Well, we made it. We are now three weeks settled in at our new apartment. With an extra bedroom and a bit more space in the living room and kitchen, I think we are all feeling the benefit of spaciousness. We lucked out and found another place with gorgeous hardwood floors. Our landlord is a hoot. A shop teacher at West High who drives a Harley, he's quite the character. And takes good care of the place. We asked about gardening possibilities in the back yard, and he is planning on building us some raised beds when he gets back from Europe. Sweet!
Speaking of sweet. Baby O, how we love to see you happy! Our dear little one has made marvelous progress in the past month, with the help or our craniosacral guru. She is so much more comfortable and now spends most of the day smiling, laughing, and getting into mischief instead of crying, screaming, and struggling to find peace. Olivia is my little yogini. She practices downward facing dog, upward facing dog, plank, and half plank. She is growing fast, too: 17 1/2 pounds as of yesterday! AND she is getting two front, bottom teeth in!
The dog days of summer have not set in yet, but the mosquitoes are breeding like crazy after all the rain we have had. Just the other day I went out in the middle of the afternoon to pull the laundry off the line and got SWARMED by the little buggers. Ten bites in less than a minute. Ugh. At least they're not so bad when I'm on the move. Olivia and I have been able to get out for daily walks, which feels amazing. She loves her REI Piggyback carrier! It is loaded with straps to pull and suck on, and she gets to be queen of the world on Mama's back. We elicit quite the buzz while out and about on our adventures.
Papa Hayes has had many adventures with O recently, too, but I will save those stories for him. :) Thank you, my love, for being such an amazing partner! I have had a couple of busy weeks, heading out in the evenings to help with VBS at All Saints, or meet up with sister Sal and friends, or yoga class, or dinner and a movie with Spark (tonight), or APT with Mumsy (tomorrow)... It feels good to be so active and know that Olivia is having fun times with Daddy, but I must say that last night, the three of us together felt reeeeally good after (during) these busy times!
To close, I have an excerpt from one of the books I am reading right now: Momma Zen, by Karen Maezen Miller. The author used her experiences as a mother and a Zen Buddhist to create this memoir about motherhood as a spiritual path. Needless to say, I am loving it. :)
"Today's assignment is to drop the woebegone wishes and daydreams, the ruinous comparisons to the paradise lost or aspirations unfulfilled. Tomorrow, drop them again. When you need a change, make one. When you need a break, take one. When you need help, get it. When it's time to work, work. When you need to go to the bathroom, lay your baby gently on the floor beside you, give a coo and a smile, and let 'er rip. Ah! Free at last."
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Happy Birthday to ME!
My birthday was a few days ago, and it was so much fun I have to blog about it. :)
Olivia woke up around 6 a.m. We got out of bed and let Papa Hayes have his Saturday morning sleep-in. The day looked like it would be a beauty: lots of sun, less humidity, and a gentle breeze that seemed juuuust right. O and I had our respective breakfasts, then hit the play mat for some morning fun. She is getting so strong! Her latest feat is propping herself on hands & knees, then scooch-scooch-scooching forward. She'll be crawling in no time!
We woke Daddy up around 9 a.m. I got really excited because his morning project was to make me a cheesecake for my birthday! Not just any old cheesecake, either, not for this poor, dairy-free girl (living in Wisconsin). (Sigh.) A sheep cheese cheesecake! (Wow, say that three times fast!) Now THAT'S a magical, magical thing.
One cheesecake, one baby nap, and two blissful parents later, the Hayes trio headed to the capital square for the Farmer's Market! True to form, Olivia cooed and babbled all the way, thrilled as ever about our Saturday morning excursion. I was happy to be wearing sandals and a short skirt: spring has arrived! We made our way around the square, stopping for asparagus, chard, an ostrich meat stick, and num-num bakery treats. We danced to the wild rhythms of a drum circle, then made our way to meet up with Gramsy, Grandpa Pete and Uncle Spark.
The six of us walked the square together, taking a lunch break for O, then headed to State Street to find a spot for lunch. We settled on Frida, a Mexican grille, and Daddy'o went off to pick up Sal while the other five of us grabbed a table. Stef and Jason also met up with us, yay, hooray!! It had been too long since we had been together, and this was the perfect festive occasion to catch up. :) I was greeted with flowers and a birthday balloon that was promptly tied to our backpack. The nine of us talked and laughed and chomped and cooed over cute Baby O, creating quite a celebratory tableau.
