I have been participating in a blog circle with some wonderful photographers who are also mothers of girls. Each month (more or less), we write a letter to our daughters to preserve thoughts and memories of this time in our lives. I treasure being able to do this for my girls and I love the chance to see the messages that my friends leave for their own daughters. You can access all the letters by clicking HERE. Once you have read my letter, please follow continue on to see what my friend Nicole Johnson wrote to her daughter Chloe by clicking HERE.

Dear Avery and Alexa,

I am writing you this letter from a hotel room in Whitefish, Montana.  Tomorrow we are off to explore Glacier National Park.  We drove yesterday to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and then the rest of the way today.  It was a last-minute trip.  We were having dinner last Sunday with our friends – the parents of your friends Max and Teddy – who had plans to come here and invited us along.  We decided to join, though the timing meant we would have to drive here rather than train or fly, and we truly had almost no idea what we were getting into.  But your dad and I promised each other adventures and so you two – our biggest adventures of all – come along for our crazy rides.

I think that this adventuring has helped you both to be more adventurous yourselves.  That picture above is from your first soccer practice, and the ones below are a mixture of that one and the following week.  (Yes, that’s right – I am now officially a soccer mom.)  I am so proud of you both for how you’ve thrown yourselves into this and are having so much fun.  It’s so wonderful to watch you run around and play!

I hope that, as you grow older, you continue to love all the amazing things that your body lets you do.  We are so lucky to have such a wonderful life – to be able to take trips, see beautiful places, hike mountains, and to run fast, play games, and spend time with our friends.  Have fun and go on all the adventures that you can handle (though I do recommend naps in between).  I love you and am so very proud of you!

love,
Mama

I have been participating in a blog circle with some wonderful photographers who are also mothers of girls. Each month (more or less), we write a letter to our daughters to preserve thoughts and memories of this time in our lives. I treasure being able to do this for my girls and I love the chance to see the messages that my friends leave for their own daughters. You can access all the letters by clicking HERE. Once you have read my letter, please follow continue on to see what my friend Jennifer Vititoe wrote by clicking HERE.

Dear Avery and Alexa,

My babies, my monkeys, my funny girls.  Last week you were on Spring Break.  Most often we travel on your breaks, but this time we did not.  We just stayed here in Seattle and we hung out.  We went to gymnastics, and we went swimming.  We went to the beach and we went to the zoo.  You did a day of camp, a cooking school, where you made hamburgers, fries and a chocolate milk shake.  You loved it, of course.  During all this, we didn’t fully abandon our schedules, but we weren’t particularly strict with them either.  Lots of time was spent here in the house – playing with your toys and building many forts.  You pretended to sleep, snuggled up, with every pillow, plenty of toys and half the couch cushions surrounding you.

We will have several weeks this summer when you will be home with me and not in school or camp or anything scheduled.  Last year, I was worried that it would be too much to have you both home for long stretches of time, so Avery you went to camp quite a lot.  In the end, you got along and played together so well that I regretted that we were so busy and didn’t get to have life slow down enough.  I am looking forward to more free time this summer, but I am still a little nervous.  Without things like school to get us out of the house first thing, we sometimes can’t seem to get anywhere at all.  Lunch plans are cancelled, naps happen late and we fail to make it to late afternoon play dates.

And then there is this.  The damned electronics.  The iPhones and iPad and YouTube and Nintendo Wii.  I hide them, but you find them.  They are irresistible.  Even for me – I know I am addicted to my silly phone myself and it is the worst of examples.  You play with these things for a little and they give me a break, but for longer and they make you just terrible.  Just today I changed the codes on my iPhone and the iPads from the ones that you learned, and you were so angry.  Alexa, you told me that you didn’t want to be my kid anymore!  You took it back quickly, but you were mad – even if it’s usually your sister who manages to get into the toys and control them.  I don’t want a summer full of this crap.  I want to be outside, at the park or the beach – or even with you on the patio playing with your water table.  I have no interest in a summer full of movies and electronic games.  We all need to learn to be bored, to let boredom inspire us to be creative.  These gadgets get in the way of that, time and again.

I hope that we can have a summer that is a balance of relaxation and fun.  Your mother has a serious case of FOMO (fear of missing out) and a tendency to over-schedule and over-commit, so I know I need to be careful.  I remember my childhood summers as long, carefree days and I want to have that for you, too.  I need to remember that days of fort building, where we barely manage to get out of the house (at least not beyond the coffee shop – that is a daily requirement), are an important component of a successful summer.  That we are lucky to have a playground across the street, and a beach 5 minutes away, and that if we do little more than that we have still done more than a summer day requires.

