first-ever nephew.

His name is Calvin Sterling. Calvin, for my handsome grandpa, and Sterling, for my other brother's middle name, and because it means genuine, pure, real, true. 

He's my oldest brother and his wife's third baby, and their firstborn son. Not only is he their first boy, he's the first manchild of the whole clan.

Before my siblings started having babies right and left, I never saw aunthood has that fantastic. I thought of nieces/nephews as a fun and vaguely related person that adults (aunts and uncles) see sometimes. But trust me, I was antsy (very antsy) to get nieces and nephews of my own. I just really didn't know what it'd be like.

So I wasn't really prepared for it all. Watching my sister falling in love with the beautiful, perfect baby on her knees as they saw each other for the first time.

"Oh my gosh. this kid is my brother's kid. my brother has a baby." 

Seeing him carrying the curly-headed blonde in her big poofy dress and realizing "and now she's not even a baby anymore. he has a DAUGHTER."

Watching way-too-fast-growing toddlers and seeing the miraculous blending of two people--quirky ears and long fingers and huge blue eyes.

This will never cease to amaze me. This tiny person--this tiny person is half him, half her. Is this not crazy-amazing? Like I've said before, I'm pretty sure I'm going to just burst when I have my own babies.

picture by Daniel, the daddy. first time I got to hold him.

And now there's this new amazing-ness--my brother has a SON. He'll turn into a grubby, trouble-maker little boy, who'll eventually grow up into a young man who could fall in love and have his own sons and carry the family name.

Just a whole 'nother level of gah.

Adding to this is the fact that he is just ridiculously cute. I mean, all babies are cute in some way, but let's face it--some of them really are not that attractive. Calvin is genuinely cute, and I don't think I'm just biased in a rabid aunt-ish way. :) He was only about seven hours old when I took these pictures.

Plus, he totally looks like a boy. I didn't expect him to look so different than the girl-babies. I mean, this baby is a MAN baby!

Katie and her first boy-cousin. :)

So, so grateful to God for this perfect, healthy baby boy.

And just for babies in general. Big eyes and tiny noses and soft fuzzy heads. Breathtaking, labor-intensive, astounding babies.

his nana and his mama

my mama and her first grandson

he already has an attitude. ;)

Katie gazing adoringly at him.

Baby boys: I am a fan.

love day.

My Valentine's Day was exciting because I left the house for the first time in days, and because I got to see mah baby all grown up and saving China.*

I had been craving Starbucks (not to mention the outside world in general/shopping/buying basic human rights [blue conditioner]), PLUS the basically-brother, next-door-neighbor boy Sam got a job at the Starbucks nearby.

So crazy-proud of him (he was pretty much born to work there), and we wanted to visit. We walked in and he was all manning the drive-through like a boss. Took pictures before he even noticed we were there. 

And then hung out with him while he was on his break and drinking his FREE drink.

But I didn't get a Valentine's Day cup (which was one of the reasons I needed to go to Starbucks in the first place, sheesh) so then we drove through to get one. 

This cup is pretty much the best Valentine's Day thing this year--I love how it has the different kinds of love. Can we stop with the either/or of bitter singles complaining about the depression or the lovebirds sapping out about the happiness? Sure, it's for mushy stuff, too, but I think the day should be a day to celebrate, recognize, and be thankful for all kinds of love.

It's a good day to be grateful for all the different people in your life who you get to love/be loved by: the brothers and the sisters and the card-giving parents and pretty-much-family-members and the best-friends-forever and definitely, the husbands and fiances and super-special certain guys.

Last year, I said I could conquer the world with one red rose. This year, that ridiculously thoughtful brother of mine gave me two. Imagine the possibilities! 

It was a good day. I got out of the house, I got Starbucks, I rediscovered this song, I bought post-it-notes and put them to use.

instagram photos:

v-day sunset

- dream like new york, tyrone wells.

bracelet I got in the mail,
bought in Poland by Miwaza, who lives in Japan.

my phone. her name is Esperanza. 

reading. lots of reading.

I hope yours was a good Valentine's Day. ♥

*if you didn't catch this Mulan reference, please do go and watch the movie immediately. 

a beautiful person.

This is Hadley. She is one of my favorites.

She runs, takes sunshiney pictures, works at a bookstore, writes, wears crazy nail polish, reads lots of big books, and has a vast collection of very, very cute shoes.

We love the same cheesy movies, random internet humor, sad songs, superheroes, and youtube videos. We're totally opposite in a lot of ways, but we have the same opinions/convictions/freaky thoughts about most everything.

Kerilynn, Bethany, Hadley & I

My mom, not that long ago, said to me "you should get to know Hadley better. she seems really awesome." and I was like "yeah we're friends but we'll never be very close... she's so smart/serious. I don't think we'd ever get along that well."

HAH. I was very wrong. now, I would be lost without her.

picture by Miwaza

We've graduated together, seen Les Miserables, stayed up all night on the trampoline, watched Thor, drank much hot chocolate, watched many Disney movies, and stayed up 'til past 4 talking on multiple occasions.

She introduced me to Lilo and Stitch, homemade animal cookies, "Party Rock Anthem", and flushing public toilets with your foot (who does that??)

We psycho-analyze people together, give play-by-play debriefings when we have to miss out on important events in each others' lives, and pick apart songs to find out their hidden meaning. We criticize faulty pinterest quotes and spam each others' inboxes. 

We chat online about deep things and inane things. we overuse hashtags and pretty much never go a day without talking.

She's intellectual, short, determined, and supportive and loyal to a fault. She's a listener and a hugger and a fighter for the people she cares about.

picture by Hadley

and now: she blogs.

picture by Hadley

She posts pretty pictures of sunset light and curly hair and big smiles. You should follow her 'cuz she's awesome.

so blessed to have you as a friend, Hadley. God knew what he was doing when he brought you into my life. love you, need you, and am thankful for you crazy-much, gorgeous girl. ♥

sooner or later, we're gonna make it.

we had our long-awaited epic movie-fest weekend. Bethany and I went to Benjamin and Rebekah's awesome apartment for many hours of movie watching and unhealthy snack eating. and in the morning, Benjamin and I went to gym (first time I'd even been inside one) and he proceeded to channel his inner personal trainer.

aka my body is brutalized by the worst workout ever. also, I haven't been working out really at all, due to being sick over and over again. so I was out of shape + sick, but wanted to do everything, and now I am paying for it, big time. my upper body handled it surprisingly well, but everything even associated with my legs is destroyed. I have to walk on my tiptoes, with my knees bent, without picking my feet up off the floor. basically think: Edgar from Men in Black or Frankenstein's monster. fun times.

it was a good weekend. :)

the crazy-gorgeous weather continued on Sunday, and I limped around and got to take some pictures of some awesome people. the aviators were broken out, there was actually too much sun for some of the pictures, and it was just all-around amazing. my appetite for summer has been whetted...

parkour-ing. :)

goal this week: kick this cold for reals this time, and be able to return to walking like a normal person.

random song lyric title again for ya. ;)

sooner or later, 

-mat kearney