Weekend by iPhone

Last weekend as a family of three?

On Friday evening C and I went to a fabulous birthday party with entertainment by the fabulous Lucas Jack/Mike Gomez duo. C was in heaven - there were wiffle balls and inflatable balls of all sizes, all ready to be corralled and thrown in the baby pool, fished out, and thrown in again. (She is obsessed with 'baws').

Intrusive fan

 

 

On Saturday I finally did something nest-y or paid someone to do something nest-y - had the car detailed. It felt so good to have the interior stripped of its film of licorice bites, Diet Coke, diet cherry limeade, splashes of breastmilk and formula, matted hair, sunscreen residue, general detritus and debris. Oh yeah, it was nasty.

[Second nest-y thing will be moving the contents of the '0-3 month baby girl' box into the dresser drawer. (Meanwhile Becky is doing all sorts of exciting things to construct a new nursery - girl, you have a vision and you have a lot of energy).]

We had to wile away a couple of hours while the car was in the shop so we walked across the parking lot to the brand new Burger King where we had the playplace and its age-appropriate slide to ourselves for an hour.

In fact, it was so nice C and I went back the next morning. There are almost no air conditioned play places in San Antonio and this one is 1.5 miles from our house, the slide faces a couch where I could ensconce myself, and the very nice employees bring your order to the playplace. (Sausage and pancake meal, $3.39, one pancake for her, two for me, I'll take it).

Luke played a gig in Houston on Saturday night and arrived home at 5 am -- I hustled C out of the house as fast and quietly as I could so he could sleep. This may be the last of our Weekend Mornings in Exile because one baby is easy enough to get of the house, two seems impossible.

BK slide

2014: A Playplace Odyssey

OB appointment this morning was good -- baby girl weighs about 7 lb. She should be here soon! Have a great week, all.

Happy Anniversary

Happy Three Year Anniversary To My Husband!

You are the reason I cannot listen to "Time in a Bottle" without becoming completely verklempt.

I simply adore you.

(And, of the thirty-six months we've been married, I've been pregnant twenty of them. Good work.)

Year One; Year Two

26/52 (Halfway!)

Second haircut.

 

Expressions of resignation. Followed by wild pointing at the jar of animal crackers.

 

A portrait of my child, once a week, [not quite] every week, in 2014.

Big Fat Done

Big.

 

Fat.

 

Done.

 

 

 

Describes my habitus and overall mental state here at 37 weeks, officially full term.  I haven't chronicled very much about it because this pregnancy has not been without its anxieties (to be detailed later), but also because it's just been much more difficult than the first time around -- probably 80% chasing a toddler, 10% the heat, and 10% not staying as fit as I would have liked. Luke has been working even more than usual and I'd grown used to sharing more of the childcare with him, egalitarian millennials that we are -- I'm feeling particularly worn out these days.

 

Grouse grouse grouse. I am now working half days on my OB's advice which is GREAT because I feel exhausted, sitting in an office chair is killing my back, and an afternoon nap (while C is still at daycare) or reading in bed with my legs up are about the greatest luxury I can imagine at the moment. A glance at the mini-crib set up beside the bed reminds me that while this time is uncomfortable, it is swiftly drawing to a close.

 

With C's birth I spent a lot of time wondering about the delivery itself -- what would it be like? Fast? Slow? Just how painful? Walking the hospital corridors for hours? Now I am preoccupied with the timing of labor, getting family into town, and calling in the troops (thanks Doris!) to watch Clem while we go to the hospital.  Poor Baby 2... not even born yet and I am still thinking more about the older child.

 

That's where we are now -- first name chosen, middle name candidates lined up, mini-crib/newborn diapers pre-positioned. Tonight/tomorrow I will pack a bag for the hospital (overdue -- as you can see there is much deep-seated complacency and denial at play here).

 

I remember my mom saying a long time ago that at some point 'you just want your body back' and in light of this happening prenatally, Baby 2's shot at more than a month or two of breastfeeding is diminishing rapidly (sorry, 2). My lists of the things I want to do or return to, when I examine them, are an expression of wanting both my body and my time back -- perhaps a drawback to having children later in life, when one is accustomed to one's own schedule and can remember the delicious freedom of no responsibility for the care of another.

