Mothers and Daughters

All I really wanted for Mothers day was a few good shots of my daughters and I and some rest. I got both..sort of. Although I had imagined a more glamorous photoshoot, my husband decided to shoot the pictures and I was a bit self conscious (..lets face it..when am I not..?) After two cups of sangria and some snacks in the grass we were able to get a few decent shots before we went home.

Big Girl Room

I guess it must be the first child syndrome or something, but with Arielle with many things including sleeping in her bed, we have been very lenient..even possibly negligent just to avoid upsetting her and maybe ourselves. So as a baby, her crib was really only used for naps here and there and for night sleeping a bit but as soon as she found our bed, she never left until a few weeks ago! She had a toddle bed which she barely slept in at night but pretended to sleep in while playing. When Evalie was about to be born, we had gotten very uncomfortable and tried to get her to sleep in her bed but it was tough to not make her feel like the new baby was taking her place. 

After Evalie was born she mentioned how much nicer Evalie's room was than hers. She promised she would move back to her room if it were pink so last week we finally did it. I gave into pink! We bought the final stage in her convertible crib/bed series and got to painting. I was a bit nervous about the "pinkness" but closed my eyes, held my breath and went for. 

 The room had previously been a subdued orange and cream two toned paint with a silly monkey bed set from when she was a baby. It transformed into a toddler room and accumulated a few more pieces of furniture and toys. It became a bit chaotic but "lived in"(or so we thought..) So now we were faced with getting rid of a bunch of her baby stuff and replacing it with a few things that may be a bit more appropriate to a 4.5 years old. 

We set her bed up in our room which made her really happy, emptied out all the toys and moved the dressers into the middle of the room. That took much longer than actually painting. It felt great to get the paint on the wall and see what the antique pink would really feel like in the space.I was afraid it might look like Pepto Bismol. 

The original nursery had carpet and an accent rug on top, changing table, diaper genie and loads of color. I thought it was a cute..non pink room for a girl but this time around, I felt really neutral while decorating Evalie's room. Obviously the neutrals allow the baby to grow into the room and make it easier to change the look with accents, so I was looking for a pink that wouldn't overwhelm the room. 

. The original room...circa 2008

2.

3. 

1. The toddler room..circa 2011

2.

3.

Although we retained most of the furniture, it looks dramatically empty different! It's definitely nice, but seems very bare. I like it though. The bed rails conversion kit was a bit pricey from Roberto at Casa Kids but I was pleased with it when we put it together. The twin bed gives her so much more room to roll around and I can even sleep in there too.

Happy Mothers Day

my first birthday

To have had the opportunity to become one, I am forever grateful. Motherhood is beautiful, its empowering, it breaks you and builds you up. It is a time of many challenges, it questions everything you know to be true and teaches you new lessons. It is a time of growth, doubt, servitude and contemplation. It redefines you and bring forth a clarity that lay dormant. It is like no other, they are like no other. Mothers are creators, nurturers, entertainment, an ear that listens and shoulder to lean on. Motherhood is something you can never understand through words, its an experience and journey that once it begins is consuming, continuous and infinite. You never forget the moment it begins and thankfully it never ends.

October 3 2008 ( Arielle, 2 minutes old, 8lbs 3 oz. 19.5")

July 11 2012 ( Evalie, 2 minutes old, 8lbs 3 oz. 21")

Arielle, one day old

Evalie, 4 hours old

I still marvel at having done this once and then again, I wonder if I'll have another chance to experience the time, anticipation, aches and pure joy of meeting your own child. I am thankful to share my life with these two little girls. I can only hope they value me as much as I value my mother.

New York , Spring 2013

Nigeria Trip // Day 6-Langtang

The next morning was nice, we woke up bright and early after sleeping for maybe two hours..maybe less. The kids were exhausted so I snuck out to take another cold shower and get dressed. I was happy to see the morning light, to look out the window onto the landscape I spent so much time exploring. It was surreal. I had looked forward to sitting under the itilum tree fro many years, it represented a time in my life where things were stable, simple..nice. My dad even had someone construct this table into the existing rock formation because we sat up there everyday and although we had these leather chairs that balanced nicely on there, there was never anywhere to put a dink down without it falling and breaking. From this very spot, we learnt many childhood lessons, we (my siblings and I)  got know our dad, we met many people, we watched some great celebrations..we bonded as a family.

This morning, the place was already filled with local visitors waiting to talk to us ( as my father would have) but all I wanted was solace. I wanted to walk around, take it in without being watched or followed. This wasn't really realistic because they were so compelled to talk to us because we had been gone for so long. 

After some breakfast, we all got in the cars and drove out. I knew we were going to visit a few people around town but I had no idea what was really about to happen! We started by visiting my uncles home where his mother lives and then many other homes of my extended family ( if you hadn't noticed..I have an enormous family..). The location is referred to as the Garba compound..its basically a development with constellations of huts and some masonry buildings which the family resides in. The roads were largely unpaved and I remember thinking that this might be one of only places in daily life that a hummer is useful..certainly not on route 17 in New Jersey! We were totally off- roading at this point.

I was surprised by some of the sentiment that remained amongst the people, when we visited Manta ( another wife of my grandfather ( it was customary to have more than one..), she was ecstatic to see us, she greeted everyone enthusiastically and then came the chicken...yep..she gave us a live chicken from her backyard. This would be only the first ( chicken..) we would collect for the day.

After visiting the "mamas", we took a drive about 15 minutes up into a higher location then had to get out of the car and climb up a rock to visit the Ponzhi Taroh...this was unplanned..but really worth while because when we got there the view was amazing...in more than one way. So there we were without the Bjorn, sleeping 9 month old in sandals, dress shoes and heels climbing up this rock formation in about 100 degree weather. We hiked up and finally arrived at the location of the ancestors..

We all cautiously approached the gathering area and there he was draped in an animal skin and twig crown. He greeted us and we we returned the greetings but since he didn't speak English it was a bit challenging to make small talk beyond that. Arielle wasn't convinced..as you can see. She was very skeptical and whispered to me "mommy..is he a witch?" 

We took some photographs and roamed around for a bit then he spoke..whatever he said prompted one of the boys there to chase down a chicken (the chicken gave him a run for his money too)..this must happen pretty often. Once he caught the poor chicken, he presented it to my mother who actually received it with her bare hands! Nice!

As we headed down, I took a minute to marvel at the land from which I am. I appreciated the pride of the people for the land, the people we met and what we saw. I was also trying really hard not to drop my Evalie!..doh!

They are modest settlers but some of the happiest people I've met, they are extremely resourceful and have the first principles of passive, off the grid living down better than many. The grow, live, sow and pray to the asme land. This part of the trip for me was very meaningful, it was something we did with my father, he would warn us as kids..when you get up there don't point, don't shake his hand and don't touch the rock with the skull. It was just as intriguing to me twenty-something years later.

We drove from here about two hours back to Jos, had lunch and waited..waited and waited for a plane that was to take off at 4pm but didn't leave Jos until 11:30am!