auntie eliza.
Grandmere Huguette.
2017 Projects #2
8 years ago
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
i give in.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
one rambly, rambly post
you know what: screw the pictures. there are approximately 500 million of them: annaliese with me, with k, with her godparents and her grandmothers and her grandfather and her aunt and uncles and the dogs and in the car seat and on and on and on and my mac don't got no picasa, yo, so uploading is a chore.
pester k. for them. about time he pulled some blog weight.
and besides! i have to tell you!
annaliese is seriously rocking, to the point where we were at a pool party on friday and i told a friend that we were thinking about having another baby kind of soon.
(not THAT soon. one has to coordinate these things when one lives in mississippi. do you know what pregnant ankles look like in eighty degree weather, let alone the hundred it gets down here?)
but saying that made me realize how much better life has gotten, because if you'd asked me four months ago, i would have gone to the bathroom to weep into my hands after saying "probably someday" with a manic glint in my eye.
And no, she doesn't sleep through the night. in fact, last night she woke up three times: two for hunger and once for gas. but she slept from 9 to 8, people, 9 to 8! and right now she's napping! i put her in her crib, covered her with a blanket, and after babbling for a while, she went to sleep!!!!!
these kind of miracles are becoming everyday now, but I am so thankful for them. I never want to forget the hard times at the beginnings of her life because otherwise i too might be one of those moms who are like really? your baby's like that? mine's always been a dreamball...
once, in a long ago life, stinkessa and i were at jcrew. we saw a girl out with a tiny baby asleep in a car seat; how precious, we cooed, and then we looked at her. how old? 6 weeks, the girl said, and she truly looked so much like a normal, pretty girl, that we both exclaimed--6 weeks! you look fabulous!
she puffed up with pride and said, oh, it's not that hard.
i think of her often these days. i think about how it's probable that getting out of the house and into that store was something she did to save her sanity, and how insecure everyone feels about their babies in public, let alone their bodies....I'm glad we made a fuss over her, for a couple reasons, and one of them is this:
people check you out in the post-partum period. really. every time i see anyone for the first time, i catch them glancing at my stomach (objectively not bad but not what i want it to be, sort of first trimester-ish actually).
it's a natural thing to do, but it's kind of wearing. i've actually caught myself stretching and closing my eyes so everyone present could go on and get their looking-at-my-midsection-thing over with. and when someone doesn't exclaim, god, you look great! i then bring it up, usually like this:
well, i was doing really well, and then two weeks of vacation....
i said this the other day and the other person said nothing. no, oh hush your mouth honey, you're amazing--
and obviously I'm totally fine with it.
so next time you see someone who's had a baby within the last twelve calendar months? say bless your heart, girl, you look marvelous.
because motherhood takes a lot of under-eye concealer, you know?
pester k. for them. about time he pulled some blog weight.
and besides! i have to tell you!
annaliese is seriously rocking, to the point where we were at a pool party on friday and i told a friend that we were thinking about having another baby kind of soon.
(not THAT soon. one has to coordinate these things when one lives in mississippi. do you know what pregnant ankles look like in eighty degree weather, let alone the hundred it gets down here?)
but saying that made me realize how much better life has gotten, because if you'd asked me four months ago, i would have gone to the bathroom to weep into my hands after saying "probably someday" with a manic glint in my eye.
And no, she doesn't sleep through the night. in fact, last night she woke up three times: two for hunger and once for gas. but she slept from 9 to 8, people, 9 to 8! and right now she's napping! i put her in her crib, covered her with a blanket, and after babbling for a while, she went to sleep!!!!!
these kind of miracles are becoming everyday now, but I am so thankful for them. I never want to forget the hard times at the beginnings of her life because otherwise i too might be one of those moms who are like really? your baby's like that? mine's always been a dreamball...
once, in a long ago life, stinkessa and i were at jcrew. we saw a girl out with a tiny baby asleep in a car seat; how precious, we cooed, and then we looked at her. how old? 6 weeks, the girl said, and she truly looked so much like a normal, pretty girl, that we both exclaimed--6 weeks! you look fabulous!
she puffed up with pride and said, oh, it's not that hard.
