When a month is a lifetime…

The cartoon caterpillar joined us the first week of August - surprising everyone with her early arrival. I love that her birth date (8-7-15) is a balanced equation -  although to remember her birthday I do have to make sure August is converted to the numerical month in my mind before knowing with certainty the day is correct.

We have all survived the first month.  People keep telling us to hang in there and it gets better, and I can see the cute caterpillar nodding wisely and determining to be patient with us for a little bit longer.  I find myself thanking her before wondering, “Wait, weren’t they talking to me?”  However, along with almost all of our other emotions, she has successfully stolen our sympathy – Life can be hard work!  

The rocking, walking, shushing, and singing has made one of us permanently sleepy, but it has had minimal effect for the one it was intended.  However, the caterpillar enjoyed a refreshing nap on the beach lulled by the ocean waves without the well-meaning but useless parental provided sleep aides.

Everything is a first – her first chuckle/snort happened when Phin and I first tried to sing a lullaby – we now just lip sync to youtube videos at bedtime.

August Confessions

-        I am still wearing my regular clothes one week from my due date – this is not an indication of how little I am, because people are now moving to the grass when they see me walking down the sidewalk.  Instead it is making me re-think my fashion sense, and wondering if I need a wardrobe makeover.

-        Speaking of maternity wear – why is all the emphasis on clothes?  Shoes were/are a much bigger problem.  I now know the image of “barefoot and pregnant” is iconic not just to illustrate social economics, but because shoes become unwearable.  (Crocs in 3 sizes too big = perfect maternity shoe)

-        My sister left a TUB of spanish candy in the cupboard and sadly I ate it all (I won’t divulge how many hours/days it took me).  I would like to blame this on my side-kicker, but alas, my weakness for sweets and capacity to consume in bulk has been well established.  (I wish I could forget the incident of the 2004 orange/chocolate cake, but it is too delicious)

-        9 months is a long time to wait (pretending to be a kangaroo made it a little more tolerable until I lost the hop in my step)

Artistic Differences

Collaboration – a word with varied connotations, yet usually a positive experience in the art world.  At the very least, my last few encounters have opened my eyes to new directions and possibilities for expression.

1.  Recently, we were at the beach with some friends.  One of the younger friends was helping me make a sand sculpture, and it was only when I added eyes to the top of the head that we realized a difference in our vision.  I was making a sand dragon, while he was making a battle rampart filled with munitions.  Adjustments were made to how the tail was designed, and by the end of the day we were both happy with the results.  (Explanations on the physical features of the sculpture were vastly different depending on who was giving the tour of our creature/engineered wall.)

2.  The second encounter also included a sculpting medium, though this time using play-dough.  I was asked to create a Minnie Mouse.  My sculpting skills are not great, but using the patented three circle design (and no – I did not obtain a license for this use), I elaborated a little with the bowtie and high heeled shoes.  My 3-D character was greeted with ecstatic shouts of glee before being flattened by tiny fists.  We called the finalized piece “Minnie in Distress”, and I think it says much about the fall of Disney before its own collaboration with Pixar. 

3.  I am not much for using the oven, but I do love to decorate with candy so sometimes baking is a necessary evil.  This time I had a small helper (complete with her own apron) who seems to thrive on baking cakes.  Little did I realize our differences in baking philosophies.  While I was merely creating a blank canvas for candy embellishments, she was creating a tasty snack that should be eaten the minute it had partially cooled down.  I’m now wondering, if the intent is to eat the actual cake, should I have used a cake mix that had not expired a year ago?  

Happy Bump Day

There has been a clamor for baby bump pictures, and not everyone is convinced that my 3yr old niece can re-create the look with her crayon drawings.  In an attempt to be more realistic, I recently did a photo shoot.  Like all good photo shoots, I photo-shopped the results (using an archaic paint program).  Though my lipstick came out looking ridiculous, I think the rest turned out pretty well.  (And yes, I did down-size my feet for this look because I did not want to alarm anyone with the elephant toes I have going on.)

However, let me first show you my assistant.  I found this creature online, and he is an expert at styling bumps and humps of all sizes...

I copied his fashionable yellow jump suit, skipped the tail, and used my almost natural shaggy mane:)  Here is what 37 weeks looks like...

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!

Definition of Pathetic

When making a bowl of cereal (aka pouring milk on frosted mini wheats) sounds like too much work.

Preparing for the Night Owl

The first purchase to get ready for our August arrival (if you don't count the vintage toys that brought back fond memories from my own childhood and will be more appropriate for her when she turns 4).

Neighborhood Mosquitoes

My ears were assaulted one mid morning by a neighborhood weed-whacker; one of those high pitched mosquitoes on steroids.  I endured for an hour and then sent Phin to investigate how much longer the job was looking.  If they still had half a lawn to do, we would have to vacate the neighborhood.  He ran into the bathroom to get his hat and came out with the true culprit.  It was not a neighborhood weed-whacker disturbing my peace and threatening my sanity, but my own toothbrush run amok.  This battery operated device had spontaneously turned on and was giving the insides of my cupboard a good scrub.  I guess the battery was not as dead as I thought – though it was now definitely time to get a new toothbrush.  

What’s in a Name?

We no longer lose sleep debating the finer points of names such as Mincayani, Forest, Eliazar, Keppler, Tonystark, Moshe, Zander, and Qasim.  It is clear from this sampling why no consensus was reached in a list that has dropped to a slim 3% chance of utility.

Spoiler Alert

Like most children growing up, I heard about Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and the Stork.  My mom never really encouraged Santa Claus illusions; who can blame her for not wanting to share gift-giving credit with a portly old man, even one reported to be jolly.  The Easter Bunny always seemed ridiculous, although coloring eggs is still an activity I enjoy.  And the reliability of the Tooth Fairy called her existence into question early on in my tooth losing years.  But the Stork…  I’ve always been intrigued by the Stork, and some part of me wished this character was real.

Perhaps the reason I have never fully visualized myself as a mother is because the Stork story is so appealing, and yet I couldn’t fail to recognize the high improbability of this tale.  Though I couldn’t make sense out of the details, I was not willing to imagine any other process.  In the mean-time, I embraced my role as an Aunt with huge enjoyment and every so often scanned the skies for a large bird carrying a kerchief-wrapped baby. 

Alas… The last few months have shattered the small spark of hope I was holding out for the Stork.  My baby will not arrive via midnight airdrop; however, late this summer the Fisher Price toys may not be the only Little People in our house.

Calendar Time

This is my last year doing calendar pages, and sadly, it was also my latest year for getting them turned in.  My apologies to January for encroaching into your month:(  Because it was the last year, I did two months, so now my collection is a hand-crafted calendar page for each month of the year.  It has taken 11 years to create!  I present to you the latest - March and November:)  Let 2015 Begin!!!