Month one: eat, sleep, love, repeat

Yesterday my mom flew home and I was left here on my own with our new family dynamic.  I didn't set high expectations.  Meals have been made, snacks eaten, both boys had baths last night and this morning we are dressed.  Laundry is happening... so far so good I'd say.  I was reading through The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two and Dr. Sears says that the first month is about holding your little one and loving them.  I've worked that down to this little mantra: eat, sleep, love, repeat.  Managing that is going to be my goal for this first month.  We are almost at the two week mark with little man and getting to know him is wonderful.  Slowly we are finding a new normal but nothing even close to a rhythm is forming.  I don't feel pressure to create one.  Right now we are just going to be.

Welcome

Elliott is here.

We love him.  He arrived on March 16th at 5:30.  Labor was fast, I'll write out some details sometime soon.  Our little family has been a bit under the weather at the same time as welcoming our new member so words for me these days are in short supply.  I'm trying to rest, help Ky with this change and heal.  I'll be back here with more regularity in the coming weeks.  Until then I wish you all a happy spring.

a series to share

This week has been a bit busy and lazy at the same time.  While Ky and I battle for a morning routine that makes us both happy (and believe me using the world battle is not an understatement), Dave adjusts to earlier mornings and taking transit every day.  There have been pangs that seemed to herald the beginning of something labor related only to fade away after a few hours.  We have a busy weekend planned with visits and meals with friends.  I don't want to just sit around and wait for the baby man to make his entrance so we have made lots of fun plans to keep us distracted.
One lovely distraction I discovered this week is the series Conscious Pregnancy, Empowering Birth by life coach and intuitive consultant Julie Cusmariu.  She works out of Montreal and is a woman after my own heart.  She releases blog talk radio interviews that reflect her life transitions.  She did a conscious marriage series last year after tying the knot (which I am interested in listening to as well) and now is doing this pregnancy series in her third trimester.  If you are pregnant or interested in birth issues in our culture I would recommend checking these out.  She has all the finished episodes archived on the site.  Yesterday I listened to her interview with Dr. Christiane Northrup of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom (Revised Edition): Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing fame and Pam England and Virginia Bobro of Birthing from Within: An Extra-Ordinary Guide to Childbirth Preparation fame.  Both interviews were great.  
My heart goes out to those in Japan dealing with the effects of this earthquake and tsunami.  The world is turning at its usual pace, overwhelming as that pace is.  I hope you are finding moments of peace despite it all.

out of the loop

I wouldn't say I'm up on the newest books being published, so today while walking by the bookstore I was elated to see that they had released a new printing of Jean Auel's Earth's Children series.  I share a love of this series with family and friends and the last book was released in 2002....the next one is being released at the end of March.  The Land of Painted Caves is it's title.  The world that these books create is magical and so entertaining to journey through.  Auel takes liberties with pre-history and I really don't mind.  Isn't it the job of the artist to take liberties and create something entertaining, thought provoking and enriching?  Yes.  And there is even a trailer for the book.



I hope if you are a fan of these books you are as excited as I am.  If you've never read them and you like epic stories of an inspiring heroine you should really check them out.

Poem of the Month: March

New in your Wake

At a time of Spring's forthcoming fresh snow

has made a blanket on the earth

My belly pulls, the skin taunt over you

you move with purpose, strong and getting stronger

It seems that timing is a challenge these days

We try to get over illness, start new adventures

and all the while we wait

for you

Your brother sniffles again, he will be a good brother 

to you

devoted, loving and I expect protective

He is still little, still a baby to us

and yet you will be the baby now

Who are we as you arrive

A family of 3

A man meeting the challenge of supporting his family

searching for fulfillment professionally to match his

contentment with those he loves

A woman caring for her family in a new old fashioned way

an artist in her approach to life,

the family optimist and organizer

A little boy who loves trains, singing and is most

happy when we are all together,

secure in our nest

Who will you be?

The feisty one, the quiet one, the adventurer, the mystic...

All remains to be discovered

All will be new and reveal itself with time

All new in the wake of you

a little practical magic

On the weekend I sewed up this little ditty.  Inspired of course by the ever brilliant SouleMama who continues to amaze me with her practical sewing ideas.  Head slapping, why didn't I think of that ideas like this dish rack mat.  It absorbs better than tea towels, looks prettier and is homemade.  What could be better.  And that's my addition to the Sewing Bee this week.

family sharing

The days are going to slow down a bit from here on in.  I'm trying to plan activities and keep busy in little ways so that I can save my big energy for the work to come.  Today I took to documenting the humble beginnings of the new little man's space.  In short he's sharing everything.  There will be things that will just be his, I am determined not to have him miss out on that.  But if I learned anything about infants the first time around it is that they like sharing.  They want to be close to others, feel sheltered, loved and safe.  So while the space that is solely his is small everything will be about him for quite a while regardless.  His brother is waiting, we are waiting and he'll decide when to take his place with us.