i think of her often these days. i think about how it's probable that getting out of the house and into that store was something she did to save her sanity, and how insecure everyone feels about their babies in public, let alone their bodies....I'm glad we made a fuss over her, for a couple reasons, and one of them is this:
people check you out in the post-partum period. really. every time i see anyone for the first time, i catch them glancing at my stomach (objectively not bad but not what i want it to be, sort of first trimester-ish actually).
it's a natural thing to do, but it's kind of wearing. i've actually caught myself stretching and closing my eyes so everyone present could go on and get their looking-at-my-midsection-thing over with. and when someone doesn't exclaim, god, you look great! i then bring it up, usually like this:
well, i was doing really well, and then two weeks of vacation....
i said this the other day and the other person said nothing. no, oh hush your mouth honey, you're amazing--
and obviously I'm totally fine with it.
so next time you see someone who's had a baby within the last twelve calendar months? say bless your heart, girl, you look marvelous.
because motherhood takes a lot of under-eye concealer, you know?
Friday, June 06, 2008
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
check ya later
requisite picture of the baby:
damn, she is adorable.
that being said, some non-baby-related things:
we had our first farmers' market of the season last saturday. with the help of anika, i sold out of focaccia and cinnamon rolls. i think i made about two bucks profit, but in my opinino-- a raving success.
i can't believe hillary clinton is still running, and i can't believe how far i've come from being willing to vote for mccain. every time the man talks he gives me the heebies.
i really, really want a cow. but i got wind of a guy with jerseys, so maybe we can work something out.
this evening, k and i moved our boat into the building on main street to avoid the whole theft thing. wade, our 84 yr old barber, came by and refused to let me take my end of the boat. he carried it in. i love this town.
anika has been here for the last two weeks, and she is amazing. my closets and cabinets are IMPECCABLE. and she's good company to boot.
my dad's probably not going to meet his first and onlygrandchild this trip either, despite my offer to lunch at a spot 60 miles north of manhattan with a train station. the whole thing makes me very, very sad. until i get impatient with the whole boring situation and move on.
oh: and my husband rocks. spa mani, pedi, and massage for mothers' day. i am one PAMPERED princess.
see y'all soon.
Monday, May 19, 2008
early Sunday morning
On Sunday morning, I left my family sleeping and made myself a big bowl of coffee and milk. I sat on the porch, looked out at the new morning, and wrote in my journal. It was the kind of time that has always been and still is precious.
We head north on Wednesday. Annaliese has never spent a night elsewhere than this house, and so I'm a bit nervous- abou the sleeping, about the 14hrs in a car, about the bedding down in a new place. But so many good things are going to happen on this trip....Annaliese will meet her godfather, who is flying in from the West Coast; she will sleep in my childhood room, visit our VT cabin, and meet her VT aunties for the first time.
Here's to hoping that moments of stillness still find me.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
thank you
for all the nice people in my life.
especially the person who leaves poems as comments. I love them.
especially the person who leaves poems as comments. I love them.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Stinkerina came to visit.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
4 months ago...
I was still laboring. Let's forget that, shall we?
Though I occasionally have fantasies of empty, soundproofed rooms, we're doing ok. And you've learned how to do all sort of things-- most recently, an undulating dragon-baby noise, which you prefer over all the other cutesy sounds you were making. I'm going to wait it out. In three days, you'll be entranced with something else.
Your papa and I had a serious discussion regarding you and television this morning. Already, you like glowing boxes. My vote is for movies like the Swiss Family Robinson and Peter Pan, but your papa says you'll end up scared of pirates.
We'll see, eh? In any case, no dumbo or bambi, because the moms die.
Your sleeping is not so bad. But honey, it's ok to go to sleep; I promise you're not missing anything, other than me and your papa collapsing onto the couch and staring at each other. The occasional hand of rummy-- that's it.
In any case, I'm very proud of you. Other than the milk regurgitation, you're doing a great job being a baby. And you smile at me when you wake up, which is the best kind of thanks there is.
Friday, May 02, 2008
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
on books (and don't worry, the bebe)
Shameful confession #568: I want to be an author, meaning I'd like to make my livelihood from having people buy my books.
