all we need is amor

at 8 months ruby

2012-01-09T15:16:00.001-07:00

:: loves to give kisses ::

:: but never gives just one, and gives them by bobbing back and forth to your face saying "mm-ahh" for each one ::

:: said her very first word, and says it all the time: "uh oh" ::

:: loves to stand and crawls from furniture to more furniture just to pull herself up and stand ::

:: is sleeping a bit longer at night, and starting to get used to her crib ::

:: is a little more reserved with smiling at strangers than she used to be ::

:: would choose to spend an entire day being held and cuddled if possible ::

:: has so much love for her brother and follows him everywhere ::

:: is really getting into playing with toys ::

:: eats more solids but chooses bread over fruits and vegetables every time ::

:: is still a very passionate clapper and will clap when she hears anyone say "yay!" ::

:: sways back and forth when she hears music::

:: waves hello ::

:: holds a lock of her hair while she sleeps ::

and one more photo, not a super happy one, but a big-eyed, big-cheeked ruby channeling the classic old fashioned baby look:

old house, new house

2012-01-07T16:02:00.001-07:00

we moved again! yes, our 8 month old baby girl is now living in the 3rd house of her life. lucky for her (and us) wherever we are is her home. the house we were living in was fairly dumpy, with no character inside and thousands of shards of glass outside, had no real yard and was too expensive. we arrived on its doorstep from michigan without having seen a single photo. so, we thanked God a few months into it when we realized that we forgot to check the "12 month" box on the lease meaning we could move away after 6 months.

we looked at just one place - right downtown, with two bedrooms and one bathroom. it had so many windows with sun shining in and a fenced yard and a dishwasher in a vintage kitchen and felt warm and perfect. it is a 10 minute walk to downtown. the library and a park where they have weekly summer concerts is a 3 minute walk away at the end of our street and at another end (we are on a corner) is a woodsy trail that leads to a secret duck pond just a 5 minute walk away. mateo would want me to share that there is a high school across the street which for him means SCHOOL BUSES ALL DAY OUT HIS WINDOW. the house was built in the late 1800s and has character and feels like home after just a few weeks here.

the move was tricky: we had just 1 day to pack everything up after being away for Christmas, and 2 days to move it over to the new place. we were so, so blessed by luke's mom coming out to stay with us to help and watch the little ones. before she arrived, we tried so hard to pack but with a needy ruby and a take-everything-out-of-the-packed-boxes mateo, we didn't get very far. we could not have done it without her.

we had to be out by midnight on new years eve, and the gas company didn't turn the gas on for another 3 days after that, so we had to unpack and eat and sleep in 20-30 degree cold for 3 days. this meant we wore layers upon layers to bed, full winter hats, 4 pairs of smartwool on our feet and at least one pair on our hands. it was so cold! these photos are from the last morning of our freezing - the gas man arrived minutes after we took them and walked in to all of us clapping for his arrival.

now we are a bit more settled since taking these photos. going from 4 bedrooms to 2 has been a blessing in that we are organizing, craigslisting, and goodwilling what we don't really use or need. the house is so much smaller, but we can breathe so much easier in it. and can you see the glorious light coming in? each morning we rush to get out of our darker bedrooms and into the living room where the sun pours in.

and one last photo: new years eve, our first night here, after a long day of moving and a little ice cream celebration with family for the new year and new place.

luke & pamela's 2011 mix

2011-12-31T15:58:00.001-07:00

we put our 2011 mixtape together awhile ago, but we've been busy traveling and moving and packing and unpacking so we've yet to share it with anyone. at last:

the mix this year has a bit of new, a bit of old, a bit of even older. a good amount of covers. some great songs and some songs so bad that we had to love them (i'm talking to you, #6, heard for the first time in a thrift store basement in prescott, az). i got super into old country this year and i am a little sad to see we didn't have dolly represent that here. thanks to npr for introducing us to #1 and #13. #7 and #9 got stuck in our heads many, many times. and #8 and #12 were everywhere. #17 is a sweet version of one of my favorite songs, and one i am teaching the babies to sing. for dancing we loved #2 and #4. #10, #14, and #15 speak to my all time favorite music genre which is: mellow. #16 is one of mateo's favorites. of course #5 is for the best thing that happened to us in 2011.

as always, let us know if you'd like a copy. and if you have any recommendations we should check out. :)

see our previous mixes here: 2010, 2009, 2008.

christmas 3

2011-12-27T12:53:00.000-07:00

we got home late from our texas road trip and had our 3rd Christmas pretty immediately after unpacking the car. we were moving the very next day so everything was a little rushed but we had a good time savoring the last of the gifts and the last of the tree and lights and the last night in the house we called home for awhile.

(we told mateo to close his eyes as luke brought out his gift - a little wooden thrifted rocking chair)

christmas 2

2011-12-26T17:33:00.001-07:00

we drove 15 hours to texas for christmas to spend it with my parents, grandparents, and sister. we had a super time, and mateo keeps asking to go back to "grandma's house".

i think luke and i were so relaxed that we didn't get our camera out very often, so these are some of the only photos i have.

mateo requested a train outfit which i bought for him with one of those $15 free coupons to kohls that come in the mail. i wanted to get something for ruby too (first christmas! little girl clothes!) but i couldn't bring myself to buy a $30 outfit that she would only wear once. and then i remembered seeing something awhile ago in my baby box, so i checked it out and found in pretty perfect condition, my first christmas outfit. a million times better that a random something from target.

we all loved spending time with my family. and eating. and catching up. and lazing around (ask luke how many naps he took). and shopping at rei. and watching holiday movies and pioneer woman. and luke and i even got to go out a few times without the kids. mateo had a special bond with my mom, and ruby took turns taking naps on everyone. the only (very, very) unfortunate part of this Christmas holiday is that we arrived sick and managed to get everyone else sick - on Christmas! - something i will forever feel so bad about!

we even had a special holiday sing-a-long on Christmas Eve thanks to luke's requests and my mom's piano skills and her and my grandparent's singing skills. thanks to my parents for having us and being so super generous.

ps. here is the only photo of me in all of the christmas photos, wearing new Christmas boots. :)

christmas 1

2011-12-23T15:42:00.001-07:00

we had our first christmas party this year at our house with luke's brother's familia who lives in town. it was going to be a big fiesta but we were sick the week prior meaning we had no time to plan and were super behind on everything, so instead we ordered the best pizza in town and kept it casual. it was perfect.

we continued the matching cousin pajama tradition that we started when mateo was born. mateo opened the first gift - a train - which made his night/week/possibly year.

luke and i made a puzzle for brian and ashlei to put together that would tell them their gift, and ashlei and i gave the guys a shared present of a beer brewing kit. it was a perfect little eve of christmastime christmas party. and the last celebration we had in our house before moving.

our christmas card photo

2011-12-20T15:28:00.000-07:00

above is the photo we sent out this year. below are some outtakes. we went to GREAT LENGTHS this year to get a certain Christmas photo, and we didn't get what we intended but i won't go into detail since we are going to try again next year. :)

we also had a super fun little family photo shoot with our family in town...

merry christmas from ruby

2011-12-17T14:46:00.000-07:00

mateo saw this photo i took of him 2 years ago and asked to "be this again". so we did it again with him (too fast for photos) and with ruby.

also: a little grateful shout-out to those michigan mom to mom sales, from which we are still enjoying our finds, like ruby's brand new red peacoat for $5. :)

so happy christmas

2011-12-13T14:40:00.000-07:00

just an outtake from our christmas card photo shoot

and an oddly exposed but pretty shot of our drive home after it yesterday

we are in the middle of some crazy times (as many of you are as well i am guessing) wrapping and making and baking and chasing and shoveling and road trip planning and soon enough, moving(!) so i am not sure when we will come back to this space.

until then, happy christmas!

have a happy weekend, and a few things

2011-12-02T16:37:00.001-07:00

i have a habit of ordering the macy's special over and over again at our favorite coffee shop. they are super yummy, but most of all i love collecting photos of the different pretty things drawn on them.

yesterday it started snowing and we have over 6 inches already. people are saying to expect 12 inches more through the weekend, and mateo keeps asking me to put on his "windy" (winter) boots.

after hearing so much about them, i finally started reading the hunger games. it is easy reading, but suspenseful, and i zipped through the first 2 out of 3 books in a few days. now i'm just waiting on the library holds list for the third. luke is now in the middle of book 1 and we've been reading together every night - one of my favorite things. have you read them?

speaking of luke, he has a website!

speaking of luke and speaking of websites, he also started a blog! he kept asking me for help and it was fun working on it together.

i had my heart set on signing up for a ceramics class after 6 years of living in towns where doing that wasn't possible, but nau told me their classes are for "college aged" students (and already full), and the community college here would consider me out of state, making the single class cost about $1000. there were some tears shed, but i have decided there must be something else for me next semester.

mateo earned his first little bit of cash this week after being observed for a speech development study at nau.

