Seb and Cody—Year 4

Cody's parents took a photo of each of their kids with my father-in-law right around every birthday. Hanging prominently in their home they have large picture frames with all the photos lined up. It was one of the first things I noticed when Cody and I started dating and I visited his parent's home, and I made a mental note to do that if I was ever blessed with children. It is so fun to look at, compare, and see how they changed over time.

Cody wasn't crazy about this background, so we might retake these portraits tomorrow, but at least we have some now. I was starting to get nervous that we would forget entirely!

And then a nice man offered to take a few pictures of the whole family! They turned out a bit out of focus, but I love them nonetheless. The kids were w i p e d from playing at the park earlier, though. Obviously they're not that into it. I was into it, though, because I was sporting my brand new shirt that arrived in the mail today from my mama! After I checked the mail I promptly went inside to change. I just love everything about this shirt. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Links + a few photos

Quite literally just three photos from Wednesday morning with the boys. Quite ironic, really, the peace that the photos invoke. Wednesday was quite possibly the hardest day I've ever had as a mom. Hard in a whole host of respects. Praying for patience and wisdom.

These tips for highly sensitive parents has been a huge encouragement to me. Here I thought I just liked plants, but apparently they're essential for my well-being! I agree, and I'm okay with that. After sharing these tips with Cody, I said, "So that explains why multiple times a day I find myself looking at those three teeny plants on our counter and think to myself, 'oh that's so nice...'" Cody's response was, "I've never even noticed those plants before!"

Since home is my hub, my office, my resting place (and a teeny one, at that) I put a lot of thought into how that space can work better for me and my family. I love Jodi's simple suggestions for the kitchen, and am excited about her new series in which she'll share her tried and true simple tips and products for different spaces in the home.

I've long had problems keeping my face moisturized.  A couple weeks ago I bought a tube of this and now I'm like hey there happy face.

Also changing my life is Suzanne Bowen. I love this woman and her workouts. It's like the cheapest most effective gym memebership of my life. What are you waiting for!?

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"Joining Jodi's 52 Project with "A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014."

Sebastian | Always wearing his new German Fußball jersey.

Bruno | What a goof. Also, is it just my kids, or do all kids suddenly go crazy when they don't have shirts on? Fun unrelated tidbit about Bruno: He always tells us he wants to catch a __________ [insert random animal of the moment] and "tick'e tick'e tick'e!"

Cruella DeVille, I get you.

Don't be alarmed, dear readers. I'm not about to hunt down a bunch of dalmatian pups and skin them for their spots. It's just, have you ever seen a color combination with fresh eyes before? You've seen the combo a million times, but suddenly you realize it just sits right with you. You want to surround yourself with as much of it as possible and get just a little bit giddy when you see it in a new place. No? Well, I'm not ashamed. I love color, and I am very stubborn about it, too. And for that reason I often reject certain colors—like Fuschia, my least favorite of all the colors—and tend towards neutrals. Mostly this means I go for the gray, but lately I've been enjoying the contrast that black and white offer. On Thursday we took Seb to his favorite park in Tübingen, and there was this one perfect black and white speckled pigeon in a sea of grayish blue ones, and I just couldn't get over how beautiful it was! I was also decidedly sad when Bruno good-naturedly chased him away and I was left with all the solid-colored pigeons.

If you're still reading, you're probably like, "Tell me something new, Mary. Everyone knows that black and white are a dynamite combo." Yes, but I don't just like black and white together like black and white stripes or a tiled floor, or a white top with black bottoms. What really gets me is when they're combined in a more organic way, like above in the form of a dappled horse, a black and white photograph, marbled iPhone case, dappled shoes and spotted dress, and if Warby Parker ever made black and white tortoise glasses I wouldn't know what to do with myself (although these in sea smoke tortoise come delightfully close). Even this buffalo plaid blanket and play dress, which are decidedly more geometric, get me!  I'm an organic kind of girl, and no matter what, I'll always feel more comfortable in shibori than stripes.

When I was 16, my parents bought me a cedar chest. There were two in stock, so my dad and I looked over both so we could decide which one we liked best. They were the exact same except for the grain of the wood. I wanted to know dad's opinion and he wanted to know mine, and we quickly discovered that we each favored a different one. We then figured out it was because my dad loves the look of smooth wood, without much grain. I loved the chest with all the knots and deep runs of dark reddish brown to creamy caramel. That's the one I picked.

Give me things that are dappled or mottled and I will be on cloud nine for weeks, I tell you. When choosing a plant at the greenhouse I worked at in high school and part of college, I picked the one with the most variegation in the leaves. I still have that plant 6 years later and it is my very favorite. Many thanks to my mom for keeping it alive while I'm in Germany.