And yet-- I do not buy books.
Despite this, I went to the kickass bookstore in O-town today. This is what I do: run my hands over the thick smooth dustjackets of the latests hardbacks, then make my way upstairs, spend a dollar on a cup of coffee, and read the used papers on the balcony overlooking the Square.
I do not buy books because I read about five a week, and I don't like to purchase paperbacks. So I go to the library, and occasionally, if there's something really fine that I just have to own, I take a chunk of my quarterly clothing allowance or some birthday cash and buy it.
I don't buy books because how would I pick just one of the lovelies on the display rack? Books are expensive, the price of a decent dinner out, and so I read them first and purchase selectively.
That being said, I'd like more books. Mainly, first signed editions, because I'm getting kind of snobby in my old age.
The aforementioned book store happens to have such a program, and man alive, I am itching to join it.
Since K.'s planning on getting an Iphone, maybe we can work something out.
Now, in recompense for my rambling, a bebe pic:
A little fuzzy, but the cuteness conveys, eh?
She's been impossibly fun lately. We're doing Pantley's no-cry sleep training routine, so we'll see how that goes.... not bad so far.
And yet-- I do not buy books.
Despite this, I went to the kickass bookstore in O-town today. This is what I do: run my hands over the thick smooth dustjackets of the latests hardbacks, then make my way upstairs, spend a dollar on a cup of coffee, and read the used papers on the balcony overlooking the Square.
I do not buy books because I read about five a week, and I don't like to purchase paperbacks. So I go to the library, and occasionally, if there's something really fine that I just have to own, I take a chunk of my quarterly clothing allowance or some birthday cash and buy it.
I don't buy books because how would I pick just one of the lovelies on the display rack? Books are expensive, the price of a decent dinner out, and so I read them first and purchase selectively.
That being said, I'd like more books. Mainly, first signed editions, because I'm getting kind of snobby in my old age.
The aforementioned book store happens to have such a program, and man alive, I am itching to join it.
Since K.'s planning on getting an Iphone, maybe we can work something out.
Now, in recompense for my rambling, a bebe pic:
A little fuzzy, but the cuteness conveys, eh?She's been impossibly fun lately. We're doing Pantley's no-cry sleep training routine, so we'll see how that goes.... not bad so far.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Sleep or Be Happy: Your resistance to snoozing when cranky and tired better not be a permanent personality characteristic
I'm not sure what's going on with Annaliese.
Three nights ago, she fell asleep at 8.40 (yes!), woke an hour later, got burped and rocked back to sleep in her crib. K. and I went to bed, braced for whatever the night would bring.... and then we woke up at 5.30 in the morning. I had milk soaked through my nightgown and K. was convinced Annaliese had died.
She hadn't.
But on the two subsequent nights, she's woken up 3-6 times; last night, it took a full two hours to soothe her to sleep, so she wasn't out until 10.30. She'd fall asleep, and then push her face into my shoulder, whipping her head back and forth until she was awake and unhappy.
Self-sabotaging behaviour, but whatever.
This morning, despite being TIRED, she would only nap while on a pillow which is shoved between me and the computer desk. And nursing.
The pillow-nursing position is something I'm quite familiar with from her earlier months, but it's been awhile.
Maybe she's going through a growth spurt. Maybe she's going to be a total crankypants for the next eight months as teeth make their way through her gums.
But it doesn't really matter why her sleep schedule is so schizo right now, because really, there's little to do but wait it out.
Babies-- especially the ones who veer between being sunny and being difficult, like mine-- are really good practice in relinquishing control.
But that doesn't mean I'm happy about all this :(
Three nights ago, she fell asleep at 8.40 (yes!), woke an hour later, got burped and rocked back to sleep in her crib. K. and I went to bed, braced for whatever the night would bring.... and then we woke up at 5.30 in the morning. I had milk soaked through my nightgown and K. was convinced Annaliese had died.
She hadn't.
But on the two subsequent nights, she's woken up 3-6 times; last night, it took a full two hours to soothe her to sleep, so she wasn't out until 10.30. She'd fall asleep, and then push her face into my shoulder, whipping her head back and forth until she was awake and unhappy.
