Holiday Catch Up

Well!  Its been awhile, hasn't it?  I have little excuse, other than we celebrated the Holidays, and in the midst of it all, I had a baby!  Finally!  It was a beautiful home birth with our beloved midwives (who also delivered big brother).  We couldn't be happier.  

I have so many things I plan to write about, but for now i am still learning how to juggle everything plus newborn babe, so I will just share with you some of my favorite pictures from the past couple weeks.  I promise to be back in this space more regularly from now on.  xox

 1.  Late night self-portrait:  This little one is always catching a ride/nap.  I can't get enough of those sleeping baby noises.

 2.  Big brother got a train set for Christmas.  

 3.  After his bath and massage.  I discovered infant massage after his big brother was born, and have been a devotee ever since.  

 4.  My midwife brought me roses.  She is so amazing.  I am quite in love.

 5.  I love Holiday lights.  I tend to keep them up all year.

 6.  This boy has been a trooper.  I'm trying to do right by him by getting him outdoors as much as possible.  

 7.  He got a new drum for Christmas.  If I were to make a prediction, I'd say this kid will be a drummer.  

 8.  Our little tree.  

 9.  Merry X-mas.  I hope that yours was merry and bright.

 10.  We spend quite a bit of time gazing at the tree as we walk to soothe this newborn baby's belly.

 11.  This little guy has stolen our hearts.

 12.  The sweetest brothers.

 13.  My husband and I are both half Jewish.  Lucky kids!

14.  Hanuka blessings.  A festival of lights.

And a Happy New Year to you all.  May you have a safe and happy 2014!

Daddy knows best

With all of the pregnancy and childbirth excitement and hubbub going on around here, (no baby yet, but  still more preparations and excitement, and nerves), it can be easy to overlook a lot of things.  Namely, the invaluable presence, patience, guidance, hard work, love and support of a much beloved Daddy. 

He and I met and had kids a bit, well, unexpectedly.  We've been through our full share of hard knocks and painful lessons in the process of becoming a family together (I'm sure we'll go through more).  But this man is a creative, highly intelligent, sensitive, and compassionate rock.  One of the biggest surprises for me was that through all the cliches and mysteries of motherhood, I have come to value his insights and intuitions just as much, and often times more than my own.  We make a good team, and I feel confident these days about what I contribute as a partner and as a parent, and a lot of that is due to the times I am able to shut-up my own ego, and listen to him.  He knows things about parenting and life that I never ever could have fathomed.  He knows how to comfort, guide, and discipline with an ease and grace that I am quite in awe of.  I feel proud, and extremely lucky.  My kids are extremely lucky.  I am happy to say, that most of the time, this Daddy knows best.

In general I consider myself a bit of a Dad conessuer.  My amazing-Dad-radar is keen, and a many of my dearest friends also happen to be incredible fathers.  Hardly surprising.  I think its biologically hard wired, and has little to do with sex, or sexual preference.  I mean, what woman (or man) isn't in awe of (and a bit in love with) a obviously really good Dad?  

I was really lucky too.  I had an incredibly awesome father.  

Willie-Dad:

 I wish he was here today.

I find that my its own ego gets in the way so often of letting me be truly thankful and appreciative of the good men in my life.  I have so much to learn.   Let us women love and appreciate the heck out of the really good Daddies, and teach our boys (and girls), by doing so, how to be amazing Dads (and Moms).

I had to get that out.  Thanks.  Perhaps it is the holiday of Thankfulness that is right around the corner. Wishing you and your family a very wonderful, yummy, and thankful Thanksgiving.

Favorite things

Well, I'm still waiting, as you can see, but now I am knitting too!  I've always found that I enjoy knitting, but not only for the end product.  I also enjoy it for the mind-numbing repetition (the way I like to knit anyway) that somehow clears the gunky anxiety from my mind and replaces it with the nice, slow chuga-chuga of a steadily moving train.

And this picture does not, I think, do this belly justice.  My mister says you could store things on the top of it, and take shelter from the rain underneath.  He's just barely joking.  I keep telling myself; any day now.....

