Our Little Cricket

Aislinn Papaakine. Born Tuesday April 15th, 2014 at 10:52am. 

7lbs 11oz, 20inches.

Aislinn (Ah-sh-lean) means dream or vision in Irish and Papaakine is an Ojibwe word for cricket. It took us almost an entire week to figure out her name but I'm glad we didn't rush things because it fits her perfectly. Here we are at the ten day mark and I wish I had time to write about her birth, or the first few days at home or even just about the details of today because I know that the little bits and pieces of this newborn stage that I want to cling to are going to be gone before we know it. I'm standing here typing this out at the big computer in the living room while Saoirse and Oisín eat lunch, Aislinn napping in the Rock and Play one room over, and I have no choice but to admit that the time trap will once again be triumphant because in less than 5 minutes I need to load everyone into the car and take Saoirse to preschool and then Oisín will need a nap by which point my little Cricket will be awake and be ready to nurse again presumably until it's time to get back into the car for afternoon school pickups. And this is the new pace of life and I'm choosing to embrace it. She is so beautiful and even if I don't have enough time to type out what we went though the last few days or what my heart experienced during her birth or how it feels to hold her in my arms and press her soft forehead against my chin and feel her tiny body curl up against my chest, even if I don't get a chance to put it all into words I will remind myself to live in the moment fully aware and to tuck the memories safely inside and carry them within. For now, all I can say is this: I am in love. I am falling in love all over again. With her, with Brendan, with every single one of our kids, with our entire family. It's really quite simple, it's love.