Self-sabotaging behaviour, but whatever.
This morning, despite being TIRED, she would only nap while on a pillow which is shoved between me and the computer desk. And nursing.
The pillow-nursing position is something I'm quite familiar with from her earlier months, but it's been awhile.
Maybe she's going through a growth spurt. Maybe she's going to be a total crankypants for the next eight months as teeth make their way through her gums.
But it doesn't really matter why her sleep schedule is so schizo right now, because really, there's little to do but wait it out.
Babies-- especially the ones who veer between being sunny and being difficult, like mine-- are really good practice in relinquishing control.
But that doesn't mean I'm happy about all this :(
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Annaliese's first playdate
As much as I like it when it's just the two of us.....
Billy came to play for the morning since his mum (a pal of mine and a working lady) had a client conference. As an 8+-month-old, Billy initiated us into the ways of a crawling man-child. It was big fun. And the two bebes seemed kind of...entranced with each other, which Billy demonstrated by trying to thwack Annaliese's face, and Annaliese did things like smile and grab her lady bits. Any gender lessons we can take from this?
In other news, gardening is uber fun, we've finally shaken our colds, and K. made banana bread today.
Hope you're having a happy Wednesday!
Monday, April 21, 2008
It's 4 pm and I haven't managed to do much today. Dogs walked, me showered, baby fed, changed, fed, changed, down for a nap, entertained, etc. Some laundry folded and a going-through of the novel to square up days and dates.
Not so very much, but here it is 4 pm. Babies take a lot of time, even when you put their red teething telephone in front of the computer and balance them on a knee, trying to get some work done.
Which I do. And then I worry that I'm not stimulating her appropriately, so I play with her on the floor. But then I worry I'm not working on the whole getting-published goal.
And I only have one kid! And few real-world deadlines! Not to mention a small house that takes about 2 hours to clean!
How do all the mothers in the world manage?
Not so very much, but here it is 4 pm. Babies take a lot of time, even when you put their red teething telephone in front of the computer and balance them on a knee, trying to get some work done.
Which I do. And then I worry that I'm not stimulating her appropriately, so I play with her on the floor. But then I worry I'm not working on the whole getting-published goal.
And I only have one kid! And few real-world deadlines! Not to mention a small house that takes about 2 hours to clean!
How do all the mothers in the world manage?
Friday, April 18, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
Monday, April 07, 2008
Why You Should Not Offer Us Things Unless You Want Us To Take Them
We had a lovely Sunday, picking up cow sh*t and cutting a wood piece for the back of our boat.
See, our neighbor had two boats piled under leaves in the back of his yard. We offered to buy one, because I have visions of family afternoons spent on a lake. And after a few months, with a daughter's wedding reception imminent, when I just happened to be lurking near his yard with winsome daughter in tow, the nice man gave us one. With a trailer. For free.
So now we have a 15 foot aluminum boat with a trailer, and it needed a new back wooden piece thingy, so we cut one.
Right after we called up the friends who had said "anytime! Call us and we'll open the pasture for you and let you scoop up cow manure for your garden!"
They said it, we believed them, and hence we did call. And spent an hour or two trundling through pasture, picking up poop and yelling at the dogs, who were--as always--trying to eat it.
Actually, Dido got herself so filthy that when we came home, we washed her in our boat (full of rainwater).
That's right. We got a boat.
See, our neighbor had two boats piled under leaves in the back of his yard. We offered to buy one, because I have visions of family afternoons spent on a lake. And after a few months, with a daughter's wedding reception imminent, when I just happened to be lurking near his yard with winsome daughter in tow, the nice man gave us one. With a trailer. For free.
So now we have a 15 foot aluminum boat with a trailer, and it needed a new back wooden piece thingy, so we cut one.
Right after we called up the friends who had said "anytime! Call us and we'll open the pasture for you and let you scoop up cow manure for your garden!"
They said it, we believed them, and hence we did call. And spent an hour or two trundling through pasture, picking up poop and yelling at the dogs, who were--as always--trying to eat it.