I am so excited to have this time with you now.  Avery, you start kindergarten soon and will be away from me and from Alexa for a much larger chunk of time.  So I want to take advantage of these long expanses of time together while I can.  I have so much fun with you – being your mom is the absolute best!  I love you.

love,
Mama

I have been participating in a blog circle with some wonderful photographers who are also mothers of girls. Each month (more or less), we write a letter to our daughters to preserve thoughts and memories of this time in our lives. I treasure being able to do this for my girls and I love the chance to see the messages that my friends leave for their own daughters. You can access all the letters by clicking HERE. Once you have read my letter, please follow continue on to see what my friend Jennifer Vititoe wrote by clicking HERE.

Dear Avery and Alexa,

My babies, my monkeys, my little loves, my trouble-makers.  I love you both more than words can say.

In last month’s letter I promised to try to photograph your everyday more, and I have been doing a little better I think.  I worried that you would run from my camera, and at times you have, but at other times you’ve been willing participants.  Like this one above, which makes me laugh so much.  Grandma and Abaji were visiting, so we’d gone for lunch down the street at The Hi Spot.  And on our way back, you discovered this new bike rack that has been installed by one of the new buildings.  You were happy to be goofballs for me!  You love to be silly – you’re such happy kids.

You were willing to be photographed for the 90 second challenge for Let Them Be Little, too.  These pictures below are outtakes from that.  You just wanted to be able to choose your outfits and accessories.  I was hoping for hats, boas and sunglasses, but you have your own ideas now.  I wouldn’t mind if you were a bit more agreeable to my ideas at times, but I am glad that you make your own decisions and speak your minds.

You’ve been getting more and more grown-up lately.  Last month, Alexa, you were on skis for the first time.  You didn’t love going to ski school each morning, but you were so proud of yourself and your new skills.  You told us that you know how to ski, that you did it all by yourself.  Your dad and I skied up and hid so we could watch you.  We saw you – going up the magic carpet, turning both directions, slowing to a stop – and I don’t know if I’ve ever been more proud of you.  You could have asked for a puppy at that moment and I would have said ok.  😉

Avery, you are in your last year of preschool and I am starting to get really sentimental about that.  Next year, you are going to be in kindergarten, 5 days a week, for 6 hours a day.  I am going to miss you so much.  We have been looking at a lot of schools for you and for one you had to go to the school for an assessment, essentially an interview.  I was so nervous about it, but you were just excited to be there.  You wanted to check out the playground, see the bunnies and chickens – you were just immediately comfortable.  I love that you love school – that learning is fun and that you have this wonderful, curious mind.  I also love that you have this kind, caring personality.  You take care of the younger kids at preschool, and you are drawn to all sorts of creatures, great and small.  You like learning about great white sharks, but you also like collecting worms.  Just yesterday at the playground you came crying to me that a boy had stepped on your worm and hurt it.  You are a kind soul and I am so proud of you for it.

I love you both so much!

love,
Mama

I have been participating in a blog circle with some wonderful photographers who are also mothers of girls. Each month (more or less), we write a letter to our daughters to preserve thoughts and memories of this time in our lives. I treasure being able to do this for my girls and I love the chance to see the messages that my friends leave for their own daughters. You can access all the letters by clicking HERE.  Once you have read my letter, please follow continue on to see what my friend Jenn Valluzzo wrote by clicking HERE.

Dear Avery and Alexa,

I caught you in your bed yesterday, mid-afternoon, looking like this.  You’d stolen my phone, climbed up somewhere comfortable, snuggled together and were playing games.  This photo, above, captures how it feels to be your mom for me.  I am used to seeing you this way – up close, curled up, with a good view of your incredible lashes, and without a lot of perspective.  Too close to focus properly.  You’re pushing a boundary, of course, but that’s your job right now – to push boundaries.

So I decided we would go downstairs and do one of your favorite projects.  We roll out paper onto the floor, trace your bodies, and then you can color yourselves in, however you’d like.

Avery wrote “I ♥ U” on Alexa’s.  I am so lucky that you two love each other so much and are so sweet to each other (most of the time anyway).

