a good trip

Some mark the year by the flip of the digits, and I usually do; reflecting as the mark that ends our year draws nigh.

But sometimes, a different marker emerges as the X that marks the spot by which we gauge our time.

My baby just turned one. And when that date rolled around and popped up front and center, I realized that this past trip around the sun was one of the best I've had.

1. In my last days of roundness, belly cradled and fondled, I promised myself I would not let the days whirl by. Busyness begets Brainswirl -- as I go go go so goes the time. If this third boy of mine was to be my last, I wanted time to pass as slowly as it should.

So with discipline and gratitude, I worked to ground, to center, to stay present and it's often hard but it does come easier with practice. I've said it before. I've gotten better at letting each minute last sixty seconds. It felt like a year to me. And I am so very glad.

2. My boys have grown into their brotherhood and made it their own. Neither John nor I have a brother, and we peer as voyeurs into their world - joyfully fascinated at what unfolds before us. They play as well as they fight, with fierce love and rage. Even the little one owns his place in the pack, holding his own in the chaos and the mutual adoration.

What we saw this year? Only a hint. The tiniest.

3. We may or may not be done breeding. (it depends which one of us you ask.) Regardless, the birth of Number Three let me settle into life. Before he even swirled as a dream in our minds, I had the sense that we were waiting for someone. In those moments as a family of four, laughing around the dinner table, I found myself thinking, I love these guys. Won't it be great when everyone's here?

And now we are. We're here. And we're on this trip together. It's been my best one yet, but I hear a little whisper -- it just keeps getting better.

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Joining in with Gwen Bell's Best of 2009 Blog Challenge. The writing prompt for Dec. 1 was TRIP.

Click over to check out how hundreds of other people interpreted the prompt.

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It's two-for-one! I really like these photos I took this week, so I'm going to link this post to the You Capture challenge at I Should Be Folding Laundry - this week's prompt:

What makes you happy. (Appropriate, don't you think?)