Actually, Dido got herself so filthy that when we came home, we washed her in our boat (full of rainwater).
That's right. We got a boat.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
She's Back
These pictures don't really convey.
But obviously, the hair that took me so long to grow is gone again.
But obviously, the hair that took me so long to grow is gone again.
(Mama feels like a rock star.)
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Great things are happening.
1. Our neighbor gave us a boat. And a trailer. He's happy a young family wants to use it, and so he passed along this 15', aluminum fishing boat for FREE. Isn't that AWESOME?
2. Annaliese will never need clothes. Ever. Our church gave her (and another new baby girl) a shower over the weekend. I asked for toys, and we got some of those, but we also got outfit after outfit after outfit. And two eyelet-covered Baby Bibles from Belks. Gotta love Mississippi.
3. We all slept 8+ hours last night. Not straight, mind you, but after a very tired mama said enough! she's going in the bassinet! she's begun sleeping in it. She goes down at 10, wakes at 12.30 for a bottle from her papa, wakes at 4.30 for a feeding by her mama, and then wakes for good at 7, and comes in the bed with us for some morning happiness and more food.
So, so, so doable.
Being me, I had some guilt about whether or not I've perpetuated our sleeplessness by cosleeping for the first three months. But I don't think so...A. really did come into this world as a suspicious little baby who need to touch us all the time, and so we did. Cosleeping was the only way we got any sleep at all for the first three months, so I can't regret it. Now, she's more confident in us, in the world, and her night-day patterns are established... she's ready to sleep on her own.
It's fabulous.
2. Annaliese will never need clothes. Ever. Our church gave her (and another new baby girl) a shower over the weekend. I asked for toys, and we got some of those, but we also got outfit after outfit after outfit. And two eyelet-covered Baby Bibles from Belks. Gotta love Mississippi.
3. We all slept 8+ hours last night. Not straight, mind you, but after a very tired mama said enough! she's going in the bassinet! she's begun sleeping in it. She goes down at 10, wakes at 12.30 for a bottle from her papa, wakes at 4.30 for a feeding by her mama, and then wakes for good at 7, and comes in the bed with us for some morning happiness and more food.
So, so, so doable.
Being me, I had some guilt about whether or not I've perpetuated our sleeplessness by cosleeping for the first three months. But I don't think so...A. really did come into this world as a suspicious little baby who need to touch us all the time, and so we did. Cosleeping was the only way we got any sleep at all for the first three months, so I can't regret it. Now, she's more confident in us, in the world, and her night-day patterns are established... she's ready to sleep on her own.
It's fabulous.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
another wordy post sans pics...check back later this week!
I just returned home from an all-day trip to Memphis with Annaliese. K. was at work, and though I was nervous about the whole sole expedition with an infant...it went brilliantly.
She napped on the way there, ate and had her diaper changed pre-a Wild Oats run. Rode peaceably in the Baby Bjorn for an hour's worth of grocery shopping, then napped on the way to the midwives, then ate/diaper again so she was bright-eyed and chortling for the hour with Amy and Andrea. Another small feed and then an hour-and-a-half nap back to WV. Brilliant!
We're now thoroughly stocked up on meat and I'm once more cognizant of how much I miss sisterhood...I love visiting the midwives so much, and unless I get knocked up again, I'm out of reasons to go back there. And I just don't love them that much.
Finding funny women who speak the same pregnancy/parenting language as me is so affirming. The moms I know locally are all overbooked with little time for socializing, and my good friends are sans children, so the only people I get to talk to about my child and random parenting thoughts are my husband and my mother. And whining about my post-partum body isn't really what I want to do with either one (though I still do.)
It's not what I expected, since I've always heard about moms groups being hotbeds of sisterhood...but of the few moms in my age group I know, they're working full-time, and with small children and husbands, that leaves them less than zero time for get-togethers.
Maybe my circle will expand when Annaliese enters pre-k, but that's a long way off.
In the meantime...
She napped on the way there, ate and had her diaper changed pre-a Wild Oats run. Rode peaceably in the Baby Bjorn for an hour's worth of grocery shopping, then napped on the way to the midwives, then ate/diaper again so she was bright-eyed and chortling for the hour with Amy and Andrea. Another small feed and then an hour-and-a-half nap back to WV. Brilliant!
