Stylish

Picnic

Generations

Dev has a cold today, so I braided her hair, just like my mommy used to do for me when I was sick.

Joy

Dearest Devyn,

You cannot possibly know how much joy you give me.

Just now, you came down the stairs saying, "Come, mama! We can go outside!" Your voice makes me so happy.  The words you are stringing together for the first time, like pearls on a necklace, make me so happy.  Just the fact that you want me to be a part of your happiness makes me happy.

I love the way you talk, the way you run, the way your hair shines with gold in the sunlight.

You are outside right now, filling a bucket over and over again from daddy's water hose and pouring it on the plants.  "I'm helping Daddy," you tell me.  "Plants are SOOO thirsty!"

And my heart could break for loving you so much.

You are so incredibly sweet, and brilliant, and curious; so grown up and yet still so small.  My big girl baby.

It only took us two days for you to get the hang of potty training.  You are amazing.

I wish I could hug you and kiss on you all day long.  But you are too busy for that.  As it should be.

We just got back from a long trip to Dallas.  We went to see Pop and Poppy especially, because they are both sick.  You took it all in stride. You were sweet and loving, patient and helpful, everything we have no right to ask a two-year-old to be.  And I felt so, so grateful that you got to spend time with your great grandfather.  That you got to see your Pop.  That you got to fall asleep on the sofa with your great grandmother and cuddle your Gran.

"She's so smart," your daycare teacher tells us, but we already know it.  You are amazing.  And you make me want to be a better person, just to live up to the standards you're already setting.

I love you so much,
~Mommy

Devyn the Organic farmer

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Brandon Renner <branurenner@hotmail.com>
Date: July 20, 2013, 10:13:25 AM MDT
To: Lacy Boggs <lacyboggs@yahoo.com>
Subject: Devyn the Organic farmer

Sent from my iPhone

Friends Old and New

Lacy Boggs shared Kathleen Finney Cameroneil's photo.

July 17, 2013

Check us out! Kathleen Finney Cameroneil and I met at the "kindergarden round up" back in the day, and here we are with our own kiddos! Amazing.

Ancient friends and new friends! So good to see you Boggs..... — with Lacy Boggs.

Taking tickets for the train

At the children's museum with best friend Abby!

Sent from my iPhone

Sea World!

This was Devyn's favorite moment of the whole day. She immediately told us that the trainer in the pink wet suit was the "Dolphin Princess" and talked about her the whole rest of the day.

Fort De Soto Beach

The Colombian

Larry and Zana took us out to dinner at the oldest restaurant in Florida for some amazing Cuban food!

I'm Sad

Dearest Devyn,

Tonight, you said to me,

"I'm sad. I don't like to be Devyn."

I tried to ask you, "Do you want to be a mama? Do you want to be a cat or a dog?"

"No, don't want to be a mama. No, don't want to be a dog."

"Then maybe it's good thing to be Devyn. Devyn is amazing!"

"No. I don't like to be a Devyn."

Broke my heart.

You're too young for that, baby.  I thought I had a few more years.  Maybe you're just saying words you don't totally understand.  Maybe you know exactly what you're saying. Either way, it hurts my heart.

I know you won't believe me when I tell you this today, tomorrow...  I know because my mother tried to tell me the same thing. But maybe someday you will read this when you need to hear it, and maybe it will make a difference.

I'm not joking when I say that you're amazing. I'm not speaking from bias or a place of privilege when I tell you that you are unique, beautiful, brilliant, and miraculous. You are a miracle. I know—I was there the moment you came into existence, the moment you breathed your first breath. Everything about you is magical beyond believing.

Every time I look at you, I see something new worth loving even more than I loved you before. Even when you're sassing me, testing your limits, frustrating me to the ends of my limits, my heart still swells with pride at how smart you are, how creative, how independent.

I know that nothing I say will change those moments when you feel like you don't like being a Devyn. I know those moments will come and go throughout your whole life. I know that you will feel doubt, and anxiety, and wish you were something else, something other.  There will be people, places, times that will test you.

But if I do my job, those times will pass and you will remember how absolutely stunning you are. You will remember that you are incredible beyond words, that you are a miraculous creation of the universe, an utterly unique and perfect set of circumstances that came together only once in all of space and time, made of stardust and prayers and more love than I ever knew existed before you came along.

You are perfect, Devyn. Exactly as you are.  Even when you don't believe it.

Driving the fire truck

Best Friends

Some pictures of Devyn and her best friend!

Super Dad!

Devyn has been learning to take pictures with our phones, and Brandon found this one on his phone today!

I was totally not posing when Devyn took this photo! Hehe




Sent from my iPhone