What a wonderful wonderful year.

I have to say- 2011 was an absolutely fabulous year. A year ago today, Grant and I spent a wonderful time hanging out with several of our dear friends in Portland Oregon, ringing in the New Year over tasty home made sauerkraut and amazing lemon cake and plenty of wine & laughter. Grant and I called it quits early in the night and went back to our friend's to crash because I was so tired, missing midnight entirely as we prepared for the flight home the next day. Little did I know then, all that tiredness was the very early warning signs of being pregnant! I spent most of my honeymoon thinking about our recent wedding and desire to try for a baby in the coming 2011 year, not realizing I had succeeded in getting pregnant on our wedding night. January 15th- many tests confirmed that my dreams had come true- I was pregnant!

What followed was a very beautiful year including:

The last semester of my 3rd year at Citizen Schools & the joyful graduation of the students I had taught for 3 years as they headed off to high school, but also the sadness of closing down our program in Austin.

10 wonderful, beautiful months of pregnancy- each day bringing a new experience and sometimes a new challenge as I discovered how amazing my body truly is. I have never felt more in sync with my body as I did during pregnancy- feeling my little girl grow in me was absolutely mind blowing at times & miraculous. After all those months, finally she was born on Sept 12- each day since has been an absolute blessing. She is now 15 weeks old and growing so quickly!


Grant and I celebrated our one year anniversary a couple of weeks ago- it has been such a wonderful first year of our marriage- I am so grateful to him for being such a supportive and loving husband & best friend- & an amazing father to Alchemy.


We have spent the past 2 weeks working very hard in our house to rearrange and deep clean everything in the hopes of resetting up everything in a more family/baby-friendly way. It has been hard work, but by the time our guests arrived for New Year's we were mostly done. There are still some finishing touches that need to be taken care of, art to hang etc.. but I am very very satisfied with how it has turned out. The whole place has a much warmer feel to it & our bedroom with the addition of the crib set up has become very family oriented, which feels wonderful.

The photo challenge has been really great to be a part of and very challenging for me technically- I feel like I have gotten some good shots and some that I would have done differently. It has been good using my camera every day. I am hoping beyond this 30 day challenge I will continue to try to take a new shot daily. A friend and I want to create our own lists and keep it going- I hope we will.

30 Day Photo Challenge

7 minutes to go before midnight and the New Year- I am happy to be here with my daughter asleep in my lap, my husband and a friend of ours hanging out in the living room behind me over stout beers and good conversation. Gone are the many other friends who stopped by to celebrate with us tonight, the homemade eggnog and mulled wine, the tasty food and the fast pace of the day leading up to our evening celebration. As I approach the new year I hope that it can bring me as much happiness as this past one has. This year Alchemy will turn 1! It feels like just yesterday that I gave birth to her, I can't believe she will be 4 months old in 10 more days.

Perhaps this year I will set some resolutions/intentions for the year to come, but those will take more thought that I can give them after wine, eggnog and the busy day with only 2 minutes left!

Happy New Year everyone! Welcome 2012- may you bring joy and love to us all.

Day 4- Something Green & the Rainy Adventures

Day 4 of the Photography Challenge has arrived with the new theme of "Something Green". To get into the mojo of the day, I pulled my green Docs out of the closet, cleaned them up and gave them some new black with red star laces & tied them on. Got Alchemy dressed warmly and strapped to my chest, grabbed the camera and then out the door we went!

While I could have chosen to shoot indoors on this cold rainy day, I wanted to get out in it. This is some of my favorite weather- the kind where you want to curl up with a hot chocolate and a good book or your knitting kind of weather. With an infant however, I rarely get the time to do than in this weather anymore. Rather than hibernating indoors, I decided to take us out into the drizzly rain and cool air for a walking adventure.