We're now thoroughly stocked up on meat and I'm once more cognizant of how much I miss sisterhood...I love visiting the midwives so much, and unless I get knocked up again, I'm out of reasons to go back there. And I just don't love them that much.
Finding funny women who speak the same pregnancy/parenting language as me is so affirming. The moms I know locally are all overbooked with little time for socializing, and my good friends are sans children, so the only people I get to talk to about my child and random parenting thoughts are my husband and my mother. And whining about my post-partum body isn't really what I want to do with either one (though I still do.)
It's not what I expected, since I've always heard about moms groups being hotbeds of sisterhood...but of the few moms in my age group I know, they're working full-time, and with small children and husbands, that leaves them less than zero time for get-togethers.
Maybe my circle will expand when Annaliese enters pre-k, but that's a long way off.
In the meantime...
Thursday, March 20, 2008
the three writers I'd like to meet
So we all know I'm a reader. The girl who got grounded from reading, who checks out 10+ books a week from the library, etc. etc. (I'll add that I often read junk. I love me some good junk).
But despite all my reading, I don't often come across authors that I recognize as kindred souls, as people I'd like to meet because we have stuff to talk about.
I can count three: Barbara Kingsolver, Louise Penny, and Pearl S. Buck.
I've always loved Kingsolver's fiction, but it wasn't until her essay book Small Wonder that I felt like I wanted to meet her....I think it was this line, "I do my best thinking looking out over a clean plank of earth"--- or something like that, I'm writing from memory, though the book is in the living room. Of course, why it took the woman nearly 20 years to move to a farm in southern Virginia from her adopted hometown of Tucson, I don't know. It brings out the handwaving in me... (what, you want heaven on a plate?) Because they had the farm the WHOLE TIME... gar.
Louise Penny writes mysteries from her home in Canada. They're wonderful. She's created what she calls an idyllic village populated with people she'd be friends with, and since I want to move to southern Canada every time I read one of her books (ME. ME!), I think we'd get along and enjoy many savory cups of hot chocolate together while talking about how much we adore our husbands.
And now, Pearl Buck. I read the Good Earth many years ago and re-read it probably once a year-- it's not at all one of my kinds of books...instead, it's a gem, and unlike anything I've ever read. Probably why she got the Nobel. But now, I'm reading her autobiography, and the woman and I agree on so much!!! She's writing in the 1950s about local and seasonal eating, raw milk, the evils of technology, the virtues of community.... so naturally I find her extraordinarily wise. She also admits to being really happy making a house and gardening, and that she could not write until her surroundings were in harmony.
Always fun to read someone and go, me too!
But despite all my reading, I don't often come across authors that I recognize as kindred souls, as people I'd like to meet because we have stuff to talk about.
I can count three: Barbara Kingsolver, Louise Penny, and Pearl S. Buck.
I've always loved Kingsolver's fiction, but it wasn't until her essay book Small Wonder that I felt like I wanted to meet her....I think it was this line, "I do my best thinking looking out over a clean plank of earth"--- or something like that, I'm writing from memory, though the book is in the living room. Of course, why it took the woman nearly 20 years to move to a farm in southern Virginia from her adopted hometown of Tucson, I don't know. It brings out the handwaving in me... (what, you want heaven on a plate?) Because they had the farm the WHOLE TIME... gar.
Louise Penny writes mysteries from her home in Canada. They're wonderful. She's created what she calls an idyllic village populated with people she'd be friends with, and since I want to move to southern Canada every time I read one of her books (ME. ME!), I think we'd get along and enjoy many savory cups of hot chocolate together while talking about how much we adore our husbands.
And now, Pearl Buck. I read the Good Earth many years ago and re-read it probably once a year-- it's not at all one of my kinds of books...instead, it's a gem, and unlike anything I've ever read. Probably why she got the Nobel. But now, I'm reading her autobiography, and the woman and I agree on so much!!! She's writing in the 1950s about local and seasonal eating, raw milk, the evils of technology, the virtues of community.... so naturally I find her extraordinarily wise. She also admits to being really happy making a house and gardening, and that she could not write until her surroundings were in harmony.
