being patient. not my strong suit. never, ever has been. almost 3 years ago (what?!) when i was pregnant with leo the loin fruit, i met a dear friend in one of those creepy online chat rooms. it was a pregnancy support forum, aka where all the crazy pregnant people go to to talk about obscure food cravings, how much they love/hate sex, who's causing drama at their baby showers and who is going to destroy their child's spirit by either co-sleeping or not co-sleeping. crazy times people, i tell you. and i was totally one of them. well, the novelty of the forum wore off, but it wasn't for nothing. my friend erica and i were brought together by this craziness. she lived out in CA but hails from the cape (of cape cod) and so when our babies were small and fat (and boy were the fat...if only i had the photographic evidence) we met on a beautiful, breezy, summer cape day.

pretty much it was love at first sight and i spent a lot of time driving to the cape that summer. she is who brought milo and his rad parents into my life. good stuff.

so for almost 3 years, i've been whining about how much i wish erica would live on this side of the country. and finally, after waiting and waiting, and being patient, the stars aligned. here for good. i still don't believe it. it won't sink in for a minute. but the best part? little mr. kai, or meeks as he is the companion to meems, his big sister Evie, is three short months old. it pleases me to no end that we will get to watch him grow, and already since i met him for the very first time in CA (pour some out for the photos) he has changed so much.

this is a filler blog. a big old give away blog is coming with instructions on how to win a session with me, and boy am i making it fun! be patient...

until then, here's a little series from some time i spent with Kai last week.

it's hard work hanging out and chatting at the beach. eventually...the breeze, the warmth, the swaddle, win.

seriously. i'm giving away two sessions. so STAY TUNED!

xo isabel

lots of little earthy tidbits popped into my head when i thought about writing today. a day like today has me taking a look at our life, at our footprint, at our waste. ironically, our power went off for an hour and a half this morning. i am glad no one but my family saw the embarrassing, frantic lunatic i became. my husband, the electrician (ha, yea) said there was nothing he could do and i swear i reacted like he told me his new passion in life was snakes and that he was bringing home a 9ft. boa constrictor whether i liked it or not. shock. horror. it was bad folks, bad. but, we did play with playdoh, my most hated childhood pastime. i'm learning to get over it. the point is, we sat in a room together, lit by the sun, all together with only the sweet sounds of two playdoh high kids. oh wait, wasn't i supposed to be going somewhere positive with this? all the time actually, i am thinking about the ways i'm falling short. the things that i really feel deep down are important, that i just can't seem to implement. somehow buying locally seems way more expensive, as do farm shares, and then i know if i had all this fresh produce in my house, i either wouldn't know what to do with it or it would sit in the veggie drawer until someone noticed a smell. when i think back to the kind of grocery shopping i did when we had just jack, when we were still so young, when we were still shell shocked. it was terrible. TERRIBLE. but we still aren't eating enough fresh produce, we are not cooking enough dinners. i just can't seem to find the balance in it all. and top it off that i just despise the kitchen in this apartment. i have all these dreams for our new place. all the junk we'll abandon, fresh, living, growing, green plants all over the house, a kitchen with light. a girl can dream. and then i'll feel inspired and motivated and happy. this will surely solve all problems.

no. but we do have this dream of one day owning a little old house on a good patch of land. and we'll build a chicken coop and have chickens. leo requests frogs, pigs, sheep and a cow too. i'd be happy to just start with chickens.

but until these dreams can come true, i need to make more of an effort now to try and find a way for what's important to me to be a part of our lives. and keep apartment hunting.

in line with earth day, i'll be photographing the great cloth diaper change for the diaper lab in Somerville. tomorrow is also my husband's birthday. being the lovely assistant he is, he's offered to come along to be my right hand. a man who will spend his birthday with cloth diapers. ladies, i am lucky.

and finally. we spent a day this week with our friends who are family, Leah and Milo. they are so earth friendly. every time i leave from a visit with them i wish we could move to a tucked away little cape house. with a nice garden, plenty of room to sun dry cloth diapers, and there are so many great local farms around them. they are also my most outdoorsy friends. my kids are always guaranteed a nature walk with Stellapuppy when we visit. the cape has so many amazing trails. again. want to move. i wish the two year old had been a bit more cooperative so i could have like, taken a few pictures of the amazing swamps we walked through. instead, he insisted on being carried and then walking and then being carried and then walking. 30+lbs folks...make up your mind! however, if miss new england would get her act together and grace us with some damn warmth that would probably help the whole being outside thing.

we started the day hanging out around the house, letting babies nap and nurse. while the big kids pretty much experienced love at first site. the adorable little girls are courtesy of new to us friends. Avery is the gorgeous blonde bopping around with my big kid and Evan is her gorgeous little sister.

then, we packed up and headed out for our walk.

and when we returned, we were cooked delicious macaroni and cheese with broccoli and headed back to boston. add this to the list of things milo does now, he eats!

look at how he goes in for the kill. this kid knows his way around food.

thanks for playing Milo!

and cheers to the next earth day. as with new years resolutions, i always hope to incorporate more of these things that are important to me in my life with my family. what earth friendly habits do you resolve to add to your life?

xo isabel