: Handmade || Lotta Doll: Amazon || Cat and Bunnies: Handmade
Curtains: Handmade from twin sheet || Circle Canvas: Hello Hue || Corduroy Top: Tea Collection || Baskets: Home Goods || Changing Table: Passed down from Josiah’s family
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