Next stop: the zoo! I went home to pick up the cheesecake, drove back downtown to pick up Sean and Olivia, and we met up with the Franson Four plus friends Allen & Stephanie. The weather could not have been more perfect for all of this outside time! First things first: CHEESECAKE. We gathered around a picnic table and dug in. Mmm... Thank you, my love! We polished off the whole thing, plus half a bag of kettle corn. Hehe. Then we made our way in to see some animals: lions, monkeys, more monkeys, seals, giraffes, rhinos and tapirs were all we had time for. Olivia fell asleep pretty early on (such a trooper for our busy day!), so we'll have to go back soon to see the other animals and play at the newly remodelled children's zoo.
Sal and I had plans to catch a 4:10 showing of "Sex and the City", so we hurried away to Sundance Cinema. I know, I know, the reviews have been so-so at most, but I loved it! I'm such a sap, and I love those characters, it was so much fun to see them again, and I thought the movie was fantastic. Laughed hard, teared up a little, gasped and sighed along the way. Good times! Thanks, Sal!
What better way to end a fabulous day then to go out for a fabulous dinner with my fabulous husband? Olivia's fairy godparents came over to watch over her sleep, bless them. Sean and I headed to The Weary Traveler a few blocks down on Willy Street. We enjoyed a satisfying meal and relished some one-on-one time! Soon, hopefully, we can establish date night on a weekly basis. :)
Good times, good times... A truly delightful birthday!!
Olivia woke up around 6 a.m. We got out of bed and let Papa Hayes have his Saturday morning sleep-in. The day looked like it would be a beauty: lots of sun, less humidity, and a gentle breeze that seemed juuuust right. O and I had our respective breakfasts, then hit the play mat for some morning fun. She is getting so strong! Her latest feat is propping herself on hands & knees, then scooch-scooch-scooching forward. She'll be crawling in no time!
We woke Daddy up around 9 a.m. I got really excited because his morning project was to make me a cheesecake for my birthday! Not just any old cheesecake, either, not for this poor, dairy-free girl (living in Wisconsin). (Sigh.) A sheep cheese cheesecake! (Wow, say that three times fast!) Now THAT'S a magical, magical thing.
One cheesecake, one baby nap, and two blissful parents later, the Hayes trio headed to the capital square for the Farmer's Market! True to form, Olivia cooed and babbled all the way, thrilled as ever about our Saturday morning excursion. I was happy to be wearing sandals and a short skirt: spring has arrived! We made our way around the square, stopping for asparagus, chard, an ostrich meat stick, and num-num bakery treats. We danced to the wild rhythms of a drum circle, then made our way to meet up with Gramsy, Grandpa Pete and Uncle Spark.
The six of us walked the square together, taking a lunch break for O, then headed to State Street to find a spot for lunch. We settled on Frida, a Mexican grille, and Daddy'o went off to pick up Sal while the other five of us grabbed a table. Stef and Jason also met up with us, yay, hooray!! It had been too long since we had been together, and this was the perfect festive occasion to catch up. :) I was greeted with flowers and a birthday balloon that was promptly tied to our backpack. The nine of us talked and laughed and chomped and cooed over cute Baby O, creating quite a celebratory tableau.
Next stop: the zoo! I went home to pick up the cheesecake, drove back downtown to pick up Sean and Olivia, and we met up with the Franson Four plus friends Allen & Stephanie. The weather could not have been more perfect for all of this outside time! First things first: CHEESECAKE. We gathered around a picnic table and dug in. Mmm... Thank you, my love! We polished off the whole thing, plus half a bag of kettle corn. Hehe. Then we made our way in to see some animals: lions, monkeys, more monkeys, seals, giraffes, rhinos and tapirs were all we had time for. Olivia fell asleep pretty early on (such a trooper for our busy day!), so we'll have to go back soon to see the other animals and play at the newly remodelled children's zoo.
Sal and I had plans to catch a 4:10 showing of "Sex and the City", so we hurried away to Sundance Cinema. I know, I know, the reviews have been so-so at most, but I loved it! I'm such a sap, and I love those characters, it was so much fun to see them again, and I thought the movie was fantastic. Laughed hard, teared up a little, gasped and sighed along the way. Good times! Thanks, Sal!
What better way to end a fabulous day then to go out for a fabulous dinner with my fabulous husband? Olivia's fairy godparents came over to watch over her sleep, bless them. Sean and I headed to The Weary Traveler a few blocks down on Willy Street. We enjoyed a satisfying meal and relished some one-on-one time! Soon, hopefully, we can establish date night on a weekly basis. :)
Good times, good times... A truly delightful birthday!!
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