Always fun to read someone and go, me too!
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
I spent the weekend and my free hands (since my mother-in-law was here!) working in the garden, shoveling up dirt and earthworms.
It was a blast.
Couple that with the long walk K. and I took solo-- sans bebe and dogs-- on Friday night before going to dinner ALL BY OURSELVES and it was an outdoorsy weekend, good for the soul and my back. Ain't nothing like shoveling for the back.
Sometimes I think living in town is pretty great. I can walk to the drugstore, the library, the post office. But give me a field and a big blue sky and the realization that no one can see me, and I remember why I want a farm of my own; it's exhilerating, rejvenating. Myabe someday I cna have a farm within walking distance of town.
That would be way cool.
In the mean time, I've got my bamboo-fenced plot of land, where I labor mightily over plants that will probably die. Given my history. (But this year it will be different! This year I have a SYSTEM, a PLAN, and it will be oh-so-GLORIOUS!)
Appropos of nothing, here's some baby pictures:
Annaliese is growing, growing, growing, and more fun every day. Tomorrow she gets shot up by the pediatrician. Pray for us.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
The bebe has been so awesome these last few days that K. and I think that our caterwauling fussy baby must have been swapped out in the night or something.
She was the belle at church yesterday; after sleeping through most of the service, she concluded the hour being awake and bright-eyed, strapped to her pap's chest in the church's foyer after worship, nodding and smiling to the crowd gathered around her. Many a fake nail stroked her cheek, and she loved it.
She watched Pirates of the Caribbean with K. in the afternoon, as I took a nap, and then hung in with us for an evening viewing of the Darjeeling Limited (which is fab. I recommend it. Though it sure does make India look...cleaner.)
And then she wound up her 9th week by sleeping by herself (meaning, not attached to me) until 3am. Rock ON.
K's back at work today...we miss him so when he's not here during the day. But the good news about Daylight Savings is that he can take a walk with all his girls in the evening after work and still savor this amazing day...blue skies, sixty-something degrees-- just perfect.
My weekly feature for the local paper is becoming a monthly feature, due to their budget concerns and the town's dwindling pool of interviewable people-- I've done one a week for the past year.
I'm trying to look at this as an opportunity, so I'll be writing some personal essays and the like and sending them off to magazines. Who knows, maybe this will end up being a good thing.
Novel #2 got its first rejection. It's not finished yet (still revising), but enough is done that I can send it out, ergo the rejection. Never fun, and it always gets under my skin more than I think it will.
So that's the Monday update. In-laws coming for their first-ever Mississippi-- and grandchild-- visit this week, so here's hoping Annaliese's angel streak continues.
She was the belle at church yesterday; after sleeping through most of the service, she concluded the hour being awake and bright-eyed, strapped to her pap's chest in the church's foyer after worship, nodding and smiling to the crowd gathered around her. Many a fake nail stroked her cheek, and she loved it.
She watched Pirates of the Caribbean with K. in the afternoon, as I took a nap, and then hung in with us for an evening viewing of the Darjeeling Limited (which is fab. I recommend it. Though it sure does make India look...cleaner.)
And then she wound up her 9th week by sleeping by herself (meaning, not attached to me) until 3am. Rock ON.
K's back at work today...we miss him so when he's not here during the day. But the good news about Daylight Savings is that he can take a walk with all his girls in the evening after work and still savor this amazing day...blue skies, sixty-something degrees-- just perfect.
My weekly feature for the local paper is becoming a monthly feature, due to their budget concerns and the town's dwindling pool of interviewable people-- I've done one a week for the past year.
I'm trying to look at this as an opportunity, so I'll be writing some personal essays and the like and sending them off to magazines. Who knows, maybe this will end up being a good thing.
Novel #2 got its first rejection. It's not finished yet (still revising), but enough is done that I can send it out, ergo the rejection. Never fun, and it always gets under my skin more than I think it will.
So that's the Monday update. In-laws coming for their first-ever Mississippi-- and grandchild-- visit this week, so here's hoping Annaliese's angel streak continues.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
On diapers
Annaliese is two months old!