our little ruby has 2 tiny tops of teeth almost poking through her bottom gums. she is as happy as ever though, so hopefully she is not feeling the pain.

today we looked at a house for rent downtown. it has so many things going for it - price and character and a fenced yard and a big kitchen and tons of windows! but it is a 2 bedroom, so we would be downsizing quite a bit. i think it sounds like a nice challenge though - we have way too much stuff. we are hoping to make a decision today, so we would love your prayers for us to make the right one!

flagstaff has a lot for us this weekend: we are meeting luke in an hour on north campus to see something light up with the mayor and some luminarias i think as well and then following a parade downtown to see more things light up and then we are going to attempt the art walk for a little while. and tomorrow, mateo's favorite children's singer is playing at our favorite bookstore and there is a mama/baby clothing swap in sedona. i'm sure there will be some snow play, too. have a happy weekend, friends!

at 7 months ruby

2011-12-01T12:37:00.000-07:00

:: moves slowly and sweetly ::

:: except when she is flapping, then she moves fast and crazy ::

:: babbles "da da da" and "na na na" most often ::

:: crawls with her belly off the ground (she skipped the army-crawl entirely) ::

:: can sit up whenever, wherever ::

:: and pulls herself to standing ::

:: loves to clap her hands when she sees you clapping ::

:: loves bonding with her papi ::

:: loves watching me cook ::

:: bobs up and down when you hold her, one of my very favorite baby things ::

:: is taking a stand against solid foods ::

:: has started a new nightly tradition of waking up and wanting to play for 2+ hours in the middle of the night (!) ::

:: has no teeth ::

:: tries to keep up with her silly brother ::

:: is so much fun to play with ::

:: is such a joy to hold ::

:: is growing way too fast ::

a happy thanksgiving for us and to you

2011-11-30T16:29:00.000-07:00

we had a happy thanksgiving. i hope you all did too.

we celebrated with luke's brother and family and friends. it was our first thanksgiving being able to make and bring food and we had such a great time deciding on just the right brussel sprout recipe and how to use our csa share in the appetizers and just which pie crust ideas from martha we'd use. the food was amazing. my favorite things were ashlei's garlic-y mashed potatoes and her friend dre's amazing cheesecake.

we forgot to lug the nice camera over and we also forgot to get a group photo. but here are some of the cute cousins celebrating 2 of their first thanksgivings. big eyes must run in the family.

the most beautiful hike

2011-11-21T16:58:00.000-07:00

hi friends! i just have to share these photos from a hike we went on yesterday. it possibly made my top-10-hikes-ever list.

we went on the airport mesa trail, right in the middle of all of sedona. the trail goes around the entire mesa, so you get views of all the red rock monuments. it was so beautiful!

i kept finding hearts in the prickly pear cactus.

we used this baby backpack for the first time that was given to us by a friend back in michigan. it was amazing for my shoulders. :)

mateo was so excited to discover that there were both cactus on the trail AND on his shirt.

can you see all the trees changing along the creek? it was the most beautiful, bright view on a cloudy day. the leaves in flagstaff have long ago fallen off the trees, so we were (happily) surprised to see sedona still in the middle of fall.

our camera batteries died halfway through our hike, so not pictured in this post are all of the other monuments we saw on the other side. the rain came for a bit and then left, leaving that amazing desert rain smell plus rain-glitter all over the agave and red rocks. it was gorgeous!

on our way back home we stopped at starbucks to cash in on the buy-one-get-one-free holiday drink hour to enjoy on the ride home and it was the sweetest end to one of our best arizona days yet.

at six months ruby

2011-11-14T14:56:00.004-07:00

i am famously late with these every month. today ruby is 7 months, but here is her 6 month recap for record's sake. :)

at six months, ruby

:: still has baby dimpled hands ::

:: and sparkled eyes ::

:: and is becoming busier, like her brother ::
:: loves to look in the mirror, and at other babies ::

:: can sit up on her own ::

:: can move around on the floor, mostly by rolling ::

:: but is going to crawl any day now! ::
:: likes to flap her arms and legs ::

:: has a little more hair ::
:: wakes up 3 times a night or more ::

:: and would like to sleep in a bit if her brother didn't wake her each day ::

:: but shares a morning ritual with him of laying on their backs in our bed and playing with coches in the air ::

:: says "da, da, da" most frequently ::

:: and "tha, tha tha " often ::

:: is beginning to show some stranger anxiety ::
:: really doesn't like being in a dressing room ::

:: loves to eat both milk and solid foods ::

:: is a very quick and precise grabber ::

:: seems wise in her gaze ::

:: is just the sweetest and most lovely little girl we could imagine ::

walnut canyon

2011-11-10T16:43:00.001-07:00

last month i took the little ones with me to walnut canyon, just a few minutes drive from our house. we'd made doughnuts that morning and mateo kept accidentally calling it "doughnut canyon". :)

luke had to work so it was just the three of us, and i was slightly nervous about mateo running and staying on the path, but the park rangers told me we'd be fine so i felt confident, and he ended up doing okay. we started up on the cliff of the canyon, and then hiked carefully down 180 steps.

right away we saw several cliff dwellings from the sinagua people all over the canyon walls, and soon we were able to explore inside some of them. (lauren, i kept thinking of you here and how much you would have enjoyed it).

every time we visit i am fascinated and in awe of the thought of living on the side of a canyon wall, and all that that would mean for food, water and communication. mateo really enjoyed exploring the "tiny casas". ruby enjoyed the fresh air and then fell asleep.

at the farthest point of our adventure, mateo got tired and wouldn't walk anymore. i had ruby in the mei tai so i put him on my back in the ergo... and walked the rest of the way through the canyon and then up those 180 steps carrying the two of them. it was hard work and i am sorry to say i think i messed up my shoulder because of it. but we had a good time and hope to go back to doughnut canyon soon. :)

ruby eats

2011-11-09T14:13:00.002-07:00

right around her 6 month mark, ruby began showing the classic i'm-ready-to-try-solids signs. so a few weeks ago we started solids with a sweet potato. we gave her a spoon to keep her little hands busy and fed her with a finger to make sure the temperature was right. she LOVED it. i had to wait awhile to get a typical first food photo (the last one, below) because she was enjoying it so much. i have never seen a baby eat so well, so soon. everything she has tried so far she has loved. it's not just that, but more the way she eats - going right for our finger and keeping food in - that i can't get over. it is like she has been waiting every single day of her life to finally try eating the way we do.

as with many things, i feel so much more relaxed this time around compared to the stress i had when feeding mateo. with him i read and researched and worried that we needed the special baby food books and kits and contraptions, but this time around i just pull something from whatever we are eating that evening and steam or bake it especially for her. i like to include flavorful (not spicy) spices with their food to keep it exciting and get them comfortable with it. so far so good.

i am enjoying the timing of our two spring babies in relation to the seasons. pregnant and warm all through winter, new life in the spring along with animals and blossoms, no covering up their sweet newborn skin in the summer, and then being surrounded by some perfectly seasonal first foods like apples, sweet potatoes and winter squash around the time of their first tastes.

ps. i like to compare these photos to mateo's here. :) (except that they make me miss our old house)

7 inches

2011-11-07T13:51:00.000-07:00

food related

2011-11-02T17:33:00.000-07:00

we finally (after years of debating) have joined a csa! last week we picked up our first share of the harvest and we were overwhelmed! but also: giddy! we were given a pumpkin, a watermelon, a giant cushaw (this is the most intimidating - any ideas?) red potatoes, green tomatoes, green peppers, roasted chiles, bags of basil and arugula and salad mix, and a bunch of radishes. and possibly more that i am forgetting.

we debated for awhile signing up for a full or half share and decided on the full share - to go in 100% and see how it goes. not an hour after signing up i met a woman who told me she feeds her family of 5 on the half share alone... so i am a little nervous about if we will be able to eat it all, but so far i am enjoying the challenge.

on another note, here are some things we have recently tried that we've loved so much they've made it into our regular weekly meals but that i have no photographs of because we eat too late and nobody likes food photos taken with flash:

these pumpkin muffins that we make each fall (with less sugar, and 1/2 whole wheat)

this butternut squash apple soup that is both perfectly sweet and spicy

this friend's super quick and really great pizza

these sweet potato and black bean tacos (just make sure you have a good tortillas)

my new favorite grilled cheese sandwiches (we made them 3 days in a row!)

carrot cake pancakes similar to this recipe

this chili with sour cream/cheddar/jalapeno biscuits or just plain and delicious cornbread

this mexican green rice with roasted chiles from this cookbook which was quite possibly the best mexican rice we've ever had, ever. we made our own flour tortillas with them which, turns out, are ridiculously easy to make with ingredients you already have and totally delicious

and these soft chocolate chip pumpkin cookies (especially with the spices tripled)

on my list to try soon is this basil ice cream, this pretty salad, and this thai-inspired pumpkin soup.

what are you eating? anything we should try?

happy halloween

2011-11-01T15:37:00.001-07:00

happy halloween! we had a super fun night.