Find something green. No problem. This rainy weather always seems to brighten anything growing around us, especially after so many months of severe drought. The plants soak up the water and just seem to glow. Yesterday while Alchemy and I were outside escaping the heat (yesterday it was 80 to today's 50) and waiting for Grant to come home, we sat at the front of our complex near the driveway where we have a big concrete flower bed and admired what is left of the pretty plants we had not long ago. Several took a pretty hard hit from the freeze last week and are now a withered slimy mess, but I know once spring gets here and it is warm and sunny, those same plants will be back with a vengeance. Poking out in several places amidst intentional plantings in that bed are many little baby Agave plants. When we first moved in to our complex, when needing to direct someone to our place we would tell them to "turn in at the Agave" because we had a ginormous Agave plant in that bed. Then a day came where as I was walking to catch the bus for work, I saw several guys out there digging out our huge Agave, presumably to take to another property they like better, or more likely, to sell since an Agave of that size would go for a good amount. Lame sauce. I managed to rescue one of the baby Agaves and put it in a pot outside my door and have been caring for it since. Now however, several more little baby Agaves have popped back up and are growing very well in that bed. Alchemy and I were admiring one yesterday- noticing how all at once it is both soft and extremely sharp on the tips, and a beautiful grey-green color.

About this time, I noticed that although she and I seemed to be doing fine with the rain, my camera may not like it so much, so I took us back towards our own front door.

One of our guardian Happiness cats greeted us when we arrived. He normally sits in the window staring out and wishing to play outdoors, so I let him out for a while.

He seemed to be extra happy outside, but ever since our Gnome disappeared while out walking one of our Fu dogs, I never trust letting them out for long. (who steals someone's Gnome and only ONE Fu dog?)

Back safely indoors, my eye caught a bit of gator mojo by my altar- beautiful green glass catching the light.

I bought this piece of art a couple of years ago at festival and have really loved it. It brings a cool protective energy to my altar while hanging off the spindly arm of a cactus.

All in all, a fun adventure was had. Now with mist clinging to our eyelashes & hair & dampness in our clothes, Alchemy and I were inside and toasty.

Her finally asleep of course- AFTER I was done shooting. Shooting with a baby attached to the front of you who is wiggly messes with your shots some. It is hard to get my shot with a head bobbing around in front of my screen and the constant worry of shaking, although somehow my steady hand seemed to be able to compensate for her well.

Tomorrow, we get to explore something from a high angle. We will see how that goes.

The 30 Day Photography Challenge

The other day I was hanging out on Pinterest pinning things I thought were neat, when I stumbled upon a list of things called the "30 Day Photography Challenge". Basic idea- pick a start date and each day, using your list as a guide, take a photo and post it.

I have always wanted to do something like this and have often said I would do a "photo a day" project. At one point in a different incarnation of this blog it was a photo-a-day blog, but it didn't last very long because although I had the desire, as happens so often with things I want to do, I lost motivation and let crazy life get in the way. In order to avoid that this time, I decided to get other folks on board with me. I posted the list as a photo to my Facebook and called upon my photo friends from college as well as any other photographer or photo loving friends to join me in it, thereby holding myself accountable to others. 

Day 1 felt hard to me- I have issues these days with self portraits for some reason. I used to be really good at them and took them all the time, especially when I was in school, but ever since I got my new camera, I have felt creatively blocked and technically stupid when I have tried to get a good photo of myself. I struggle when I need to set up my tripod, attempt to focus where I will stand and get the exposure right, set the timer, run like hell... and .... damn, it was blurry. Drives me nuts. I would like to get a remote for my camera if possible, especially a wireless one so that I can at least not do the running part.

Yesterday was such a difficult day with Alchemy being extra fussy, so my ability to get the big camera and tripod working with her fussiness was just not happening. Thankfully, I take pretty good photos with my phone, so I got a shot of myself that I was happy with, although felt timid about using as my first photo in this series. Finally, I grew some balls and posted it.

Day 1- Self Portrait- Mother & Child

 Today, however has been a pretty good day with a relatively easy subject matter- What You Wore Today. No problem, I really like my outfit today, as I am finally wearing something that I am both very comfortable in and that lets me play with my style a bit. Lately none of my clothing seems to fit post pregnancy, but thankfully, Grant also outgrew a pair of his pants that now fit me! ;)

Day 2- What you wore today: Brown Cords, submarine socks with my red Doc mary janes & a black tank & hoodie.

 Easy as pie.
 
