Autumn Walker

Luthien,

The changing colors here in New England have been so beautiful, and very fun to discuss. It makes certain songs that we've been listening to forever so much more meaningful. Two weekends ago we had a visit from Dad's brother and sister Uncle Beau and Aunt Trisha, and each of their families. We had so much fun!

First they came to see our new house, and you showed your cousins, Georges and Olivia all of your toys- like your rocking boat:

Next, we got ready to hit the town:
Mom was planning on taking everyone to a cute place she had heard about, but it ended up being closed! Luckily our GPS found us a new place, also right on the water. You and Georges loved going out on the dock to look at all the boats, and the seafood was excellent! The lobster season unfortunately had ended, but the traditional New England "lobster roll" was still very tasty. We also tried our first Portuguese dish (New Bedford is actually known as the "Portuguese capital of the U.S.," so every restaurant serves at least one Portuguese dish). Everything was delicious.

After the restaurant, I was thinking of taking everyone to a pumpkin patch but then remembered the farm where we get our milk has pumpkins and animals galore, and it is never crowded. You were pretty tired at this point point, but lit up once the farm cats came to meet our car.

On the way to the farm:

We attempted to take pictures of you and Bastian together which you would not stand for (you were too busy playing with the cats):
Oh, and I forgot to explain your band-aid...you've always had an obsession with band-aids, and insist we put one on with the slightest owie. This is sort of funny because Mom actually has somewhat of an aversion toward band-aids (ask me to explain)! The first night you slept in your big-girl bed we heard a loud thud and then crying so I ran in. You were still on the bed, just said you hit your head against the wall since the bed is pushed up against it. But of course you wanted a band-aid (even though nothing was bleeding)! I tried to convince you that we shouldn't put it on your face, and perhaps should put it on your knee in remembrance of the face owie, but you wouldn't listen. So the band-aid on your face ended up giving you a worse owie than the real one, but you were happy.

Here you are with Dad...we stayed up really late the night before trying to prepare the house for everyone coming. It was good motivation to actually get pictures hung and final items in boxes put away. So Dad and I were a little tired by this point :)

Feeding the cows with Georges...
And here we are attempting to get a family picture but that plan didn't really work out too well:
Lastly, back at our apartment. This picture shows a little bit of what we've done with the place...
What a fun day we had! We hope to visit with our Brooklyn family on a monthly basis so you can stay close with them!

Side note: you've been waking up at least once in the night lately. You just woke up calling for me and I found you laying by the door on the hard wood floors! I asked why you had been sleeping there and you told me there was a buggy in your bed and you needed some water :) I scared him away and brought you your cup. Good night!

Love,

Mom

Boston/Cambridge Trip

Dear Luthien,

A couple of weekends ago we made a trip up to the Temple in Boston, for the 10th Anniversary Celebration. Unfortunately both you and Bastian were pretty cranky while we were there, but it was beautiful and we managed to get a few happy shots of you. You look like such a little girl in these pictures- where did my baby go?!
After the Temple we decided to go to Cambridge for the afternoon/evening, and we had a blast. We can definitely see ourselves living in that general area. Every time we are in the car we look at all the leaves and talk about the colors we see, what's changing, etc. Here is just a glimpse of what we saw that weekend- now the bright red/orange colors are everywhere!
We ate at a cute little cafe where we let you have the semi-"healthy" french fries and homemade custard :) Such a treat! In this picture you are showing me your ketchup- this was actually the first time you would try it, and I was okay with it because they made all their own condiments from scratch!
And one more picture with Bastian showing off his new, much needed hat. We couldn't get you to smile that night but I actually love your expression- very you. Your Aunt Stefa always called you a "dreamer" and I think you look like just that here...
I love you my baby/big girl!

-Mama

New Friends, Outings, etc.

Hi Luthien,

So, the very first weekend at church I met Kim while nursing Bastian. She was also nursing baby Lucy, who is almost exactly the same age as him! Well, it turned out Kim also has another daughter, Dorothy, who is 18 months old! Dorothy's nickname is Dot, and you two play pretty well together! I say "pretty" well because I think from here on out any time we get together with other kids (especially girls it seems), the playdate usually ends in some sort of meltdown...but I think that's to be expected...?

You love going to Dot's house because she has a gecko, a goat, and chickens!! The first week we went over you were able to drink the raw goat's milk, and you actually really liked it. She also gave us fresh eggs and you picked a pumpkin from her garden! Kim and Mom agree on a lot of things related to food and we really have a great time getting together, so I hope it continues! So far we've been getting together almost every week.

