Almost Crawling

This afternoon, Leo has started mastering tucking his legs underneath him.  He has started to go up on his elbows and even his hands.  I'm afraid we're going mobile soon!

First Father's Day

It was Father's Day a week ago but I can't seem to let it pass without writing.  It was Heber's first fathers day.  When Leo was born, I wasn't afraid.  I knew that Heb and I would be in it together and that I would always have support. 

Heber always tells me how happy he is to come home everyday.  He can't wait to see us.  Leo just makes him laugh.  He takes as much joy as I do in watching Leo grow and develop everyday.

Leo especially likes to watch Heb play the guitar.  Leo will sit in front of him and watch one hand then shift over and watch his other hand and back and forth with the biggest smile on his face.  

Heber is a hands on dad.  He gets in there and changes the poopy diapers, reads him stories and even wakes up in the night on weekends (which is a welcome relief for me).

Happy First Father's Day, Heb.  

Creating

There's something to be said about home made.  It seems so much more special to come up with an idea and see it come together.  I have always liked to create.  I did have to put it on hold for a bit to get through school but one of the things I've enjoyed about being a mother is having a bit more time to create.  I get excited about projects.

I think it goes all the way back to my childhood.  One of my most vivid memories is sitting on the stairs in my parent's house outside my mom's sewing room waiting for it to be my turn to design and sew a dress for my barbie.  My mom was always creating things.  She sewed beautiful clothes and toys for us.  She croched afghans and rugs and painted.

My Mom and Leo when he was a newborn.

My latest project is a dinosaur for Leo.  Our little guy loves tags - he will have a darling stuffed animal and will be examining the tag instead of the rest of the animal.  I didn't like any of the patterns out there, so I created a dinosaur that has tags and that is crinkly inside.  I don't consider myself a sewer but I like a simple project here and there.

Here's how it turned out:

 

Crazy

That's the word I'd use to describe the last couple of weeks.   We've been across the country and back, I became the mother of 5 for a few days and Leo has started teething (we think, I guess we'll find out soon). 

Last week with the passing of Heb's grandma, we quickly prepared for the trip to Northern California.  We cancelled our previous plans for the weekend, even Riverdance (so sad) and packed like crazy.  Leo was very good on the flights, I can't count the number of people who mentioned what a good/sweet/cute baby he was (that's my boy).  The three hour time difference was killer though. 

The weekend was spent saying goodbye to Grandma Minnie, hanging out at the pool, and eating together.  Oh, and I think that the cousins liked Leo because this is pretty much what they did all weekend.

One of the things that is the most difficult about living away is that Leo doesn't get to spend much time with his cousins, aunts and uncles and grandparents.  I had such a close family growing up that I really treasure the times that we get to spend together.

When we returned home, Emily had delivered her long awaited baby boy and the girls got to hang out with us for a few days.  They hung in the hammocks, made a welcome home poster and I braided a lot of hair.  The girls were mostly well behaved and I was even brave enough to take everyone grocery shopping.

We visited Emily at the hospital and I got to hold her little guy.  He weighed in at 9.2 and it reminded me of holding Leo as an infant (who was 9.4 as a newborn).  Often, when I hold newborns, they seems so gangly and light but not my Leo.  He was a good solid boy and it brought back some good memories to hold him.  I'm sure that he and Leo are going to be the best of pals when he grows up a bit.

 

With all of the hub bub lately, we got pretty tired.  Can you blame us?  It's at these times that I feel like I fall behind in everything.  The house gets messy, my emails remain unanswered and I have to drop all my projects.  It makes me wish for quiet days.  But deep down, I think I like the chaos (well, so long as I get a bit of sleep).     

Grandma Minnie

We went to a funeral this weekend in California.  Heb's Grandma U. passed away.   It was all rather whirlwind to book a flight, hotel and car and then making the cross-country journey.

Minnie was a remarkable woman in her late ninety's.  She went to college and earned a degree in a time when women did not go to college and even more incredible was that it was during the great depression.  I can only imagine the drive and dedication it took to complete that.  She worked as a teacher for many years, had two children and then retired with her husband Stan.  They traveled all over the world together.  It was amazing to see pictures of her travels.  The two of them are running around Istanbul, Mexico, on boats, in their trailer home.  I want to be like that.  I want a life filled with family and travel.  She was an avid seamstress and continued to sew right up to the end of her life.

 

I only met Grandma a few times but I was impressed with her honesty and also her love of Skip-bo.  During the weekend, we had the opportunity to go through some boxes of pictures that she had.  There were pictures from Heb's childhood.  I haven't seen too many so I jumped at the opportunity to see his sweet face as a child.

What struck me the most about the pictures was the puncture mark of a push pin.  Why would that be significant?  Well, to me it means that she hung it up, she looked at it, it was something that meant enough to her that she wanted it to be part of her daily life.  I am a big believer in bulletin boards.  All over our house you can see bulletin boards filled with pictures.  I want to be surrounded by the people and things that I love.  I want to look at them everyday and remember.  I think that's why the simple hole in a picture meant so much to me.  The most recent one with a hole was one of the first pictures of our new family - it was Heber, Leo and I at the hospital as brand new parents.  She had hung it up.  

That's how you know she really loved you.

