Getting back to Byrd Life

single mom moves to savannah, georgia for a job. knows one person.

buys first home-most wonderful house in the universe, seriously. 1930's bungalow. meets a great guy at dinner while in the buying process (he is the lender on the house, and also happens to live in atlanta).

start dating the guy.

fall more in love with savannah and the amazing people who make up that town.

fall more in love with the great guy, brad.

put my perfect house on the market-get an offer in 5 days.

brad proposes 2 weeks before my house closes.

resign from great job.

pack house.

move to marietta, georgia (like the woodlands, tx)-suburbia-good lord.

stay at home with byrd for 7 straight days-this is a new experience for me.

thinking about what is next......lots of options. i am thankful for many things right now. my sweet daughter byrd, who loves brad and lane. lane, who is trying very hard to accept many changes in his little life. my parents, for being totally supportive, proud and loving. my friends, in savannah, who watched me breakdown all last week. it was a very difficult good-bye. barbara, who i miss most of all. and brad, who wants me to never be stressed out. :)

more to come.

happy thanksgiving.

It's been a while

Well, to say we have been busy would be an understatement. Life as a single mom is tough, and really, Byrd is the easy part. I am not complaining though as I could not be happier with my life, my world and my Byrd. We have moved cross country to Savannah, Georgia, started a new job, learned all about plagiocephaly, helmets and Cranial Technology. We have flown on tiny planes, thanks to Angel Flight, whom we have grown to love and appreciate more than they will ever know, we have gotten to know Charlotte, NC-surprisingly a psychic once told me that he saw Charlotte in my future. Little did I know we would be there every other week. We have moved from one house to another in Savannah as I slept with a hammer under my pillow at the first-eeeek. We have started to make some good friends and started to walk in the right direction in the office, appreciating SCAD more and more on a daily basis. We are upon Byrd's first birthday-June 5th. I can't believe it has been 1 year. Sometimes I look at my life and question if it is really mine. I feel like I live in a surreal world, that if I close my eyes for too long I will wake to an alternative life. I feel quite blessed, as well as lucky, to be where I am. And I owe all of it to my daughter. I race home from work to see what she has done today. She crawls with lightning speed, and all she really wants to do is walk. She has 3 teeth that show, and she is in the process of getting 3 more as I type.
We are going to Dallas this weekend to see an old and beautiful friend wed her love. My old friends have yet to meet Byrd, although L was in my hospital room for a brief second while I was in labor. My parents will also be there to help me watch after Byrd, which is a huge relief. They have come around beautifully, thank goodness. I am very grateful to have them in our lives, as well as the continued support from all our friends. It is amazing, really, how things work out. I will try to be better about posting regular updates-it has just been a bit crazy getting settled into our world. Love to you all out there.

Choices

Happy as ever, my little Byrd.  She has filled out so much.  I was looking through pictures of her when she was first born, then not eating.  She was so thin and I was so worried about her.  Now, as you can see, she is just fine.  She looks like the Gerber baby.  

This picture was taken by Aunt Lib.  Byrdie's first trip to NYC-she loved it.  We stayed in the East Village, but walked to the West Village every day.  I wish sometimes that we still lived in NYC.  It is so vibrant, so welcoming on a brisk fall day.  But, as I make difficult choices every day and will continue to do while raising this little love bug, I decided to look for something solid and lasting.  Something that would allow me to be creative and strong while making a life for us.  Fortunately, we have found this in Savannah, Georgia.  We are packing up (or really, I am packing-Byrdie is watching and George is barking) and heading east October 19th.  We flew (Byrdie's first plane trip) to Savannah over a month ago.  Our friend Rebecca gave us an amazing tour of Savannah-it is so charming.  Magical, really.  I interviewed with Savannah College of Art and Design for the Director of Events position, and I got it!!!!  I am thrilled and nervous and scared and excited.  Georgina Byrd, George and myself are going to live in Georgia.  I think that is a bit of fate.  So wish us safe travels and best wishes.  My little Byrd is gonna be a Georgia peach.  