Part of this challenge also for me is learning to love this camera lens. It is the basic lens that came with the camera when we bought it- 18-55 mm, and although I can get good shots with it, I really desire (in the magickal future where I actually have money) to buy a more versatile lens, especially for portrait work. After all, I do have the best model ever sitting around.

I could photograph her all day long.

Overall, I am excited about this challenge and will keep posting occasionally to show you guys how it is going! If you want to join in the fun, follow the list- starting with a self portrait & ending with one, or just post a link to your photos in the comments here! You can see my post daily if you check out the Picasa Album- I will try to keep it updated daily (if possible to access Picasa) with the photos.

30 Day Photo Challenge

Baby Steps, Leaps and Bounds

I feel very blessed that I am currently able to spend each day home with Alchemy thanks to Grant's hard work to support our family. It's good for her to have the continuous care from me, and I honestly couldn't imagine it any other way because I couldn't bear to part with her if I had to take her to a daycare.

One bonus of spending so much time with her is being able to note the tiny ways she is developing daily. So much has changed in the last 12 weeks, and although she would seem much the same to most folks only bigger, it is so much more than that to me.

This week she has decided after almost three months of nursing just fine using nipple shields that she will no longer have it. Just the tiniest touch of one to her lips sends her screaming until I take it off and offer her the nipple sans shield, which she responds to sometimes too eagerly. I may not have nipples by this time next week, but I am glad to see she still has a strong desire to nurse (& more naturally) since we have had to supplement so much by bottle.

Her mobile used to be her favorite thing in the whole wide world. She would lay for long periods of time, happily smiling coyly and cooing at what Grant and I came to refer to as "her boyfriend"- the image of a deer dangling in the center of her mobile. They day I switched it to a car instead she threw a huge fit until I switched it back- then went back to smiling and cooing. Too funny! Now however, I have noticed in the past few days that she no longer seems to care about the mobile at all and has hardly looked at it even though it is often dangling 8 inches above her head. Her new favorite thing to stare at- me, especially if I am sitting next to her. While I am very happy to be one of her new favorite things, this also poses a tiny problem- if I am not staring at her, she will fuss until I do. :)  (Very much like right now- she is in the swing 3 inches from my leg, but if I turn 45 degrees away from her to type, she fusses, but when I look at her, all smiles. Little booger!) I am hoping she redevelops a love for her mobile again somewhere along the way, but I am unsure of whether a kid will come back to something they seem to have developmentally gotten bored with. Only time will tell I suppose.

On to diaper changes- don't worry, it's not gross I promise. My little breech baby, having been folded up for 10 months in my womb absolutely loves to fold herself in half. She is happiest when she is naked and all folded up again with her toes touching her nose or forehead. This actually makes diaper changes sometimes super easy because she gets her little legs out of the way for me. It used to be that they would just flop around all folded, but today I noticed that she has now learned to hold her toes or ankles with her hands and is actually grasping and holding her legs up! So cool!! I am hoping very soon now she will start trying to grasp and hold more things, like her toys. I am noticing she tries to hold her bottle when we feed her and will grasp our fingers as often as she can.

Her bendy ways back when she loved kicking her mobile

When I sit her upright, she is able to hold her head up straight and look around the room- turning her head very well from left to right, although still a bit bobbly. I am looking forward to her strengthening it just a bit more so we can use her Bumbo chair and she can sit up more during the day.

Trying out her Bumbo chair, soon she can sit up in it!

Next Monday on December 12th, she will be 3 months old. I can't believe we have made it three months already, it seems like just yesterday she was born. She is getting big quickly and while I am very excited to think about the upcoming months of development where she will learn to hold her head up more on her tummy, or start to crawl etc.. I am still a tad bit sad to know that soon she won't be my teeny tiny nugget anymore.

Ah! A free moment!

I have been wanting to post a new blog for weeks now, but every time I think about it, something seems to get in the way.  Often, I would post from my Ipad using a blogging app, but recently since the OS update, that app crashes when you try to open it, so.. no posting from bed which is unfortunately where I spend much of my time hanging out with Alchemy while nursing/pumping/napping.

