things we know (so far) about baby ruby, on her two week birthday

:: she loves to be cuddled on a warm chest ::

:: she likes to tuck her bottom lip in under her top lip ::

:: she has either blonde or brown or a hint of red hair (it changes color with the light) and baby blue eyes that we aren't sure will stick ::  

:: she doesn't want to stay a minute in a dirty diaper ::

:: she really likes to sleep, 4-6 hours at a time ::

:: and she likes to be in the car, but *only* if it is moving ::

:: noisy brothers don't even phase her ::

:: she is not a very needy nurser :: 

:: and so far, seems pretty mellow ::

:: she is squeaky ::

:: and her cries sound like a baby lamb ::

:: and she is really into warm herbal baths with her mama ::

happy easter!

(thanks to unica for surprising me by making our family photo a little more exciting at the very last minute)

it's a girl!

she's here. and we are amazed.

she was born peacefully, in the water and surrounded by love on april 14th.

her name is ruby sue.

much more later, after we settle in as a family of four.

40 weeks

here i am today, at almost 41 weeks.  no baby yet.  i am still super comfortable and feel like i could be pregnant for awhile still.  but i think maybe it's because i just love being pregnant?  i was feeling nostalgic and looked back on this post and this post from 2 years ago.   i'm not at the point of worrying at all but i am hoping that we won't have to do anything to induce labor and that i'll get to see what natural contractions and laboring at home and deciding when to call the birth center feels like.  and it would be nice to have this little one come while bill and ann are here, instead of after.  i think that maybe (?) the baby has dropped since i can breathe a little easier and i feel like my shape has changed a little.

 today the sun is all of a sudden shining after days of rain and it is 80 degrees and we spent most of the day outdoors.  luke and bill cleaned up the garage and now luke is posting our old junk on craigslist (my favorites of his posts are here, here, and here but i've heard there is another one coming soon featuring our neighbor).  mateo is napping and unica is napping and i am done blogging and the wind chimes are moving.  i think it is time to rest.

this week

this week, there has been a lot of book reading in the sun

luke's mom and step dad arrived and have been doing amazing things for us: cooking, cleaning, yard work, mateo-watching

 i have run countless errands on my own (a total luxury!)

and luke and i have been on two dates - a birthday one and a soup spoon brunch one and there is talk of an ice cream one tonight

mateo has fallen completely in love with his grandma and grandpa, and takes naps and eats food and plays without any complaint for them.

we were given the super generous gift of a new mattress (!) and went shopping for it.  luke was a strong bargain-er and got $600 off the asking price.

luke has been writing and feeling good about his dissertation (but still has lots of work ahead of him)

i have taken a few hours to post every single last photo i care about in this space. :)

some of the 100 tulips and other bulbs i planted last fall are peeking up through the soil

we made 6 pizzas in one night - pesto, bbq chicken, and white, half with gluten free crust and half with whole wheat

this baby hasn't come yet, but we've been having a good time waiting

lovely little things

friends have been so extra good to me lately.  they have given me so many lovely little things to savor and enjoy - beautiful candles and luxury oils and teas and balms and butters.  burts bees and earth mama angel baby and lush.  i have this habit of not using things because it makes me so happy just to look at them all together.  so this time i took a photo, and hopefully now i won't be afraid to use them.

more mateo

some more of mateo, because i don't want them to get lost in the thousands of photos on our comps.

the first two are from the fun-with-packaging day with luke.

he had forgotten the fun of being barefoot since winter arrived and used to cry when i'd have him walk from his room to the bath with no socks.  until he ran around with leaf one afternoon who took his own shoes and socks off.  all of a sudden, bare feet are mateo's new fave.

