Matt, Maddy and Liz

You may have noticed the thingy on my side bar (over there-->) that links to the Liz Logelin Foundation. You may have also seen my link to Matt Logelin's blog over there as well, and if you've read his blog at all I'm sure you, like me, shed a few tears and fell completely in love with them both. I don't know them in "real life," though I feel as though I do. Madeline was born very tiny and premature in 2008, about a month before my Lucy arrived. Maddy's momma, Liz, died suddenly the next day from a pulmonary embolism. Matt, Maddy's daddy, is now raising Madeline alone and blogging all about it in a brutally honest and poetic way.

I found his blog back in the summer and stayed up for hours catching up on the story. I wept like a child... my heart was just broken for him. But over these past months, it has been really amazing to watch Madeline and Matt grow together. As more and more people discovered his story, his readership has grown enormously. Mostly, I just love looking at the pictures of little Madeline. She reminds me of Lucy with her blondie hairs and big blue eyes. I'm sure they would be great friends.

Fair warning if you plan to visit their site... it's terribly sad at first. Woefully unfair and just damned sad that such a thing had to happen to a man so desperately in love with his wife. But once you get past the initial sadness, Matt and Maddy are a great team who you, too, will most likely want keep an eye on.

Madeline:

The sounds of silence.

In my otherwise silent night-time apartment I have grown accustom to and comforted by the following noises:

the intermittent tick of the thermostat
the click of my dogs toenails on the wooden floors
(and also her snuffly-snore when she is sleeping)
the hum of the refrigerator
the ebb and flow of the traffic on the Brooklyn/Queens Expressway
the whir of my laptop fan

Craving Creature Comforts

The materialistic side of me needs occasional petting. Sometimes a stroll through Target does wonders for this need, other times I need crave creature comforts of a higher degree. Things like...

This Canon Rebel XS SLR digital camera. I want desperately to take my photographs up a level in quality. With this camera, I would be able to do that. Every time I see someone on the street with one, I get a shiver of envy. I can't help it. I just know that as soon as I get my hands on one I'll end up taking it with me all over our fair city. My husband is being a bit of an enabler when it comes to this spendy decision... he keeps telling me what a good photographer I am and that I really should get it so I can document our daughter's life with a quality camera. I may fall victim to his suggestion.

These Frye boots. Or some similar Frye boots. I have coveted a pair like these for about 5 years now, though I have never allowed myself to fork over the cash. They are pricey boots, those Fryes, but worth every damn penny if you ask me. I'd probably wear them in my sleep just to make it really worth it. I used to be a heels kind of girl, but now I fancy myself as a super-cool leather boot kind of girl. Which brings me to my next love...

Beautiful new sundresses from Anthropologie. I have 3 gorgeous sundresses from this smashing shop, but alas none of them fit me anymore. *wipes tears away* See, when Lulu was growing inside my belly, my ribs expanded to accommodate her 8 pound, 9 ounce body and... well... those ribs, they never went back. None of my beloved Anthropologie dresses will zip over my ribs anymore. I have thusly chosen new dresses to take the place of the old dresses.

A washer/dryer combo machine. There is no way that I could ever have this creature comfort in my current living situation. It would take all manner of re-piping the kitchen and I seriously doubt that would happen in a place where my landlords can't even be bothered to do even the smallest of maintenance tasks. But a girl can dream. Yes, a girl can dream about doing laundry. She dreams of doing it in her own house instead of doing it in a laundromat around the corner.

There you have it. The sum total of all of these items is somewhere around $3,000. If I win the lottery anytime soon, I'll be treating myself.