i am back!

wow, i took a really long bloggin' break. there is so much to catch up on! well, right now i am 28 weeks pregnant with my third girlie! i know, i know, crazy but we are so happy and so blessed that everything is going well. a little while after my last post in march is when we found out and i probably had about a week until the mother of all morning sickness gave me a visit. holy moly i was a mess! for all those mamas out there who know what i am talking about, it's a rough existence. and it lasted over 16 weeks! anyway, that is mainly the reason for such a long hiatus.

so, what's new? well, i have put design work on hold and maybe for a long while because i graduated from integrative nutrition last month. woo hoo! it was truly a great year and i actually miss my classes. after the baby is born and things settle, i am going to put my focus towards this next venture. until then i am looking forward to nesting, cooking away, being creative, blogging and maybe even catching up on some reading. it is going to be a peaceful autumn. aaahhh.

here's a little recap of our spring and summer. peace + love.

washington square park

one more time at moomah

buttermilk falls

serendipity frozen hot chocolate

a rare occurance

natural egg dying

tea party

lounging in the dandelions

liberty school garden

baseball

 school play

 strawberry picking out east

 our japanese cucs

 4 years old - mermaid party

 sweet girl

 rockland feis

 baby "girl"

 a harvest

 mermaids

 long beach island

 gramp's pyramid

 salt dough shell mosaics

 we found a starfish! we put him back, too.

 liberty garden's legit pumpkin patch

 stone barns center

 our bountiful garden this year!

my big girl

my oldest and i go on mommy and me 'only' dates when we can. i think it's so important and can feel when it's time to have some quality time alone. to be honest, it's always a blast and i truly look forward to our dates. we go to the movies a lot (it's so nice to go to a movie with a happy ending for a change). sometimes we go shopping for some new clothes or go to the cafe for some chai and hot cocoa. in february she pics a show in the city. last year was riverdance. i'm looking forward to some bike rides this fall as well. a few weeks ago we planned a whole day together in manhattan.

first, we subwayed it (she loves the subway!) downtown to tribeca where we navigated to our latest discovery - moomah, a craftster slash hipster slash artsy little nook where you can choose to create unique and natural art projects, like insect dioramas and collages made with pebbles, feathers, lavender seeds, take classes and/or grab a healthy bite and coffee. the possibilities seemed endless while we were choosing our do-it-together craft surrounded by intriguing dioramas lit with soft lights and large whimsical drawings to spark your imagination. eden chose to do a collage where the supplies are a surprise. she was given a board, a bird cutout, confetti shreds, lavender seeds, tiny acorns, tissue paper, felt and some random black and white images...oh, and modge podge of course - my fav!

we ended our visit to moomah with a wholesome lunch. it was so great to tell eden she could get whatever she wanted because everything on the menu was a good choice. i loooooved moomah. i can go on and on. their website and overall branding is awesome! (i discovered moomah on designsponge) it was very inspiring and gave me tons of ideas for projects with my girls. we can't wait to go back.

after our creative endeavor, we headed back uptown to the king tut exhibit in times square. this was totally eden's idea. i thought she would get bored but she was quite the inquisitive historian! we read every description and talked about everything we saw. it was a very organized exhibit where they took you chronologically through parts of ancient egypt while explaining the artifacts found from these periods. the exhibit was not too long and not too short and just plain gorgeous. the craftsmanship and technology from this time blew me away. the egyptians are definitely set apart from all other cultures. we both learned a ton. i recommend this exhibit. it was a little pricey but it turned out to be worth it.

before heading back on metro north, we took a detour and landed at the american girl store for some 'looking.' eden and i like the american girls books. they have books that deal with all aspects of being a girl. growing, emotions, friends, school and fun creative books. we bought a keri smith book for girls, called "tear up this book" (i mention books by keri smith in my previous post).

we had a beautiful day, my big girl and i. she is growing so fast. i just hope that, as a mother, i do all the right things and navigate this new road ahead with patience, clarity, and an open heart.