 

this last photo is dear to me.  somehow since it got warmer (enough to play a little outside), he's chosen a favorite spot to sit on our stairs.  this is the very same spot where i would always sit, waiting for him to be ready to be born. 

on his own

art tuesdays: grand rapids childrens museum and grand rapids art museum

 we had to slow down the art tuesday schedule when we had some budget issues, but a few weeks ago mateo and i decided that we were losing our window for more excursions before more little ones and moves out of state, so we got in the car and drove an hour to grand rapids.  the plan:  first hit up the grand rapids children's museum (and hopefully tire him out), have lunch, and then check out the grand rapids art museum (while he'd hopefully nap in the stroller). one for him, one for me.

the first part of the day was perfect - we both loved the children's museum and played and played.  there were sand boxes and mini grocery stores and mini banks and post offices to pretend in.

we rolled in ball pits and played in cars.  there was a kaleidoscope to walk through and giant light brights.

the fun made up for the exorbitant entry fee of $7 per child and $7 per adult.  is it just me or does that seem like a lot?  it is a lot for us, anyway.  but it was a super fun way to spend a morning when being outside is way too cold.

a few hours after we'd arrived the buses pulled up and loads of school children ran through the place.  it made it harder for mateo to get around, but then he got a bit bolder and started keeping up with them.  he was so proud to play with the two pictured below.  plus we all spoke spanish.  :)

we left around lunchtime and walked around downtown looking for a lunch spot.  mateo went crazy in front of a gourmet hot dog restaurant so we tried it.  he's never really had a hot dog, and didn't end up eating the one i bought him.  but i think he liked making the lunch spot decision.

later we walked across the street to the art museum where i was so happy to realize it was their "free admission afternoon".  mateo didn't follow the entire plan -  he did get tired out from the morning but instead of sleeping while i peacefully perused the galleries, he cried and wanted out of the stroller.  at one point i tried "remember, you told your papi you'd be so good today?!" and from that moment on he wailed and wailed "papiiiiiiiiii!" through tears echoing through the entire museum.  it wasn't as relaxing as i'd imagined... but we (i?) still had fun.  we didn't stay very long.

this was the only photo i took of the two of us.  despite the craziness of the afternoon at the gram, i think it was another art tuesday success.  hopefully we can do a few more before we move when i get used to traveling with two.  oooh, maybe my wonderful husband could go with us???

at 23 months mateo

 :: sighs and says lightly under his breath "oh mami" the way we would say "oh boy" ::

:: still gets comments every single day on his red hair and/or blue eyes ::

:: says his first three syllable word: almohada (pillow, in spanish) ::
:: has learned to say "peas" for please, and uses it for "i want, give it to me, please, etc" - we hear it all day long in all sorts of levels of desperation ::

 

:: still reads books all day long - definitely his favorite thing to do ::

:: says "hi!" to everyone and anyone, including homeless people on the street and makes them smile ::

:: shouts "nuts!" whenever we ask what he wants to snack on ::
:: says "i love you mami" and "happy mami" ::

:: has way less tantrums since spending more time with his papi ::

:: talks and kisses and sings "lalala" to the baby in my belly without prompting ::

:: loves that his grandpa and grandma (he calls both by the name "ah ha!") are here and has learned to clap and say "amen!" after a prayer from them ::

:: still doesn't drink from any sippy cup or straw ::

:: loves to eat avocados and pan (bread) and cheese ::

:: learned to say the word "meat!" from a book and now shouts "meat!  meat!" all over town ::

:: points and shouts "foof!" at every car that looks like his friend leaf's mom's car ::

:: asks us to sing "you are my sunshine" each night ::

:: has jumped out of his crib, twice now ::
:: loves, loves, loves showering with his papi (all you hear is giggling) ::

thanks to luke for taking these photos while i was away one afternoon.  i was so happily surprised to see them.

the beads

i thought this could be the post showing my finished necklace, but since taking these last week i've received a few more in the mail.  i love them all, and i will have to post again the even-more-updated-version.  

