I picked a perfect partner.
He fathers like a farmer.

He has plowed the fields of his mind
and culled the noxious weeds.
The ground in which he plants
he first enriches with the compost of love.
Throughout the rainy seasons and droughts
he coaxes his seedlings, encouraging
them to grow straight and tall
and true to who they are.
He looks forward with hope in the harvest
that he may gather honest fruit,
pluck the vine of kindness,
and glean integrity under a full moon.

I picked a perfect partner.
He fathers like a farmer.
His crop of children - they are delectable.

My brown-eyed baby, I balance on one hip
With his chubby legs, my body he grips

The blue eyed son is scooped and rolled
Close to my soft stomach, him I hold

Unmistakably my arms are about to burst
But hidden within is a new heart, birthed

All my doubts are buried in yesteryear
My love is profound, permanent, here.

Notes: In this poem, I wanted to capture the feeling of holding two beautiful baby boys in my arms. Often, I'm changing one diaper and then the other and carrying both children down the stairs to play or eat. Neither can walk and carrying them both is a delightful feeling of abundance. It is a physical experience as well as a heart experience. I worried endlessly about having two babies so close together in age and have found myself in wonder of the ways my heart has grown and changed to encompass and hold both of my babies individually and collectively. One of my favorite ideas from the book "Forever Or A Long, Long Time," is that love is never divided only multiplied. That is my lived experience and an immense gift as our family has experienced so many changes.

For our 4th of July, we spent the weekend with some of our oldest friends. We've known the Blodgetts for 14 years. We had an awesome weekend filled with treats, swimming, playtime, movies, late nights and babies. I came home feeling really grateful for long standing relationships and looking forward to more fun memories! The kids all got along so well and they played so hard!

Maeve has an ear infection this week. So sad. But also, this down week has been really nice.

• Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano
• The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel
• Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
• Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall
• Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward *
• Memorial Drive by Natasha Trethewey
• I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou *
• Mating in Captivity by Esther Parel
• Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro *
• The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
• His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Media *
• A Burning by Megha Majumdar *
• Daughter of Moloka'i by Alan Brennert
• The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune *
• Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok
• The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See *
• Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu *
• Crazy Brave by Joy Harjo *
• Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker *
• Afterlife by Julia Alvarez
• Deacon King Kong by James McBride
• The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

I'm happy with the number of books I was able to read in the first half of 2021! Some of the books I listened to on audio. My most recommended are marked with an asterisk.