Simply Seleta

{the ultimate} compliment

Tonight after dinner, baths, prayers and tuck-ins, these big blue eyes looked up at me and said:

"Mommy when you grow up, can you still be my mommy?"

My heart melted.

7.9.09

 

Another birthday, another year wiser.  I'm a numbers freak and couldn't help but notice that this year my birthday has a cool number combo that will never be repeated again.   

I feel that each of us is entitled to be king or queen for a day on our birthday.  Nothing wrong with that.  After all, how many times a year do you get to celebrate the day you were brought into this world?  So I'd like to take this time to thank my mom and dad for getting together several decades ago and making it all happen for me.  My mom tells me I was three weeks late for her June due date.  Wow, can you imagine waiting around an extra three weeks in the middle of a sweltering Mississippi summer for your first baby to be born?  

I get really sentimental on birthdays and always enjoy taking a minute to look back at all of the events from that particular year.  At first I started thinking about how many challenges we've had.  But then realized they were all managed, each one in their own time.  And that made me feel grateful.  Then I was snared into my perfectionist thinking that I didn't accomplish enough this year [a challenge I sometimes face while I'm out of the working world].  Until....I really started thinking about it.  This has been a wonderful year.  Full of family adventures and new experiences.  And we're all together, healthy and happy.  All in tact.  What a priceless gift.  So what if I'm not in a career making a dust trail behind many achievements?  I have a family.  And never will I be able to roll back the clock and experience the precious ages of our little ones again. 

 

Besides, a lot happened in one year.

A life was saved.

A baby was born.

Took two trips to New York.

Snuck off to Vegas.

Had family airplane rides, football games, camping trips, and beach fun.

Made two great friends who live all the way up in New York.  [love them!]

Even met a new blogging friend from Italy [more on that later].

 
THE LESSON HERE?

Appreciate each day you're given and cherish your experiences.  Just like the unique combination of numbers on my birthday this year, these experiences will never be repeated exactly as they happened.  And that makes for quite a memorable year.  I'm grateful to have these memories, and each one is a perfect birthday gift. 

IN THE MEANTIME...

Someone just delivered these to our hotel room and I think I need to go kiss my husband.  

[first photo courtesy of snippet + ink]

{goodbye} sweet nursery

Did I ever show you our youngest one's nursery? 

Probably not...mainly because I never finished designing it.  When you're the youngest child of four, those kind of things happen.  I kept thinking I would find the time to finish his sweet room.  But life got in the way.  There were mouths to feed, bills to pay and one day melted right into the next.  I blinked my eyes and suddenly our baby was asking for a big boy bed. 

It was time. 

This all sounded very rational and fine to me.  On the surface.  But I noticed his request kept getting softly denied month after month.  By me.  Letting go wasn't going to be as easy as I thought.  And I was seriously stalling.  My rebuttals to his request usually sounded like, "let's wait until we take a trip to Atlanta" or "isn't your crib nice and snuggly, are you sure you're ready for your big boy bed?"  I was having trouble letting go of my baby. 

You see, we've always had a crib [or two] in our house for the last 9 years and 11 months.  Even though I tend to profess about how much I love watching everyone grow bigger and gain independence, this milestone was starting to feel a little uncomfortable.

It was time. 

Ouch, what was that?  Suddenly my heart hurt.

Another thing that made this nursery special is that it has the original chandelier from my first baby.  Nearly 10 years ago.  It was pricey, but one of my first wise purchases as a designer.  Still looks pretty good.  I hope to pass it on to our grand babies one day.

As I took pictures of his room, I was beginning to notice I was the only one feeling sentimental about this whole "transition into a big boy bed" thing.  Does this little guy look sad to you?  Guess not.  And his sister is quite busy playing {sassy} ballerina.

I look at him now and wonder where the last three years have gone.  It seems like yesterday he needed me to hold him, rock him and let him know I would always be there for him.

Now he's building his castles and fighting the bad guys.  He's so busy.  And really wants to be big.  Can you blame him?

 

So I let husband break down the crib.  It's safe to say I broke down a little myself.  

But before all the moving there was one more thing I had to do...rock my sweet boy with his crib still in the room.  As long as he lets me, I'll always be right there for him. 

happy mother's day

“There is no way to be a perfect mother,
and a million ways to be a good one.”

Today I plan to soak up my fam like a sponge and find gratitude in all of the simple gifts I have as a mom.  I've heard some whispers back and forth from the offspring about making a special breakfast in bed...they are all so excited.  Hearing them make their secret plans makes me want to scoop every last one of them up and smother them with kisses.  We'll be riding bikes today, basking in the sun and maybe even find our way to the beach to sink our toes in the sand. 

What are you doing to celebrate?