Here's one of Heber's memories of his grandma:

Grandma and Grandpa would always play games with us. They introduced us to Skip-Bo, or Spite and Malice as is was called back in their day. I think Grandma probably liked to think of it as Spite and Malice instead of Skip-Bo because she sure knew how to play it that way. It was probably the only game I can remember that Grandpa couldn't cheat at so Grandma would make up for that by making sure she could cut you off in any way possible. When you'd get exasperated with her after she blocked your play and won the game, she would just quietly look over and stick out her long tongue at you. She was good at that game and she knew it. And she used her tongue to make sure you knew it too. 

I always thought it was very cool that she could touch her nose with that long tongue.

The Face

Last night we got to skype with our cousins in Japan who had just had a new baby. I watched her hold her baby for the first time and it brought so many emotions up in me.  I watched her face, you know, the mother face that is so full of love.  The face that tells the story of all the waiting and hoping to be a mother and sweet joy that the baby had finally come.

It made me remember the first time I held little Leo, how tired I was, how completely spent but so in awe of this new little life that was my son.  It made me forget the hours and hours of labor and being exhausted to the point that I almost had no more to give.  Instead, I thought about his dark head of hair and plump cheeks.  How I was so relieved that I had done it, had survived the birth process and had a sweet little boy to be part of our family.

In all of the daily life, the diapers, the waking up in the night, sometimes I forget that feeling but it always seems to rush back when he falls asleep on my shoulder or when he looks around to find me.

I don't ever want to forget.

Rocks and Mountains

The weather has been incredible lately.  The humidity seems to have taken a short hiatus and we are left basking in the 70 degree sunshine.  We got a phone call on Saturday from the Blake's to join them on an outdoor adventure and we couldn't help ourselves. 

We made our way up to Great Falls.  Who knew there was a waterfall here?   

 

Living in this metropolis area, I find myself missing being in the mountains and trees.  I think I took it for granted when we lived in Logan.  Whenever we wanted we could run up one of several canyons for a cookout or hike.  

The Crimson Trail, 2010

2010, Logan Canyon

Logan Canyon with the Hawks, 2009

The Wind Caves, 2006

In our canyon, Green Canyon, 2006

Now, the opportunities are few and I crave a good fire in the mountains.  To be away from life and in the quiet.  This trip felt a bit like home though.  Our life here is pretty hectic and traffic ridden, it was so nice to take a minute away and be in nature (even though there was still quite a crowd).  We did some hiking on the bank of the river and I just really enjoyed being out among the rocks and water.  I think it was good for my soul.   It's in those places I seem to think more clearly and put some issues into a different perspective. 

We ended the day with a trip to the Container Store (wow, that place merits a post of it's own) and a pork salad from the newly opened Cafe Rio.  Oh yeah.

Hands down, my new favorite picture of my two favorite guys.

And our sweet boy.  Just look at those cheekers.

The Mom Movie

I went to a movie today, "What to Expect When You're Expecting."  Leo and I trekked all the way down to Tysons Corner to meet up with some friends to see the movie.  Now, this is not just a regular showing.  Oh no, this is a mama movie.  At this movie, the lights are dim but on, the movie is quieter and there are strollers everywhere!  There were traffic jams of strollers of people trying to get through.  Lining every possible space were rows and rows of strollers.

I'm telling you, it was mayhem.  This is the kind of showing where it is perfectly acceptable if your baby is crying, and believe me, the baby next to us woke Leo with her crying.  It's funny though, how you tune out all the extra noise.  You can nurse with no thought or worry of what other people think.  There were moms bouncing babies in the aisles, fussing little ones, babies standing and tapping me on the shoulder and of course me and Leo. 

Somewhere in the middle I thought, well, this is my life, here at the mom movie.  These are my people and this is exactly what I'm doing right now.  It's a whole new life, new friends and social groups and new worries.  I'm a playgroup attending, mom movie go-er.

I think I'm feeling a lot more confident as a mom.  As the months go by, I learn more and more about what to do and what not to worry about.  Perhaps I'm fitting into this world a little better.   Just think, two summers ago I was with the blue haired crowd at the Noon Musics and now I'm with the bald head crowd.  Quite a change.

The Jewelry Boutique

Last week I did something I have never done before...I sold my jewelry.  It seems like lately, I've been doing a lot more with jewelry and that opportunities keep popping up.  I participated in a spring boutique with 2 other sales people.  I don't really consider myself a home-based sales person, so it was definitely out of my comfort zone but I felt like it turned out ok.

I think it was a bit nerve racking for me because it's uncomfortable for others to make the judgement on items that you have put so much effort into.  People seemed to like it, which was validating for me.  Although, the things I was sure would sell didn't and the ones I wasn't sure about sold.

I'm not sure if I'll do this again but it was a good experience to get some feedback.  Here's how it all turned out with pictures of some of the projects.

The Display

Earrings made with my flameworked beads.  I actually have quite a few of these still in stock.  I don't want to solicit but if you'd like a pair, they're $9.

Some of the earrings

A knotted necklace.  The picture isn't really true to the colors.  It was a really pretty coral color with the white.

A knotted necklace with one of the hollow beads that I made on the torch.  This one didn't sell.  Can you believe that?

Vibrant pink beads with one of my hollows.

A Buddy...

I have a little buddy who looks at me all day long.

When I go to pick him up after he's woken up from a nap....

 When we're working in the office....

 When I'm making dinner and he's hanging out in the exersaucer....

 When he's enjoying some peas, like he's been known to do lately.....

 When he's rolling or sitting on the floor....

 When we're hanging out in the mornings....

 And even when he's having fun with dad, there are a few glances my way.

 It's pretty much the best thing in the world.  There is nothing better than a little face looking up into mine.  I love him so.