In the meantime, I thought I'd share with you some more of the Internet-y things that I'm most enjoying right now.  The Internet is such a strange place.  I find myself getting lost in it so easily.  Be sure to take a break periodically.  Go outside.  Pick up some flowers.  Doctor's orders.

blogs:
I love this blog.  Such beautiful pictures. Such adorable mind-candy- Bleubird Vintage

This one is delightful, and strangely comforting, even though I think she is slightly nuts (in the lovable way)- Soulemama

She makes me want to bake.  Sinful, sinful desserts- The Vanilla Bean


Recipes:
We've been eating a lot of persimmons this time of year.  How about you?  I have been mulling over recipes, and I am thinking I will try this- Persimmon gingerbread.

Or perhaps this.  Or THIS.  Hmmm, considering my sweet tooth, and the current size of my baby bump, maybe I should search for some savory recipes.....


Anyway.  Happy Sunday evening y'all.  And happy Internet hunting.  I hope this week is a smooth, pleasant one for you.

And we're waiting.......

and waiting..... and waiting, for a baby.  Any day now.  Its a strange time.  Lots of nervousness, and excitement, and anticipation.  For some reason its been difficult to really get into anything, although there is lots to do.  I am starting to feel that end-of-pregnancy fatigue.  

My Mom has been here helping out, which is amazing.  especially for my kid.  He loves his Oma to the moon and back, and it is so sweet to watch him learn from her and play with her.  

We are all a bit tired lately........

I'm happy for him that he has a loving 'distraction' from his tired, sometimes grumpy Mommy, but I find myself missing him, and anticipating the change of a new sibling.  I was raised an only child, so I think I have very little instinct for how these "new sibling adjustment times" go.  I love to worry, but I'm also sure it will be fine.  Hectic, but just fine.

...... and especially prone to zoning out at dinner,

........ or while flipping through our favorite magazine (National Geographic).  

So how does one distract oneself and stay inspired while waiting for a baby?  I am sorry to say my friends, the answer is Pinterest, at least for this tired mama.  I am a latecomer to this highly awesome/addictive Internet thing, but oh boy!  Follow me on pinterest if your so inclined.

I hope your weekend is a delightful one.

Foggy foggy fog

I am just now starting to emerge from the fog.  Its been a doozy, this cold.  I was just bragging the other day about how I had not been sick for years, and then wham! it hit me.  I have been loading up on vitamin C, Sambucus, and the Mister's Amazing Lemon Smoothies.

Equipement: 
Blender
Knife

Ingredients:
1 large lemon, with seeds, peeled
1/4 cup frozen cherries
1/4 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup grape juice
1/2 cup green tea (decaf )

Blend ingredients in blender.  The smoothie is a chunky one, and better eaten with a spoon. Drink right away.  Make as often as possible.  I prefer to add the green tea when it is hot so that the smoothie isn't quite so cold.  But if a warm smoothie does not sound appealing to you, then chill the green tea first in the fridge.  


I feel much better now.  My face still feels like it got hit by a baseball bat (sinus infection? Gosh, I hope not...), but help arrived a few days ago in the form of my Mom!

She arrived from Baltimore in the nick of time, and will be here until I have this second baby, which could be any time now(!).  

The dishes were piling up, the dirty laundry was taking on a unsavory life of its own, and the toddler was destroying the house out of boredom.  All while I lay on the couch, surrounded by tissues, in a fever indused delirium.  I think colds are all about letting go, and I find a kind of beauty in the chaos, but I was starting to question how long it could go on like this.  Every time I get sick a there is a part of my brain that thinks it will go on forever. That I will live the rest of my life with a cold.  This one has taken its sweet time to clear up, but I am begining to see the light.  

So my mom swooped in like a super hero and did the dishes, washed and folded the laundry, and made my kid the happiest little guy around.  

We have been obsessed with this Ok Go video.  If you havnt seen their stuff I highly recommend checking out all their videos on Youtube.  (We mostly use videos as rewards for doing things that are slightly out of his comfort zone, like telling us that he has to go potty when we're out and about)  This one is his favorite.

So Oma (grandma) made him a drum.  Just like in the video.

She might as well have handed him the world.  I also love how kids unabashedly obsess over something.  A lesson in passion.  

Pizza! And Permaculture....

