Middle of the Night Memories

It's 4 AM.  I woke around 3 AM, after falling asleep around 1 AM, with a very uncomfortable little Rue fussing at me.

We've been dealing with the dreaded first fever, & I am running on an average 2-4 hours of sleep a night.  Sometimes, I have to think back to when I was carrying this little bundle & looking so forward to mamahood.  I have to think back before the fatigue, the breast-milk stained everything, the painful physical changes, the actual labor, the anxiety.  I have to remember the calm before the storm.

Our friend Heather gave me some beautiful images to help me remember the excitement.  The hope.  The anticipation.










Despite the sleeplessness, the stress, the moments of "will she ever stop crying?!?!"... it's all worth it!  I know I was born to be Rue's mama.  I have always wanted her, & I will always want her.

And now?  Here is hoping I get a little more sleep tonight!

May Showers

So I know the expression is that "April showers bring May flowers", but we actually have had the opposite here.  April was full of blooming trees & beautiful flowers sprouting all over our property.  Since May began, we've been having nearly daily thunderstorms!  But some showers are better than others.  Like baby showers.



Look!  Squiggle dropped last week!  Getting close!!!

We had our baby shower the first weekend of May, & combined it with a housewarming (because it makes more sense to ask only one day of people's busy schedules).  It was a success!  So many people came by to wish us well, see the house, design a onesie, & eat some food.  It was a bit of a whirlwind.  We ran the event over a six hour timespan so people could drop in whenever they had time to (again, it is a crazy busy time of year).  It was a very fun day, but incredibly exhausting, too.  Check out the sugar baby on the cake... a friend of our made it!  She stands by the "it's a mold, not terribly impressive" point of view, while I stand by the "holy cow that sugar baby looks like an actual tiny baby & it's blowing my mind" perspective. 




Yesterday, I celebrated my first Mother's Day!  I got lots of cuddles & breakfast from Bear.  We had lunch with my parents & dinner with his & got to spend some time with both the moms in our lives, which was nice.  In between those meals, we had a maternity shoot at our house with Heather... I cannot wait to see how the photos all turned out!  I am really excited about a few of them!  When I have them, I will post some of my favorites.  Until then, I asked Bear to snap a sneak peek from a different angle, so I had something to post in the interim.  I think these are the images I have always wanted to immortalize my pregnancy.



We are waiting on our delivery of Ruby Moon diaper detergent to wash all our lovely pre-loved cloth diapers!  My cousin brought down her entire stash from New York, so we added a significant amount of fluff to our growing collection!  I am very excited to get the nursery completely organized & efficient.  Bear & I have already brought in some of our childhood favorites to add some nostalgia & personality to the room.  I will have to get pictures of the space to share here when we are done.  I cannot believe that in ONE MONTH our "Squiggle" will finally be here!  I can't wait to introduce him or her to the world.



What new beginnings are sprouting in your Spring season this year?

Our First Anniversary!

Squiggle is seriously growing fast!  I have started a 365 project via Instagram (username Marizabeth) that I use every day, often chronicling my growing belly!  This is the view I often have of my feet...



Squiggle pushes hard to my left, so I frequently notice a bulge to that side.  It's a little strange!

We went to Williamsburg, VA for our one year anniversary/ babymoon.  It was so fun, even though it was only a weekend!  Patchie & her Boy happened to book the same weekend in the same place.  Her Boy's grandmother had a timeshare & gave us a unit for the weekend, so we didn't even have to stay at a hotel!  We cancelled our original reservations & were incredibly grateful for the monetary savings!  Not to mention, it was awesome to spend the weekend with some of our favorite people!



We love the historic shopping area.  This time, we found this adorable bookstore, Mermaid Books.  It was the most amazing place; full of vintage literature, valentines, & items.  If you are ever in the area, I strongly suggest checking them out!  Particularly if you are a bibliophile & vintage fanatic such as myself.





Bear was a sucker for the Cheese Shop.  We stopped by there every day.







I am not a cheese connoisseur, so stinky cheeses were not very exciting for me!  That makes the place doubly interesting to Bear, who rarely gets to indulge in fancy cheese when this keen pregnant nose is about!

I loved shopping the Colonial inspired shoppes, looking for the perfect nursery items for Squiggle.  I found a few gems!





I nearly bought "Goodnight, iPad" because... when was "Moon" replaced by "iPad"?!?!  It was too bizarre not to snap a quick photo of.

We all went to brunch our last day in Williamsburg at the Blue Talon Bistro.  Everyone had mimosas or bloody mary's, while I enjoyed my daily allotted single cup of coffee, grapefruit juice, & "nearly famous Historical tap water".  Squiggle has driven me to vegetarianism for the most part, so I made a meal of a delicious carrot cake muffin & huge fresh fruit platter!  Thanks, preggo cravings!  Mmmmm... wonderful fresh fruits!








They had such a wonderful ambiance, too.  Patchie & I kept finding semi-hidden, not-intended Doctor Who references!  Alons-y!





Of course, I did not grab a shot of the references (fail).  But the ceiling was gorgeous!

We had a wonderful time in my favorite place in the world.  I can't wait to bring Squiggle there when he/she is older!

Hope your New Year is going well!

xoxo

Vacation 2012: Mountain Air Therapy

This past summer, Bear & I went on vacation with my family to Upstate NY, where my mom's family live.  I had not been to the lake house in almost TEN years... it was lovely!  I cannot express how much I missed the lake & mountains.  We also had the opportunity to meet my cousin's two adorable babies!  Having time to catch up with family is one of the best things in life.  On our way, we stopped off at my mom's reunion for her Parish Mission Team, which meant the world to her.  It was fun to see a bit of my parent's past come alive as well.



















xo