I didn't mean to bribe him to speak, it was more to keep him a little interested as we ran errands and bought him some new shoes but....
it only took him 17 1/2 months to say it, but two days ago Julian finally said, "mama."
Alleluia, he knows who I am! :)
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
"Nectar of Bliss"
I just got back from my prenatal yoga class and during the class the instructor used a fabulous phrase during meditation: "nectar of bliss." It got me thinking about this pregnancy and how it's been for me and I was shocked to realize that I am indeed more than half way to this baby's birth already. How did time fly so fast?!
I admit, I have had a harder time bonding to this baby/pregnancy than I did with Julian. With the first everything is so new and wonderful. "Sweet! I have heartburn!" This time around, between chasing around Julian and changing care providers at 24 weeks, it's been a lot more emotional and tiring than I expected and haven't basked in the 'wonder' of it as much this time. Physically, last time I don't remember having aches and pains this soon but then again, my body is a lot different now. While I've been doing very good with my diet (this time around I am not using pregnancy as an excuse to eat copious amounts of chocolate cake), I haven't been to yoga or water aerobics nearly as often as I did with Julian.
The biggest obstacle I've had in bonding with this pregnancy is the impending birth. Why am I so obsessed with the birth when it's still so early in the pregnancy? Well, sooner or later this baby is going to come out and after what happened with Julian, up until last week I was having a tremendous amount of anxiety about this baby's birth. Because I had a c-section with Julian, finding a care provider who will actually support me in an attempt of a vaginal birth after c-section (VBAC) has been tricky. Between the different methods of prenatal care offered in this country (obstetrical versus midwifery) and the varying information available for pregnant women, it's no wonder the rate of VBACs have fallen dramatically in the past 8 years. After interviewing multiple care providers (and leaving a practice that, we feel, totally wronged me) we have decided on a wonderful midwife to help us bring this baby into the world. Ever since we switched to her care, I have felt a major weight lift off of me and I am finally ready to embrace this baby and pregnancy, and between her and my amazing doula we have a supportive team to help us with our plan.
This week I was so nervous because I wasn't feeling the baby move all that much. I know my placenta is posterior so I knew at least I should be able to feel his movements on my belly but I was hoping to feel more. Last night, however, he started moving tons and tonight at yoga I think he was doing the yoga with me! He especially loved child's pose.
I admit, I have had a harder time bonding to this baby/pregnancy than I did with Julian. With the first everything is so new and wonderful. "Sweet! I have heartburn!" This time around, between chasing around Julian and changing care providers at 24 weeks, it's been a lot more emotional and tiring than I expected and haven't basked in the 'wonder' of it as much this time. Physically, last time I don't remember having aches and pains this soon but then again, my body is a lot different now. While I've been doing very good with my diet (this time around I am not using pregnancy as an excuse to eat copious amounts of chocolate cake), I haven't been to yoga or water aerobics nearly as often as I did with Julian.
The biggest obstacle I've had in bonding with this pregnancy is the impending birth. Why am I so obsessed with the birth when it's still so early in the pregnancy? Well, sooner or later this baby is going to come out and after what happened with Julian, up until last week I was having a tremendous amount of anxiety about this baby's birth. Because I had a c-section with Julian, finding a care provider who will actually support me in an attempt of a vaginal birth after c-section (VBAC) has been tricky. Between the different methods of prenatal care offered in this country (obstetrical versus midwifery) and the varying information available for pregnant women, it's no wonder the rate of VBACs have fallen dramatically in the past 8 years. After interviewing multiple care providers (and leaving a practice that, we feel, totally wronged me) we have decided on a wonderful midwife to help us bring this baby into the world. Ever since we switched to her care, I have felt a major weight lift off of me and I am finally ready to embrace this baby and pregnancy, and between her and my amazing doula we have a supportive team to help us with our plan.
This week I was so nervous because I wasn't feeling the baby move all that much. I know my placenta is posterior so I knew at least I should be able to feel his movements on my belly but I was hoping to feel more. Last night, however, he started moving tons and tonight at yoga I think he was doing the yoga with me! He especially loved child's pose.
