The Kid

Eleanor Grace Charette was born Friday, April 3, 2009, at 3:38 am and weighed in at a hulking 8 lbs 9 oz. She was 20.5 inches long, has 10 fingers, 10 toes, lots of wavy brown hair and a cute little nose. She’s absolutely the most beautiful thing we’ve ever seen and we’re so, so blessed to have her.

She was born in San Francisco, California; our then-home of two-something years. She’ll always be our California Girl — our Frisco Kid. When El was 4 months old, we picked up our life and moved to Saint Augustine, Florida, sight-unseen; in an effort to make a life where the going was easy, we could work less and spend more time together. For the most part, we’ve been very successful at achieving this goal.

Then came June Clair Charette, born Friday, September 9, 2011, at 9:13 pm; weighing 8 lbs. 4 oz. at 20 inches long. Beautiful, fuzzy blonde hair and a voice as loud as the day is long. She’s wonderful, and different from Eleanor in just about every way possible. We’re enjoying being more experienced this time around, and I find I’m more capable of taking pleasure in the little things now that I’m beyond the shell-shocked-new-parent phase. Eleanor loves Baby June, and is an excellent big sister.

Just a few months after June was born, Jeff and I decided to REALLY go for it with our joint design studio, We Are Charette. We’ve both been working independently for years (Jeff for 6, me for 2) but never really gave it the gas. I guess we’ve been distracted by other goals, or more likely, afraid of failure (or more likely, afraid of success I suspect — and losing some of the freedom we’ve been enjoying). But working together is something we’ve always been good at, and so here we are: having it all. Really. Not all at once. I’m juggling so many balls right now that one is inevitably dropped daily. But we’re going for it, and it’s a blast.

Pretty much every corner of our lives is chaotic, messy, and full of spontaneity. This blog is a respite for me, where I can store memories of quiet moments, and reflect on the little pieces of peace God gives us amidst the absolute insanity that is parenthood + marriage + a business. Enjoy!