You worked hard for a while, first each of you on your own drawing, but then Avery you decided to help Alexa with hers.  She isn’t as fast as you just yet.

Of course, you each used a lot of blue, because you were dressed like Elsa.  Obviously.

I realized when I was taking these photos of you, that I haven’t been taking so many pictures these days.  It’s a combination of things – I’ve run out of memory and need to get a bigger hard drive, I’m too behind in editing and hate to make it worse, and it’s been winter (when the sun sets SO early – you can see there is almost no light in these photos) and I get bored or blue.  But I love having these pictures of our everyday activities and I want to back to taking more of them again.  I love all the little things that we do.  You make our day-to-day so fun, and I know we will have less time together each year, especially when you start kindergarten in the fall, Avery.  So I want to make time to be better about capturing that.  Hopefully my camera won’t make you want to run away!  😉

Thank you for making being your mom the most fun job there ever was.  I love you both the mostest – more than chocolate, ice cream, cheesecake AND coffee.  😉

love,
Mama

I have been participating in a blog circle with some wonderful photographers who are also mothers of girls. Each month, we write a letter to our daughters to preserve thoughts and memories of this time in our lives. I treasure being able to do this for my girls and I love the chance to see the messages that my friends leave for their own daughters. Once you have read my letter, please follow continue on to see what Jennifer Vititoe wrote to her daughter by clicking HERE.

Dear Avery and Alexa,

Hey look, it’s us!  The whole family!  We went apple picking recently with Uncle Julius and Aunt Cristina (plus Max-the-Dog).  Julius was nice enough to take this picture of us.  We don’t have enough pictures of the four of us together, and I love them even if I am not necessarily looking my best, because I love our family the most of anything in the whole wide world.

But most of the pictures I am going to use in this letter are actually a few weeks old.  Late this summer, we bought a butterfly garden kit.  I sent away for the caterpillars and we received a small cup in the mail with 5 of them and a weird peanut butter type substance that served as their food.  They ate and ate, doubled in size about everyday, and finally each formed a chrysalis.  Then the butterflies emerged and we had them in our house for a few days.  You are supposed to release them after about 5 days, but we waited a little longer.  You wanted to wait until Dad could be there before we released them, and I wanted there to be nice light, so we waited about a week later than we should have.  Then I realized that they were mating like crazy and filling their garden with tiny little eggs (you can see the little pale blue eggs on the (quickly rotting) peach slices above).  I was afraid that they would die on us, but we finally managed to release them.  Avery, you wore your butterfly dress for the occasion.

Your Oma was in town and she got to participate.  🙂

It was so cool to get to see how well you did, treating the butterflies gently, and to see your expressions.  You each took turns, reaching into the garden and bringing out a butterfly.  One by one, they flew away.  

I know that it is a bit of a silly metaphor, but I think of you girls and how you are my butterflies.  Just like them, you will probably be ready to fly away before I am quite ready.  In fact, we were supposed to move the butterflies from the little cup into the big garden as soon as they had formed their chrysalis.  But we procrastinated, like I usually do, and I was in denial.  The instructions said the butterflies would take 7-10 days to emerge, but it was wrong – ours were faster.  Or was it that I counted wrong, that my sense of the time was different?  In any case, those first two butterflies emerged still in that tiny cup instead of in the big garden.  And there we were, running about on a hectic weekday morning, trying to get you ready for school, only to be surprised by the sight of a butterfly in that tiny container.  The big change had occurred and we were too caught up in the day-to-day to realize.  We had to move them all right away, and emerging into that tiny container might have damaged the wings of one butterfly, which were just a bit wonky.  I don’t want that to happen to you.  I know that my job right now is to keep you safe and growing, but I promise to make sure that you will also have room to spread your wings and fly.  I love you.

love,
Mama

I have been participating in a blog circle with some wonderful photographers who are also mothers of girls. Each month, we write a letter to our daughters to preserve thoughts and memories of this time in our lives. I treasure being able to do this for my girls and I love the chance to see the messages that my friends leave for their own daughters. Once you have read my letter, please follow continue on to see what Delania Waddell wrote to her daughter by clicking HERE.

Dear Avery and Alexa (but mostly Alexa),

September is often more the start of the “new year” than January, especially when you are in school.  And this year, both of you are in school!  Avery is in her last year of preschool and Alexa just starting.  It has left me feeling incredibly proud of you, though also just a little bit sad that the era of you being home with me has come to a close.