With each breath I take and each beat of my heart, this baby is growing. What an amazing sensation! Inside me is a nectar of bliss that not only is nourishing my soul and bringing me joy but is also growing a life that was sprung from the love between me and my soul mate and best friend. I look forward to falling in love all over again. I look forward to holding his hand, smelling his skin, and knowing that this tiny being could destroy me with a smile. He is mine and I am his and together we shall spread our ecstasy. This is truly my Heaven.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween from our little lion. For Halloween we celebrated by attending a friend's birthday party in the morning (complete with pumpkin carving) and then in the afternoon we had a parade here in the neighborhood before the rain. It was great and we are looking forward to next year!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
So far behind!
I'll let the photos tell the tale....been crazy busy lately....but we finally have some time to breathe before the holidays! Hope everyone is doing well!
Visiting the USS Wisconsin in Norfolk
Playing at the splash park in Arlington
Visiting University of Rochester (daddy's alma mater)
Playing with streamers at music class
First concert- Rocknoceros!
Baby Dos, coming at you February 20
Visiting the USS Wisconsin in Norfolk
Playing at the splash park in Arlington
Visiting University of Rochester (daddy's alma mater)
Playing with streamers at music class
First concert- Rocknoceros!
Baby Dos, coming at you February 20 Monday, September 14, 2009
A sign of things to come?
Something interesting happened tonight. Julian was playing with my water bottle when he paused, put it down, and squatted. Thad said to him, "are you pooping" to which Julian replied with a sign for "potty." We thought it was just coincidence but about 2 seconds later we could smell what he did....so, does this mean our kid is gearing up for potty training?! Or was it a fluke? Crazy.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Our trip to the Outer Banks
Technically this isn’t our first family vacation but it’s definitely our first one with Julian being so active! We decided that we couldn’t wait until Thanksgiving for a possible trip to Aruba so we looked into houses and three weeks later there we were in our little oceanside cottage in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. If you don’t know where this is, it’s in the Outer Banks off the coast of North Carolina. You can see the Wright Brothers Memorial from our window.
Day 1-
The drive from Fairfax is about 5 hours but considering how bad beach traffic has been this summer (HORRIBLE), we left the house at 7:00am on Saturday hoping to pull into our cottage by 2pm, optimistically. Thad was driving and we pulled into the parking lot at 11:45am, even after a leisurely breakfast in Williamsburg. Bam! After a quick bite at The Good Life Gourmet and a stop at Food Lion for some supplies, we checked in and unpacked for the week.
Our friends, Jessica, James, and Jack arrived around 5:30pm for a long weekend with us. Jessica and James were in our Bradley class and their son, Jack, is 5 weeks older than Julian. She is due in December with their second and her friendship has been fantastic (and priceless) as we navigate this crazy parenting thing together. We ate dinner at the American Pie Pizza and Homemade Ice Cream (somewhat disappointing, I expected something better for a small $25 pie) and relaxed at the house for the evening. Not a bad start to our vacation!!
Day 2-
We woke up bright and early with the kids and were able to have breakfast and coffee and still hit the beach by 8:45am. Unfortunately the biting black flies also hit the beach by 8:45 and after a quick run to Rite Aid for some bug repellent, we had a fantastic time playing in the sunshine. It was very hot and sunny and the boys were having a blast!
We ate lunch at the house and returned to the beach after naps for some late afternoon –fly-free beach time. Dinner was a smorgasbord of corn (much to Julian’s excitement!), shrimp, chicken, salad, green beans, and watermelon. Yummy! Needless to say after a day of sunshine and running around, the boys slept soundly and so did mommies and daddies.
Day 3-
Poop. The clouds rolled in but we were able to go for a walk on the beach before Jessica and gang left to go back to DC. James bought this fantastic $6 kite that was SOARING with the gusty winds. Unfortunately, by lunch time the clouds opened up and it rained the rest of the day. I went on a mission during Julian’s nap to acquire some sweatshirts and long sleeves as we weren’t prepared for the yucky, cold weather.
The highlight of our day was dinner at this wonderful restaurant- the Outer Banks Brewery and Restaurant. It was ranked #2 in Kill Devil Hills on Yelp.com so we decided to come check it out. It didn't hurt to learn that this is the first wind powered brewery in the United States! With a homemade cream soda for me and a microbrew for Thad, we thoroughly enjoyed our dinners. Julian loved the fried ravioli, I had a corn and mushroom risotto with bacon and seared scallops, and Thad had the filet with a demi-glaze sauce, topped with crabmeat and asparagus. Outstanding! For dessert we shared a homemade carrot cake with a caramel sauce on the side. No, we don’t have giant bellies; we ate it a few hours later back at the cottage. As for the weather, I’m glad we packed some DVDs.
