Recalling Warmth

We're here warm in our house, but snowbound today... and it's great. So far it has snowed at least 18 inches. And we have spent the day wrapping gifts, walking the dog, making pizza and bread, playing music and just enjoying our home.

I thought today was perfect for posting a few pictures of our adventures last month in Puerto Rico. When we left it was fall, when we came back it was winter.

Day 1, we arrived.

Day 2, a visit to the rain forest. It was truly magnificent.

Day 2, in the afternoon. We went to San Juan and toured the forts.

Day 3, we enjoyed the pool and the beach. Juan got a little homework done (it was unavoidable) and we iguana watched.

Day 4, the island of Culebra. To get there we had to take a ferry ride (about an hour and a half away). Once there we walked about 20 minutes and got to a pretty deserted beach with a coral reef. We did a little snorkeling and a lot of laying down.

Day 5. Resting. We spent the whole day resting, it was wonderful.

Day 6, we met up with Creation, who we met the night before. He made us this really beautiful sculpture out of a coconut. It's for the babe.

Then we went back into San Juan for a little more touring.

and then we came home.

Meanwhile, the snow just keeps falling, doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon. I think our car might disappear soon.

Enjoy warmth wherever you can find it.

Postcard from Puerto Rico

more when we get home.

Garden Update

I've been meaning to write this post for some time to wrap up what happened in the garden this year. So, here are some pictures.

Here are the sum of the black beans:

This is one of about 15 tomatoes--picked before the other garden creatures could get to it. (PS. I took this picture a couple of weeks ago when the baby was the size of a large heirloom tomato, according to babycenter.com. They say she's the size of a spaghetti squash now.)

Thank goodness for all the local farmers around keeping us fed!

She's... Under my skin

That's right, it's a girl! She now has a proper pronoun, no longer an "it". And boy, is she cute or what? I mean, look at these pictures.

For a week I've had the song, I've got you, under my skin, in my head. I heard it in a Starbucks the other day and I just thought it was the perfect song to sing to the wee one, except I don't know the words. So I had to download it. Except, I thought I downloaded the Frank Sinatra version and actually got the Franki Valli and the Four Seasons version. haha. oops. poor baby.

You Asked for It

Ok, some of you did.  The rest of you can look away... please.  But here are some pregnant photos of me that Juan took while I did yoga last Friday.

By the way, I had an appointment with my midwife last week.  Everything looks good and the baby's heartbeat sounds strong. 

More baby pictures

Here are some more pictures of the little one.   This little, 7.3 cm creator inside me is what has been making me feel so queasy and tired lately. (Or as my coworker put it, no wonder I've looked so peaked lately.)  Not to mention, huge!  Everyone keeps telling me it will get better now that I'm going into the second trimester, I hope their right!  I'm ready to get some energy back so I can start making things!

Here for your viewing pleasure, are some more pictures:
I like this one because you can see the face better--check out that little nose.  I hope s/he gets Juan's nose!

And here s/he is facing forward.  You can see the hands and feet.  It was amazing, during the sonogram we could see the fingers move!

This one is the hardest to make out, but baby is facing down here.  You can see the spine along the back and the size of the head compare to the rest of the body.  Isn't it so incredible?  It's all there, just really really small.

Thanks for all of the congratulations!  We're so excited and we'll keep posting updates as they come.  

...^^...^^...^^...^^

After a long, and sometimes painful, wait, we have some very exciting news to share.  

Here is a photo of our little one at 13 weeks, taken this morning.  I will post the rest tomorrow. 

The sight of a new heart beating filled me with the unexpected feeling of certainty.  For many years, the right time seemed so distant tainted by the anticipation of the demands a new life would bring.  But when the time came, all fears dissipated.  What seemed a prerequisite (job security, a college fund, and the like) soon took the backstage, surpassed by a stronger, primal imperative:  l’élan vital. 

How to become a guitar hero

1.  Buy a guitar, or borrow one for the occasion

2.  Strum a short sequence of chords resembling a children's song

3.  Wait for your nephew to follow with the adoration...

Produce

It seems to be the height of the summer produce season.  Here's a few picture of a few of the goods coming out of our garden.
  Radishes from earlier in the year.

Here are the beans.  Seriously, that was the total of the green beans.  The purple beans weren't ready to pick yet, so there are a few more still on the plants. That was the first of the zucchini, there have been a few more since then.  I think that will be the most productive of our plants. 

These are the beets.  Good thing we like beet greens, because the beets themselves were kinda small.  

Next year, better soil. 

Our Bloomin' Garden

My goal this year was to have squash blossoms from my garden, it looks like we'll have some of those and a few more.

These squash blossoms really got my imagination going.   No, I wasn't thinking about stuffing them and frying them.  I thought these first two looked like two ballet dancers, backstage.

And this one, the long fingers of an old lady in a monster movie.

California Dreamin': Baby steps

And visit with the babes...

Natanael, running,

Aiden, learning to walk,

Tatum, eating cheerios,

and Vayda.  Sleeping in my sweatshirt,

chewing on Uncle Cereal's ear,

playing with Oma and mama, 

and helping me blog.

California Dreamin': In between celebrations

I got to...


see Sam off to prom (so pretty),

See the Padres play the Diamondbacks,

in the dugout,

with cake... (good thing it wasn't the 17 inning game that followed a few nights later),

Visit Glen Ivy (no photos please),

See Patches, again (always a treat),

Play, Rock Band, Scrabble, Bowling, wii Bowling...

and

Spend time with my sweet family.