 

These things, starting with the very doable, include:

 

An on-the-rocks margarita from Urban Taco and a frozen prickly pear margarita from La Gloria

 

Lie on my stomach

Myriad other body stuff that I won't describe here but just know normal is better than pregnant, mmm k? 

 

The 3 mile run/yoga class/milkshakes-at-Olmos-Bharmacy combo event held by Alamo 180 the third Thursday of each month. (This would take a week of planning and $40 for the babysitter -- and so I can run? Sometimes I don't even recognize myself.)

 

Ceramics class at Sunin Studio

 

Reading the very long Goldfinch and The Novel: A Biography

 

Learning the basic photography skills I mention at least every fourth blog post

 

And then of course is the light-speed-approaching What Happens After the Air Force, a life-event looming so large sometimes I can't see the edges of it and I lose sight of it completely.

 

Again, grouse grouse grouse. I have the same amount of time as everyone else, a full time job like most people, and a more supportive spouse than most women have. I am so lucky but at the moment, so tired... through all this diversionary and escapist thinking, and the fatigue, and the worry, I am so excited to get this little girl earthside and meet her! In the meantime, we stock up on frozen food... and wait.

 

Olmos Bharmacy

Josh Huskin took some fam/bump pics at Olmos Bharmacy last month. (Call him, he's awesome!)

How cute are these people I live with?!

pretty much our family dynamic: these two gazing adoringly at each other, mom wayyyyyyy over there

Clementine Wearing a Hat with Her Back Turned

A phone photo essay, Father's Day 2014, San Antonio Botanical Garden. Just the two of us, garden staff, and people taking wedding and quinceanera photos.





Now, we nap!

Happy Friday!

Have a great weekend! We are getting ready for a baby who may arrive sooner rather than later (putting sheet on mini crib - unfolding some tiny clothes - buying new pajamas to live in - waiting)  and thinking of fun things to do while Luke plays a couple of gigs. We might check out this burger place with an astroturfed play area or take refuge in the air conditioning of The Fancy Mall. (Forecast: mid 90s).

Some good stuff from around the webs and not-webs:

Body confidence, thy name is this woman

 Typography wars! If you watched Helvetica, you will recognize these partners turned foes.

I never particularly want to see a movie in the theater but I really want to see Maleficent! (Luke: That's weird.) Maybe next Friday during the Y's Parents' Night Out = $20 Babysitting.

Are you following @youdidnoteatthat on Instagram? Hilarious.

Intrigued by the Cooking Light Diet plan, a semi-customizable list of menus for $3.75/week, 'cause mama has her work cut out for her after this baby comes. I have a lot of healthy cookbooks but a plan that uses ingredients from one meal to the next (like the Fresh 20) to reduce waste would be very helpful. I have been most successful recently just roasting a couple of pork tenderloins, zapping some frozen quinoa and steamable veggies, and stashing these little meals in the fridge. Luke drowns his in Sriracha (aka Julie repellent) and I squeeze on a little Sweet Baby Ray's and for about 15 minutes of hands-on time and less than $3 a serving, we are eating healthier than before.

Happy Father's Day! Take us out, Jimmy Fallon and Gov. Christie:

Taking Stock / JUNE

Making :  a commitment to print more photos so they aren't stuck in the computer, unviewed, forever.
Cooking : Not cooking. Sliced avocados + salt, bowls of raspberries, goat cheese + reduced sugar Craisins + cherry balsamic dressing + greens
Drinking : splashes of cold brew concentrate in chocolate milk. (from the ATK DIY cookbook: stir 3.5 cups room temperature water and 3.5 cups/9 oz ground coffee in a French press. Wait 10 minutes and stir again; cover with plastic wrap and leave on counter for 24 hours. Press and strain through coffee filter over fine mesh strainer. Chill and dilute as desired.)
Reading : a high-low mix of magazines.
Wanting :  to live in a high rise condo surrounded by concrete, big windows, and artfully draped sheepskins.
Looking : for a reason to buy a grill pan. Would I use it?
Playing : a lot of hide and seek. Exclusively as the seeker.
Wasting : time on my phone. Need to cut back.
Wishing : the summer heat would not affect my emotional well-being so. It's SAD in reverse.
Enjoying : Orange is the New Black. Two episodes in and the writing is even better than last season.
Waiting: to find out if I will lose it a little, a lot, or completely as a mother of 2 under 2.
Liking : this maxi dress.
Wondering : why all Craisins aren't reduced sugar, they taste exactly the same.
Loving : my little family.
Hoping : for a labor and delivery that proceeds exactly as before (show up at 5 cm, get an epidural, wait a couple of hours, push 4 times. BAM. All credit goes to my labor coach.)
Marveling : at my own optimism in this weekend's purchase of a retro Lands End suit and matching rash guard
Needing : to get organized, stat.
Smelling : like sunscreen.
Wearing : trusty Teva Zirra sandals.
Following : my instincts regarding 'it's all going to be ok'.
Noticing : the edema in my calves. SWELL, I thought. And then had to smile at the terrible pun.
Knowing : I'm one lucky gal.
Thinking : of completing the 180 fitness challenge at Alamo 180 in the fall; 6 classes a week for 8 weeks!
Feeling : like everyone else's pregnancy flies by and your own goes sloooooooooowly (see also, Knowing)
Bookmarking : The Creative Action Network for cool and affordable artwork
Giggling : about this quote from Confederacy of Dunces that popped into my head the other day.

“So we see that even when Fortuna spins us downward, the wheel sometimes halts for a moment and we find ourselves in a good, small cycle within a larger bad cycle. The universe, of course, is based upon the principle of the circle within the circle. At the moment, I am in an inner circle. Of course, smaller circles within this circle are also possible.”  

(Taking Stock modified and ripped from here and here)

 

Vacation Megapost II

The rest of our Michigan days! As I am unable to edit photos either in terms of quality or number (love them all!), get ready to scroll.

The band was rehearsing for the show in Grand Rapids so we headed to beautiful, shady, near-deserted Binder Park Zoo for Thursday afternoon. (Life in San Antonio has increased my appreciation of shade and verdancy a hundredfold).


Consulting the map.

Interested in but unimpressed by the giraffe.

 Zebras and giraffes out there, I promise.

This photo is so sweet.

Amy and Joel made a quick visit to see us and finalize wedding plans -- see you next May, lovebirds!

I had a little quiet time in the house and caught up on some podcasts while curled in a cozy perch (vantage point of photo below) or walking on the treadmill.

Maya Angelou on Fresh Air, 1986 (if you have 14 minutes, you must listen)
Edward St. Aubyn on Fresh Air (I only recently became aware of this author and can't wait to read his books)
Always fave Louis CK on Fresh Air
Jack White interview with Bob Boilen on All Songs Considered
Medical ethicist Barron Lerner on the now-unethical paternalistic practices of his physician father, on Fresh Air (for anyone interested in medical ethics, this is really fascinating)

Skip to Sunday at Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids. This was sensational! (If you're going to be in the area - Laura! - you must go if you haven't been). C enjoyed the children's garden and I would love to go back for a long walk through the sculpture park. The gardens host a summer concert series; the sound check for Carlos Santana was going on throughout our visit (guitar wailing, slow drumbeats bam! bam! bam!)

From the tram tour of the sculpture park.

She was shouting at this horse in the Michigan farm area of the park.

 And babbling to the bronze pig sculpture in this enclosure.

 Back to Friday, our day at the lakeshore in South Haven. We had a picnic lunch at a playground in sight of the beach and strolled to a grassy lawn.

Baby Ezra who is not even three months and so social and smiley!

Baby Graham, six weeks.

 Sweet sisters.

 Cousins on swings.

The new mama!

Some lessons to be learned here: wear solid colors, wear blush.

 Aunt and nephew.

 Tied for favorite photo of the vacation.

Co-winner, favorite photo.

 The other new mama!

 Treats at South Haven's version of ice cream social summer destination Ted Drewes.

An evening visit to Dan and Kristin's lake cottage.

 Blondes at dusk.

PURE MICHIGAN.

Miscellaneous, because I like them:

Lucas Jack Band at the Gramophone on the very spot we wed.

Handsome husband.

South Haven beach.

Leading her back to the group.

We had a great time! Thanks to everybody for spending time with us, giving me toddler-watch duty breaks for pedicures and prenatal massages, and suggesting we have Erbelli's not once but twice! (Erbelli's is really great, best-ever? pizza).