Practice: Peonies for Emaline

I have written the obligatory post about our move and everything that goes along with it. But I'm not ready to share. Because of the move and everything that goes along with it, I have not been writing. And the first few times writing after having not written, are a little bit like getting off crutches. I am weak and shaky and my muscles needs to build along with my confidence. So borrowing a little bit of inspiration from one of my favorite bloggers, I am writing a practice post. I will publish it as my warm-up, my opening act. Not to build expectations, please don't do that. But to get my fingers moving and my writer-brain slowly turning. So for the moment, I will pretend that I am not 1,200 miles from Nick's family, an hour from my family, and five minutes from the ocean.

A picture to pull you into a new topic. Emaline!

Emaline's first birthday is in less than a week! Nothing in the world messes with the passage of time more than a child. This year has flown by runs parallel in truth to that feels so long ago. Nick and I keep repeating these statements as we prepare to celebrate. We are having a party for her on Saturday and her actual birthday is on Tuesday. I have a Pinterest board of ideas. We will see what plans come to fruition. I know I want flowers, and balloons, and to decorate her highchair.

What I imagine. But this won't happen. 

I imagined peonies filling the house. When I announced that I was pregnant, I chose peonies as the image to accompany my words because they come into bloom at the same time that my baby was to be born. Yes, there was a lot of thought over that image. And since that time, I have associated those beautiful flowers with my littlest love.

Yesterday, I called the local flower shop and asked if they had any peonies. The lady excitedly told me they were coming in tomorrow. I almost ran for my credit card. This is perfect. I will buy so many. "They are $7.00 a stem." she said breaking through the daydream of my peony house.

"Like per flower? A stem is a flower?" I asked incredulously, realizing only now, how dumb I must have sounded.

After a few beats of silence she responded, "Yes. That's right."

So I am revising my floral plans. I will share some here and when we buy a house (which will be soon but we're not talking about that yet!) I will plant peonies. And every spring when they bloom, I will clip a bunch and put them in a vase for my little girl.