     If you asked me what my top favorite foods are, the answer would go something like this: Pizza, doughnuts, mac&cheese, sushi, cereal, tacos.  Fairly typical, right? but not often things that my budget or my metabolism allow.
     Almost ten years ago now, I was living in Baltimore and working as a bricklayer/mason apprentice. I loved the job, and adored the folks I worked with (more on all that later), but something else was calling me.  I had always been into gardening and farming, and it was then that my older sister and her husband turned me on to Permaculture, and more specifically, The Bullock's Permaculture Homestead.  I spent a season there that very year as an intern (and more later about this too).  Oh what magic! It set me up for a lifetime of learning and discovery about human community, about plants, and gardening, and animals, and about how all of those things interact.
     And how does that relate to pizza, you may be wondering?  Well, I learned how to make pizza there, and more importantly, I learned the joy of throwing a bring-a-topping, make-your-own pizza party!  So it has become a tradition in our young little family, and last night was pizza party night!

First we made the dough - a surprisingly painless process if you don't count the little helping hands.  But the cute factor, plus the entertainment factor always tips the scales.

And then, as the pizza dough slowly rose, we prepared our toppings.

Some of our dearest friends arrived with toppings to share, and we prepared our pizzas!

Yum!!!

Oh the combinations of toppings!  Oh the delicious smell of baking pizza, filling the house!  Oh the leftover pizza the next morning for breakfast!  

What kinds of delicious food traditions does your family have?

pumpkins and prints

Well hello there!  

I hope your Halloween was as lovely as ours.  We made a last-minute, very simple, beautiful, stay-at-home Halloween.  

As it usually happens with me and Halloween, I convince myself that I'm not up for it at all.  And then, at the last minute, I decide I must do something!  So on Halloween morning, the kiddo and I were walking out the door to his playgroup (more on his playgroup in a future post), and I decided he needed some sort of costume.  Luckily my second-mama, Sue, had knitted him this beautiful pumpkin hat last year, and it still just fit.  

 He was quite taken with it, as I was.

On the way home from playgroup I made another last minute decision to carve Jack-o-lanterns,  so off to the store we went to buy two cute little pumpkins.  (I heard somewhere that the little ones are the best for pumpkin pie making.  hopefully more to follow on that).  I was very skeptical about how two-year-old's and pumpkin carving would mix.  I needn't have worried.  He had a blast.

 (His nose got scraped in the morning when he fell down in the driveway.  Not from carving pumpkins.    :-)  He scooped.  The adults carved).

 Note:  Scooping is better savored in the nude.  His idea.

I'll spare you the gory details, but Halloween was definitely worth it!  What spooky or sacred,  (In the past I have set up little alters for my beloved dead, and cooked some of their favorite foods.  I love that too) traditions does your family have?  Daddy made the happy, goofy one.  Mommy made the scary one.  Rather telling I think.

In other news..... after a five years hiatus, I have gingerly returned to printing-making.  I don't have access to a printing press these days, so I decided to do some linoleum block cuts, which can be worked on leisurely, and printed out by hand.  I won't even try to provide any kind of tutorial, as I stumbled along quite a bit.  And I wont pretend that I did anything even close to a professional job, or that the end result is something that I'm satisfied with, but the experience was very satisfying, and it felt great to be making pictures again.

 Odysseus's dream, I'm calling it.  I just listened to an audio book version of The Odyssey, by Homer, read by the wonderful Sir Ian McKellen.  So good, so rich.  I highly recommend it.

This one is just a simple pattern I'm trying to evolve.

I did the whole process while at home with the kiddo, and surprisingly it was not disastrous.  Only a tad messy.  I kept him out of the ink by setting him up with some watercolors.  Seemed to do the trick.  At least for now.

What kinds of projects occupy your hands and hearts this season?

Pumpkins and apples, oh my!

This little stinker has been up to no good this morning.  He slept hard last night and woke up with tons of energy early this morning, and hit the house like a hurricane.  But its hard to knock the overall exuberance and joy that he has.  Not to mention the cute factor.  He and his Daddy are at the coffee shop now, so I thought I'd share a couple of our most recent autumnal pleasures with you.

This kid loves apples.   His Dad picked some fresh ones the other day from a tree in his boss's yard, and  they're so good.  They taste a bit like bubble gum.

