Draw Me Close: They say that your cells changeover fully every seven years. Well, here come the next seven.

My first child is 8 1/2 now, but I'm going to try and give a retrospective of my life as a mother. Here goes nothing :-)

First, there was Jelani and his fantastic family. We began to adventure together.

The Gorge

Birding in Oregon

Warrior from above

Montana, the beautiful

Embracing my best friend, Leah, up as her spinal cord tumor left her paralyzed - what an amazing moment to be in with someone experiencing life altering changes on the daily.

My sweet friends. These are Jane's kids: Amelie and Kai - what a bunch of goofballs. Amelie was the first baby I ever saw come into the world, and I have had the pleasure to watch her grow into an amazing human ever since.

...and then there was a baby on the way

Well, hello there, little alien

(2017)

...and it's going to be a gayby

My wonderful friend, Jane, offered to do some pregnancy photo shoots with us. Thank you, Jane.

So weird and fascinating

Jelani had a great art idea for our baby shower, and here is the result. 8.5 years later, and we still haven't framed it, but I love it just as much

Baby shower pic with Donzia, my good friend Jen's daughter, Cousin Jana and her husband, Phillip

4235, I will miss you

The tree that holds us all together

Our park, Kenilworth, just outside my window. I love you, and I feel grateful every time I gaze upon you.

Finally, priority parking

Working remotely while pregnant: dressy on top, pj's on the bottom

Newport, Oregon

Cheering on Jelani during a marathon

Earth Day, of course (2017)

Oregon Coast

View from our babymoon cottage trail in Newport, Oregon

Baby shower #2, at Patty and Andrew's house

Ecola State Park, the gorgeous

Drumming to the Pacific

Hiking Powell Butte

Yoga while pregnant deserves a lot of rest

Bellies unite!

Portland snow storm

Crewing with Jonathan Wolfe's balloon in NM

Jelani's brother and wife meeting up with us in NM from across the pond

The Mountain House, a.k.a. Sky Island

Lila, Sienna, Me, and an Allen Family friend

The View to the East as the moon peeks over the Sandia Mountains

On our way to a protest in Pdx

Ah, the snowflakes on my face

We broke into the Rhododendron Gardens. Pregnant as I was, I couldn't squeeze under the fence fully and managed to get stuck halfway through in a true Winnie the Pooh moment. If only someone had snapped that moment...

(Front to back) Sienna, Lila, Kaia, and my sister, Shoshanah, in the back left. I get to watch these funny girls grow up -- what a gift in a new family.