Whew! Hello!
How are you?
It's a cold, rainy morning, so dark in the house I need all my little lamps on to see. Andy has the day off and is at the park with Clover Meadow and Miss Amelia. I'm sitting in the studio, eating breakfast and drinking orange juice. The rain is plinking on the skylights. I feel, I am quite sure, quite, quite ready for spring. It seems far off today!
Thank you again for your Miss Maggie orders! It always emotional for me to go through all of the orders and see everyone's names and addresses, and read all of the sweet notes people leave, and think about where all of these kits that we've worked on for months and which have become part of all of our lives here are going. Around the world. It's amazing to me. It brings me so much happiness. More than I probably remember to say. Thank you for that, and for being here all of these years, through many things. Today is actually the fifteenth anniversary of my accident. Posie was just my dream then. I had a lot of dreams then. I cried because I didn't think many of them would come true. Andy always believed that they would. He sees where I am trying to go before I ever do, and is already helping me get there before I even know I'm standing. He's pulled me to my feet more times that I can possibly count, and probably many more times than I've even realized. And then I go forward.
A most amazing man. My love. Greatest partner in life, and the greatest father. Most beautiful, fun, creative, kind, generous person I've ever known. Andy.
Goodness, you're making me cry. So therapeutic to look back, isn't it? Gratefulness in the making. Overwhelming in the very best way.
What a beautiful post. My husband sounds a lot like yours. I like how you're spending the day counting your blessings. I know that's what I do on the anniversary I found out I was pregnant with the baby I thought I would never have. *hugs from a new follower*
I love all the photos of precious Amelia!! Andy sounds like an amazing husband and father. I am thankful for my wonderful husband, too...we are very fortunate girls!! It's raining here today and cold as well. I am so ready for Spring! It cannot arrive soon enough! Oh, and that soup looks delicious!!
Thank you, Alicia. Your blog is a bright spot in this world, and one that I look forward to every time I log into Google Reader.
What sweetness, love your blog! Little Amelia is so adorable!!
As someone new to your blog, I concur with another person's comments: "Your blog is a bright spot in this world..." I'm sorry to have missed out on the Maggie Bunny kits. If you by any chance find one more, in any color at all, well you know who to contact. :->
*tears* My hearts bursts with so much joy for you and through your story I am reminded of the joys that fill my life.
Yeah!!! You picked the wallpaper:) What a huge decision!! Amelia is as pretty as a picture:) Such perfectly plump little cheeks! I wish I could give a little kiss...I am SO excited to get my bunny!!!!! I always scroll slowly over your pictures...because I love them so much...when I came to the one of the bunny sweater, I seriously laughed out loud! You rock Alicia...I am naming you queen of the bunny universe!:) Just think of all the joy they will bring so many people..THANK YOU! and Andy...for being who you guys are...
We're so happy that you share your photos, recipes, patterns, and life with the world! Thanks; we're glad you're all here (even if I wasn't quick enough to get a kit - can you post a link to the stockist for the bunny felt?)!
I love the love :: your reflections touch me with their warmth and genuineness.
I feel something familiar, and true, in the comfort of having someone who can
see the hope and possibilities and help you reach those dreams, too. Partners, like
these, are immeasurably good.
Amelia! Oh my gosh... such a beautiful child. How can I express... she belongs there, with you, amongst your things and activities, as though a space was always there, waiting for her to fill it.
Thank you for sharing your happiness... it grows, and spreads!
I loooove your blog since 2007...you are amazing!
Greatings from Lisbon.
anapaula
Thank YOU Alicia for the lovely bunny kits - can't wait to get mine. Good choice on the wallpaper - such a delicate pretty pattern. And that knit hoodie is adorable! I'll stop gushing now. Oh wait...cute Amelia, sitting up in her chair!
Can you sell "Andy kits"? Can you disassemble him and duplicate him and package him up in kits with different shirt options? I know I'd buy one (maybe several)!
Oh Alicia I was aleeady in a weepy mood. Thanks for giving my tears direction... that Andy!
