CRAP! how has it been a WEEK since my last post? Time flew away from me! I had three photo shoots this week, substitute taught for four days, and hosted my brother and sister-in-law for the weekend... Hmm... I guess THAT'S how.

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So for tonight's post, I want to talk about two friends... Melanie and Stefanie. This is a long-overdue post, with photos dating back to May and June, hence the title "Post Backlog". (Sadly, there are SEVERAL unwritten yet meaningful-to-me posts in my head from the last few months... So I will be doing this "backlog" thing here and there to catch up...)
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Melanie and Stefanie and I met though the mom-information-and-networking-site Babycenter. All of our baby boys were born in the same month, so we had that to link us together. We became friends through our blogs, a little, but really connected as a fluke when both Melanie and Stefanie emailed me regarding one of your many mutual baby issues. since both girls had the same question, I sent my response back to both of them at the same time instead of separately, and VOILA! An email friendship was born. Since that first set of emails so many months ago, we have really seen our friendships deepen and grow to a level none of us could have imagined. We have spoken on the phone, we text message, we send flowers (thanks, Stef!!)... {remember these flowers? With the lemons in the bottom? Such a wonderful surprise pick-me up!!}
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We send "happy mail" (thanks Mel!)...

{care package from Melanie: so many fun treats and doodads. made my entire week!}

{turtle "taggie" blanket I made for Stefanie's son Max}
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...And we have grown as mothers as a result of our e-adventures. All of us feel so lucky to have "found" each other, and joke about the day we'll be united together in person for the first time fifty years down the road on Oprah. It'd make a great story!

Well, while I have not yet met Stefanie (and we'll remedy that someday, Stef!), I DID get the delightful opportunity to meet up with Melanie and her husband Ben and their November baby Nolan while Joe, Noah and I were on our long, infamous road trip out West in June. Both of our little families met up for dinner and photos, and enjoyed an all-too-brief visit together. (Even the hubbies, who got dragged along, enjoyed the get-together!)

{Noah exploring his new friend}

{Nolan getting a CLOSER look}

{all of our boys}
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The babies were, of course, ADORABLE. Nolan had the enviable skill of clapping on demand, something even two months later Noah has not even attempted to do. Nolan has the most amazing blue eyes and a cute lil' round head capped with RED(!) hair. So ridiculously cute. And of course, we all know how stinkin' cute Noah is... Watching them interact was so much fun!

{Noah seems REALLY fascinated by Nolan's existence}

{this one is more like, "Hey, Nolan- check this out!"}

{Here, Nolan goes for the FULL COURT PRESS}

{...which Noah isn't too thrilled about. But Nolan seems pretty self-satisfied.}

{But when Noah tries to get back at Nolan, down he goes! (I especially like the finger hooked in Nolan's mouth. Wow!)}

{and one more cute one...(Melanie made the onsies, by the way. SO clever!)}
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And meeting Melanie? Well, by the time we said goodbye, it felt like we had know each other for years.


So thank you, Mel. And thank you Stef. I can't wait to keep watching our babies grow up together. I cherish your friendships and the confidence you help me feel in being a new mama.
You both amaze me and make me smile.
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...And one last photo, perhaps my favorite:

{Psst, Mel: you two make the cutest team.}

Feeling Good...

And there's no really magical reason. I just feel.... GOOD. Centered. Happy. I take walks with Noah a few times a week, and I think that has played a big part in my mood upswing. I feel like, even with a busy, growing, nearly-mobile baby, as a stay-at-home mom I have more time to get things done. I feel productive, inspired, content, appreciated by my husband and family and friends, and buoyed up with strength to face our new, leaner, less-consumerist lifestyle. I feel... right. This is right. I am doing exactly what I was born to be doing.

And yes,the artist/wanderer/culture-lover in me still exists... still craves an outlet. I want those things too... but there is a season, a time, and a place for all of it. And right now, this is the season of nurturing children and fostering a home of comfort and peace in a loud, noisy world. I am okay with this season. I am okay not going to the symphony, to Europe, to a week in the Tetons... I am okay with the little bursts of creativity I find time for, even though it is never enough to complete a masterpiece. Today, this is who I am, and it is more than enough to sustain me.

One day, the little ones will be gone, off on their own adventures, and I will once again have time for the theater, for a potter's wheel, for writing my memoirs.

For now, I am completely happy, today.

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Images of home-caring contentment:

{laundry getting done. Check.}
(see Winston? He's been around lately. He'll probably show up in photos now and again. Hi, Winston.)

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{a kitchen cleared of dishes. Morning is cleaned up... ready for something else.}
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{my computer workspace. here is music, photo editing, blogging, internet wandering, my little business, connecting with friends... the strange but nice little heart of our apartment.}
(Jodie, that's you on the screen. Ha! See? I AM working on those photos...)

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And.... a HAPPY UPDATE:

Remember this? The storage room spilleth over... Argh!


That is now THIS:the key to this AFTER photo is all that carpet space. That was FULL. Now it is NOT. I gave away so much Stuff (capital-S Stuff). And the rest of the Stuff is compact and compiled and sorted and orderly. Lordy that feels good. Now we can move someday and I won't be as humiliated that my friends and family helping us will see that accumulation of Stuff. It is probably still too much, but MUCH better.

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And remember THIS? The hallway of shame, ever-worsening from August 2007 until this summer? The first view of our living space anyone gets when they come to visit? (the HORROR. So embarrassing!)


That is now THIS:
Cozy! Charming! Inviting! CLEAR OF CRAP! (ah, the alliteration is so satisfying!)

So much better. Such a weight off of my heart and mind.

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(but to be totally honest, it's not completely clear:)The foreground of this photo reveals the teensy little things I have left to do here: a pile of Craigslist stuff, a small leftover pile of Goodwill stuff, and our recent garbage that needs to be taken out. (Joe? Got a minute?)

Still.... C'MON. Tell me that wouldn't make YOU feel a hundred pounds lighter, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, nutritionally, psychically, (and any other "--ly")?

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So... Long story short: I feel GOOD. I feel light. I feel at peace. I am right where I want to be.
I love it.