Thankfully, the other things that often make up my day/week are cooking and laundry- both of which require me to be downstairs and which I am doing right now. Alchemy fell asleep earlier in my arms, so I transferred her to her bassinet for just long enough to switch the laundry before she woke up, but now downstairs she is fast asleep in her swing giving me a moment to post now that I have dinner in the oven. Phew!

We have had pretty busy days in the past week or so. Yesterday was Grant's birthday. Unsurprisingly I got him the exact give that days after I bought it he mentioned to me as a "just in case you are having a hard time picking something out..." suggestion. Thankfully, since great minds think alike, he liked the Unicursal hexagram tie I bought him from a tie seller we both have been wanting to order from for some time now. There are so many other ties on that site I would love to buy- both of our favorites being their hops tie.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Cyberoptix?ref=ss_profile

I think if I had that tie, especially in purple, I would start wearing ties again. We didn't get much of a chance to celebrate his birthday together yesterday since it fell on a Tuesday which is his long day at work. Thankfully, he comes home for dinner between classes for an hour, so I at least was able to make him a good dinner of Quesadillas Unda- meaning with egg instead of the usual overhaul of cheese, smoked gouda and apple sausage, & kale cooked with balsamic vinegar & apples. The quesadillas were especially awesome because they were made with pumpkin spice tortillas made by a local Austin tortilla company- absolutely divine! I am tempted to just toast them in a pan, butter them and eat them by themselves. Grant enjoyed dinner before he had to run out the door to teach his last class. Thankfully, we are going to celebrate this weekend with friends at Billy's, a local pub we recently went to for the first time and love. I am already drooling at the thought of one of their yummy burgers and a tasty beer to go with it.

As if celebrating the birth of the most awesome husband alive wasn't enough, our one year anniversary is coming soon- December 18th. I am so happy to celebrate our wedding together, especially after this past year of love and the growth of our family- we conceived Alchemy on our wedding night, so this anniversary will always be doubly special to me. That said, I am having a difficult time figuring out what to do to celebrate. We have considered dinner together at a local restaurant we love and don't often get to treat ourselves to. I wish we could do something more together- I keep trying to figure out something special that we could do with Alchemy with us, but I haven't been able to figure anything out yet. I did however figure out a gift that goes well with the paper theme for Grant- I am hoping he likes it. (no spoilers, he reads this!)

As a gift to myself, I keep wanting to get my butt to the social security office & DMV so I can finally legally change my name. Doing this with a baby who is very needy and quite vocal about it, not to mention unpredictable from moment to moment is another story- I don't really want to be trapped in those offices all day with her, but I don't currently see a way around it. *sigh*

The other big adventure of our upcoming weeks is balancing the holiday season with the complete tear down, cleaning & remodeling of our entire house. In preparation of Alchemy's future mobility, we want to get the carpet as clean as possible and rearrange the house in a more baby-proof/friendly model. My awesome sister-in-law bought us a crib that is arriving soon, so we definitely need to rearrange our bedroom for it to fit in there, but we are also rearranging every other room in the house.... again. I usually struggle to get behind this type of change because I like things the way they are when I am comfortable with them, however, when I know there is no getting around it, I go into interior design mode. So, to embrace the change, I have now made about 10 different drawings (not to scale yet) of possible floor plans for each room. Designing gives me slightly less anxiety about it all, but it won't completely go away until the change is here. Now I just wish we could start already, but we have to wait until the semester ends for Grant and he has more time here at home to move all the furniture and steam clean the carpets with my help.... while watching Alchemy. I may be asking for someone to come over and be our tryout babysitter at that time. Grant thinks I need to get comfortable with the idea of having someone occasionally watch her for a while anyways so that she can socialize with other adults more and get comfortable with folks that are not us. I am betting she will be just fine with it, but I have to get myself okay with it! I am used to being with her 24/7 and have only ever not been with her for about 45 minutes, when she was with Grant. Must learn to let go sooner rather than later I suppose, so Grant and I can potentially go out together without her one day.

Ahhh the timer for my oven has rung- I guess my free moment is over! Spaghetti squash is calling me.