mateo wanted to be an aspen tree. ruby had been given a gold tutu which inspired me to make her into an owl like this one. unfortunately, i began making their costumes the day before halloween which meant some pretty crazy hours trying to make them happen up until the very second that trick or treating started. next year i will try to start earlier!

i think my sewing is like my spanish - i don't really know how to do it correctly, but i have found ways to cut corners and pull something together. mateo could barely fit his arms in his costume. :)

we surprised luke at his office, then walked downtown for the trick or treating at the shops. it was great and i'm grateful that they do it, but the crowds + me wanting to have real interactions with neighbors + give these guys old school halloween experiences makes me think we will stick to neighborhood trick or treating from now on. we went to a neighborhood near downtown towards the end of the night and mateo knocked on a few doors and that was my favorite part of the evening.

they both did really great - ruby fell asleep and was a total angel baby, and mateo did good with all the commotion. (don't ask me about his post-candy behavior at a restaurant later in the night).

right now we are heading out to a local dentist in town who buys back the candy we received and sends it to the troops. don't worry luke - i saved you some kit kats!

i am including way too many halloween photos here, because they make me smile and i want to look back on them next year. hope you enjoy. :)

ps. we really missed our michigan friends. wish we could have been out with you all.

just your average, everyday trip to bookmans

2011-10-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

a turn of events

2011-10-26T13:44:00.000-07:00

the sky was cloudy and full of rainbows when we drove to the library this morning, and the mountains couldn't be seen. we went to baby story time and stayed for toddler story time right after and didn't have the best time. ruby was in the mood to pull my hair over and over, mateo was pushy once with a little boy, then later accidentally stepped on the boy's little sister's toes which made their mother glare at me the rest of the hour. then he was fully on (what we call) the no-train and the room was really, really hot.

we got out of there right when it ended, all of us grumpy and/or tired. as we drove toward home and i tried to figure out what to tackle on our to-do list, the clouds parted and the sun came out and revealed a fresh snow on the peaks of the mountains. it was too pretty to resist so we pulled over to grab some emergency granola bars from the trunk, put on some folk-y music, and drove to the top of the mountain.

i am so glad we visited the aspens when we did a week or so ago - these same aspens are no longer golden, but totally bare. when we got to the furthest drivable point on the peaks we realized the snow hadn't fallen low enough for us to really get into it, but mateo found a (light) patch to play in. i don't think he remembers snow - he was afraid to touch it at first. ruby stayed in the car and snoozed.

we all felt better after a pretty drive and some fresh air and some mountain time. i was *this* close to driving all the way to sedona after and declaring it an outside day all around, but stomachs were rumbling and eyelids were getting droopy in the backseat. i am so happy we live near such a beautiful mountain that can help turn our day around.

what is soft and pink and sparkles all over?

2011-10-25T14:52:00.001-07:00

(the answer around here is: ruby)

prescotting

2011-10-19T15:00:00.001-07:00

luke had a two day conference in prescott recently and so we all tagged along. i hadn't been to prescott for years, and i remembered it only as being western and touristy and that is about it. after our weekend there we totally are huge prescott fans. it was a hip town that was pretty walkable and so full of thrift stores and yummy restaurants. we had a great time.

we debated staying at the cheapest place in town with bad reviews (since we weren't planning on staying inside much anyways) or the boutique-y motel that had the greatest reviews and wasn't too expensive called the motor lodge. the day before leaving, luke called the lodge and they had literally *just* had a cancellation so we booked a room. we are not typically hotel-crazy people and i never take photos of hotel rooms but this place was so great and super fun and totally made our weekend. it used to be one of those run down route-66-style hotels until the current owners bought it and redid everything with colors and antiques and great design. every room is different and most have porches and fireplaces, plus it is just a few blocks away from downtown. when we checked in we were given some cold beers (and 3 organic juice boxes for mateo!) and thrift store advice, and when we checked out we were given bags of just baked cookies. when we saw the other guests outside we'd all look at each other as if we were in on the best kept secret of prescott. we think it would be ther perfect place to rent out several rooms with friends or family. enough, enough, i know, but just in case you ever go to prescott you must stay at the motor lodge!

so, back to the weekend: ruby, mateo and i went thrifting (there were thrift stores everywhere we looked!) while luke did the conference thing. highlights found were: a mexican shirt for me, a globe for luke's office, one of those old metal tv trays for mateo (that he mistook for a step stool a few minutes after getting it home and is now broken), and a sweet well seasoned cast iron pan. if we drove something bigger than a corolla there would have been trunks and couches purchased, too.

i left my camera accidentally in our room for most of the time we were there, but we walked around the town square and checked out the courthouse and shops and art festival going on that weekend. we also ate quite a bit at some yummy places - in & out (flagstaff doesn't have one so we indulged), bill's pizza which seemed pretty local and was delicious, lone spur cafe where i was served a giant plate of french toast encrusted with corn flakes (believe it) and we found a sweet little coffee house called cuppers that had live music in the middle of the day. thanks to prescott for the best time ever.

we decided to drive home the scenic way and got to revisit one of our very favorite arizona towns - jerome. it is an old mining town perched on the side of a mountain with tiny sidewalks and massive views. can you see the mountains where we live in the photo below? jerome is super artsy which is lovely, but is filled with things that little ones can grab and break so we mostly walked the streets and stayed out of the shops.

ruby fell asleep on my back and luke took her off to put her in the car and she stayed asleep hanging in the air in his arms - it was the sweetest thing and people stopped to look at her. i ran for the camera but by the time i got back she had just opened her eyes. i promise she smiled the second after i took this photo. :)

the next part of the drive took us through sedona which is always beautiful. we went to our our old favorite mexican restaurant where we used to always go after hikes and split the mini-samples-of-everything-platter. unfortunately, some things do change and it was way more expensive and not so yummy as 10 years ago. a sign of a touristy restaurant in arizona is when you are charged for chips and salsa and i'm sorry to tell you that here we saw this sign. :)

even though luke had to work part of the weekend we really felt relaxed and vacationed after it. we made a calendar on the way home of places we want to visit annually (in crayon) and this exact weekend is now on it.

an afternoon in the aspens

2011-10-15T11:30:00.000-07:00

we spent the loveliest afternoon in the aspens last thursday. luke was leaving for a conference and had an afternoon flight, so we whisked him away just before to enjoy the changing leaves before they disappear.

we grabbed a quick picnic lunch and went to the aspen stand near snowbowl. it was beautiful! leaves so golden and grass so soft.

this is a special place for us since it is where we wanted to have our wedding, except getting married on january 1st meant the mountain would be covered in snow at that time. i like to tease luke that since we live here now, we could have a vow renewal someday!

it is funny because the last time we lived in flagstaff i had only lived in phoenix before, so fall felt so super fall-ish. now, after living in michigan and experiencing such beautiful falls (like here and here) i keep waiting for all the leaves to change and it to really feel like fall but then i have to remind myself that the majority of trees here stay green all year long. i am glad we have the aspens, at least.

this was the only family photo we were able to coax mateo into.

at the last minute, we also grabbed an old john denver album off of our wall. ever since we've had it this album has been asking to get taken to the mountains with us. i tried to talk mateo into taking a jd photo too, but he was too busy.

in full disclosure i should say that even though we spent a few glorious hours hanging out under the glittering leaves, we were not alone. our timing was so bad that we were there at the same time as a field trip of 3 buses of kids! so it wasn't exactly quiet or peaceful, but it was fun. mateo found his little bus toy in the car and just stood, very seriously, holding his bus out to the real school bus. silent and serious. he was figuring something major out regarding toys vs. real life we think.

today it is 80 degrees outside and not so windy, so hopefully the leaves will hold for a few more hikes and picnics!

at 5 months ruby

2011-10-13T20:21:00.004-07:00

i was reminded this morning by luke that ruby will be 6 months tomorrow! already! so we had an impromptu little photo shoot during a picnic on the mountain this afternoon, mismatched socks and all. doesn't unica in the photo above make you laugh? it kind of reminds me of one of those photos from the 1980s where one person floats in the top corner. i had to include it. :)

so, at 5 months ruby sue:

:: sits up for small periods of time before falling ::

:: loves belly time if her mama is in view ::

:: has reached the i-want-to-be-held-every-second-or-i-will-cry-hard-and-loud stage ::

(my mama reminded me that it is fleeting so i am embracing and enjoying it)

:: still likes to tuck those sweet lips in ::

:: and still lives for eye contact ::

:: loves to be outside ::

:: and loves to play and splash in water ::

:: laughs and smiles all day long, at anyone ::

:: hasn't yet shown any signs of stranger anxiety ::

:: sparkles with her eyes ::

:: is an expert at grabbing ::

:: and shows such joy when she gets a hold of my hair ::

:: likes to make a "t" sound - "tuh, tuh tuh"
:: got her first cold which has lasted on and off for 4 weeks now! ::

:: is showing interest in the food we eat ::