Oh my! Loving the picture of Amelia contemplating the box of Miss Maggie and the stickers. Looks like she has lots to tell you! Thank you for the link to your accident. I have only been a reader for months, not years, and had no idea you had this happen to you! Blessings to you that you endured and carry on, the world, and my world is a better place because of your beautiful blog and how you share such loveliness with us. Thank you to Andy for being such a wonderful husband and father. Truly a role model for boys and young men to look up to. I have one of those myself. Hoping that Spring is right around the corner with you!!
I went back and read...because I am not feeling myself lately...not feeling like me at all.
And then, I read this, from you...
"I absolutely do not believe that everything happens for a reason; I never did, and I still don't. I believe that we fashion sense out of the things that happen, and create a kind of meaning in the result. And at the end of the day, you just gotta plow on through! There is no time to waste or worry. There are so many more Alicias to be, I know"
And I'm not sure if you still believe it or not, but today...it gave me something to treasure. You've just got to plow on through...
The result: Beauty. That baby. Life.
Love to you, from me. And deep appreciation :)
xo
Yeah! Amelia is sitting up!!! Gosh, that takes me back to when my son started being upright. That was so exciting for me to see and then to see him become mobile and start to explore his world. What a fun, fun phase!
And, yes, Andy is a Prince!
I am so excited that I was in time to order Miss Maggie..you know Alicia, it is no wonder you are so loved..you share so much with us, I am sure we all feel we know you personally...you are part of an an amazing family❤..spring is on its way!
Oxo
Dagmar
YOUR BABY IS SITTING!!!! In her little chair!!!!
Thank you Alicia, for letting us see her grow. What a joy.
And I'm so glad you have such a gem of a husband. I feel the same way about mine. LOVE the wallpaper!!!!
Dear Alicia, you really MUST get Voyage to the Bunny Planet, by Rosemary Wells, a set of three lovely stories for children. I'm pretty sure First Tomato was written just for you and Amelia. I see it is available at Powell's: http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780670011032-0
Alicia, I carry your family in my heart every single day. I just read about your accident, and it was as though I'd found a missing piece. Mostly because there is a rare dimension to you, dear girl, that could only come from a deep awareness of suffering transcended. You are a blessing to so many of us. More than that, you live with a grateful heart which makes all the difference. Yours and Ann Voskamp's are my favorite blogs. Thank you for being such a sharing, reflective, creative soul - and for letting us also share the love in your home with Andy and sweet Amelia. (That child has the sweetest little rosebud lips!) I found a beautiful book of photos of Tasha Tudor, who I think is a kindred spirit of yours, and I hope to send it to you. Love ....
I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes. You are truly an amazing person Alicia. Really you are.
love, love, love to you wonderful paulsons. xoxo
My heart is full because in sharing your gratitude I'm reminded to be grateful for everything in mine. Hardships and loss face us all but we soldier on. Fall down seven times. Get up eight. An old Japanese proverb. Thank you for sharing your stories, life and photos. I missed Miss Maggie this time but look forward to the next batch of kits. Much love to you all.
You know, I follow your blog, but I have never read that 2006 account of your accident. Your words are stunning. I especially appreciate these:
"It came to me one night as if a little door opened and I looked through and eavesdropped on the truth. I saw that the world was constantly falling apart, it was always in a state of little things always falling apart, and then there were these brigades of individual human angels, with kind eyes, apples and stitches, repairing, fixing, mending, patting, bandaging the wounds of the world, and putting it back together, piece by tiny piece. I hadn't known that repair was done on a gestural level, a cellular one."
What a beautiful picture; this is amongst some of the most beautiful prose I've read.
And your feelings of sometimes missing that forced convalescence: Me, too! The frightening several weeks and months of my own recovery after my daughter was born are actually, in hindsight, a time I get quite sentimental about, and sometimes wish I could go back to. The tears in the wee hours. Thank you for putting words to those feelings . . . and to so many others.