hanging on to summer

september is here already? it seems too soon for this summer to be over. back to school is a phrase that has so much more attached to it now - now that i'm a mama. it's back to our routine and schedule. dance classes, soccer practice, brownies...... i couldn't really understand how the average american family did not sit down for a family supper until now. it is very difficult to carve out the time and plan in between everyone's schedule. it's hard but not impossible i guess. so to start out the school year (which should really be called the new year) my goal will be to have as many family moments as possible. dinner, walks, games. i am looking forward to autumn - i do love this season. the air seems different. autumn is my ever-reminder of the reality of Change. change is the constant. and in autumn you can actually observe change.

above are some recent summer pics. a view of the tree tops during a family hike, the infamous "barbie cafe," the cafe refrigerator, and our one lonely tomato (the abundance of rain truly had an impact on gardens this year). 

when camp is out and playdates are far and few due to vacations, summertime play is beautiful to watch. eden plays for hours on our porch. she has set up a cafe/market. i love when she engages in pretend play because so much of the time is school, activities, tag along mama chores. when i was a little girl, i so enjoyed my baby dolls and playing with small figurines outside in my grandma's rock garden. those are some of my fondest memories as a child (an only child that is). anyway, i hope to keep the cafe up and running through the fall. maybe she'll serve hot cocoa? 

late summer

well, since totally gutting our bathroom in the middle of july, we haven't had much of a break to do the things that i would call relaxing or summerish and definitely no spare time to blog which i've come to really enjoy... but all in all, i can't complain. we are going to have a beautiful new bathroom (much needed i amy add) courtesy of my husband's hands. we are so proud! 

i try to remind myself that being busy is a blessing. we are healthy and able to do many things. but i feel as though i am on overload which is never a good thing. so i look forward to this coming autumn and it's routine. although it will be a trying time (for familial reasons), it will be a time for reflection, for nurturing, for slowing down to remember what truly matters. i have been meaning to put work on the back burner so i realize that now is the time. we'll see how that goes.

Some snapshots of our summer. little bits of peace.

the photo above is from many that i took one evening while we were having a picnic at hook mountain. it was such a perfect evening. we had had a long day with the bathroom, work, etc. and so i forced us to take a nice break. we went to the upper portion of nyack beach where eden could ride her bicycle without us having to chase her. when we arrived there was a family of deer having there own picnic. it was beautiful and they didn't even mind our presence. this photo is of a fawn nursing on her mama.

i heart. . .

there is this blog that i have been following since i saw an article in mothering magazine a few months ago. soulemama is a mother of four, writer, artist, sewer, crafter.... in portland maine who has created a beautiful blog about her daily life. i find it calming to go there. makes me want to leave this fast-paced new york state of mind and move to maine :) i know, i'd never survive - or would i? anyway, her creative ideas are inspiring and just the little quant moments that she captures in her photos and posts remind me of what is important. i ordered her first book (it's on its way!) called the creative family: how to encourage imagination and nurture family connections. i look forward to her posts. this is the first and only blog i actually follow. 

so, my new wish is to learn how to sew - on a machine. i am searching for a place that holds classes. there are a few in the area. there are so many possibilities in sewing. i feel like it is an essential thing to know or it was when our grandmothers were young. sewing or knitting is such a nice thing for a grandmother or mother to pass down to her children. maybe eden would like to take a class with me. that would be lovely. i have a project in mind for a friend who is having a much awaited baby girl. i want to sew her a tiny kimono that i saw a simple pattern for. i am currently looking for some cute fabric. i am liking the the few i posted above. i need to decide soon since i will see her on the 30th. better get sewing! yikes!

finding a balance

finally, a quiet moment to myself. how long will it last? i better start writing... so my design work has really been monopolizing my time lately. i am very grateful for having many jobs, especially in economic times like these yet i tend to refrain from saying "no." this always leads to an overwhelmed state. i am trying my hardest to turn down jobs  - not only because i need sleep but because my girls need me. in the midst of this chaos of my day i hear a little voice saying "why are you doing this? what is truly important here? do we really need the money this badly?" i don't know the answer. atleast not yet. 

what i do know is that when i am not working, i feel i am not contributing (crazy, i know). i feel that i am losing my identity as a designer. i feel annoyed when i have to ask for money to go food shopping. the same old stay-at-home mom story. i'm sure all you mom's have the dilemma. i want to stay home with the kids/i want to continue my career. it's like we are either under-stimulated or overworked. where is the balance? i am still trying to find it.