A little Bigger

I made this outfit that my gal is wearing when she was a month old. It used to be a long flowing dress that covered her knees, now it barely works as a shirt. Now when I see newborn babies I have a hard time believing that she was ever so small.

Six Months and Seven Teeth Later

Well our little gal will be a half year tomorrow and it has been an incredible 6 months. She is such a sweet thing with a cheery disposition. Even through her teething, she managed to smile and laugh at our immature jokes. She loves this CD I got from the library by Elizabeth Mitchell, and every time she gets a little fussy in the car we put on the "John the Rabbit" song; Dave sings the "Yes Maams" while I take care of the rest of the song, and Efray immediately stops fussing and kicks her little legs to the beat.

I'll start feeding her solids this week, either avocado or homemade porridge (how quaint huh). If anyone has any advice on first foods, I'd love to hear it. I'm reading Super Baby Foods by Ruth Yaron. Each phase of my gal's life has been accompanied by stacks of books by the bed and whole worlds of knowledge of which I can only hope to retain a fraction. I've always been a cram the night before an exam type of gal, and with parenthood there is no exception.

The Queen's Wave

I guess it's official, this has become a mommy blog. In the future I promise to post some things other than my gal, but right now my world rather revolves around her adorableness. This past weekend we flew out to Berkley for the unveiling of Dave's portrait of Alice Waters at the Berkley Art Museum. Somewhere along the trip lil' Efray picked up waving to people, which really helps soften the crowd when you are boarding a plane with an infant. The trip was a whirlwind of good food (of course) and splendid weather. Since then we've been brainstorming ways to make Berkley our home base: win the lottery, go to law school (i know i'd be an awful lawyer), become gutter punks, etc. I have never seen a lovelier campus than Berkley. There were giant pine trees and creeks running right through campus.

Dave's portrait looked really amazing. He took the photo of Alice last December at the original Edible School Yard. She is standing triumphantly under a mulberry tree. Many people commented on how small she looks compared to the landscape, and how the portrait is true to Ms. Water's character and work; she has fought so hard for the local food movement and childrens' health, it only made sense to incorporate the story of that landscape into the portrait.

Summertime in the South

There have been too many lazy days around here to even count. The Southerners really know how to spend a warm day just hanging around. The other morning we brought pastries and coffee to our friends' house, and what was supposed to be a breakfast visit, lingered on into the mid-hours of afternoon--porch time in the hammock, cheese sandwiches, and raisin twirls-- it was delightful!

Visitors

All pictures by Dave Woody .

Week 39

I promise to stop posting pregnancy pictures soon (mostly because I won't be pregnant much longer). But I do get requests from friends to see these pictures and posting them on my blog seems like the best way to show everyone at once. I feel pretty good. I've been staying relatively active, but close to home, so that I can be in my comfort zone once I go into labor. We are still having a hard time coming up with boys' names, so if you have any advice or thoughts, feel free to share them. Most of our favored boys' names are traditional, which I like, but when we asked the barista at our favorite bakery in town what her favorite names were, she came up with some wildly obscure names, which made me think we might be a little too conservative.

Happy Valentine's Day

Almost There

A week and three days left until my due date and I am ready. Yesterday Dave and I went to Charlottesville and took a four hour labor crash course with a doula. She was great, and now we both feel a little more prepared for the big event. We even did "labor art" which was new to both of us, and is supposed to remind you of all of things that you want while you are giving birth. I have been playing my guitar a little more in hopes that the baby will at least appreciate music, if not be musically inclined, when he/she arrives, however my belly has been a bit of an obstacle for my natural guitar playing stance.

Keeping in Touch

We have just started using Skype as a way to stay in touch with friends and family, and although it takes a little getting used to, in terms of timing and pixilation, it has been so nice to actually see the people we care about. Here is a darling picture of our friends Nic and Sara who were a little apprehensive about our Skype date since they know how big our screen is. Personally I just wanted to kiss their faces cause it seemed like they were sitting right in front of us...c'mon look at her smile and his mustache!

Baby Things

Kimono Booties

Farmers' Onesies:

peas, slimpickins, carrots, and beets

Reversible Baby Blanket

I am now in my 37th week of pregnancy which means that it's safe for me to go into labor now. It also means that I have been a little more narrowly focused on the arrival of our new family member. Although we are not creating a nursery, I am making all kinds of things for the baby to ensure that he/she feels special upon arrival (forget the Tiger Mom approach).

The Boys

We have been busy celebrating holidays and birthdays around here, none of which our boys do not participate in one way or another. Under our supervision, the boys now get about an hour a day of outdoor time where they roll in the dirt, climb an 1/8th of the trees, sniff the grasses, and then mark their territory.