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Our daughter, Eowyn, was born on May 3. She’s growing so fast.  Amos is madly in love with his little sister and we have been getting the hang of life as a family of four.

I am eager to get back to writing and creating but, except for some cooking and baking, I have found less and less time when I can do these things. But, as I sit on the porch under the big maple tree, rocking one baby and watching the other dig in the dirt, I am so very aware that this period of time is finite. It is not easy, but when I can appreciate what I have, I do.

Most days feel as exhausting as a long day of planting seedlings in a field, bent over, moving awkwardly down the rows. As soon as I close my eyes I am in a deep sleep but if somebody needs me, I’ll be up and going. This feeling of physical endurance is accompanied by the small satisfaction that, more or less, I can handle the task. Rarely is it pretty or graceful but we make it through the days mostly intact.

Eowyn has only been here for a little over six weeks but I have come to know her sounds, her expressions, and her rhythms almost without realizing it. It surprises me to know her so well since I can’t often give her the full focus that I could with my first child. While I am in no hurry for her to grow up, I do wonder about what this little seed of a human holds and how she will sprout and grow and blossom, what she will be like and look like.

I will say it one more time and you don’t have to believe it or feel it, but right now I do: this time is so fleeting. It is the longest shortest. I want capture every moment and my many many thoughts before they disappear in a cloud of exhaustion and I want to be in it without trying to pin anything down, knowing it really will never happen again. Inevitably, I will be left with blurred memories but for now I try to mostly feel grateful that I am here.

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  1. Danielle

    June 17, 2016 at 1:22 pm

    Love this and you are so right! Parenthood is the longest, shortest time! Great podcast, too. Anna, you are such an inspiration! Eowyn and Amos are beautiful!

  2. vieux bandit

    June 19, 2016 at 4:56 pm

    Well said. My son is almost 6 months old and daughter is four and a half. So similar yet so different. Crazy days… but in a blessed way.

  3. vieux bandit

    June 19, 2016 at 4:57 pm

    I mean CONGRATULATIONS! 🙂

  4. Anna

    June 19, 2016 at 11:05 pm

    Yes, definitely crazy in good and hard ways at the same time!

  5. Jess

    June 19, 2016 at 11:10 pm

    Well said! I sometimes wish I had kept this more in mind in the earlier years of my kids' lives, but to dwell on that is fruitless. Every day I try and feel grateful, and listen to my kids; they are, for the most part, living very much in the moment.

  6. Anna

    June 19, 2016 at 11:16 pm

    Well, you definitely had your hands full and it seems like you have a great perspective. I am just glad that I can appreciate things as they are, most of time.

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