We moved into a house in Long Beach that has a lot of gardens for a suburban house, and new things are popping up all the time- especially with all of the rain lately!
I noticed this oddity this morning that came up while we were visiting in-laws:
It's some sort of israeli black lily. And it smells like dog pee. Kind of odd- and HUGE! About a foot tall!
I just wanted to share a really special picture I took over the holidays...
This is Edie and Grandma, my mom's mom... and yes, this nearly 88 year old woman is curled up on the floor with my daughter -- on purpose. She's pretty amazing! Her other great-grandma was there also, but she's not quite limber enough to roll around on the floor... .
So Saturday we took a little family field trip to the Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue. A true original... It just so happens to be the largest donkey rescue operation in the nation, and along with Donkeys they have chickens, pigs, cows, llamas, and a lone bison. At the visitors' center they also house a melange of reptiles and small animals, my favorite of which was this giant snake... don't remember what kind it was... just that it was 10 feet long!
And yes, they even let my friend's daughter (almost 2) pet the snake!
So over Christmas vacation (driven to Dallas), I had more than one comment... well accusation, really... that I hadn't updated my blog since the darling Edie was born! Yes, in the back of my mind I knew this, but things get so hectic around here, and when I start blogging and reading the other blogs I love, the hours melt away and the nap is over, and my precious few free moments are over and all I have to show for it is the knowledge of what a few people I don't really know are doing. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE reading about relative strangers and their lives... but I have so much that needs to get done... anyway, here's the past 5 mos in fast forward, and here's to hoping I'll be better in 2008!
September: Edie grows up quickly... by her 1 month appointment she's already up to 11 1/2 lbs and seems like she's growing at breakneck speed... we pretty much stick around the house and have many houseguests...
October: First, Edie takes her first flight- to Dallas for my dad's 60th birthday bash. Then she takes her first RV roadtrip. Four days around Texas with 11 of my nearest and dearest... she fared exceptionally well! Later in the month she started taking some regular longer naps, and actually slept through the night a few times!!! She ended the month in style as a pink dinosaur at Halloween.
November: I don't remember much from before Thanksgiving... she started rolling over from tummy to back early in the month, then over our Turkey Day trip to Carson City, she learned the back to belly roll. She also started giggling sometime this month (a great addition to her huge open mouth grin) and it is my favorite development thusfar... Then the 7 hour roadtrip to Carson City to visit K-Ma and B-Pa.. and the many other family members that showed up for the Turkey day feast/Edie show-off party.
December: Ah, December... Edie is becoming a real true baby!! She responds to funny faces, grabs at her toys, and can scoot around in a circle like nobody's business! About December 13th she started getting up on all fours and rocking, scaring us into thinking she might be walking at 7 months like daddy... It's like living in warp speed now. She's becoming more independant by the day, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. She loves to stand and jump and do anything really except sit still. I have a feeling that in a few days or weeks or however long it takes her to crawl, my life is going to be spent chasing around this tornado of trouble. But we'll see... we're at 5 months and counting and no crawling yet.... am I allowed to strap her down? No, that would probably just make the muscles stronger from her struggling and she'd just jump up walking in a week.... scratch that! Anyway, things are going great. I'm knitting a lot and sewing more and more by the day. I made a couple of Mai Tai carriers for myself and my midwife, and word got around, so now I'll be making some for my friend's store. So things are going, I'm getting more and more settled into our little town... finding friends and groups and places and my place in this little corner in the Mountains. It's snowed twice and turned beautiful. Sort of feeling like home.
Sorry about the glut of photos... I guess this is why you should update your blog more than once every 5 months...
If you still haven't had enough of the Edie, here's her progress captured in crappy video (soon to be better--- got a real video cam for christmas...)
She arrived Monday, August 6th at 4.15pm in a wonderful birth tub in our dining room!
8 lbs 12 oz 22" long
Sorry I've been so delinquent in posting, but we've been busy up in here! Edie was 11 days late, but worth every minute of wait and labor... I hope to post more on the birth story later! Thanks!
Watching minor league baseball live with a hot dog in hand ($9 for the best seat in the house, no less) is MUCH better than sitting through a 4 hour major league game on TV...
I'm an architect that has developed a dislike for cities, and my new husband is an aerospace designer that has developed a distaste for modern life. Now we're trying to justify throwing away our insanely expensive educations and city life for 80 acres and some sheep.... Check in for updates on our search for a farm, jealousy of others and their successful journeys, and attempts to live a "country life" in the city within the four hours a day we're not working at our corporate jobs or sleeping!