:: likes her cow book best, because it has a tail she can chew on ::
:: is always busy touching and feeling with her hands and scratching those little fingers ::

:: gets around by scooting but spends most the time bobbing on hands and knees ::

:: and is still the most cuddly little sleeper ::
:: has a few loving nicknames - rubes, rubies, the roobster and rubix cube ::

so lucky we are to have her.

the arb

2011-10-11T15:56:00.001-07:00

we bought luke a family membership to the arboretum at flagstaff for his birthday this year. he has been too busy with school to enjoy it (so sorry luke!) but the little ones and i have been going. it has been an especially nice place to escape to when we aren't feeling healthy enough to hang with other people, but we still want to get out of the house and into the fresh air. it is only 5 miles from town and has a great view of the peaks and oh, mateo would like me to point out that it has a tree maze AND a sunflower maze!

these are photos from a few weeks ago when we went for a picnic.

we went again this morning (see below photo) and the landscape has changed so much! no more sunflowers, but there are snow-capped peaks and lots of changing aspens. we sat down under them and watched the leaves glitter down on us with each gust of wind. we are going to carve a pumpkin for a halloween event there this weekend, and i'm trying to convince mateo that an aspen tree would be a great costume.

speaking of mateo, he just woke up and then proceeded to wake ruby up and is now asking to make cookies, which sounds like a very good idea. happy tuesday!

we went camping at lake powell

2011-10-09T15:00:00.001-07:00

last weekend we went camping with friends at lake powell! we had the best time and it felt like we actually, really, truly got to relax a bit because we didn't fill our days with driving and sight-seeing. the daily goals were pretty much: 1) hang out by the lake, 2) enjoy the company, 3) eat yummy food, and 4) kayak around.

i didn't ask for everyone's permission to share photos so the ones shared here are either all of our family or are far-away views of our friends. (and that means there are no photos of our super cute new baby nephew, sorry). :)

on our way up we stopped at horseshoe bend. it is a small hike to a breathtakingly beautiful view of the colorado river, and also takes your breath away because there are no rails and you are free to roam around the 1000-feet-high cliffs that drop to the river.

here is our camping spot, right on the lake. mateo is "taking a picture".

we camped at lone rock beach for only $10 a night. there were several rvs (aunt debi, we should have a family reunion here!) but still space for us to have our own bit of the lakeside.

mateo as usual woke up super early in the morning so this photo is of the sunrise during his walk with luke.

and then ruby woke up super early and we joined them. i like all of our sleepy faces and the brilliant sunrise light.

a friend gave ruby this (very girly) swimsuit that she was happy to model. :)

ruby also had some sweet times with my best girlfriend from 5th grade. :)

we took turns kayaking out around the lone rock that you can see in the photo above. mateo went on his first kayak trip and did great! it made us happy to use it again, and glad that we didn't sell it in michigan.

and we ate so well! above is a photo of the dinner luke's brother b & a made, marinated tofu and all. we made navajo tacos which were eaten too quickly too photograph. there was also cake and fruit and chopped veggies and hummus and the best chai-inspired s'mores ever.

i should say, for memories sake, that the wind picked up pretty heavily both nights that we camped, but just for 10 minutes or so. our new and gigantic cheapie tent acted more like a sail than a tent and started flying away the first night. the second night mateo was sleeping in it when the wind picked up, and even though it was weighed down with sleeping pads and bags and our junk and mateo's body and staked to the ground, it again started flying away! it was absolutely terrifying for mateo and for all of us who were trying to find the door to a collapsed and flapping tent in the dark during a sandstorm. i returned the tent the morning we got back to town, and contacted the company. i think we now have to go back to using rei tents only.

except for the tent, it was a great weekend and we came away feeling relaxed and rejuvenated. we hope to make this an annual group camping trip.

today

2011-10-06T15:45:00.000-07:00

today there is snow on the mountain for the first time this season! it is so pretty and the air is so fresh and crisp and people on the street keep pointing it out to each other. we had a fabulous walk this morning all bundled up.

north rim

2011-09-27T14:31:00.001-07:00

luke suggested we go camping the last weekend of summer before he began teaching. we thought of a dozen great places we'd love to camp at, but the top of our list was the north rim of the grand canyon. because you have to drive 4 hours around the entire canyon to get there, it is way less visited. and it is at a higher elevation than the south rim, so it is less desert-y and more forest-y, plus you can see more views beyond the canyon since it is higher up. i camped there by myself (with unica) in college, but luke had never been. so i stalked the online camping reservations until there were two cancellations in a row. and so off we went. i am happy to share that luke was completely enamored with the north rim as well (i've been talking it up for 10 years now) and now says he he is "north rim for life".

the thing about the four hour drive is that it is super gorgeous - you pass through the mountains of flagstaff through deserted navajo lands, cross the little colorado river, drive along the gorgeous vermillion cliffs, and then you get to go through wide meadows full of free roaming buffalo. we saw several herds of them, beginning with the big guy above. we had the "is it a buffalo or a bison?" conversation a few times until we read an article inside the park that said they are a cross breed of cow and buffalo so their proper name is beefalo! i think i prefer buffalo...

we tented up and made dinner and got everyone down and had a few minutes (3 to be exact) to try some long exposures with the camera before little ones needed us again. the best stars i've ever seen have been while at the grand canyon.

here is mateo and i the next morning, modeling "camping chic"

camping at the north rim was everything we hoped for. there were never any crowds or lines, and it felt more like summer camp than a giant tourist destination. above is the view from our campsite, which was right on the rim! (if you ever go, try to book site #16 or close to it).

we brought some simpler times from trader joes which kind of became our weekend (and all the time) motto.

camp breakfast: coffee, fruit, and banana walnut espresso muffins from one of my new favorite cookbooks.

mateo's special camping treat was the individual sized milk cartons. :)

we hiked around a bit and drove to some of the viewpoints. this is what mateo does when you ask him "how big is the grand canyon?"

you can see the peaks (where we live) from the north rim, which is one of my favorite things about it. but not in any of these photos. (sorry)

not everything was super easy, (keeping a constant hand on a two year old runner when you are camping on the rim of the grand canyon for example!), but i am so happy to report that things went much better than they did during our Worst Camping Trip Ever earlier this summer. we had wondered after the first experience if camping wasn't possible for awhile anymore and this trip was sort of going to be our one last try. i think the key is not to drive very far and not to move once you are there. setting up tents and gear and all that goes with it takes so much time with little ones and when you have to move every day plus want to go around to see the sites it doesn't leave any time for relaxing.

a friend told me a story she'd heard once about a woman who was camping with her family and her little ones were super needy and she wasn't finding any time to relax with changing diapers and meals and nursing and feeding and keeping track of things and she was feeling frustrated. some older women were camping near this family and at one point, one of them crossed paths with the tired mama and said "it may not seem like it right now, but these are the best moments of your life." i told luke this story on our drive there and so we really tried to be intentional in enjoying all the work that was involved.

mateo, who likes to wake up at 5am ever since moving to arizona, woke luke up early both days. the first morning he woke up saying "bookmans, bookmans!" which is a used bookstore we go to a lot in flagstaff. it made us laugh. both mornings, he and luke got up to hike a little along the rim and let ruby and me sleep in.

can you tell that just beyond those trees is the canyon? it was incredible.

mateo used my old care bear suitcase. :)

another camp breakfast, this time using our pie iron for veggie omelets, and then we packed up to go. my wonderful husband took the littles and the pup and drove everybody and everything to the canyon lodge, and allowed me a luxurious, quiet, and nothing-on-my-shoulders hike through the woods to the lodge a few miles away. it was such a treat. and then we headed home.

poor unica has to sit at my feet now since there isn't any room anywhere else. :(

we stopped at cliff dwellers to feed these guys and check out the crazy rock formations.

and then again to check out the views of the mountains where we live.

it was a good trip.

big bird

2011-09-23T12:35:00.001-07:00

i think this little yellow and white striped shirt might be my favorite vintage find ever. it has the original big bird parachuting into the grand canyon. the thrift stores in michigan (where i found it) were so full of vintage clothes and books and furniture. i thought the pickings might be even better here in arizona but in flagstaff at least the thrift stores seem to only put out the newer stuff and the things they think we all want. we are headed to phoenix for my best friend's wedding this weekend and some sunny pool time and lots of mexican food, and i'm hoping to find a little solo time for thrifting too (hint, hint, sweet husband!). :)

ruby tuesday

2011-09-20T08:26:00.004-07:00

just a little chubby-cheeked rubes for your tuesday.

run boy run

2011-09-16T15:03:00.001-07:00

last night we had big plans for a (family) date night, but we cancelled everything when we walked by the square downtown and heard the most enchanting folk music. it was already dark out, so you could only see the profiles of the artists and their instruments against the brick wall behind. it was beautiful. the group is called run boy run and they are from tucson and in town for the pickin' in the pines festival this weekend. we have big plans for hiking and seeing family and an old friend this weekend, but next year we hope to save our money and camp and folk music it up in the forest. for now, we'll listen to their cd.

