on his birthday

 we had a somewhat impromptu playdate with a few friends

and we made a few quiche (one asparagus/leek/gruyere, one caramelized onion/broccoli/cheddar),  baked some strawberry scones and blueberry crumb bars, 

and a mixed a fruit salad to have with granola and yogurt.  

but we forgot to get the champagne out of the fridge for mimosas.  :(

later he got to meet the mailman (a major highlight for mateo)

and then he had a long nap.

he woke up to his favorite foods for dinner: 

homemade macaroni and cheese, and an avocado.

he wore some sweet vintage sailor overalls that i'd found thrifting,

but refused to pull the suspenders up.  :)

we played outside,

and he said hello to the ya-yas (any one of the many cats that live across the street).

 we then came inside for homemade cake!

(the same i'd made for him a year ago)

we sang him the song.

and this time, he only needed a little help blowing out the candles.

after cake (he ate it all and asked for more)

we gave him all the cards and gifts people had sent.

he's never been more fun opening gifts - he wanted to experience/play with/wear each thing that he opened - and showed the same amount of extreme excitement for a new train, a card or a new pair of socks.

with all the events going on, we didn't remember to charge our cameras and only were able to take these few photos.  i was just inspired to look back on what we did last year, and laughed - we forgot to prep the cameras that year too.  and, like this year, it took me a month to share his birthday in this space.  

maybe we'll do better when he turns 3.

can't believe he's been with us two whole years already.

luke graduated

these days have been so busy that i forgot to mention something important.  luke graduated!  he walked in the ceremony.  and he just turned in his dissertation.  now, we wait for feedback and soon he will set a date to defend.  and then it will be official.  turns out waiting is super fun since it means we have luke all to ourselves and we get to do whatever* we want all day!

these photos are from right before the ceremony.  he decided to bike to the stadium to avoid traffic.  our neighbors and i thought he looked like batman flying down our street!

*some things we have been doing: spent a day in ann arbor, went to a bbq, went to a birthday party, walked with unica, lazed around, watched pbs, purged old cds, worked on a project and ate homemade waffles with caramelized apples and whipped cream.

they say

trees make the best mobiles.

our michigan to do list

 

since we've moved here, we've kept a running list written on a map of michigan of the things we'd like to see before our move.  time is so, so quickly running out.  these are the things we'd still like to cross off:

• check out frankenmuth (supposedly a touristy german town where every day is Christmas?)
• camp and hike and explore my family's roots around the upper peninsula!!!
• go to empire's asparagus festival  we missed this last weekend and went to a local art festival instead.  maybe someday?
• cross the river from detroit into canada, play in the riverside park that we see from the other side   done!
• check out and tour where our neighbor works at the msu student organic farm
• learn how to go birding from/with our neighbors
• one last day spent in ann arbor: thrifting, eating at an outdoor cafe, getting our favorite pizza   done!
  
• cross the pull ferry in saugatuck, hike the dune, and go to the beach, this time with the whole family

*pictured above is our old arizona to do list, back before we moved here and back when i had business cards.  :)

(our) tulip time

visiting holland, mi during the mega festival of tulip time was on our "before-we-leave-michigan" list.  but tulip time came soon after ruby was born and being in the middle of massive crowds didn't sound so good.  all we really wanted to do was see fields of tulips.  so we went the week before the festival started.  the tulips were out as well as the sun and we had a lovely (crowd-free) day.

 we stopped first at the park next to downtown.  we came here once before, just weeks after mateo was born two years ago.  i was a little nervous this time after reading about a $50 fine per tulip damaged in the city and knowing how fast my little mateo is.  he did ok though, and only once tried to sit on them but i swooped in just in time.

 this time, we had a picnic and lazed in the sun.  ruby nursed and slept, and luke showed mateo how to roll down a hill on his side. 

i asked mateo to sit on this bench with luke, just like they did in these photos two years ago.  don't they both look different?

we walked around the quiet little downtown and went into some boutique-y shops.

 and then: the best part.  we found the tulip fields.  we went to veldheer's tulip farm.  because we'd been so slow all day, we didn't arrive until later in the afternoon and we had the fields all to ourselves.  there were colors striping and butterflies dancing and bison roaming.  i was inspired to plant hyacinths in the future - they smell so amazing.  below are way too many tulip photos...

this expression made me laugh.

so glad we made it here.

at two years mateo

 

:: shouts "ven mami, ven papi!" when he wakes up in the morning ::

:: counts "uno dos tres" ::

:: calls his little sister "bee - buzzzz" (he hears us say ru-bee) ::

:: refuses to listen to the lullabies we've always, always sang him, and now requests that we make songs up, usually about pie or numbers ::

:: says "papi, fuic!" ("papi, fix") when something is broken - a toy, a neighbors fence, etc. ::

:: shouts "alli -ii-ii-ii-ii-ii-ii!!!!!" ("there", in spanish) when he recognizes something ::
:: is very much obsessed with parks, bikes, and being outside in general ::

:: is so much fun to open gifts with and wants to savor and play with or put on each one immediately ::

:: really, really, really loves the mailman ("nu-mee") and looks for him all day long ::
:: calls all seven of his grandmas and grandpas "ah-ha!" ::
:: still takes a 3 hour afternoon nap ::

:: has a new favorite book - the pout, pout fish given to him by our neighbors ::

:: tries to make the faces his baby sister makes ::
:: finally learned to say his own name - he calls himself "te-te" ::
:: is really into keys ::

:: and opens the front door all by himself (!) ::

:: shouts "i love you mami, papi, baby, unica!" after we say goodnight and shut his door ::

they love each other

in the end

the beads

happy birthday leaf

 

in a rare burst of energy just before ruby was born, i made another birthday banner.  this time, for mateo's best friend leaf.  it was super easy to make - and makes me wish had a place for my sewing machine somewhere besides the attic.

the best gift

one of the very best gifts we received this time around was from our community.  my friend amanda set up a meal train for us through food tidings.  friends, we haven't made dinner in 6 weeks.  meals were delivered every other day, and between those days we lived off of their leftovers.  it was such a luxury.  plus, as if yummy soups and salads and curries and tamales weren't enough, we were brought wine and beer and backyard eggs and fresh bread and cookies and even an entire homemade chocolate coconut cake (pictured above) with the meals.  it was too much, and we will forever be grateful.  we are looking forward to paying it forward and bringing meals to friends who need them in the future.

the first warm day

i've finally found time to look at some of the photos we've taken over the past month.  these are obviously the earliest of them - a few days before ruby was born.  it was one of the first sunny, warm days, and mateo's first time with sidewalk chalk this year.  you could say it was a good time.

ruby and i: before and after

the day before she was born, and a few days after

ruby's birth story (this time in pictures)

and her first few days at home