Here you are looking at the gecko with Dot; Bastian and Lucy are playing in the background:
We found a local farm to get raw milk from in Dartmouth! It is only about 15 minutes away, as opposed to the 45 minute drive we had to make to find it in the Phoenix area. You love going to the farm because you get to see the cows, goats, chickens, dogs, and cat. Here are a few pictures from one of our first trips there:
And here are a few more pictures of you around our apartment. We had to sell much of our favorite furniture before we left AZ but we've found a few really great replacement pieces at second hand stores for cheap! Check out the vintage record player we use for storage and as a t.v. stand...
And here you are walking down the halls of our building with Roofus, one of your favorite things to do. We love the original hardwood floors in our apartment! The building was a mill in the 1800's and they've restored it beautifully. Those are some of the good things I have to say about it. On the downside, they are loft-style, which isn't very kid-friendly.
Can't get enough of the green around here...
More unique areas around the apartments:
Like I mentioned, the first couple of weeks were very hard on Mom. You were constantly asking about people/places in Arizona and I felt very helpless. I also was nervous exploring a new area with 2 little ones so I felt pretty trapped. After the second week we started dropping Dad off at school and then venturing out, first by going to our library's story time which is great. Then we found out you can check out free passes for the local zoos, museums, etc. The zoo just so happens to be about 5 minutes from our house! It was named one of the best "small zoos" in America, and I can see why. It feels very quaint and you can get very close to the animals. You have such a great time there, we've going once or twice each week!

For some reason you really like a lot of the animal statues, I think because you can actually touch those :)
And here you are admiring the real bears! Your favorite things to see, however, are the seals and the otter since you are sooo into aquatic animals right now (and have been for the past couple months). You can't wait until they open back up the aquatic area.
That's all for now! More coming...

Love,

Mom

Home

Dear Luthien,

We are finally home. We left just over a month ago but I feel only now that we are finally here. The last weeks have been difficult, tiresome, and tearful (with a little bit of cheer in between), but now I can safely say we are at a place that is very happy. Dad is still very busy, which leaves a lot of bonding time for you and I and Bastian; money is still very tight; we are still thousands of miles away from much of our family, but we are happy, and we LOVE our new home. Last week you started calling it just that, and I knew we had finally arrived.

Mom was originally planning on flying out with both you and Bastian all by herself, but at the last minute your Nana was able to come with us! She was a big help, but you guys actually were really well behaved...I think next time I may be able to do it myself if I needed to. You loved looking out the window and standing up all of your toys on the tables. The plane was pretty empty so the flight attendant actually gave us the entire row next to us, so we could lay you and Bastian down for naps at various points!

Here you are with Nana, who looks very tired because she had kidney stone surgery ONE DAY before- what a trooper! You are happily setting up all your dinosaurs.

Our first stop was to a very nice lady's house, Ruthanna, where we stayed for about a week, and where Dad had been staying for the month we were away from him. She has a beautiful house in a small town with over 90 acres. We stayed in the apartment above her home that was nice, but a little cramped for a family of 4. We tried to get outside as much as possible, which was fine for you because you LOVED her swingset. Bastian however, would need to go inside at times and it was hard to get you off of the swings. I can't get over how old you look in this picture!

There was no bathtub in the apartment and you refuse to take showers, so Mom made a few adjustments...

Although we were sad to leave the small-town atmosphere, we were happy to get our own, larger space. At first Mom had a hard time with our new apartment because she wasn't used to lugging 2 kids, a dog, and all of our stuff up the elevator/stairs every time we wanted to go somewhere, and no real outside area to play within walking distance. However, our building is enormous- an 1800's mill restored into loft-style apartments. You love to walk up and down the hallways and there is a grassy courtyard to play in when you want to go out. Plus, by now we have gotten into a routine of taking Dad to school a few days a week and then going out, which I will tell you more about soon.

So, here you are in the parking lot:

Just one of the many cool old areas of our building- the top is cut off but it was an old men's restroom!

Here, looking out the window of our apartment onto the courtyard. There is an enormous clock on the top of one of the pillars of the building which I didn't capture, but you point it out all the time.

And one of those tiresome days I spoke of above...I debated on whether or not to include the first picture- Dad likes to play around with the colors, which brings out the yellow in your hair, but unfortunately also in my teeth!
And one more with your favorite swing- look how you're already wearing your winter coat in September! I can't imagine what you will wear come January, but it will be an adventure!
Love you,

Mama

Goodbye, part II

Luthien,

Here are a few more pictures of our final goodbyes to friends and family in Phoenix:

First, here you are with Beckam, Mom's best friend's son, and a good friend of yours. You love Beckam and always talk about him. Sorry, you didn't have a shirt on during this visit :)

Here you are again making funny faces

And a final goodbye hug, during which both Mom and Emily were bawling!

Here you are with possibly your favorite Aunt/Uncle "Car Car" (Carlie) and Kade. This was also a very tearful goodbye for mom. You have so much fun with them and they were very helpful with playing and watching you all the time.

Here is a playdate you had with Ami and Hannah. Mom met Hannah's mom, Melissa during graduate school and we became good friends. We made playdough which you loved, and we continue to play with it every day!

And here is our first goodbye to Ami- you two had just taken a bath together, one of your favorite past-times.

And one final goodbye to Ami- here you are leaning in for a kiss. I didn't get great pictures of our last visit together because it was late at night and you two were pretty out of it.

You miss your cousin Amelie very much. Thankfully, by now you have stopped asking for her on an hourly basis, because this meant mommy cried hourly also. This was the very hardest part of moving for mom....leaving dear friends and family and helping you to understand why we can't see them as much. I can finally say you have adjusted to this, but the first two weeks were very hard on mom!

Read on...the journey just gets better!

Love,

Mama