one of my goals this year is to get to know folk and bluegrass music better. we always enjoy it but we don't have much and don't really know where to start. any ideas?

luke's birthday

2011-09-14T17:06:00.000-07:00

these photos are a little older now - luke's birthday was almost two months ago. but it has been so perfect outside that we've been busy living. so here i am, just getting to it. do you see anything familiar about the photo above?

luke had a birthday a few days after we got to flagstaff. i read in the local paper that you could ride the ski lift to the top of the peaks for free on your birthday, so that was his first birthday surprise. even better, his brother a was still with us from the drive out, and his brother b & wife a had just moved here too, so it was a big family birthday. you can see them on the lift below.

it was really windy on the top at 11,500 feet! we could see sedona to the south and the grand canyon to the north. it was so extremely windy that it was more important to hold on to your little ones tightly and less important to check for the sun in your camera, which produced a lot of photos that made me laugh. here is one just for the mateo windblown factor:

and here are two our of very, very many that could be in a series called "how not to use sun and shadows in your photos" :

mateo loved the "tiny coches" (lift gondolas) and we loved the slow ride up to the top and back. later we went for pizza at fratelli's and then headed home to prepare for a picnic.

we later met at thorpe park for some frisbee golf and a meal, which was fitting since we have a lot of history there. it is actually the place where i first met luke's mom, plus we've both had graduation and birthday parties and even dates there years ago.

i've already forgotten the menu but i know we planned on grilling some vegetables and having pesto with them on homemade bread but the bread i baked didn't work out in the high altitude of flagstaff, and when we got to the park the grills were locked shut because of fire restrictions, so luckily, brother a had brought the most decadent form of meatloaf that we'd ever tried. there were also kale chips and homemade ice cream sandwiches.

the birthday sign made it's way out of the moving boxes just in time.

luke opened some gifts: a super generous coffee card to our favorite cafe, some books he'd been wanting, and a membership to the arboretum, new plants for his new office.

b took some mama-photos of me & a that i liked.

when it got dark luke and i remembered that just up the road is flagstaff's version of a lover's lookout, so we all went up to check out the view. it was a nice ending. it was a nice day.

an hour and a half

2011-09-13T16:44:00.003-07:00

we were walking around campus for some fresh air this afternoon when mateo found a big puddle. as i started walking around it (and thought he was following) he jumped right in. he ran back and forth, jumped high and low, floated leaves and threw rocks, and entertained so many students on their way to class. he's never done any activity for this long. it made him, me, and everyone who saw so happy. at one point there was an entire crowd watching him dance around.

at 4 months ruby

2011-09-12T14:49:00.000-07:00

:: is the sweetest little thing to wake up to ::

:: and loves to cuddle, all day long ::

:: absolutely prefers napping on her mama instead of on her own ::

:: isn't a fan of sleeping through the night, just yet ::

:: is a mega-all-the-time smiler ::

:: (and has recently discovered and embraced the tongue-smile) ::

:: tries out her voice in coos and squawks ::

:: and has started grabbing so well that we have to be very careful at dinner ::

:: blows bubbles, and makes raspberries ::

:: has started to be interested in her little wooden toys ::

:: likes to listen as we read books ::

:: loves, loves, loves anything to do with her brother ::

:: doesn't like being strapped in the car seat (who would?) ::

:: but loves to be outside ::

:: rolls all over and gets around by pushing herself backwards ::

:: gives mateo her biggest and best laughs ::

this little one

2011-09-08T14:25:00.001-07:00

i am sad these days for mateo. he is such a relational little guy and our move has been hard on him in that respect. every time we see another little person his age, he gets super excited and runs over in an attempt to make a friend, but, 9 out of 10 times he is rejected. much of the time he chooses older kids who have no interest in him, or little ones who aren't ready to play. yesterday we went to the park and some little boys screamed "no!" to him when he showed interest in playing with them, and another little girl later hit him on the face. of course he isn't perfect himself and absolutely went through the pushing stage too and i am completely understanding of these other little ones behaviors. and i know mateo probably won't remember these hard times, and i know he will eventually make friends. i guess what breaks my mama's heart is the thought of all this rejection having any effect on his eagerness to approach kids he doesn't know and his will to want to be their friend. i love that about him.

please pray and send your loveliest mateo-will-make-a-great-friend-soon thoughts his way!

ps. my immediate thought after seeing him getting hit and pushed around was "how much would a ticket to michigan be so he could play with leaf and bryony and otis and iselin and aya and have his friendliness reinforced?"... :)

arches

2011-09-06T16:13:00.000-07:00

here are some photos of our trip to arches national park. it was so beautiful there, especially during the magic hour.

we took a few short hikes, one to see the classic delicate arch (behind mateo).

ruby's first national park photo! (see mateo's here).

the drive around the park was so beautiful: red rocks, valleys, distant mountains with snow-topped peaks, desert.

the sun started setting and we went for another short hike inside these slab formations to find a hidden arch. below is a photo of the trail.

the rocks were red and the sand was red and so everything inside had this amazing light.

i mentioned earlier in the day that we were heading to a park, and then realized mateo might be expecting a slide and swings. so before we arrived i showed him some photos of arches from our guidebook and when we arrived he was on a very serious mission to find them. the arch in the slab formations was perfect for him to explore.

we hope we can go back soon.

some from the drive

2011-09-01T14:53:00.000-07:00

the last photo in michigan: our picnic table made it in!

i drove the coche with teo and ruby and unica, luke and his brother drove the no-ac-after-30-minutes and no-radio-either big truck. i usually drove ahead since i was on the strict schedule of driving when the babies were sleeping and we met up for meals and hotels.

the drive was super gorgeous but since stopping the car wakes the little ones, i didn't take too many photos. we thought of sarah and dan, our michigan neighbors as we drove through iowa. the farms were so beautiful, and more meaningful than when we drove through them on the way to michigan four years ago.

night #2 was spent just outside of denver. somehow i was way quicker at getting up and going with the little ones so i left the hotel early with them to have some time to explore the city. i was babywearing times 2 plus attached to unica on the hottest day ever. some guy on the street called me "super mama".

a few hours later the guys joined us and we walked 16th street to the capitol. unica was super hot and tired.

we met up with an old friend and his lady friend for lunch.

then: the most amazing thing. mountains! we headed up into the rockies toward moab. the first view was so incredible that it literally took my breath away and i couldn't breathe. i am a nervous driver and my palms were sweaty on the mountain roads so i didn't take any photos, but denver to moab was one of the most beautiful drives i've ever taken.

here is ruby with her first mountains behind her.

we spent some time in moab exploring arches national park. moab was so southwest-adventure-outdoorsy and we wanted to stay longer.

i had the best smoothie ever at the peace tree cafe, where mateo and his uncle are above. i am still thinking about it.

definitely not in michigan anymore.

we checked out the colorado river and then went to arches national park. photos of arches to come, since it was too incredible to stuff into this post.

ruby's hat was lost so we had to buy her the touristy one for some sun protection. the same thing happened to mateo's hat in mexico so we now have two little moab and cancun tourists.

i trusted mateo with a full bag of freeze-dried veggies and can you see what happened?

both little ones were really great during the drive. mateo looked out the window and we talked about what we saw the entire way. only a few times did he ask for the toys i'd packed for him. no dvd machines or iphones on our road trip. :) and ruby was so fabulous. we stopped whenever she needed to nurse or have some social time and we didn't have expectations on time so things worked out pretty well. only one day out of 4 driving days was hard because of their whining and/or crying, and it was the day i was driving through the majestic rocky mountains, so even though the inside of the car was hectic, i found peace looking outside.

oh, i should also mention that mateo was sick every day! stress? either way, he was sick in a few different ways every single day of the drive and even though i'd packed extra just-in-case clothes he ran out of clean options. here we are at canyonlands national park, with mateo going clothes-free.

finally, we made it to arizona and drove through monument valley.

a few hours later we spotted the peaks, where just on the other side we'd find our new home.

the view from here

2011-08-31T13:56:00.000-07:00

the view from our front door isn't usually very exciting, but this particular afternoon, right after the monsoon rain, it was fabulous.

hiking west fork

2011-08-24T14:59:00.002-07:00

the first hike we did when we moved here was on my favorite trail of all time - the weatherford trail. we didn't get to see the super dense aspen forest because of a recent fire there, but the day was beautiful and we were rewarded at the end by running into some wild (maybe not, but it is a local legend) horses drinking at a spring in the mountains. we didn't have our camera that day.

the next week we woke up to a cloudy day which put luke and i in the mood to hike west fork. it is the most popular trail in sedona (30 minutes away) but it was a weekday so we hoped for not too many people. it was the perfect hike for us.

the trail follows the creek, so you have to cross over it on rocks and logs several times. i was nervous mateo would be scared of the water but he was all about it.

