There was a snow storm in Riga a few days ago. As I watched giant snowflakes falling, I desperately wanted to get outside and take some photos (yep, I’m totally addicted). I found a cooperative subject in one of my girls, who also wanted to get outside badly.

I have a commitment to document our family life via photographs. But there are some moments that can’t be photographed either way. Every night when I’m going to bed, my littlest girl wakes up and I’m breastfeeding her. She takes my arm with her warm little fingers. It’s dark in the room, but a night lamp gives me enough light to see how small they are. I hold both of her hands, look at her cheeks moving, smell her head. I feel how strong is my bond with this child. In fact it’s so strong that I choose to watch her while she’s eating instead of closing my eyes and sleeping. And I think, why don’t kids remember these precious moments? Or maybe someone does? Well, I don’t.

Honestly, I wanted to skip this post. But then I thought that it would be nice to have my current blogging goals written here to be able to check them after the year. So, here I go.

First of all, I’m constantly seeking for new opportunities for my blog (and new lovely readers always mean new opportunities) and this time I decided to try www.topmommyblogs.com directory where YOU can help me with this blog’s rating by doing only one simple thing — clicking on the banner on the right sidebar of this blog. Yep, just one click, that’s all. As easy as that.

Have you already decorated your home? I haven’t, aside of the Christmas lights on our kitchen table, that actually were left there pretty much accidentally a few days ago, but fitted so well, so I decided to leave them there. The coldness and greyness of outside just have to be counterbalanced with winter-holiday-inspired decorated rooms and a sweet vanilla smell of a home-made baking. By the way, speaking of baking, I would suggest you to visit this treasure page with a pile of specially selected recipes of home baked cookies.

I was hunting for an autumn signs today. “Autumn signs” is a Veronika’s phrase that she brought from her kindergarten last year. The truth is, I always hated cold seasons. And an autumn itself, particularly the part of it after fall and before winter always made me feel a depression with it’s gloominess of grey days, trees, grass, birds and actually grey everything. But something has changed this year. I don’t know, maybe it’s all because of the kids, but I truly love dimmed colours I see around me now, and the sun, soft and diffused by clouds. I like even those grey crows sitting on tall completely naked black trees. I remembered the autumn smell of fallen leaves from my childhood and was able to feel it again. I have a weird feeling like I’ve entered an illustration to a fairy tale about nature and creatures that live in woods. This inspires me a lot, if I only had some more time to create!

I love to be home! To woke up and see through my window a huge thundercloud shining in the sun above the neighbour house… To sleep on the bed that is big enough for everyone including me and my workstation…

The cat follows me everywhere I go, eats with me, sits next to me when I’m washing dishes, sleeps with me…

(By the way, thank you Phoebe for letting me take a photo of you with this flower, that I’ve crocheted in the hospital).

And the oldest daughter surprised me with a Happy Birthday card for Marge!

But the biggest surprise for me was the fact that my middle daughter suddenly became so big! I remember this effect I felt from the time when Veronika born, therefore I waited for it once Marge born.