oh, the places she'll go!

(this is Astrid tagging a trail marker 2/3 of the way up Mount Sentinel on Friday morning)

OK, sometimes it seems like all Astrid and I do is nurse... Although the pain is still pretty bad, my favorite new pasttime is studying Astrid during these sessions. I have been meaning to write an entry about this for some time now.

HER FEET:

Where will Astrid's feet take her in her lifetime. Will they end up a size 10 like her Mother? Astrid will, hopefully, lead a long, healthy life and these feet, someday, may be calaused and have battle wounds like her mother's due to all the fun outdoor things she loves to do, or, maybe she'll be a girly girl and they will be pampered feet with always a fresh coat of polish on them. One thing I'm pretty certain of is that these feet will dance, they will run, and they will wander down the path that she is meant to take in life...

HER HANDS:

Her hands are so tiny now, but I wonder when she will use them to start picking up things (like wildflowers we find along the trail), and to point and to draw and work on little projects...I imagine someday her father and I will walk hand in hand with her for her first day of school....and to cross the road...I wonder when she hold a boy's hand for the first time and if someday she will walk hand in hand with her father (like I did with my Dad) down the aisle to her husband on her wedding day.

HER EARS:

Astrid happens to have the cutiest and tiniest version of my ears. Does she understand me when I say -"I love you". Sometimes she stops nursing and listens real close when I start to sing her a tune...or when Skagit gets up from her resting spot on her bed in the living room. Someday these ears will hear good news, and someday they will hear not so good news...Who knows what will be going on in the world when she is an old woman. Someday Astrid will hear the special man in her life say the words "I love you" and maybe if it is meant to happen ~ the sounds of her own child. I love these tiny ears and all that she will enjoy in life because of them.

HER EYES:

We are still not sure what color eyes Astrid will have. Right now they are a beautiful dark dark blue. They jump (with joy) when you get up real close, they are mischevious, full of love and wonder. I see a glimpse into the future by looking into these eyes...and it makes me so happy that I have HER as my daughter! It is funny all the things you can tell just by looking into her eyes. I, myself, am filled with wonder when I think about all that she will see in her lifetime! It blows me away to think of all the things that she will see if she lives to a ripe old age....if she lives to 92 what will be going on in the news in 2100?

HER HAIR:

I can't wait to braid Astrid's hair, just like my Mom and sister used to do for me. Since she was born with so much hair - that day will be sooner than later, I'm sure!

Here are some pictures from our Friday morning hike with Kathy and Jetta.

(I love the look of two black labradors and a hiker on the trail)

(we only made it up as far as the bird - which is a bird painted on a rock just minutes from the tippy top)(we found some horsemint while on the trail)