hiking at least once every week is one of our goals here, and so far the babies have both been into it. ruby sleeps most of the way and mateo (surprisingly) hikes most of the way by himself.

i think the key to our hiking success is not having any expectations of distance or time. we go knowing we won't be out for miles or hours and knowing we won't reach the end and we savor the slow pace with the little ones.

there is something really magical about west fork. we are looking forward to going back in a month or so when the leaves will be changing and falling and floating down the river.

mother's day (just a few months late)

2011-08-23T14:28:00.000-07:00

my ever-breaking computer has reached it's limit so i am getting things organized before we say goodbye. i found these photos from mother's day that i had completely forgotten about. ruby was just a few weeks old, mateo had turned 2 the day before, and luke's mama was visiting for his graduation. we took a stroll around the msu gardens, the same place we went when mateo was just born, and tried to recreate some of the photos.

lansing city market

2011-08-22T14:17:00.001-07:00

i just found these photos on our computer and they made me a little homesick. we'd go to the lansing city market for our weekly shopping every saturday morning. i can't remember if we'd been "regulars" where the shopkeepers knew our names anywhere before this? one even called mateo her boyfriend. :)

other than the groceries, we'd get brunch there at aggie mae's every saturday. i ran in the morning we left michigan for one last visit to stock up on yummy things for our road trip and they slipped me one of their secret recipes so i could recreate it in arizona. the best.

also: luke's summer beard.

gc or bust

2011-08-18T17:36:00.001-07:00

we have been so, so busy every since moving to arizona! i never seem to have time to be in this space. luke is working on prepping for the semester and will begin having meetings and orientations next week. the babies and i have been walking to the city square every weekday morning for a free kids program - storytimes, puppet shows, singing and dancing - it has been so great. luke and mateo joined a special friday playtime at the library. we've had visitors each weekend that we've lived here so far. and we've kept up our goal of taking (at least) one hike a week. we've been hitting up our local used bookstore every few days or so. and picnicking in the park as often as we can. and luke is frisbee golfing it up with anyone that will go with him. oh, and did i mention we have a really sweet and brand new nephew just down the street?

we wanted to get out of here and relax this weekend before luke gets even busier. i've been checking the ever-always-booked north rim campground website every 5 minutes until finally there was a cancellation! so we leave tomorrow. the north rim is 4 hours out of the way (since you have to drive around the entire grand canyon to get there) but it is higher in elevation so there is forest and cool air and free roaming buffalo, elk, turkey and way less people.

see you next week! (and maybe then i can catch up some more.)

(pictured above: mateo's new thing is to carefully watch luke and ruby playing, and when ruby gets lifted into the air he dives right in between them.)

bathtime

2011-08-16T14:19:00.000-07:00

he insists on every bath toy in the tub every time.

we had the best friday

2011-08-14T17:21:00.000-07:00

we had the best friday. we woke up and walked to macy's, a local coffee shop. we had yummy treats and pretty coffees (mine said "love" in chocolatey foam) on a giftcard (thank you b & a!). luke and mateo left for a library playgroup where they made some friends and i stayed with sleeping ruby and read an entire chapter of a new book in peace. while there, i also ran into the current mayor who we went to school with and the local hiking book author which made me appreciate small town life. i walked with ruby downtown where we went into all of the little shops i never go into with a (grabby-touchy) two year old. one was a bead shop where i recognized the owner who had been one of the first people i met when i moved here for college 11 years ago and we reconnected. then ruby and i met up with luke and mateo on the city square where they have a free activity for kids every weekday at 10am. this one was about healthy eating and mateo seriously chowed down on some melons and cucumbers. white chatting with the woman who put it on, i realized i knew her from emailing but we hadn't met in person. she also runs a local "hip mama" group which i am hoping i am hip enough for. after that, we walked into babbit's, a camping-ish local store downtown and tried on sunglasses. luke and i tried on the same silly pair and ended up in one of those can't-stop-laughing moments which inspired us to buy them. we walked around downtown some more and i said i had a craving to visit the grand canyon. so we did!

so we got a lunch to go on another giftcard (thank you lauren!) and took the 90 minute drive and it was a beautiful day and the canyon was as grand as ever.

mateo didn't nap in the car which led to a slightly grouchy boy during parts of our visit. so grouchy that he refused to hold our hands sometimes which is not a possibility when you are on the rim of the grand canyon. can you picture luke walking the rim with mateo wailing "stuck! down!" on his back?

these are the inspired matching sunglasses.

we made it to hopi point just before sunset.

i keep these mental lists of the best views i've ever had while feeding my babies. with mateo it was niagara falls, high up in the shenandoah mountains and sitting on a lakeside bench overlooking the monuments of dc. with ruby so far it is gazing out at arches national park and now, absolutely, this view of the sun setting over the canyon.

after it set we took 3 different shuttle buses back to our car (the buses were by far mateo's favorite part of the canyon) and then fed our hungry selves at a super touristy and not too tasty mexican restaurant outside the park. and then we drove home and saw herds of elk on the side of the road under a full-ish moon. it was a beautiful day.

one last party

2011-08-02T15:17:00.001-07:00

we had a going away party at our house the week before we left. it was perfect - we got to see almost everyone that we had hoped to see, and hang out in our backyard with them one last time before our move. we made it pot-luck style and i could not believe all the yummy foods our friends can make. we were so busy hugging and laughing and later, trying not to cry as we said goodbye, that we didn't take many photos. but here are a few (mostly before) from that beautiful day. some more photos here, taken by our multi-talented midwife.

camping in the upper peninsula!

2011-08-01T16:13:00.001-07:00

i think we can all agree that luke and i are generally pretty positive people, but i have to tell you: the week before we left michigan, we went on our worst camping trip ever!

we went to the upper peninsula, 8 hours away, which we'd heard so much about. we stayed the first night at taquamenon falls state park where there are beautiful waterfalls, and the next night at pictured rocks national lakeshore, right on the beach. the third night was supposed to be spent in marquette, but we had such a bad time that we called the trip over early and went home! but we didn't make it home of course because of all the crying and heartache in the back seat, so we ended up having to get a hotel an hour away from lansing!

some (but not all) of what happened: a missing bag of our go-to camping gear that was never found, a really late take off time from our house, a super long drive with babies who are usually content in the car but were absolutely not that particular week, a gorgeous campsite found on a lake where we made dinner and started a fire and put a tent up and were about to put the babies to sleep when the ranger made us move at 9pm because he forgot to put a "reserved" sign up (and by the way, the online reserve-ers never showed up),

days full of rain with no relief, swarms of mosquitoes so bad that when i'd put ruby down to change mateo's diaper and i'd look at her half a second later there would be several on her face!, also swarms of mosquitos so bad that when we'd close ourselves in the car luke would swat up to 40 before getting them all, so much rain we had to eat in the car, and so much rain that we woke up soaking wet in a (surprise!) super leaky tent the next morning, so much rain that we had to take off so quickly that i left my favorite shirt hanging on a tree, so much rain that we couldn't see though the clouds at the sites,

so much rain that our stuff had no chance of drying and we called it quits early, but didn't make it home so we had to pay for a hotel, a hotel where mateo had never been and he was so terrified to fall asleep there that he was screaming, not to mention that he rolled off the bed in the middle of the night, and then finally the next day we were home. my sister let us borrow her van for the trip and as luke was cleaning it out some little hands decided to put change into the cd player and broke it.

it was the longest/shortest trip we've ever taken.

but thankfully (?) it was just bad enough that we were able to laugh each time it got worse.

we did have some fun, too - we got to see some of the upper peninsula, played for an hour on the beach when the rain stopped once and made really great sculptures out of rocks and driftwood and feathers, got to see marquette where my family lived and also ate some super yummy pasties. but all in all, you could say that it wasn't our best trip ever. :)

m + b

2011-07-29T09:15:00.000-07:00

at 3 months ruby

2011-07-28T15:07:00.000-07:00

:: is such a light in our lives ::

:: constantly waits for eye contact, which makes her burst into smiles ::

:: and has an especially strong love for her uncle brian ::

:: loves to gaze at her big brother who calls her "baby ruby sue" ::

:: likes to coo ::

:: laughs ::

:: and is starting to drool ::

:: is ticklish ::

:: rolls to her side, and sometimes all the way over ::

:: has had the strongest neck since the beginning, of any newborn i've ever seen ::

:: prefers to nap on laps and in arms than without (who wouldn't?) ::

:: and wakes once or twice a night ::

:: rarely cries or fusses ::

:: definitely has a soft shade of red in her hair ::

:: and still has deep blue shiny eyes ::

when we think back on all the words we've felt belonged to mateo, "joyous" seems to be one of the strongest. always happy, always silly and light and bright.

so far, ruby is very similar, but she brings a strong sense of calm and peace and mellowness into the room. a quality that reminds me of my michigan friend ginger, a quality that puts you at ease.

she is such a delight to be around, and it is such an honor to have her here.