As if to mark the occasion, she skipped her usual midnight feeding and slept solidly until 3am. Her papa and I appreciated it.
Many of you have asked about the cloth diapering thing. Here's our system:
baby in crib on uncovered wipe-down mattress
a basket full of cloth diapers-- the basic ones which are like squares, made from white cotton by Gerber, with absorbent centers
a few pull-up vinyl panties
and these.
Dirty diapers go off the bebe and straight into a 5-gallon bucket with a lid and some white vinegar on the bottom. When full, the pail is taken to the washer and its contents are run on hot water with heavy soil and extra rinse directions. We do this about every 3 days.
We bought our energy-efficient frontloader before I was even pregnant, but it sure has paid off. I can rest easy knowing we're using so much less water, and the diapers come out clean. Stained, but then we don't bother with bleach.
We put a disposable on at night so she doesn't sleep in a soaked diaper.
On day trips, we bring a plastic bag for used diapers.
That's it! Really pretty easy. If it was hard, I wouldn't be doing it; and our initial diaper investment was about $30-50; our only costs now are diaper cream and energy.
As if to mark the occasion, she skipped her usual midnight feeding and slept solidly until 3am. Her papa and I appreciated it.
Many of you have asked about the cloth diapering thing. Here's our system:
baby in crib on uncovered wipe-down mattress
a basket full of cloth diapers-- the basic ones which are like squares, made from white cotton by Gerber, with absorbent centers
a few pull-up vinyl panties
and these.
Dirty diapers go off the bebe and straight into a 5-gallon bucket with a lid and some white vinegar on the bottom. When full, the pail is taken to the washer and its contents are run on hot water with heavy soil and extra rinse directions. We do this about every 3 days.
We bought our energy-efficient frontloader before I was even pregnant, but it sure has paid off. I can rest easy knowing we're using so much less water, and the diapers come out clean. Stained, but then we don't bother with bleach.
We put a disposable on at night so she doesn't sleep in a soaked diaper.
On day trips, we bring a plastic bag for used diapers.
That's it! Really pretty easy. If it was hard, I wouldn't be doing it; and our initial diaper investment was about $30-50; our only costs now are diaper cream and energy.
Monday, March 03, 2008
Today my mother asked me if I've given up on blogging.
Au contraire. It's just that I'm trying to use my available typing time for the novel. Plus all I have to talk about is the bebe, anyway, and as superlative as she is, I'm kinda sure that's obnoxious.
But really guys, I got nothing else.
She's eight weeks old, and way more fun than she was. She still sleeps in our bed every night, and I'm usually awakened by her kicking me. Sometimes I wake up when she's sound asleep, and I'm so disconcerted that she doesn't need anything that I have to stop myself from messing with her.
I kind of love sleeping with her in our bed, actually, though I do look forward to her moving into the crib in a month or so. But I like knowing where she is, how she is, and the sight of her curled up next to me makes me feel like an ocean liner with a dingy floating adjacent.
K. dresses her more than I do, which is why she's in that purple outfit above half the time. He thinks it makes his girl look like a princess, and who am I to object?
We've had the next-kid conversation, which surprises me. Memories of labor really do fade fast. (But it'll be a while yet.)
Spring is coming to Mississippi. Since we live in a house with a certain lack of outdoor privacy, I'll be turning a small side porch into an outside nook where we can spend some private time outdoors. That and the garden I've planned should get us outside during the day, which will be fab; my husband loves me enough to let me do what I want with the veggie garden, so we are having...drumroll...a tomato garden.
Nothing but heirloom tomatoes. Forty seedlings are ordered, and I'm going to plant basil between them.
I'm seriously excited. I have this idea that maybe we'll sell our excess at the local farmer's market, since a vendor's permit is only $5 a week, and that way I can spend spring and summer toddling with my baby girl and hopefully my snooze-a-bed husband down under the magnolia tree, where we can sit next to the bed of the truck and sell beautiful Nebraska Weddings and Mr. Stripeys to our neighbors and friends.
Sounds fun, eh? What are y'all planning for spring?
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