an ode to watermelon.

there's not much in this world that elijah likes to eat more than watermelon. grapes may be a close second but i'm pretty positive that watermelon holds the top spot. and here's some proof.



it's funny because i don't really buy watermelon that much. or i didn't used to anyways. it's not that i don't like it, i do, it's just that i didn't really want to deal with the mess that comes along with it...or the hassle of trying to find a good one. but i have a few watermelon plants in the backyard and though the majority of the watermelons never make it to maturity (not sure why...working on figuring that out for next year), we have had a few good ones. the watermelon in the pictures above was one from our garden that survived to share its ruby goodness with us. and man, it was good. perfect on a sweltering summer day.

just a quick story...

picture taken 6 august 2008
(i'm still really behind in my photo editing)
showing mama the bug he found...

last night, i took elijah over to his grandmother's house for a bit of a change of scenery.
he played in the backyard for a while as i rested in the shade.
john came over once he was done with work for the day and i headed home to go get ready to go to dinner.
(we went out with our neighbors for a little celebration of sorts.)
elijah saw me leaving and quickly followed, shouting "mommy! mommy!".
i was already in the driveway when he finally succeeded in opening the front door.
i told him that i would be back in a few minutes and that he needed to stay with daddy.
with a slight little frown on his sweet face, he said "ok" and started to shut the door.
but before the door shut completely, his little head peeked around once more and he shouted,
"ove oou!" (love you).
totally unprompted.
my baby boy.
telling me that he loves me.
a date to be recorded in the memory books for sure.
i had a little extra bounce in my step that night, even when we had to wait an hour for a table with two hungry toddlers and a four month old.
what a gift he gave me, without his knowledge, something that i will treasure forever.
makes me think about God...
is that a tiny sliver of what He feels when we tell Him we love Him?
without prompting,
without pretense,
without hidden agendas?
i wonder...

20 at 20

a little peek into the life of elijah at twenty months...

1. sleeps in his big boy bed (a mattress on the floor to be exact that still doesn't have any sheets on it (just a mattress cover) because john won't let me put the pink one on there and i'm too lazy to go buy one)

2. favorite books: "i'm a truck", "gerald mcboing boing", wynken, blynken and nod", "goodnight moon"

3. speaks both english and spanish

4. weighs 23 pounds/is 32 inches tall

5. still loves fruit

6. calls all cats "nani" after he visited my brother and sister-in-laws house and met their cat named nani...

7. loves motorcycles still...will ride with dad for hours...

8. finally figured out how to do a somersault on his own.

9. still needs paci and ducky

10. tries so hard to jump

11. climbs up on daddy's old honda 50 and pretends/tries to kick start it

12. says please and thank you most of the time (but only because he knows it will get him what he wants!)

13. wears his helmet when riding his bike and knows it's for "bonks"

14. likes to hold hands at the table and then shout, "AH-men!"

15. can count to three and can point to the correct color when asked (though when asked to name said color, it's always "boou!". he's starting to throw orange in there sometimes too).

16. loves to dance and has figured out how to turn the music on at his grandparents house.

17. looks for cars before crossing the street (most of the time)...always shouts, "CAR!" while doing it...

18. warming up to water/pools

19. still in size 18 month clothes but his pants are always still too big in the waist

20. loves hanging out with kendall and always asks if she's home. ("kenda? ome?")

a garden update...

while i wait for elijah to fall asleep, i thought i'd give you a little update as to what's been going on in my little garden. it's been awhile, so i figured it was time. plus, i usually don't have to wait for elijah to fall asleep before jumping into all that needs to get done while he's napping but he's sleeping, not in his crib, where he is forced to remain, but in his big boy bed (a mattress on the floor) where he has the freedom to get up and move about the room. if he's tired enough, he usually doesn't move from the place i lay him down but on days like today, when he's determined to fight the heavy eyelids and nodding head, i do have to remind him a few times why he's in his room. so...while i wait for his slumber...back to the garden...

things have changed a lot since i returned from my trip to alaska. apparently, some of the plants didn't fare too well without my care, so they had to go. but, my tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, watermelon, pumpkins, strawberries and bell peppers have done just fine. i'm harvesting a little something from one of the plants almost every day and we're enjoying the fresh bounty. it's so surprising to me...and it really shouldn't be...but every morning when i go outside to water the plants and i find a new cucumber or notice another watermelon, i'm almost startled. simply because somewhere in the back of my mind, i guess i just assumed that it would be harder than this. that i would have to do something (other than the usual garden tasks) to make the plants grow. but that's what they do...they grow. and grow so well in this california sun...

enjoy the pictures...yes...that is a zucchini! it was fatter than my forearm! alaska state fair prizewinning for sure...
and it tasted oh so good...

lil cabin in the woods...part two.

i never got a chance to blog about our little trip a few weeks ago (well...technically longer than that...it's been a while). we were invited to spend a blissful weekend at john's uncle's cabin with the whole family. this is the same cabin we visited back in january. previous post can be found here. john and i headed up friday night. we had to take two cars...mainly because we were bringing along with us: john's parents and his niece and nephew, as well as a couple dirt bikes. the other reason was because i had to head back early in order to sing at church on sunday morning. in the end, i only got to spend friday evening and most of the day saturday up there, which wasn't nearly long enough...but i'm thankful for the time i had. it was wonderful. we got to leave the achingly hot central valley for the coolness of the mountains. inhaling pine scented breaths, i couldn't fill my lungs enough. i loved just sitting, surrounded by the vast majesty of the trees. century centennials, stoically standing vigil. on a daily basis, i miss that. i love the organic, rawness of the forest. it's almost as if the alaskan in me needs it. the messy, chaotic wilderness is therapeutic to my soul. blissful...

here's a slideshow of some of my favorite images from my brief stay...hopefully we'll be able to return before the summer is over.

baby morris got hitched.

the main reason i got to go to alaska this summer is because one of my good friends was getting married and she wanted me there, to shoot her special day. what a privilege it was to be there! i am very close with her whole family...it was so fun to not only capture the wedding day but to also be there to see lil' margaret pledge her love to zach! here's some of my favorites from the day...

just some details. the dress (above). the shoes and sparkles (below).

i like hand pictures. a lot.

i would have cried all through this father/daughter dance had my son's tears not diverted my attentions...he fell head first into the little fountain/pond and was a tad distressed.

i've heard them called "mad hops"...the groomsmen dance.

meeting rusty...and the gotee.

the getaway...

and me? i got to dance with the most handsome dude there...