and then he was 1.

Hank turned 1 on the 11th. Yes, his birthday is 11/11, which I didn't even realize until days after his birth. We had some family and friends over. His party was laid back and fun, much like him. He's started walking short distances between objects/people. He loves his sister, being outside, and kefir (the only way to get him to sit still is to give him a big cup of kefir, it always buys me 5 minutes). He still feels very much like my baby, I have a feeling when April comes around I will be having a tougher time bumping him up to big brother status than he will. Basically, he is amazing. It's been such a joy to raise him, to see how alike and different he is than his sister. Both of them teach me different lessons daily and overflow my heart with love.

happiness is..

+ these folks. my big love. my smallest loves. 

+ collecting beautiful fall leaves for a project and Penny bringing me a nice, green redbud leaf she picked off a tree. it came with spiders on it. I had to laugh and be thankful I caught that before she shoved it in the bag with all the other leaves (and my car keys).

+ passionberry kombucha on special for half off at a local store. my pregnant body craves the carbonation.

+ an unexpected 5:30 nap from both kids yesterday thanks to daylight savings, which gave Bruce and I some unexpected quiet time together. worth the extremely late bedtime that followed.

+ waking up to the dog laid out across our feet on cold mornings. 

+ honeycrisp apples.

+ tiny kicks from my womb baby. this one made me wait the longest to feel it move.

linked up with november prompt-a-day.

first.

my first. my Penny. her signature grump face isn't fooling me, she is one happy (albeit very serious) kid. I know everyone thinks their child is special (and I wouldn't argue that they aren't), this girl surprises me every day at just how wonderful she is. this prompt for 'first' couldn't of come at a better time, last night Bruce and I were in tears over this girl. a neighbor we hadn't officially met, just seen down the street, had a special halloween bag made up for this girl because she sees us outside a lot and just thinks Penny is so wonderful. (and yes it could of been completely creepy, but it was a sweet lady who reminded me of my mom and her bag was filled with coloring books not homemade, poisoned treats). at another house, a lady answered the door and addressed Penelope by name; I was so confused, until she reminded me that we had met at a coffee shop a few months back. Penny came up to play with her nephew, and we realized we lived a few blocks over from each other. she then told us her friend who was with her at the coffee shop, who was pregnant with a little girl, decided to name her daughter Penelope after our little girl. sometimes it's nice to get that confirmation that your child isn't just special to you, and that her joy is contagious. 

when we got home and she checked out all the candy, she said we should all share. we don't have to ask her to share or be nice or speak her mind, she simply does those things, and she inspires me every day.

(I've decided to join up with the november prompt-a-day)