a tale of two houses, for the record

2011-07-28T03:05:00.001-07:00

the one in lansing:

our awesome realtor who helped us find the house and even helped us paint it (!) encouraged us to try selling it on our own before listing it to save us money. we put up a yard sign and made a website and posted it on facebook. we had 2 calls, both from facebook, and two couples, each with a little one mateo's age, came to look at the house on the same sunny afternoon (lucky for us, we only had to clean up once!). later that week they each placed amazing offers - one for full asking price! facebook sold our house! thank you God!

the one in flagstaff:

we'd been searching for months for a rental that met 3 criteria: 1) close to campus, 2) dogs allowed and 3) with a washing machine. we found very few that met these hopes and when we did we'd call and because of the crazy high flagstaff house demand, they'd already have dozens of calls and applications. we came close to getting a house next to nau but lost it because we waited too long to decide. then one sunday afternoon we found one listed with luke's old college landlord located just a few doors down from his old place. it met the three criteria (and is also 3 times the rent of owning our place in michigan!) but it had no photos. we talked about it for ten minutes and said a quick prayer and decided we'd take it, sight-unseen.

well, we are here now. it definitely has it's down sides: very student-y neighborhood, very rental-y house, no character, the front yard is a driveway with no trees or grass, and oh, they forgot to mention that the landlord lives upstairs in what we thought was a single family home! but it has it's upsides too: luke negotiated $100 off of the rent each month, they replaced all the carpet when we asked them to, it is a 5 minute walk to his office and a 10 minute walk downtown, our neighbors are nice (some speak spanish with mateo!, another is faculty, and another is a former midwife) and the health food store is so close we can see it from our street and they've given us permission to borrow their carts to walk our food home. maybe once we unpack we can show you some photos.

yard sale-ing

2011-07-27T16:46:00.000-07:00

we had a fairly successful yard sale a week before we left. luke's mama helped a ton, friends came to chat and hang out, and we got rid of tons of junk. on the second day, we put up a sign that said "$3 a bag, or $100 takes all". people really went for the $3 a bag thing. at the end of day, we put an ad on the free section of craigslist and the people came in droves (with trucks!). one woman who came eventually asked to take all that was left to open up a thrift store which meant we didn't have to take any trips to goodwill!

if you click on this last photo, you can see how mateo pretends to take pictures. :)

we made it

2011-07-27T16:03:00.001-07:00

we made it to flagstaff!

the drive was amazing and fairly problem-free, and we arrived to our new casa (or "cha-cha" says mateo) with a sign and balloons all over thanks to luke's brother and his wife who moved here a few weeks before us (and who are expecting a baby any day now!). we've been busy unpacking, thrifting, selling and buying books at bookmans, eating yummy food in a town that has lots of it, walking everywhere, hiking the peaks, getting sunburned, waiting for that baby, seeing old arizona friends and missing our lansing friends, frisbee golfing and gazing at those beautiful mountains. i have to say that i've really enjoyed our time without any internet and debated continuing this blog thing but here i am again thanks to someone's encouragement. :)

more soon.

thanks and farewell, dear michigan

2011-07-05T20:40:00.003-07:00

tonight is our last night in michigan.

we spent it with dear friends and dear family, under the twinkle lights and on the swing on our porch.

after a full day today and several weeks spent packing and purging.

we've had some really, really busy times lately, move-related, camping, yard-sale-ing, and saying our goodbyes.
we had a potluck gathering and invited everyone we know. our friend and midwife took beautiful photos - you can see them here.

my computer is broken, so i have no other posts or pictures to share with you. but maybe when we get to arizona, (in between mountain hikes and a wide open social calendar) i will have time to process our photos and memories and feelings. i don't want our last days here to get lost in my not-so-great memory.

michigan has been really good to us.

it made us grow, with a first year of lonliness and unemployment and hard times.

in four years, it made luke into a phd.

it made the both of us into a mother and a father, times two.

it made us homeowners for the first time.

it gave me a passion for birth.

it redefined our definitions of "party store", mexican food, and mother.

it taught us about real food and urban gardening and farming and a love for beefsteak tomatos and kale.

it turned our family into pie lovers.

and it showed us the meaning of community.

so now we are off on the next adventure, caravaning with a car and a giant moving truck and two hopefully happy babies and one hot scruffy dog and possibly a pop up camper that we might buy tomorrow all on the road to arizona and pulling up to our new home that we haven't seen a single photo of.
sounds about right.

lansing: playmakers

2011-06-30T08:15:00.024-07:00

long story still somewhat long:

i've saved my birthday money to buy a nice pair of shoes

(we are on a pretty tight budget) (and i rarely buy new shoes)

i debated for a few months which pair to buy: the ones i'd been wanting for 11 years (chacos) or the ones i'd been wanting for the past 2 that seemed more practical (keens)

both were each the exact amount of money i had saved

i kept luke up at night making lists in my head of pros and cons

i finally made my decision (i'd go with the chacos)

but the day we finally went to get them it was "keen day"!

i couldn't make a decision, we went home, debated more

i decided i'd get the keens! i went back the same afternoon.

i talked with clayton, an employee there. i told him the entire story (with maybe even more detail)

and i told him i'd get the keens. but he said he thought i'd prefer the chacos!

we debated. i tried them on. and walked around with one on each foot. went up the fake mountain.

we realized the chaco's he'd brought me were discontinued. he checked their price: they were almost half off!!!

we danced around. he gave ruby a high-five.

and then we looked at each other and both sort of mentioned at the same time that i was saving so much that i might as well look at the clearance area.

we went over, and both grabbed the same pair of shoes at the same moment.

keens.

(not the same ones i'd been looking for, but a pair i loved immediately)

the two pairs together would cost just $10 over what i had saved in birthday money.

that is when clayton pulled out his wallet.

and gave me a special "$10 off your purchase" card.

i said "no!" he said "yes!"

and then, because i ended up buying keens on keen-day, they told me i had to choose a keen bag, for free.

and that is how i left playmakers with both a pair of chacos and a pair of keens, packed away in my handy keen bag, without over-spending.

i've always liked playmakers (where else can you get clearance smartwool socks all year round?) but now i am so their biggest fan.

we made it to canada

2011-06-29T20:09:00.003-07:00

we went to canada for the day, one of the places on our michigan to do list. we crossed the river from detroit into windsor. we explored the riverside sculpture park until we found the playground we'd been hoping to find that we'd spotted from the other side.

mateo liked it (he's on the slide in this photo) and made some friends, and we enjoyed the breeze and the view of detroit.

we had a yummy lunch at a bistro in the park. and then tim horton's for dessert.

and then we did something even more exciting. we drove another hour further into canada to visit one of their national parks: point pelee.

i have wanted to come here since we moved to michigan, so we were so happy to find the time. the park is a major bird and butterfly refuge before they make their way across the lake. this isn't butterfly season, but it was prime bird watching time. too bad we don't know much about birding. we didn't even remember to bring our binoculars!

we took a few walks and saw and heard so many birds. we kept thinking of our neighbors who would have loved it there, and could have told us what we were looking at.

we saw a lot of the bird in the photo below, the red-winged blackbird i think? and we saw another that seemed pretty rare (since all of the real bird-ers were trying to photograph it), but it kept swooping at our heads so we didn't care to stay.

we saw so many others, too. some that looked kind of tropical. i wish i knew more. but even without knowing much we totally enjoyed them.

point pelee sits on the lowest point of mainland canada, so we took a hike out to the point. can you tell how the water is on both sides of us? it was so beautiful.

we took another route back to the border, which ended up taking us through part of a wine and major agriculture tourism area. we stopped at a roadside stand and i bought some tomatoes that looked and smelled so amazing (we didn't have local tomatoes yet in lansing). i had a feeling that they'd be taken away from me at the border and unfortunately i was right. i wish i'd taken a bite out of them first. :(

all in all, a happy day in canada and a happy check off the list.

homemade pasta

2011-06-21T07:09:00.004-07:00

i made pasta for the second time ever. and this time it was actually really good! i used a mix of alice waters' recipe and my grandma's techniques.

we had it with the last of our michigan asparagus and some super fresh feta from the farm.

or maybe our wild backyard is my fave

2011-06-19T07:48:00.001-07:00

spring in our backyard is my fave

2011-06-19T07:45:00.000-07:00

doctor p.

