A New Friend (and other, lesser news)

After nine long months, some really killer morning sickness, and a lot of hot and uncomfortable days my dear friend Kristen gave birth to a gorgeous baby boy! On August 11th at 7:01 in the morning, Thomas Preble made his grand entrance into the world, weighing 6 lbs 6 oz.

To Kristen and Daniel: thank you for sharing your son with me! It is a huge privilege to be part of your family's life.

To Baby Thomas: I love you, little one. Be good to your mom and dad! They are smart, wonderful people and for all you know they know what they're doing ;)









I was lucky enough to get to meet Thomas on the day he was born, thanks to my flexible work schedule (i.e. stay-at-home parenthood). That trip over to Seattle with Geneva was my first night away from Avery since she was born, and I was a bit apprehensive about how that would go. I know that I am the one taking care of her for most of the day, but the prospect of losing those couple of hours where Avery is in charge of her seemed really daunting. I suppose in the face of 22 "on call" hours in a day, those other two seem pretty crucial. But you know what? We did just fine. Mostly what I missed while I was gone, aside from getting to spend time with Avery, were my dear husband's navigational skills-- I got spectacularly lost on the way to the hospital, and with Geneva bawling in the back seat I was thinking she might have the right idea with throwing a fit. Fortunately we survived.

Other recent happenings include the planting of a new flower bed in our backyard, a lovely visit from Grandpa Robert and Melba, Geneva's new ability to ride forward-facing in her wrap, and the disappearance of our sweet kitty Milo. He has been gone for almost two weeks now and I'm beginning to think he might not come back. Today I made a huge stack of fliers to put up around the neighborhood, hoping someone will recognize him and call us. I really, really miss him.

Avery planting lavender in the new flower bed.

Melba

The Zoglmans

A funny face (or two).

Facing out!

My little buddy, the day before he ran away.

On a different subject, I have a new addiction: fabric. I'm finally learning how to sew and oh. my. goodness. I could spend a fortune on fabric-- even when I have absolutely nothing in mind for using it! I go to JoAnn's and pick through their quilting quarters, which for you non fabric store addicts are 18 inch squares of printed cotton for like a dollar fifty. It has gotten to the point where I've come home with a new stack of pretty fabric squares only to realize shoot, I already have this print. Mostly I've been making baby hats, which is not necessarily the most useful thing I could be churning out but does combine my love of babies and hats (and now fabric). Today I finished my first actual garment, minus the buttons: a blue polka-dot jumper for Geneva. It's actually pretty cute, but despite my intention to make it a little big on her it still somehow ended up quite snug. I'm going to have to let the seams out under the armpits so that she can, you know, inhale when she's wearing it. Even though my first foray into the world of homemade clothing was not entirely successfull-- we'll call it 80%-- my confidence is growing. Today I actually ventured away from the quilting quarters and started exploring different textures of fabric, including courduroy-- DROOL! I bought two yards which will either become overalls or a jacket, for Geneva of course. When I'm creating things for her my heart is just full to bursting.

On that note, here are a few more pictures of my favorite girl.

Transformation...

Despite the heat, our project these last few weeks has been to really get going on our yard's transformation. Although I know I'll never feel like our yard is "finished" since yards require ongoing upkeep (unless you go the lava rock route... heh), there are a few things we would like to have completed by this fall so that we can be ready in the spring. Mainly, we want to have most if not all of our new planting beds hacked out and planted, we'd like to have the shed and chicken coop constructed behind the garage, and we'd like to have the patio extension in place. Right now we're at that stage where there's no going back-- we've demolished the existing structure behind the garage and have hacked out some sod where the new beds will go-- but for the moment things look pretty gross. It's kind of fun, though, to be able to just rip stuff out if we don't like it and create something brand new, something that's ours. Ah, home ownership :)

Geneva has been a really good sport about all of this yardwork. Even in the stifling heat she will sit in her bouncy seat and watch the cat, or lay in her playpen and wave her arms around at the sky while we work on one project or another. I'm looking forward to cooler days when she can really enjoy, not just tolerate, the outdoors. Things are starting to ripen in the garden, and one of my favorite fantasies while I was pregnant was imagining myself picking vegetables with Geneva. Some dreams do come true, I guess! It's nice to know life works like that sometimes.

