sunday photo

it's not often daddy is home with us on sundays. today he gets to enjoy our new found traditions of a photo shoot, quiet time, reading a chapter of little house in the big woods, and watching a movie together while eating pancakes for dinner.

intermingled in there (with unnerving frequency) they will fight, argue, scream and cry. they play beautifully but they fight just has horribly. we have to capture the beautiful moments when they're there and not deny the ugly ones when they rise up. 

we gotta be real about everything after all.

another sunday photo

 scared of the ants

i'm now 30. some of me is old, some of me is new. 

and most of me is a constant rebirth of what has always been. 

i have less energy, but more passion. i have less understanding, but greater faith. 

i still pray and i still cry. but i laugh with greater freedom.

i believe with more faith, i weep with more pain, i pray with greater fervor and seek with less inhibition.

i hope to see you there.

home

family reunion july 2013. bayside, california

i've never been so emotional going home. i couldn't hug my grandma without tearing up thinking of how fragile life is, how quickly it goes by and how frivolously i take my agile body for granted.
i took this journey, just me and my wee ones; two long days of driving there and a long train ride on the way home. i can't explain the way family permeates my existence. though i'm often fooled into believing the contrary, no man is an island; i may traverse the life of young motherhood alone in some way but there isn't one fraction of my body, mind and spirit that isn't powered, buoyed and sustained by  those i deeply love. the tears of my mother, the laughter of my father, the soft fortitude of my grandmother, the vibrance of my sisters; words and photos don't wrap their arms around you, whisk you off on grand adventures or whisper words of comfort through wet eyes. but family does and i thank god for that.

5 days overdue

little eliza was just taking her sweet time. this girl must have been hanging on to constant mommy time as long as she could because it took the doc breaking my water to coax her into this world. that little gem sucks on to mommy with love and devotion night and day. at 7 months she lays her head on my chest and remains still while i stroke her marshmallow cheek. she would sleep in the crook of my arm all night if she could. where jade harbors her sensitive and intriguing little soul, eliza holds passion and zeal and is in no hurry to hide it.
these pictures were taken two days before she arrived. 7 months ago exactly. late pregnancy is so unforgettable yet it's so fleeting. not a day goes by that i don't look at our little wild child #2 and acknowledge how happy i am she is here.

photos by jared medley

easter 2013

i've been pacing the house, distracted by the next messy pile of junk before i'm done attending the first. i'm trying to get as much done during this week off of teaching. problem is, it's not a week off of parenting... i take comfort in the fact that most of my day is spent attending my little babes. that's a worthwhile reason to 'get nothing done' all day. 

easter was a hit. the kids had a wild time in the back yard and the eggs were so abundant we had to coax the older ones to finish picking all of them up. 

i love this second shot. there are a few photographers, a number of directly-involved-ers and then there's the observers on the sidelines. 

no glamour shots this week. my life has been pretty un-glamorous lately and i've been okay with that. 

back in action

stinky beach 

limited singing at the walmart grand opening. bethany and isaac are far right in the chior. 

bethany and isaac singing at graduation. 

 

aunt nennie! the awesome baby sitter.

making sushi

early morning garden picking with grandpa. a daily ritual:)

her new bff.

after a long 6 month hiatus from any record keeping and not much picture taking(regretfully), i return to the regiment. 

jade and i spent the last 5 weeks back home in eureka, ca. it was a priceless life-break, spending the most memorable time with 'dampa and damma', 'aunt nennie' and 'idite'. the 5 weeks included the eureka walmart grand opening (no protestors! i was disappointed by the hippie's empty threats) bethany's high school graduation, a plethora of insightful conversations with dad, weeding and chatting with grandma jeannie, philosophizing with grandpa dee, stinky beach, rearranging mom's house with the teenagers, finding nemo and tangled multiple times a day for jade while i slept on the couch making up for staying up late with the family, learning to make sushi, and the times with mom need their own list; fruit orders, eureka natural foods, sitting at the kitchen table, making lists, putting her on bed rest, the survivor-challenge-planning-saga-of-a-life-time, and so many talks about so many things. despite the priceless time i spent growing closer to everyone and harassing isaac, it was undoubtedly jade who brought the tears on and broke hearts as our departure approached. 

after four weeks of blissful vacation, it was brightened by the fact that aaron was going to have the time off from work to drive out and spend the final week with us. four hours into the trip the car completely died, threatening a blown head gasket (not what you want to have happen to your car). 36 hours later, after many tears on my part, much frustration and not much sleep on his part, he finally arrived in eureka in a car lent to us by his grandpa; the hero had landed. we spent the week in bayside loving the time with cousins and second cousins and who knows how some of these people are related anymore. time has brought so many wonderful people into the medley family and it is never a dull moment spent with them.

i regret not having captured every moment with my camera, but i caught them all with my heart and am eternally grateful for everything that was this experience. 

especially thanks to mom and dad for putting us up with such grace and willingness, bethany for being so helpful with jade, and isaac for still loving me despite how easy it is to give you a hard time:) love you all.

one year

October 6, 2011

12 months

18 lbs

27 inches

a lot of love, keen sense of humor, curiosity to compete with any cat.

it's my birthday and i'll cry if i want too.

grandpa ric. guest of honor.

 lots of wonderful presents from loving cousins. elmo has become her new best friend.

strawberry cake with strawberry frosting. so yummy! jade didn't eat much of it. she mostly wondered what the substance was, and why it was sticking to her fingers.

balloon drop. kayla's face says it all. 

grandma hone.

rich and nina.

jade, we can't believe you have been with us this long. you are the most beautiful, charming, hairless wonder of our universe. you make us laugh, you make us cry, you've turned our lives upside down so we are finally right side up. you better quit the cuteness or we'll be saturated with it! we love you with all our hearts. mommy and daddy.

thanks to everyone that came to celebrate and shared presents. jade didn't know what to do with so many loving faces in the room! the highlight of her evening was running through a room full of balloons at the end. all our love to you all!