So apparently this long-held love of things with mixed or marbled colors has gained a sharper focus, and I can't seem to get enough.

Do you relate at all? Do you love smoothness and clean lines? Or the unpredictable and organic like me? And of course, what is your favorite color combo to date? This is important stuff, people. Not really, but you don't really need me to tell you that.

P.S. This handspun yarn

Sebastian ist vier geworden

My sweet, peaceful, kind, thoughtful, and curious little man turned four on Thursday. I felt such a mix of emotions seeing him anticipate and then experience such a special day. He certainly liked his birthday last year, but this year was the real deal. He anticipated it for the first time, with no reminders from us. He knew there would be a birthday cake, and he knew there would be a party, and he knew there would be gifts. Suddenly I was experiencing what all mothers experience eventually: pressure to not mess it all up! However, no matter how much I tried to prepare for Seb's birthday ahead of time so that we could all have a fun, calm, and enjoyable day, one thing after another went awry, and I still ended up staying up way too late on Wednesday night baking his birthday cake, and iced it and decorated for his party within 45 minutes of when people arrived to celebrate! Our apartment literally looked like a tornado had ripped through it, and I was very thankful that my husband is observant and conscientious (or maybe just embarrassed?) and politely told our guests that they could just leave things on the table in the common room and that we would clean up later. I am also thankful that we had a room that was not in our apartment in which to have the party. There are some perks to living a dorm-like life, after all.

We kept everything very simple. We wanted it to feel special for Sebastian, but we were also aware that whatever we do now sets a precedent for future birthdays. We don't want our kids to get drowned in gifts, decorations, and huge bashes with so many kids that no one can see straight. It's a day to celebrate our boy and say, "We are so happy you were born!" For Seb's party we did a Fußball theme. Just balloons, plates & napkins, and cake. Bam. I have to thank my in-laws for sending Sebastian a helium tank for his birthday, because having balloons at his party that were afloat definitely made everything seem much more festive. (Is that not a brilliant gift idea?!).

A couple things that surprised me about Seb turning 4 were 1) how I anticipated and enjoyed his birthday almost as if it was my own, and 2) how not-sad I was that he is getting older. I certainly felt a wide-range of emotions, but I have to say I feel almost like I can imagine him graduating from highschool, or reaching some other milestone that tells me officially that he's not a baby any more. I know, he's only FOUR! But I guess I'm just saying that as much as I love each and every stage that he goes through, I also love seeing how he is growing and maturing and becoming more adult. I cherish how dependent he is, but at the same time still push him to be independent. I want him to be able to be the man God has created him to be. I long, just as he longs, for him to be "big like daddy," to have maturity and wisdom, and the ability to selflessly love those around him. I loved Seb's birthday because it was a reminder of how he is growing—a thing that makes my heart sing—but here's the tension: I also wanted to freeze time because it was a reminder of how he's just a little guy that wants nothing more than to play at his favorite park in the rain, get a full-size soccer ball for his birthday and have a really big big BIG geburtstagstorte*. I cherish that he is with me all the time. I get to snuggle him before bed, read him stories, take him places, and tell him I love him any time I want. It's that tension between innocence and growth. I don't want things to change, and yet I do want them to change. I want him to become more fully himself, and that is the joy I feel when like yesterday he says with an excited whisper, "Mama! Ich bin jetzt vier!"*

*birthday cake
*"Mama! I'm four now!"

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"Joining Jodi's 52 Project with "A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014."

Sebastian | This is his last portrait as a 3-year-old. Every week he grows up in new ways. We've hit a sweet spot with him, and we couldn't be having more fun. Each age with him is my new favorite. Currently he walks or bikes nearly everywhere, uses German words we've never heard of (but that seem right), is obsessed with eating almond butter on bananas, bread, and if he's lucky, from a spoon. I bought him a set of 2 tanks from H&M the other day and regardless of the temps that's all he wants to wear. Just a minute ago he came up and asked, "Mama darf Ich dein Handy ausborgen? Ich möchte Dada anrufen, weil ich will draußen in diesem Kreis mit Gras spielen."* He's already asking to borrow my phone, guys!

Bruno | A few days ago Cody said, "You know, Bruno could conceivably tell people when he's older that his first language was German!" Maybe not quite, but as his verbal skills increase, we are hearing far more German than English. It's what he hears the majority of the time, so it makes sense. And let's face it, he's got to keep up on the hip Kindy lingo his brother teaches him. Kids these days.

*"Mama may I borrow your phone? I would like to call Dada because I want to play outside in that circle with grass."

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"Joining Jodi's 52 Project with "A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014."

Sebastian | Enjoying the wide open space that only a field can offer. He can't wait to live the farm life again this summer.

Bruno | This was right after he told the waitress he wanted a beer, too.