2011-06-18T16:35:00.000-07:00

yesterday was a huge day for luke! and a huge day for our family. he defended his dissertation! sleeping ruby and i came along to listen in. he did an incredible job and his professors and colleagues had the best things to say about him and his work. one of my favorite parts was at the end, when i was surprised by his thank you slide with photos and sweet words about me, mateo, ruby and God. he's too much. he passed, and now we can call him doctor!

this also means big event #3 out of 4 is behind us - first a new baby, then selling our house (more on that later), then luke's defense. now all that is left is a move to arizona in just 17 days!

headbanding

2011-06-16T13:01:00.000-07:00

slow food: greenbush farms

2011-06-15T13:44:00.001-07:00

we've had a few more slow food events that i haven't mentioned: a tea tasting and talk, a mushroom talk (we didn't make it since we were in labor that time), an incredible potluck, and a visit to greenbush farms/dolce vita dairy, where the yummiest of goat cheeses are made.

living on a goat farm, so i've learned, is a lot, a lot, a lot of hard work. the owner's details of her long hours were so unbelievable. but she treats the animals humanely and keeps the processing areas super clean.

we toured around the farm and learned about the cheese process.

we met the mama goats and the baby goats. and mateo touched an electric fence that we weren't aware of. thankfully, he was ok with his feet on the ground. :)

we tried several the most fresh and delicious goat cheeses. definitely the best i've ever had. we sampled truffles and even gelato made from the goat's milk.

it was a beautiful day and a beautiful field trip. i will miss this slow food group that is always so family friendly and always open and never charges membership fees like others around the country/world.

announcements for ruby

2011-06-14T20:11:00.000-07:00

today ruby is 2 months old already! we can hardly believe it.

last month, we sent out her birth announcements. i made them just like the ones i made for mateo 2 years ago.

she was just 3 days old when we took her announcement photo. the blanket we used turned out a bit studio-y (not our style) but it was so warm and cozy for her that we decided to just go with it. here are some of the images we didn't choose, just for fun:

we love the dimple in this last one. :)

my name is mateo and i have very big eyes

2011-06-14T19:50:00.000-07:00

while you were sleeping

2011-06-13T11:20:00.005-07:00

ann arbor for the very last time

2011-06-12T12:32:00.000-07:00

we've been slowly and sweetly checking off our list of things to do in michigan before our move. one last day spent in ann arbor was a must for us, so it was the first place we went when luke had a free day. every single time we go to ann arbor one of us says this exact statement: "i know i say it every time, but why couldn't we have moved here instead of lansing?". i wish we could pick up our entire community here, and move it there. you know we have lansing love, but ann arbor has so many things we really love about a city: outdoor cafes, hiking trails, hills, lots of outdoor activities, rei, art, cobblestone streets, great thrift stores... i could go on and on. and even though we've been to ann arbor for countless day trips, we still have the feeling that we've only scratched the surface there.

so this day in ann arbor, our last day, we went to some of our favorite spots: first rei where we pretended that we had a $2000 gift card and had to decide how to spend the money, whole foods for a stroll around, nypd pizza for a new york style slice, a walk around the downtown and a stroll to our favorite shops, a coffee and special treat at zingerman's, and a visit to the super organized salvation army store. it was the perfect day. on the drive home we talked about our goals in arizona of camping more and our need for more national parks in our lives. and then we suddenly remembered when luke came to visit me in spain and we hitchhiked to andorra so we could backpack through the mountains back into spain. and how we hadn't packed meals well and hadn't planned on hiking through glacier-covered peaks but how it'd been the most incredible hiking experience ever. we'd both completely forgotten about that trip.

i made some more banners

2011-06-08T18:04:00.002-07:00

i made some more banners last week. i seem to be strictly a banner-maker these days. the one above was for mateo's little girlfriend,

and the peace one is for a dear friend who has done a lot for me these days.

i had four squares of fabric left over, so luke and i tried to come up with a four-letter-word worth hanging up. "love" seemed too obvious. then luke came up with "yes!" and we knew it was the right word for us. it hangs on our porch now.

lansing: van atta's

2011-06-07T11:07:00.000-07:00

van atta's is a beautiful greenhouse just outside of lansing. i first went there for one of their free classes when we'd just moved here and i was hoping to make friends. :)

i don't think i made any (human) friends that day, but i did fall in love with rows and rows of annuals, herbs, and especially michigan perennials. there is just something about this place that is different than other nurseries. the art on the walls? the feeling in the air?

when my family came to visit us two years ago, i took my mom and grandma here to buy the first starts for my first garden and our first house. we didn't coordinate with each other - instead each of us picked out whatever we liked. i loved it.

now that it is warm outside and everyone around us is outside working in their gardens, i totally have garden fever. but since we didn't know how soon we'd be moving this summer, we decided not to have a garden this year. i already regret that decision.

so instead, whenever i get the urge to smell soil and look at bright blooms or deep greens and dream up the perfect garden, i walk the rows and rows of gorgeous plants at van atta's. i was talking with a friend about it recently, and she said her soul feels nourished when she is there. yes.

we will definitely miss this place.

bright and smiley

2011-06-06T05:41:00.000-07:00

here is ruby, just yesterday. she's been flashing (awake) smiles since about 3 weeks, but just lately we are guaranteed to get them with some eye contact and speaking in a really high voice. :)

lansing: the mom 2 mom sale

2011-06-05T09:00:00.001-07:00

every other month or so, lansing has a "mom2mom" sale. a giant space is rented out (sometimes a school, sometimes the fairgrounds!), anyone with baby/child/maternity stuff rents out a table, and hundreds of people come to shop. it is super convenient, since little ones grow so quickly out of clothes and toys that they stay in good condition and since all these things are priced so low and all in one place, it makes shopping easy. there is always a crowd, but it is a generally happy one. my friends and i make a morning of it and meet for coffee and bagels, then hit the sale. and thankfully, i rarely have to go to the mall or buy anything new.

this is something i thought happened everywhere, but a few people have recently told me that it is a michigan thing. if so, i will so miss these. our budget will miss them too - it is such a classic for me to look at my giant bag of stuff at the end of the sale and start worrying that i spent a ton of money, but then count it out and pretty consistently i spend $20 or less. i went to one a few weeks after ruby was born and bought her some of her first things.

our new favorite pizza

2011-06-04T13:45:00.000-07:00

asparagus is finally here! it is one of my favorite vegetables and we've been eating a ton if it since it appeared at the farmer's markets. last week we made a shaved asparagus pizza for the first time and loved it! we have another one in the oven right now that we are taking to tonight's slow food potluck.

( the new favorite, and a spinach pesto & tomato)

we ate them in the backyard on our picnic table that probably won't fit in the moving truck. :(

a break during the art festival

2011-06-03T11:55:00.000-07:00

ruby love

2011-06-01T07:07:00.002-07:00

if my mama's middle name wasn't sue, and if my middle name wasn't sue, than ruby's middle name would have been love. we've been calling her by both (and love both) names since she's been here.

she has been a total joy these past 6 weeks. so happy she is here.

on his birthday

2011-05-31T10:33:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-30T19:45:00.001-07:00

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

2011-05-26T19:04:00.000-07:00

trees make the best mobiles.

our michigan to do list

2011-05-24T12:41:00.003-07:00

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

2011-05-23T11:46:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-22T12:33:00.003-07:00

:: 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

2011-05-21T16:05:00.002-07:00

in the end

2011-05-20T11:33:00.000-07:00

the beads

happy birthday leaf

2011-05-19T10:54:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-18T08:30:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-17T12:06:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-16T11:53:00.000-07:00

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

ruby's birth story (this time in pictures)

2011-05-14T10:45:00.002-07:00

and her first few days at home

ruby's birth story

2011-05-13T10:27:00.003-07:00

i found a little time this week to sit down and sort through the story of ruby's birth. i am famous for forgetting even the biggest details, so i tried to write down everything i remember from that time. sometimes the smallest details are the sweetest to look back on. but as a result, it is a long story. 6 pages long. i thought about writing out a shorter version to share with you, but there are babies to hold and toddlers to chase, announcements and thank you notes to address, and leftover birthday cake to eat. so the long version it is. i will post her birth photos soon.

her birth was fairly dreamy, as far as births go. i think if we ever are blessed with another baby, i'd like to tell my future self to let go of the control - to stop worrying about the timing of rushes and how the progression is going and just be present in the moment. also, to have more confidence in myself, take courage!, and to let go of all that doubt. and, if we ever get this chance again i'd like to give birth at home.

here is her story.

Ruby's Birth Story

for sale

2011-05-01T08:41:00.002-07:00

i forgot to mention, in all of our busy-ness, that our house is now for sale. if you know anyone that would like to live on the happiest street on the eastside of lansing, michigan, please pass this link along:

228 leslie street

things we know (so far) about baby ruby, on her two week birthday

2011-04-28T12:54:00.000-07:00

:: she loves to be cuddled on a warm chest ::

:: she likes to tuck her bottom lip in under her top lip ::

:: she has either blonde or brown or a hint of red hair (it changes color with the light) and baby blue eyes that we aren't sure will stick ::

:: she doesn't want to stay a minute in a dirty diaper ::

:: she really likes to sleep, 4-6 hours at a time ::

:: and she likes to be in the car, but *only* if it is moving ::

:: noisy brothers don't even phase her ::

:: she is not a very needy nurser ::

:: and so far, seems pretty mellow ::

:: she is squeaky ::

:: and her cries sound like a baby lamb ::

:: and she is really into warm herbal baths with her mama ::

happy easter!

2011-04-24T12:28:00.006-07:00

(thanks to unica for surprising me by making our family photo a little more exciting at the very last minute)