Ilana Kohn Milo jumpsuit in Dark | Large
Chaco sandals
what a difference a year makes. I can’t even believe it.
He was very serious this morning digging in the dirt haha.
He looks upset in a lot of photos, but he’s really just thoughtful and quiet; observing everything. Sort of like his mom 😉
I’m going to have to write this in phases because Hawk is already awake from his nap, but he turned one on Saturday, and while it wasn’t the celebration I expected, or wanted, it was a fun day. We facetimed with family all day, opening presents and eating “cake.” It’s in quotes because I didn’t make him a traditional moist smash cake, I made vegan no-sugar-added cupcakes with coconut cream frosting and they were…….okay. Haha. They were pretty dense, so he couldn’t smash into them and eat bites by the handful. He did put a big chunk in his mouth and had a pretty hard time working it out. Sigh. Anyway, he thought they tasted pretty good.
I was feeling so anxious, overwhelmed, sad – all the feelings the day before his birthday. Which is probably normal, but It made me very upset nevertheless. The night before I even had terrible sciatica pain, which reminded me of the hours I was in the hospital for him and the back/sciatica pain I suffered even with the epidural. Weird.
In the scheme of things, not having a big family celebration (with family actually IN THE SAME HOUSE) for his first birthday isn’t the end of the world, and I am not good planning big celebrations anyway, but still. Parenting during a pandemic is fucking hard. Even more so when you’re not close enough to drive to see family.
Which leads me to my news – or whatever I alluded to a while ago that you probably forgot about LOL: we have made it a financial goal to move back to the Atlanta area and buy a house by next summer. All of our close family lives there or within driving distance, and you may remember we lived there up until 2010 when we moved to Texas. WOW, I did not realize we’d been here ten years. WHOA.
I don’t love it here, and I’ve been pretty vocal about it, but I resigned myself to it because of Leo’s work and prospects in Texas. But now that we have Hawk, we both realize how important it is for him to grow up near his family, grandparents especially. And it’s REALLY REALLY REALLY important to me to be closer to my parents. I don’t know how people raise children far away from family, I really don’t.
Anyway, that’s that for now – I’ll try to get back to posting 3x this week.
How are you? Anyone buy anything from the Nordstrom anniversary sale? We bought a smaller/lighter stroller for Hawk and a Patagonia jacket that I quickly found for $10 cheaper somewhere else, so that is going back LOL
Hi Grechen– That’s wonderful news. Thanks for sharing. Do you like the enclosure you’re using in the first picture? My niece has a 7 month old who is going to start crawling soon and I think that could be a great gift for them. Thanks much, Beth
Hawk is beautiful and you are his beautiful mother who are both thinkers and analyzers, and those are skills many did not have leading up to this pandemic and desperately need. I think it’s wonderful that you are working toward moving closer to family! I lived many, many miles away from my mother when my kids were small, she in AZ, us in MA, and it was so difficult. We moved back to AZ when my kids were 4 and 1 and it was so wonderful! I wish the same for you in the future. Thank you for sharing your life and always being honest with what is happening with you.
Thank you Beth! Yes we love the enclosure (we call it jail but we hardly ever actually lock it closed) so much we have one for upstairs and one for downstairs. Mostly we have used it to block off the fireplace, etc downstairs instead of keep him contained but it does a great job of both and I love that it’s “neutral “ and not ugly to look at lol. It’s by skiphop if you didn’t already know…
Thank you Juli! My mother actually moved away from family when I was two and my sister was just a baby- I can’t believe she did that; it’s incredibly hard having a baby without extended family around. And I know they miss him terribly
Happy 1st Birthday, Hawk! Such an adorable baby! You’re so right – family is everything, especially when raising kids. I’ve moved around the country numerous times for my husband’s job, a choice I made willingly, but it’s not easy to be far away from those you love. Good for you & Leo for making the decision that’s best for your family.
Thank you so much.
I’ve always said the best thing any parent could have is in-town, retired grandparents. Best of luck and hang in there!
How funny, we are in the same boat and thinking about moving back to Hawaii to be with family. It’s such a big ordeal but so worth it when you have a baby. Time is precious and time with family is even more precious.
Happy birthday Hawk!
Living close to a lot of my extended family is one of the better things I ever did for my kids. It gave them a band of support that doesn’t depend on me, per se. I have encouraged them to have strong relationships with their grandparents and aunts and uncles ever since they were little.
I know your family will be over the moon to have you all back.
Congrats on the big move! I just recently did the same thing (moved closer to family with a 2 year old) and it makes a world of a difference! It takes a community to raise a child! I have to say, I selfishly wish you were moving to a colder climate so you could post more on sweaters and parkas. haha.