Day 4-
We decided to go to the aquarium first thing in the morning if it was raining in the hope of having a clear afternoon….what luck! After breakfast we headed south to Roanoke Island to visit the North Carolina Aquarium. We grabbed a coffee at a local coffee house, The Front Porch Café, and visited old town Manteo before the aquarium. What a cute place! Roanoke Island is one of the first English settlements in the new world, and even if it didn't survive, there is a lot of history on this island.
If you ever get a chance to visit the area, definitely go to the aquarium! It is FANTASTIC. Julian LOVED running around and trying to kiss the different fish through the glass, and he loved touching the starfish. We even saw some river otters and a shark, but I don’t think Julian could quite get just how big that shark really was compared to everything else. It was a great indoor activity but when we got out of the building, we noticed the clouds were starting to lift so we headed home for some beach time.
The sun played peek-a-boo for a few hours but by the time Julian was up from his nap it was out so we ran out to the beach to play. Downside is that it was very, very windy and poor Julian was having a hard time with the loud, strong wind. We got to see some kite surfers and dig for some shells before it was just too chilly to be out anymore.
For dinner we went to Mama Kwan’s, a tiki bar/restaurant in Kill Devil Hills, and it was ranked #4 on Yelp.com. It was delicious! Unfortunately Julian didn’t want any of our food (we really have a fickle toddler on our hands, folks!) but we thought it was great. We started with ‘Thai Money Bags,’ a fried bundle of cellophane noodles, ginger, and other veggies, with pickled cucumbers. For our entrees Thad got the pork dish (which tasted a lot like Korean BBQ), and I had the coconut shrimp. If you like tropical food with an Asian twist, this is the place for you! They play great music which inspired Julian to dance all over the restaurant. His particular favorite that night was "Rock the Casbah."
Day 5-
The weather in the morning was the best we got all day, and luckily we took advantage of it by spending the morning on the beach. The sun started to disappear around 10am so we got in the car and went souvenir hunting until lunch and then relaxed at the house for a while. It wasn’t raining but it was very, very windy so after Julian woke up we took a drive down to the Bodie Island Lighthouse and explored the island some more. We got an early dinner and headed home.
With the unexpectedly chilly weather, and the forecast for more rain, we decided to come home a day early. We were supposed to come back home on Friday but since it was forecasted to rain all the way to tuesday, the figured we'd just head home. All in all, it was a great first trip to the beach and we hope to make this an annual event for our family. The beach is such an easy, fun, and cheap thing to do with kids! They can scream as loud as they want, run as fast as they want, and dig as deep as they want and it doesn't make a difference! Next year will be very different with two kids to pack for, but that's a whole other issue. Hope you enjoy the pics!
Day 1-
The drive from Fairfax is about 5 hours but considering how bad beach traffic has been this summer (HORRIBLE), we left the house at 7:00am on Saturday hoping to pull into our cottage by 2pm, optimistically. Thad was driving and we pulled into the parking lot at 11:45am, even after a leisurely breakfast in Williamsburg. Bam! After a quick bite at The Good Life Gourmet and a stop at Food Lion for some supplies, we checked in and unpacked for the week.
Our friends, Jessica, James, and Jack arrived around 5:30pm for a long weekend with us. Jessica and James were in our Bradley class and their son, Jack, is 5 weeks older than Julian. She is due in December with their second and her friendship has been fantastic (and priceless) as we navigate this crazy parenting thing together. We ate dinner at the American Pie Pizza and Homemade Ice Cream (somewhat disappointing, I expected something better for a small $25 pie) and relaxed at the house for the evening. Not a bad start to our vacation!!
Day 2-
We woke up bright and early with the kids and were able to have breakfast and coffee and still hit the beach by 8:45am. Unfortunately the biting black flies also hit the beach by 8:45 and after a quick run to Rite Aid for some bug repellent, we had a fantastic time playing in the sunshine. It was very hot and sunny and the boys were having a blast!
