No Shoes, No Shirt, NO Picture

This post is dedicated to my cousin Amy G. who insisted that I take the twins to the beach sometime this season! I was reluctant to try and manage them on a sandy, sunny beach but Chris and I drove them to Ogunquit Maine today to do just that. We strolled with them along Marginal Way which is a gorgeous path along the ocean and they were mostly content. I fed Jude some applesauce as he was seated in the stroller and even managed to nurse Petra discretely on a bench overlooking the water. Once we plopped them down on the sand the fun began! Petra loved it immediately, and with her new ability to "sit" she raked her fingers in the sand and rubbed her little feet too. Jude began crawl everywhere and of course tried to eat the sand. I figured a little couldn't hurt but we did discourage it! Then an absolutely golden moment occurred. Jude and Petra started to laugh at each other and then Petra reached out and hugged him while wearing a huge smile! And we actually caught it with my cell phone camera! Then the weak side of my impulsive personality surfaced. I looked through some of the pictures we had taken and tried to delete a dud. I accidentally deleted the picture of Petra hugging Jude! AAAGGGHHHH! May it be forever printed on my heart. It's just not an every day thing and it was really sweet...
Then we tried to buy dinner with a counterfeit bill??? We stopped by a "Jamaican food" shack on the way home and ordered some Jerk Chicken. Good thing it was a shack since we were both barefoot and Chris was shirtless. We fit right in with the blaring reggae music. I was waiting in the car with the exhausted and sleeping babes when Chris came over and said they wouldn't accept his 1950 twenty dollar bill~ said it was a fake. This was a bill that Chris seized from Vanda as she was about to pass it in North Beach for some bottled water. He said "you can't spend such an antique bill!" There was some dispute about "In God We Trust" not being on the back of it but I guess that was added in the 50's anyway. So we really wanted our food that they were holding so we drove 5 miles to the ATM and back. Then Chris paid another 5 dollars for a Baba Roots herbal drink!? Made with all kinds of Jamaican herbs and weird stuff. That's a man for ya, the seller said, "it's good for you with your woman," and it was sold! Sorry, it looks like a bottle of hot sauce and the ingredient are like "Rytidophylum tomentosum (Search Mi Heart), and "Male Fern-Dryoteris Filix Moss (Tan Pan Rock)." Any kind of elixir~ they will sell to you.

Petra smiles

I just have to say, Petra's smile and laugh are the stuff dreams are made of. I get lots of smiles from her all day, but the one who really gets her laughing is Jude! Their interactions are so adorable to watch. They will look at each other in the high chairs and just start smiling and laughing. When Petra laughs it sounds like she's sucking in air! Jude has the CUTEST laugh and sounds more like hysterical giggling.

I'm so proud of Petra. She used to hate being on her belly. Now she is rolling all over the place and in the past 3 days has even gotten up on all fours and rocked. wow!

I see her in you

If I didn't have Christ I would be even more tore up about my mom's death. It was the 2nd of September in 2006 that she left this world and me, dad, Chris Kelly, and Christofer were with her at the moment. It was the end of a summer that was hell on earth for her and us. I would visit her in the hospital each day after work~ climbing the steps to her room and feeling the worst feelings I've ever known. She was so disappointed that she wasn't feeling good when Ted and Jean came to visit her. I'm so grateful they did visit though. Cindy and C Kelly were such unflinching rocks of strength as dad and I were breaking down.

Knowing she is restored and healed in her Father's house brings comfort. Some aspects of her life were extremely hard and I always wanted her to be happier. Now she is. But it doesn't really "get easier" with time especially because she isn't here to share the moments with Jude and Petra. It hurts. I want my mom here. People need their moms.

Mothering Jude and Petra causes me to think so much about our relationship. She loved me so much! All her children! What a happy childhood I had with her. It's really wild; there are so many times I look over at Petra from across the room and I see Gala's face! I guess she looks like me if I can see my mom in her.

If you were in Gala's inner circle, you were lucky because she gave absolute unconditional love from a huge unselfish heart. And what makes me cry is her hugs. No one has ever hugged me like that and no one ever will.