durante a vida há sítios, cores, cheiros, músicas e pessoas que nos fazem lembrar momentos bons da nossa vida… e a mariana megre é uma dessas pessoas. conheci-a em terras de praia, sol e muito calor, maputo, onde uma amiga em comum nos juntou, conheci-a no dia em que nos despedimos deles e eu herdei um sofá que tinha sido seu. viamo-nos esporadicamente em saídas à noite, restaurantes ou concertos, e descobri que gostava muito de fotografia e ainda vi o seu trabalho exposto por maputo uma ou duas vezes… adorei. não nos viamos muito, mas tínhamos grupos de amigos e vidas diferentes. até que num jantar de anos de outra amiga soube que se ia embora… tive pena, porque não iria ter tempo de aprofundar mais aquela amizade… mal sabia eu… ela partiu, eu fiquei… engravidei de gémeos, vim a lisboa para que nascessem e voltei ao hemisfério sul, acompanhando sempre o seu trabalho que com muita pena já não era feito ali mesmo ao lado… quatro meses depois a mariana apareceu de novo na minha vida, estava eu no mail a ler msgs de amigos e aparece-me uma janelinha de chat com ela que me diz “olá”, adorei saber que estava ali, bem, e… grávida de gémeas!!!
foi o click para nunca mais a deixar muito tempo por longe, mesmo em hemisférios diferentes, recomendei-a a quem quisesse, vi-a mudar de look, acompanhei a gravidez, “vi-as” nascer, e pouco depois de nascerem, voltamos nós e eu arranjei uma fotógrafa para as minhas sessões do dia da mãe… conheço-a, consigo conversar com ela, e temos mais em comum do que achava. gosto do que faz, gosto de ver as novidades, gosto de saber que vive no campo, longe da confusão da cidade mas sempre ligada a lisboa.
já fiz um workshop com ela, já nos juntámos em mil e uma ocasiões e quando a vejo tenho sempre um bom “feeling”, como se voltássemos as duas atrás no tempo, ou em frente, sei lá, para um lugar que nos une, de onde temos saudades, a partir de onde começou muita coisa. hoje, acho que posso afirmar, somos amigas, e eu gosto de pensar que nos acompanhará por muitos dias da mãe. sigam-na, procurem-na, sei que vão adorar.
throughout life there are places, smells, colors, songs and people that remind you of great moments in your life… mariana megre is one of those people. i met her far away in a land of beaches, sun and very warm days, maputo, when a friend of ours introduced us at her going away party and i inherited a red sofa that had been hers once. we didn’t see eachother often enough for we had different friends and lives but we’d run into eachother in bars, restaurants and parties and catch up. one evening at a birthday party, i saw her and she told us she was leaving maputo… i was so sorry we wouldn’t be able to see one another again… little did i know… she left, i stayed… got pregnant with twins, came to lisbon to give birth, went back to the south hemisphere, always reading about her work which i was sorry it wasn’t there close up… four months later mariana came back into my life, i was catching up on emails from friends and a little chat window poped up and it was her, she said “hello” and i was so happy to “see” her again, she was well and pregnant with twins girls!!!
it was the click to never let her go for long, even on different sides of the planet, i recomended her work to whoever searched for great fotographs, saw her build her website, blog, her pregnancy, saw the girls grow-up and soon after that we came back up north and i hired her for my annual mother’s day sessions… i know her, i can talk to her and we have more in common that we knew. i love her work, love to see all the new sessions she does, love the fact she lives in the countryside but always close enough to lisbon.
i’ve done a workshop with her, we’ve seen eachother a lot in a million occasions and when i see her i always get a great feeling, as if we go back in time, or forward, to a place that’s only ours and that we both miss, where so many new things began. today, i think she can confirm, we’re friends and i like to think that she will be there for many, many mother’s day. follow her, look for her, i know you’ll love her too.
os meus filhos adoram legos, mas quem escolheu o tema da festa foi o pai! sim, o pai, que esse não gosta de legos, é viciado neles, tem aos milhares guardados na sua casa de infância a 2000km daqui e no entanto passa o tempo a pensar em trazê-los para que o M e F possam fazer grandes construções! os legos que ele tem são dos bons, dos mini, daqueles que eu me lembro fossem únicos… os meus filhos adoram os que têm, na escola os mega gigantes e em casa os médios. eu também prefiro os grandes, grandes torres, grandes pontes e estradas, gosto de os ver empolgados a construir seja o que for, ocupados com peças cheias de cor e que lhes dão imensa satisfação. o tema foi escolhido pelo pai, mas no fundo sabíamos que ia alegrar a todos! até os convidados!
a festa foi pensada para o ar livre mas em modo mini, apenas uma mesa com alguns pormenores mas o essencial eram as cores, repetição das cores dos legos à grande! e repetir o número 3 já que os gémeos andam obcecados com a idade! acham um máximo fazer três anos e não param de o dizer, até porque finalmente conseguem por os três dedinhos em posição para estarem prontos a responder!