Alexa, you have taken to school like a fish to water!  I was a little nervous, because when we tried last year to put you into a program a couple mornings each week, you did not like it at all.  I am not sure that you lasted more than two weeks.  This year, however, you were off and I had to remind you to please give me a kiss before heading into the classroom without a second look.  I am so glad to see that you love it and that you are already learning so much.

Avery, you have been an amazing big sister and so helpful in getting Alexa settled into school!  You make sure that she knows where to go and what to do.  You’ve been really thoughtful and supportive.  I am also so proud of you for working so hard and being excited for your reading program.  You are so proud of being a Pre-K kid!

The first day of school, you decided to be such funny photographer’s kids.  You made it so hard to get a good picture of you!  I have a ton of terrible pictures like these:

Your dad drove you to school that morning and I followed alone in my car, because we both wanted to see you off and you always choose to ride with dad when you can.  I was so sad – you’d driven ahead with him and I couldn’t catch up – and the car had never felt so empty.  And even though I arrived before you’d gathered your things from his car, it still felt like the start of a big chasm.  I’d been so excited for you to start school, because I knew how much you would love it, but it is also, in some ways, the start of your life beyond me.

All I could think about was the absence of my little buddy, who would go with me to the grocery store or for a walk in the park in the mornings.  After weeks of looking forward to those few hours of “freedom,” when I’d get to be by myself for a few hours, I was suddenly heartbroken by the idea.  I missed you.

We were late that day, of course.  We had to sit on the porch for a few minutes waiting for your teachers to let you in.  I so needed those few moments.  We were able to hang out for a moment, be a little silly, and Mommy got to calm down and not feel the entire future in one little moment.  It’s hard sometimes, wanting to hold on, and yet being so proud of how you are growing up right in front of me.

You had a great day, of course, and you came home exhausted.  You fell asleep in the car on the ride home and I carried you upstairs to the couch.  Still small, still my babies.  And even though I am sure that I will have plenty of other moments like the ones I had in the car that day, I think that, as long as you keep coming back to me, I will be ok.

I love you and I am so very proud of you.

love,
Mama

I have been participating in a blog circle with some wonderful photographers who are also mothers of girls. Each month, we write a letter to our daughters to preserve thoughts and memories of this time in our lives. I treasure being able to do this for my girls and I love the chance to see the messages that my friends leave for their own daughters. Once you have read my letter, please follow continue on to see what Jenn Valluzo wrote to her daughter by clicking HERE.

Dear Avery and Alexa (though mostly Avery this month),

Last night we got back from a trip to Grandma and Abaji’s.  We already took a big vacation this summer, but we wanted to spend some time with our family and friends.  It was a busy 10 days, of course, though we managed to keep it a little more low key than many of our trips.  You got to spend time with family, including your Oma, your Uncle Omar and Auntie Maleeha and others.  Both your grandmothers were able to be with you when you took a little morning class on ponds.  You enjoyed coloring and hearing the story on ponds – Avery, your hand was in the air to answer every question asked! – but your favorite part was bringing home your own little pond each (even if two of Alexa’s tadpoles, and Avery’s one mosquito fish, all went missing; at least there were lots of baby snails!).  We were lucky that we got to spend lots of time with our good friends.  Aunt Stacey and Uncle John held a barbecue at their apartment so you could see many of your friends.  And James, Rhett and Alexandra came to New Jersey to have a swimming day (or two) with us, which was so much fun!  It was so nice to see how well you, James and Rhett all get along and that you remember each other even after we’ve been away for a long time.  It was so good to be able to see Rhett now that his leukemia treatments are coming to a happy end, and to be able to give Uncle John big hugs after the sad loss of his brother.  I am certain that these issues – which were among the driving factors for taking this trip right now for me – were almost entirely above your heads, but I think that is ok.  What is important is that we reconnect with the people we love.  And, of course, that we have fun together!  You guys had so much fun swimming!!  I was thrilled to be able to use my underwater housing for my camera and wish that we’d had more time in the pool with it!  

Avery, after a day of swimming with your friends, you figured out how to swim underwater.  It was so fun to see you!  I only wish we’d had more time to play there.  I am going to have to drag us to some water parks here in Seattle so we can swim some more!