[photo from here]

a {happy} wish

a very special friend
has a very special day today
happy happy happy
birthday
PvE

Rarely in life do you meet someone who's equally humble + giving as they are talented.  And expresses their generosity in such a beautiful way.  Every day.  I think it's safe to say we all know that Patricia is just that kind of soul.  Never boastful, never snooty, never judging, but always open and kind.  And one heck of a talented artist.  She inspires me every day. 



Her friendship is a gift. 

Patricia, I have a special birthday treat for you.  It's something you've asked for a while ago.  And I didn't forget. 

And if I were to throw you a virtual blog birthday party, it would look just like this.  Plenty of white.  And plenty of style.  Just for you. 

 

[in case you're new or have been living under a rock and you don't know who Patricia is, I'll have to insist that you click right here to enjoy a daily dose of her elegant artwork, artful thoughts, and simple inspirations]

storing up...

 

Hi there.  Sorry for AWOL status, husband and I took a quick jaunt to Atlanta.  Oh, the sights and sounds of Atlanta always make my heart go pitter pat.  I'm sad to report I forgot my camera.  But it made for a super relaxing trip.

Dare I say.......I'm a bit homesick for Atlanta now.  I'm trying to figure out why I don't quite feel like Florida is "home" yet.  The offspring love it here.  The husband loves it here.  And I do too, but my it tugs on my heartstrings when I'm back in Atlanta.  Is that normal?  Does anyone else have this experience when visiting where you spent the first 25 years of your life? 

In the meantime, here is a pretty that was waiting in my inbox this morning from friend Michelle. 

She said: "Saw this and thought of you - the organizer!!! Totally ignoring my responsibilities, Michelle"

Sounds like somebody was cruising around 1st Dibs for a while.  Apart from blogging, I think we can all agree that it too is a deliciously tempting time-sucker.

This piece is quite nice.  Coincidentally, it happens to be from Pieces in Atlanta.  You can find it here on 1st Dibs.  I wish I had a space for it.  I'd be tempted to go back and snag it.  Assuming a money tree is growing behind our garage.

So I'll try to be back soon.  Need to regroup after the trip.  Thanks for hangin' in there with me.

{goodbye} sweet garden...

I'm packing up the fam today and we head back home tomorrow.  Even though we love our new life at the beach, it's bittersweet leaving this home where so many sweet memories were created...a lot of "firsts" happened here for us.

First baby crawls...First baby steps...First baby laughs...

First tooth...First words...First day of Kindergarten...

First bike ride with no training wheels...First school play...First time riding a horse...

Even our First Anniversary...

So now I'm projecting my sentiments onto the poor hydrangeas.  I really hate to leave these amazing hydrangeas all alone.  It's a crime, really.  They're going to be so lonely when we leave, no one to care for and admire them every day.

It's almost as if the fresh blooms which greeted us on Monday are visual reminders to our family of all the new life and joy we experienced in our home here....

 

And by leaving them, I feel as if we are leaving behind a piece of our past.  And that makes me sad.  I know, I know, I'm crazy.  But I can only hope that a family buys this home and experiences at least half of the happiness that we shared here.  That would bring me great joy.

Can I at least take any part of the hydrangeas and plant some at our home in Florida?  It would be a symbol of our past merging into our future.

Any ideas from my garden-savvy friends?

Simple Beauty

Today was a surprisingly chilly day at the beach.  Despite the cool weather, we still took the kids out and managed to find some fun.  A few things I found beautiful:

A frisky bike ride with our kiddos.

Meeting my sister and her fiance for lunch and mini gab session.

The bright tulips which graced our coffee table, pictured below. 

Proud Momma

We interrupt this program for a special message from your local proud mommy...

Disclaimer: this message contains gloppy, over-the-top mom talk that relates in no way to design topics of any kind.

Okay, I am still beaming with pride from yesterday's big event. Our oldest son, Blake, who is 8, ran his first 5K with my husband, Peter!  It was a fund raiser for our community  Seaside Neighborhood School.   

First of all, our family members are not exactly "morning birds" and this race began at 7:30am.  So even participating in this race was a small success in and of itself.  Since it was virtually impossible for us to get all 4 kids dressed, fed and out the door by 7:00am, Peter and Blake left early.  I biked over (coffee in hand) with our youngest 3 little ones and we watched from start to finish.  There were literally thousands of people in the race and Blake came in 17th for his age division.  Not bad for his first run!  He's been so sore that he says he has to "walk like a grampa".  He's also proud that he beat my sister and her fiance who were also in the race.  They took a leisurely stroll. 

It was incredible to see them accomplish this goal together.  It was one of those "Mom" moments when I realized that my little guy was turning into a young man.  I had tears in my eyes when I captured these amazing images. 

Here they are, approaching the finish line.

And there they are!  Yeah, they did it!