o bolo não podia deixar de ser a peça central, peças de legos dos gigantes e médios e com muita cor!
foi muito bom celebrar estes três anos com tantos amigos, crianças alegres, prendinhas úteis e giras, e dois meninos muito, mas mesmo muito crescidos! eu como mãe… já o disse… adoro-os. e a let’s (modéstia à parte) portou-se muito bem! 😉
my children love legos, but it was their dad who chose the party theme! yes, dad! he doesn’t just like legos, he loves them! he has his million piece collection back in his childhood home 2000kms away from here and thinks of bringing all of it here for M and F to make huce constructions with it! the legos he has are the good ones i remember from my childhood, but out children love the giant ones and the medium size ones. they have both at school and at home and it’s a great pleasure to see them playing with it and building things with such delight and enthusiasm. the theme was chosen by dad, but we knew it’d make eveyrone happy, young and older!
the little party was thought for and outside event, but just a small table filled with color, repetition and legos! and the number 3! which seems to be these boy’s latest absession! they think it’s awesome to be this old and love saying it out loud and show how well they can put their little three tiny fingers up whenver someone asks!
the cake was the centerpiece indeed, pieces of legos in giant mode! and oh so colorful!!
it was great to be able to celebrate these last three years with all of these friends, cheerful children, useful and cool presents and two wonderful little boys but who are oh so grown-up! i as their mother… love them. and let’s (though i’m suspicious…) did very well! 😉
three years-old and so grown-up. every year i try to sum up what this last year of our lives has been and every year i think it’s harder and harder because you do grow-up fast, you are becoming little men though you still wear diapers… yes, you do still wear diapers, and we are off to starting your fourth year trying to get them far far away from us!
anyway… what a year it was… did you realize that your discovered a million words lately? did you notice that you are officially bilingual, knowing exactly when to change the languages and know when to say what to which one of us, mom and dad. mom doesn’t say “buongiorno” and dad does not say “obrigada”, it’s funny to watch you trying to speak and tell us all about the things you see, do, eat and play with at school, we try to keep conversation going and it’s adorable to see where it takes you. you have learned so much at school since september, and it’s amazing to see all of the news every single day.
this was the year you became children and have said goodbye to being babies, the year (just recently) that we put away our pacifiers and have been dealing with some dificult nights… it’s not the nights in itself, it´s the falling asleep, when before you could do with one long story, you now need five books and three songs, and a hand, staying there and tonight you even asked for mom to lay down next to you… it’s not always M or F, it changes depending how you decide, but it’s exhausting and i’m not really sure we, dad and i, sometimes deal with it the best way, but we try, only we are not used to this… long are the nights when you needed to fall asleep in our arms and that was too easy… now, i can’t imagine or have enough ideas to do this each night… but we’re learning.
because as i will always say, i, your mom, have turned three too… i’m also learning, just like you i have my days, great and bad, i get tired too, cranky and annoyed… but i’m learning and i have also turned my life upside down this past year… you have bared a lot too with me gone a lot more, coming home later than usual, not having a fixed schedule makes our plans as a family a bit more crazy… but like always we have enjoyed such amazing moments, cooking together for the first time, making cookies, making bread with dad, discovering differente tastes and favorite foods, M loves tortellini and F loves chicken and mash potatoes! you are portuguese with italian tastebuds, you love to eat, constantly. you are getting taller, growing upwards fast, noone believes you are only three, you are healthy tough we are now thinking M might have some alergies just like mom and will go through winters with a bit more off days.
you are both very funny, love surprises, love to run and play outside, love walking with dad, love riding the bus and tram, love your new car seats that look like airplane seats!
you know the parks in the neighborhood by heart, have favorites and know if one is not open! you love school so much you make mom wait 35min before you decide it’s actual time to go, while i wait………. not fun, but if it makes you happy, right? i get upset sometimes, but i’m to blame because i believe that it’s ok to take your time, we’re in no rush, and i forget it sometimes.
it’s been a tough year, we had to adjust to a lot of new things. but i am very proud of you, proud of your dad, proud of us. proud of how at the end of the day we are our little family. busy, doing what we love, watching you become small people and learning new things every day, together.
i am in love with you, you make me a better person and i am so happy to be your mother. i believe in you, in us and hope we stick together always, no matter what.
see you tomorrow morning boys… please wake up with that smile, it always makes my day. and let’s keep going at this potty training, we can do this boys!!!!!!!!!!
mãe..
a semana dos anos! 3!!! a raça das crianças cresce mesmo e rápido e vão-se tornando nuns homens em ponto pequeno e eu uma mãe babada e cheia de pena de não passar com eles mais tempo… uma semana em cheio para esta família!
their birthday week! 3!!! these children keep growing up, fast and becoming little men and i a proud mom wishing we had more time… a full week for this family!!