This summer is going much too fast!  I want more time with my little loves.  I’ve just loved all the adventures that I get to take with you and I don’t want the adventuring to turn into a regular schedule just yet.  You make life so much fun!  I love you!

love,
Mama 

I have been participating in a blog circle with some wonderful photographers who are also mothers of girls. Each month, we write a letter to our daughters to preserve thoughts and memories of this time in our lives. I treasure being able to do this for my girls and I love the chance to see the messages that my friends leave for their own daughters. Once you have read my letter, please follow continue on to see what the lovely Jennifer Vititoe wrote to her daughters by clicking HERE.

Dear Avery and Alexa,

Just a little over a week ago, we returned from a vacation in Switzerland and Italy.  (Getting ready for this trip caused me to miss a month in this Letters to Our Daughters series!).  We had an incredible time – it is truly one of the best vacations I have ever had – and you two were simply amazing traveling companions.  I took a TON of photos (surprise, surprise) and it will take me some time to get through them all, so the ones in this post are only from the Swiss portion of our trip.

I want to tell you two (who will hopefully one day be parents yourselves) and any other parents out there – consider traveling with your kids.  You guys are young, and the flights were long, and yes there is jet lag.  It requires flexibility as a parent, which can be work.  But truly, you rose to most every occasion, had a wonderful time wherever you went, and we were able to have an adventure as a family.  Your world got a little bigger, a little more diverse and hopefully a little more familiar.  And your dad and I got to see those things through your eyes, and even got to experience the infectious curiosity and excitement that only kids have.  We also got to share our passion for travel, our passion for art and food and for experiencing the world, with you.  There are many people who would pass on this opportunity because of fear of a few difficult hours on a plane or a few missed naps, but I am so glad that we did not.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Ok, mama will step off her soapbox now!  Here are a few highlights from our trip!  The top photo is from the entrance to our hotel in Lausanne.  The Swiss are big fans of their flag, even if the World Cup isn’t happening at the time.  😉

On our first full day in Lausanne, we went down to the waterfront, played on a playground, and then took a boat cruise in Lake Geneva to a castle (Chillon).

Avery, it was really amazing to see how interested you were in learning about the castle, history and art.  You sat and watched various videos on this computer that showed what the place was like when people still lived in the castle.  I was so impressed during our trip about how much I could discuss art with you, how you were willing to pay attention to such things.  I know that you love learning and love stories, but I didn’t expect to be able to share these sorts of things with you just yet and I was so pleasantly surprised.  Alexa, you weren’t quite ready for the history lessons, but you loved exploring and kept searching, room to room, hoping to find the princesses, which were surely around the next corner.

This image below is of another of the boat cruises traveling back from Chillon toward Lausanne.  It was incredibly beautiful, and we were so lucky to have such gorgeous weather.

That evening, we had dinner with our friends Katie and Alexis, and you met their daughter Olivia.  You were SO excited to play with her – you love babies – it was incredibly sweet.  The next morning we left Lausanne and drove into the “pre-Alps” and the region of Fribourg.  We visited the Cailler chocolate factory in Gruyere, where you were able to taste many, many types of chocolate.  Then we played outside for a bit to run off that sugar energy.

Next we went to the town near the Chateau de Grueyers, where we explored a bit, took in the views and, of course, had an ice cream break.

You two were really interested in the cows, all of which had large bells so that you could hear them coming from quite far away.  Avery, you really wanted to pet a cow, even though these were kind of dirty, with dung on them and flies all around.  

For dinner, we met up with Katie, Alexis and Olivia and climbed up this gorgeous mountain, complete with views all the way to Lake Geneva, and plenty of cute cows.  We ate in a restaurant in a little mountaintop building – one of the more memorable meals of my life – where we had more cheese fondue (your dad and I ate fondue all 4 days that we were in Switzerland and, yes, it was totally worth it, you guys don’t know what you are missing!).  The views were just ridiculous!

On the way down, we found some more cows – cleaner looking ones – and you tried to get a chance to pet one, though it didn’t quite work out.

That night we went to Alexis’s family’s chateau in the Alps.  Stunning!  You had fun running around the yard and playing in the wildflowers.  I really didn’t take enough pictures….

Then we went to the Grand Dixence Dam and hiked around.  We were over 2000 meters and there was still snow on the ground!  It is a beautiful place, and a little terrifying, and you had a lot of fun exploring.  That evening we stayed home, ate dinner and stayed up chatting with our dear friends.  It was a perfect last night in Switzerland.  

You two are amazing little explorers and we cannot wait to take on more of the world with you!  Keep having adventures, always.

love,
Mama