We ate lunch at the house and returned to the beach after naps for some late afternoon –fly-free beach time. Dinner was a smorgasbord of corn (much to Julian’s excitement!), shrimp, chicken, salad, green beans, and watermelon. Yummy! Needless to say after a day of sunshine and running around, the boys slept soundly and so did mommies and daddies.
Day 3-
Poop. The clouds rolled in but we were able to go for a walk on the beach before Jessica and gang left to go back to DC. James bought this fantastic $6 kite that was SOARING with the gusty winds. Unfortunately, by lunch time the clouds opened up and it rained the rest of the day. I went on a mission during Julian’s nap to acquire some sweatshirts and long sleeves as we weren’t prepared for the yucky, cold weather.
The highlight of our day was dinner at this wonderful restaurant- the Outer Banks Brewery and Restaurant. It was ranked #2 in Kill Devil Hills on Yelp.com so we decided to come check it out. It didn't hurt to learn that this is the first wind powered brewery in the United States! With a homemade cream soda for me and a microbrew for Thad, we thoroughly enjoyed our dinners. Julian loved the fried ravioli, I had a corn and mushroom risotto with bacon and seared scallops, and Thad had the filet with a demi-glaze sauce, topped with crabmeat and asparagus. Outstanding! For dessert we shared a homemade carrot cake with a caramel sauce on the side. No, we don’t have giant bellies; we ate it a few hours later back at the cottage. As for the weather, I’m glad we packed some DVDs.
Day 4-
We decided to go to the aquarium first thing in the morning if it was raining in the hope of having a clear afternoon….what luck! After breakfast we headed south to Roanoke Island to visit the North Carolina Aquarium. We grabbed a coffee at a local coffee house, The Front Porch Café, and visited old town Manteo before the aquarium. What a cute place! Roanoke Island is one of the first English settlements in the new world, and even if it didn't survive, there is a lot of history on this island.
If you ever get a chance to visit the area, definitely go to the aquarium! It is FANTASTIC. Julian LOVED running around and trying to kiss the different fish through the glass, and he loved touching the starfish. We even saw some river otters and a shark, but I don’t think Julian could quite get just how big that shark really was compared to everything else. It was a great indoor activity but when we got out of the building, we noticed the clouds were starting to lift so we headed home for some beach time.
The sun played peek-a-boo for a few hours but by the time Julian was up from his nap it was out so we ran out to the beach to play. Downside is that it was very, very windy and poor Julian was having a hard time with the loud, strong wind. We got to see some kite surfers and dig for some shells before it was just too chilly to be out anymore.
For dinner we went to Mama Kwan’s, a tiki bar/restaurant in Kill Devil Hills, and it was ranked #4 on Yelp.com. It was delicious! Unfortunately Julian didn’t want any of our food (we really have a fickle toddler on our hands, folks!) but we thought it was great. We started with ‘Thai Money Bags,’ a fried bundle of cellophane noodles, ginger, and other veggies, with pickled cucumbers. For our entrees Thad got the pork dish (which tasted a lot like Korean BBQ), and I had the coconut shrimp. If you like tropical food with an Asian twist, this is the place for you! They play great music which inspired Julian to dance all over the restaurant. His particular favorite that night was "Rock the Casbah."
Day 5-
The weather in the morning was the best we got all day, and luckily we took advantage of it by spending the morning on the beach. The sun started to disappear around 10am so we got in the car and went souvenir hunting until lunch and then relaxed at the house for a while. It wasn’t raining but it was very, very windy so after Julian woke up we took a drive down to the Bodie Island Lighthouse and explored the island some more. We got an early dinner and headed home.
With the unexpectedly chilly weather, and the forecast for more rain, we decided to come home a day early. We were supposed to come back home on Friday but since it was forecasted to rain all the way to tuesday, the figured we'd just head home. All in all, it was a great first trip to the beach and we hope to make this an annual event for our family. The beach is such an easy, fun, and cheap thing to do with kids! They can scream as loud as they want, run as fast as they want, and dig as deep as they want and it doesn't make a difference! Next year will be very different with two kids to pack for, but that's a whole other issue. Hope you enjoy the pics!
 |
| OBX 2009 |
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Julian's first hair cut
It was time! His long and wispy hair was getting out of control and daddy did a little maintenance.
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