so many things to say

byrdie is gorgeous, clearly.  and thankfully our good friend libby pettit has captured her perfectly here.  aunt lib came to houston after a trip to egypt and managed to take some pretty glorious shots of me and the byrd.  i thought byrdie should remain the star, though.  apologies for not posting sooner, but i have had a bit of trouble uploading pics to the site-and without a picture, there is just no story.

we just returned from NYC late late sunday night where byrdie was introduced to many of my good friends.  the most important part of the trip was meeting her dad.  it was pretty emotional for both jr and myself.  at least in the beginning.  i was pleasantly surprised by him, and his want to be near byrdie.  of course i am biased and do not want to be away from her, but i guess i was surprised by his sincerity.  it made me for a moment want to be around him on a very regular basis.  but i do not think that is the right choice for byrdie as he is still such a kid.  i just hope that he will want to remain in her life always and forever.

we were heading to CC this weekend for a little sip n see for the byrd but because of hurricane ike, we had to change our plans.  i am sad because there are so many people in corpus that i would like her to meet, but i certainly understand.  i am hopeful that corpus and the ones we love down there will be safe.

byrdie just turned 3 months on friday, september 5th.  oh she is such a big girl to me now-i know, just wait right?  i am just so overly proud of her-she is so good.  and when she smiles, which she does so often now, i feel so so proud and in love with her.

kissing the byrd

yesterday byrdie spent the day with aunt mona and uncle brian while i was at work.  thank goodness for them both because i was at ease all day knowing she was safe and happy.  she spends most days either being loved on by me or mona, so it was just another normal day for the byrd.  mona and brian kept sending me photos on my phone of the happy little byrd-this also eased my separation anxiety.  

while i was at the church finishing the arrangements, i got a call to pray for the jacomini family.  their plane had gone missing friday morning.  no one had heard from them since.  the little plane was being flown by tommy, who was accompanied by his wife and two young children.  i have not prayed in a very long time, and i did not really know the family, but it just worried me.  so as i stood on the altar at st. john's, i said a prayer for  the entire jacomini family.  today the plane was found with no survivors.  i just feel ill about it, the fear those little kids must have felt, the fear the parents must have felt for themselves and their children, for the grandparents who were hoping for the best.  i will continue to pray for them-the surviving family members and friends.  nothing is ever expected or planned, you have no idea what is in store for you or your loved ones.  everything is just so unpredictable.  when things like this happen my first silly instinct is to never do anything but protect my daughter, keep her safe, inside.  then i realize, what kind of life is that?  none.  what we should all learn from terrible tragedy is that life is short and we should remember to tell all that we love that we do indeed love them.  we should live each moment to its fullest, pursuing the dreams and ambitions that we know we are capable of.  i hope to live a long, healthy, successful,joyous life with byrdie by my side.  all i have to do is look over at her sweet face and know that everything is going to be just fine.

A few big steps

today we went for byrdie's first round of vaccines, and it was just awful.  she is such a calm baby, but today-she was not.  i think she knew what was coming bc once we got to the doctor's office, she let everyone know she did not want to be there.  oh i hated it for her.  and it did not help my anxiety about all of these vaccines.  i had the day off today, so i took lots of pictures and filmed a few videos simply to document how she was "before".  i am hoping there is no difference "after". she is sound asleep in her bouncy seat, and she looks the same-i know, i am a worried retarded mother.

the other big step is byrdie met her grandparents.  she briefly met her grandfather just a few weeks after she was born, but this past weekend jb and doc came to houston to meet the little byrd.  it was very sweet and definitely a step in the right direction.  more people to love on byrdie!!!!

Loving Byrdie

yesterday was the first day that byrdie and i have been separated.  it felt like my heart was being torn from my chest when i left her early in the morning. thankfully, my cousin myra was here with her all day. according to myra, when i made my third phone call to check in, they had been having a lovely time.  myra's husband matt came over and held byrdie.  when i got home, matt was feeding her in his arms.  really just too damn sweet.  and now matt and myra are heading to north east texas, for good.  we woodson girls (and george) are pretty sad about the move, but happy for them in their future art endeavors.  this morning as i had the byrd in my lap and was just, as usual, obsessively staring at her, i had to take a picture of her gorgeous lashes.  they get thicker and thicker and longer and longer daily.  by god, she is perfect.