 I haven't decided yet whether I'm up for pumpkin carving with a two year old, but someone gave him this pumpkin the other day, and he couldn't be happier with it.  It has even earned an honorary place amongst the stuffed animals.  I think his face says it all.

So, happy autumn/Halloween to all of you out there!!

Model for life

     I am thirty-four weeks pregnant, and this week was my last week at work (as a life model) until well after I have this baby.  It is bitter-sweet for me because I LOVE this job.

I am thirty-three years old, and I have been doing this work part-time since I was eighteen.  I'm mostly not joking when I call it my 'career'.  It has been a touchstone for me, in more ways than one, and I owe so much of my satisfaction and personal growth in life to the seminal hours I've spent standing naked in a room, surrounded by the most amazing breed of people; teachers, and their students of art.  

I have been a life-long art enthusiast.  Growing up, my father was an architect and an amature photographer, and my mother was a ballet dancer and a plant pathologist.  I think largely because of this I have always loved playing with structure, and movement, and theater in space.  

I was a shy and dreamy eighteen year old, and when I told my Dad I wanted to try Life-modeling, he was skeptical that I could handle it.  But I blithely assured him that after years of modeling for him (Clothed, obviously) as a kid, I knew what I was doing.  

It was in fact difficult at first, and still can be, even after sixteen years, to take off my clothes and stand in front of a group of strangers, naked.  But, as on that first day, the embarrassment quickly wore off and I found myself completely absorbed in the making of a kind of live-dancing-statue-theater.  It perfectly blended all of my 'artistic birthrights', in a way completely my own.  It was at once architecture, dance, visual-composition, story-telling, and so much more.  And the students and the teachers responded, and worked with me.  Wherever I've gone it has been the same.  A constant, somewhat mysterious, and truly inspiring partnership between artist and model.  

Perhaps it sounds like I'm glorifying a rather in-glorious job.  But that's what it is for me, and that's why I've been coming back to it again and again, year after year.  Its the kind of job that ages well with a person.  It doesn't ask that you be gorgeous, or have a perfect body.  It only asks that you be in your body, and responsive to the moment, and aware of the story that the movement of your body is telling. 

It has ended up becoming my community as well, as any good job will.  I have met many smart, dear soul-mates in this work.  I am eternally grateful for it, and will miss it dearly during this baby-hiatus.  I look forward to returning to it again.

What kind of work have you found to be the most satisfying?

easy like Sunday morning

Sunday mornings are usually my favorite.  They are the least hectic morning of the week for me.  I wake up early with the kiddo.  There is no rush to get to work, or anything else.  It is quiet, except for the kiddo, but I am thankful that I can take my time.  I don't have to rush.

Kiddo is really into Calvin and Hobbes, by Bill Watterson.  So was I as a kid, but if i could do it again, I wouldn't introduce it to him for another couple of years yet.  My two year old's vocabulary now is littered with "chocolate frosted sugar bombs", and "I want to watch TV!".  It makes me giggle.

I am nearing the end of this pregnancy (my last) and realizing i have no photos of my belly.  I'm not a huge fan of pictures of myself, but I rather like this one that I took this morning, of me and the kiddo, who is about to be a big brother.  Wow. 

So after me and kiddo have breakfast and read for a little bit, Daddy gets up, and its time for the boys to go off to the coffee shop.  And this is my favorite part of Sunday morning.......Me time!!  This morning I made a cup of miso broth, which I have been quite addicted to this pregnancy.  Its not coffee, but it has a similarly satisfying richness and depth.  I enjoyed my miso while writing in my journal for a bit, and flipping through, for the thousandth time, my early birthday present from my Mom. Alabama Chanin Studio Sewing and Design, by Natalie Chanin.  So inspiring!  

Finally, on a related fashion note, I wanted to share a very special little documentary I recently came across on Facebook.  It focuses on six women, with the average age of eighty, all doing amazing things, and refusing to stoop to the stereotype of aging.  Fabulous Fashionistas is beautiful, inspiring, and profound, and fabulous for any age that actually wants to get inspired about the potential of aging!  I have always adored old people for the depth of their wisdom and calm, their experience, and their stories.  These women certainly raise the bar on style, intelligence, and get-up-and-go for any age!