Ben & Cielo

this past week was a lovely week. the weather was mild, our lawn is like a jungle, and the town is full of students. random. but true. we also had Ben and Cielo visiting from Seattle. what an amazing week. where once upon a time we would drink/dance/talk all night - we now spent the time playing with the babe and updating each other on our lives. the most amazing thing was seeing them interact with Harlow. i always knew that Ben was amazing with kids. i have seen him hang out with kids a million times and they are always smitten with him. what i didn't know was the Cielo is a baby whisperer and made Harlow fall smitten in love with him...to the point where she wouldn't even look at me (HER MAMA!) because she couldn't take her eyes off Cielo. it was pretty amazing.

Ben and Harlow watching the ducks at the Cummington Fair


Cielo and Harlow in love. she was so comfortable with him at all times. she just wanted to snuggle in and love/sleep.


what i also didn't know was that Cielo wanted a baby so badly. half the reason he is going to school is to get a good paying job so that he can adopt a baby. how amazing. we went to an annual GBLTI family BBQ at Look Park in Northampton on Sunday. sadly, there was only one family with two dads. but it was still amazing to see all the families with two moms. and kids ranging from newborn to young adult. it was so great to see all the love within the families and the kids playing together. it was really great. and inspiring. and touching. we all felt happy to have gone and excited by the reality of queer family functioning in so many different ways. and, true to form, Ben had all of the kids in love with him. he was leading a group of kids around the park on a bug hunt. they loved it!!!



i love my family and i love my "chosen family." it's wonderful to be a piece of such a wide array of people. and even at 5mo, Harlow is loved in so many ways by so many people. what an amazing way to grow up and see the world. i feel like she will be forever supported in her life and her choices and her goals. and she will have a million different people behind her being her greatest fans. it makes me feel all sorts of love for family...regardless of how that family comes to you.

wow. i have a lot of feelings lately. ha! on a side note, we went to the Cummington Fair on Saturday. Cielo was enthralled with the ox pull. i like the cow barns (they're HUGE!) and beating everyone at the games. Ben liked the never ending lemonade. the day was a hit!

look at these two giant squashes.



mama won Hlow a Doozer. she has yet another new love!