A little piece.

I've been working on and off the last two weeks on a little piece that incorporates some of the video clips that I've taken recently of the boys. I just finished my friend Pam's slide show a month or so ago, a photo journey of India, Nepal, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Poland and Guatemala, using images she took on her 10 month trip, and was feeling the need to put together one of my own while I was still pleasantly warm from the whole experience.

The video was taken on Owen's iPod Nano (5th generation) - the quality is quite remarkable given that the iPod is about the size of a credit card.

Pam is a lovely woman who lives as she travels - intentionally, with thoughtfulness, vigor and compassion. She possesses a zeal for bringing people together that is truly remarkable. She has almost two decades of experience in public relations and marketing (for a major PR firm in Seattle) and is currently developing and running tours in both India and Costa Rica. She's also skilled in the realm of social media and, most recently, has decided to pursue (another) career as a life coach. Just drop me a note if you find yourself saying, "Hey, she's got what I need!"

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cuts.

It is extremely difficult to give Owen a haircut. He makes rapid, unpredictable movements, often arching or kicking his legs out or turning his head so fast to one side that it is almost impossible not to cut an ear off. So I don't cut it very often. Besides, he's got fabulous locks, silky and reddish-golden, and I really hate to cut them. But I did finally give him a haircut today as it had been several months and well, he's going to "school" now on Wednesdays so I thought I'd best spiffy him up a bit. It only took me an hour. One hour. What is totally heart-warming, heart-MELTING, about this photo is that he was looking right at me. Straight on.



I have also cut back on the amount of time I spend blogging about Owen. This is partly because we've just come through an exceptionally rough period and I've just not had the time. Now that we're out of this rough period and both boys are happy, (Owen smiling, eating and "laughing," and Elliot crawling, talking and almost walking), I so desperately want to spend every last bit of time with them - rolling around on the floor, laughing, being silly - instead of spending it with my nose in my keyboard. Time goes so fast and right now, I am having so much fun being a mother. It's totally dreamy.

Lastly, I'm not posting as much because, well, it's kind of nice to be a little more private and not blog about our every up and down and doctor's appointment, new medication and new intervention. I had to laugh, knowingly, at Elizabeth's post a few weeks ago about "compassion fatigue." Sometimes I find that I tire just telling everyone about it all, the minutia, the things that probably set us apart from others, knowing at the same time that EVERYONE has their ups and downs and that we're all in this together, paddling our boats through the sunshine and the storms.

So if you don't hear from us for weeks or months, please know we're okay. We're just being our "normal" selves. You can always connect with us by email (srm@tiny-giant.com) or through Facebook. We'd love to connect about food, films, kids, coffee, the changing of the seasons.... or just hear how YOU'RE doing.

Happy Belated Halloween!