Sometimes and Forever

This is Atalaya and I a few weeks ago during the Canyon Road Art Walk during sunset.

Atalaya and her papa, making smiles.

Summertime flowers outside of our new favorite place to eat, Real Food Nation. They grow most of their own veggies in garden space the surrounds the restaurant...what every food establishment should be doing!!!

Atalaya and her pa, once more making smiles in the morning sunlight. Very, very sweet.

The little boon, carseat bound, and fairly loving it (at the moment). The big 'horseshoe' around her head is to keep her head from bobbing all over the place....she's still just a little thing.

Below are three of my favorite photos of little Atty Trita. They came out looking old time-y. By the way, the reason we don't post as often as many would like is because we use an old school 35mm film camera...I find film photography to be romantic and it's my preferred way of capturing life.

The days in Santa Fe are getting cooler and shorter - indications of the coming fall. I'm excited to see the aspens on the Sangre de Cristo mountains change to gold and watch the colors of this place come alive. In the meantime, every last drop of high desert summer will be greatly appreciated. These changes, which are constant (whether you experience them in your part of the world or not), mirror this life so perfectly. It's like when winter turns to spring, sometimes the transition is so elusive to the eye. One day the trees are barren and stark then all of sudden there are blossoms and leaves. You could walk by that tree everyday and not really notice the subtle changes, until one day you look at it and it's like, "when did that happen?" It's the same with watching a babe grow. Atalaya is nearing 8weeks and while I've been fortunate enough to be with her nearly every moment since she came into this world, I looked at her today and realized the subtleties of her 'change' can't be caught in every waking moment. Her personality and features are emerging and everyday she offers more of her 'person' to us. It's pretty wild, actually. Yet, I'm not always the best at dealing with change....sometimes it makes me kinda sad. Like how Friday was our last 'official' visit with our midwife Tanja and I cried as we were saying our goodbyes. I just couldn't believe we had come this far...she was there for us, watching over us and the pregnancy (seriously, Tanja was AMAZING) and now here we are on the other side of it. That phase of our life was really over. I know it may sound silly, but it's like I had to say goodbye not just to Tanja but the pregnancy (even though it really ended 8 weeks ago!)...I loved being pregnant with Atalaya...watching my body grow, feeling stronger and healthier than ever, feeling her inside of me. Of course, I would rather hold her in my arms than have her in my belly, but I get a little wistful when I think of the last ten months. It just another lesson in 'change.' Sometimes it's difficult to wrap my mind around the thought that everything...every happy moment, every sad moment, every summer, every fall...everything is fleeting; but, it's those changes and shifts that make life beautiful and hopeful (and a bit scary, too). Reminding me, you can't take a single, solitary moment for granted....ever.

Oh yeah, I musn't forget! For all those keeping track of Atalaya's growth...she's weighing in at 10lbs 12oz...hooray for breastmilk!!!