a far-out birthday

it started with the famous yard sign, that i used last year for luke and then our neighbors used a few times, and now it came back to me.  lovely.  :)  we had an appointment first thing at the birth center (40 weeks and everything looks good, no signs of labor).  then we dropped mateo off at home with luke's mom and step dad who had just arrived and generously offered to watch mateo while luke and i went on a birthday date.  we stopped off at sparty's to get a free birthday coffee and then went to the antique district in mason.  kind of an odd activity for us, but it is somewhere we'd never been together and something we can't do with little ones, so it seemed exciting.

we looked for some old glass bottles or vintage pyrex or pretty tablecloths (like yours, amanda) but only purchased one thing: a small vintage art/cooking apron for mateo.  it was so perfectly his style and so perfectly $3.

we had super gourmet deli sandwiches at this really great wine and cheese shop in the downtown square.  we sat by the window and were able to really talk and actually finish sentences!  it was nice.  and we did the annual "let's list all the april 5ths we've spent together in the past 9 years" and only forgot one.

 here's mateo, who loved the new apron, and who is also wearing my shoes.  

we came back home and spent time with ann and bill, then the 5 of us went out to the red cedar grill in williamston.  it was our first time there, and yummy.

usually i'm crazy about homemade cakes, but this year i had this weird craving for a dairy queen ice cream cake.  odd, i know, but i think it is maybe because i am so warm all the time?  i just had one special request to luke:  that it not say the typical "happy birthday pam" that all cakes say.  i was excited to see what he'd come up with, and i laughed when i read the ina-may language.  :)  we ate and opened cards and gifts.  all in all, a beautiful day.

the most beautiful meal

our lovely neighbor friends across the street (who let our family use their house during holidays, took care of unica when we were away, and started knit nights with us!) made us the most beautiful meal.  we enjoyed it on monday night, our last night as a family of 3 (4 with unica) before our in laws arrived and before our baby comes.  it was incredible!  (locro stew with sofrito topping with scallion and lime for garnish, plus a parmesan focaccia bread and local greens from their farm and homemade balsamic vinaigrette, if you are wondering).  and it all came in a sweet bag full of mason jars.  one of the best meals of our life, for sure.

still the best of friends

meg and i took the boys to a local tea house and pretended they weren't running around causing trouble (emptying board games, crawling into cubby holes, pulling down curtains!) while we enjoyed some tea and caught up.  it was nice.  and they had so much fun.

he bounces with me

our neighbor gifted mateo with a new bouncy blue ball.  instead of throwing it, he likes to do exactly what i do with my yoga ball.

no new baby, so i've decided to spend the next hour catching up.  :)

we heart ina may

there is a lot of ina may talk in our house these days.  ina may gaskin is known as one of the mothers of authentic midwifery. she started practicing in the 1960s in a 300 person bus caravan delivering babies in school buses that traveled around the country, and soon after helped found what is now known as the farm, in summertown, tennessee.  the farm was known (and is still known) for it's super low medical intervention rates and people travel from all over the world to give birth there, among other things. 

i picked up her guide to childbirth book last month and couldn't put it down.  the first half is full of natural birth stories, and the second is filled with practical advice, like how to avoid unnecessary medical interventions.  her book really helped me work through my labor fears and feel excited to experience childbirth once again.  luke was a little surprised at my quick change in perspective.  now he is reading it (and taking notes!) and i am halfway through her first book, spriritual midwifery.  this one, too, is full of birth stories, but all from the early farm days.  i love the language used (labors are often described as "psychedelic" and "far out") and i love the photos that go along with them where all the women have long hair and braids and flowery dresses and the men have super long beards.  after every story i say to luke "why can't we have lived there then!?", "i want to live in a school bus!" or "could you grow a beard like this?".  and we've been trying to bring the words "psychedelic" etc into our vocabulary.
i've also really enjoyed birthing from within, which i think i've heard described as "the birth art book".  it's lovely.  all three are extremely different and way more my style than the books i read during my first pregnancy (more mainstream ones like what to expect and belly laughs). 

also: yesterday was my birthday and this little one's due date.  no baby yet.  :)