Gingersnaps

Yesterday we had a great time making gingersnaps. Lily especially enjoyed the dumping and stirring. She also helped with rolling them into balls (and other interesting little shapes). One of them she said looked like a snail. When they were out of the oven I put them on cooling racks on the dining room table. At that point she insisted on sitting in her chair, which just happened to be right in front of the cookies. As it turns out, she took one bite and decided she didn't like them. I guess she's not a fan of ginger yet. That's okay--more for me!

I did it!

I did it. After much skepticism and outright refusal, I have succumbed to the pressure that many new moms face when they have child... I have started a blog. Sure, I have my Lily journal, but I'm the only one who reads that. And I like to post about her on Facebook, but there are so many cute things she says and does, I want to post them all the time. Hopefully this blog will be a great way to share more of our wonderful life with those we love.

After making the leap of actually deciding to create a blog, I had to pick a name. It wasn't easy. I kept thinking about how my whole world changed the moment I had Lily. How nothing was the same as before and never would be. A cosmic shift had taken place, and I was in awe. So I brainstormed titles like "New World" and "Everything's Changed," but those just didn't grab me.

Then I thought about the title, "This is it," because something I've been thinking a lot about lately is that this really is it, this is my life, this isn't a dress rehearsal. My life is now. What will I make of it? Am I aware? Am I living my life the way I want to? Am I savoring every precious moment I have? I hope so.

So I liked the title This is it, but in the end, I decided to go with one based on two things Lily loves, raindrops and butterflies. A while back at the mother's morning out where Lily goes on Fridays, it was pouring rain. She and her friend Finnan sat in the open doorway. Gabriela, Lily's teacher, gave them each a spoon, and they sat together "catching raindrops." Raindrops has another special significance, as well. Lily loves to ask her Granddaddy for "raindrops," which are actually plain eye drops, but she doesn't know that. To her, they are raindrops in a little bottle.

And butterflies... We love to watch butterflies through our dining room window while eating breakfast. And we like to read the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which ends of course with him becoming a beautiful butterfly. And when Lily seems to be on the verge of a meltdown, butterflies are an effective distraction, as in, "See if you can find a butterfly around here! Do you see a butterfly?" And immediately she forgets what she was upset about and starts looking for the butterfly.

I'm not making any promises about how often I'll blog or how clever or well-written my posts will be, but hopefully I can catch some of the precious little things she says and does and share them here with you, our family and friends.