Anyway, here's a look at our rapidly transforming yard-- and daughter!

First Mortgage-Lifter Tomato

Future site of the chicken coop and toolshed

Our growing girl

I had to include this one, not because it's the cutest picture ever but because this face is so HER. She makes this serious expression when she's deciding whether to laugh or cry.

Couldn't get these pictures to post horizontally... bah!

The computer ate my long, awesome blog post, so here are some pictures instead.

Avery and Geneva at home.

In Greenlake during our chicken coop tour.

New haircut.

Jamaica had a busy day today. She cleaned up, did laundry, was acosted my Mormons, made a yummy lasagna, made another lasagna to freeze, and (oh yeah) mowed the lawn. In 100 degree heat. So it's not surprising our house looked like this right after dinner...

Just a day...

Geneva's belly button has healed, so today she got a big girl bath!







For the record, I don't know who she got her double butt crack from.



Reading The Tailor of Gloucester before going down for a nap.



Our beautiful girl wakes up.

On the Job

So technically this is my first week at my new job: staying home with the munchkin while Daddy brings home the bacon. It is amazing the difference I'm noticing between being in charge of Geneva while there are other people within shouting distance and being home alone with her all day! For the first time I'm really starting to feel the lack of sleep catching up with me. Also, there have been a couple of times where she manages to get worked up into a complete lather over something and it truly is a mystery to me why she's crying. I know this is what newborns DO, but I got spoiled these last few weeks by the fact that she only really fussed when she was hungry or wet or hot. The mystery shrieking really does a number on my patience-- not so much with her, but with other people. Fortunately it hasn't happened too much.

Mostly it has been wonderful to get to hang out with my girl all day! We don't really have a routine down yet, but I imagine that will come with time. I have decided that for this first week I won't try to accomplish more than three things each day (not counting meals and dishes) unless I happen to have an unforseen abundance of time and energy. Three errands/chores/activities is plenty to keep Geneva and me occupied during the brief interludes between feeding, diapering, changing in to non-spit covered clothes (that goes for both of us), etc. Yesterday we did laundry, planned the weekly menu and took a trip to Baron Farm near Harrah. So far today we have gone grocery shopping and worked on birth announcements. After dinner I'll be making brownies! It sure is a change of pace from my previous job, where I taught seven different groups of ELL kids each day. We just kind of go with the flow now, and spend lots of time cuddling and singing. No lesson plans! Of course, at my previous job I never had to pick poo out from under my fingernails at 2:30 in the morning, so it's a trade-off.

Geneva just keeps growing right before our very eyes. Everyone said she would, but it's one thing to know it and quite another to live it. When did three weeks become so grown up? And when did my helpless newborn child start doing things like swatting her toys with her hands, holding her whole torso up off of my chest and smiling? Today I tried to dress her in the outfit she wore at the hospital and-- gasp-- it didn't fit anymore. If I ever wonder if I made the right decision, staying home to take care of Geneva instead of going back to work, all I'll have to do is remember the day she grew out of her newborn onesie. I seriously wouldn't miss this for anything in the wide world.

And now for everyone's favorite part of the blog: pictures!

Picnic at Gasworks Park in celebration of Auntie Lex's participation in the Seattle Rock 'n Roll Marathon!

Thinking about smiling... maybe...

Playing with Mommy.

Visiting Jared and Leah in Seattle.

Geneva Lynn

The first week of the rest of our lives...

As of tomorrow, our little baby Geneva will be a week old. I'm already finding it difficult to remember what life was like before she was here! What did I do with my time before I had this beautiful creature to stare at, to feed and to cuddle? She has been so sweet and lovable, not fussy or nervous or anything. We're still getting to know her, but so far she loves sucking on her hands, reading stories with Daddy in the rocking chair, and listening to Bruce Springsteen. She hated her first bath but kind of liked her second. She can fit into her cloth diapers but not her diaper covers, so she only gets to wear those when she's home and we can keep an eye on any leaky situations. She sleeps most in the early hours of the morning, right about the time the birds start chirping, so that's when I get most of my sleep too. She makes a really spectacular grumpy face, but she's still the most gorgeous little girl I have ever, ever seen, and I love her to pieces.