Mother's Day Masterpiece

Is it too much to say that I think Mother's Day (my first as a mama!) was one of the best days of my life?  Because I think it might have been.  Nothing truly spectacular happened, but it was just one the happiest, most fun, love-filled days from start to finish, and I felt so, so, so blessed.

AA and I came downstairs after our morning nursing time to find this spread out on the dining room table:

 

Oh, how well Scott knows me!!!  We never have been very big on gifts ever since we've been together (we don't exchange for birthdays, anniversaries, or even Christmas!), but he knows that I cherish experiences and memories above all else, so he planned on us having a little family art-making session!  (Also, so much better than if he had just helped AA make something for me on his own and then given it to me...I wanted to see our boy covered in paint!)

We spread out some paper to protect the table, squeezed out a couple puddles of (nontoxic, washable) fingerpaints, and basically just let AA go to town.

It was truly one of the cutest things I have ever seen in my life.  He did not understand the concept AT ALL, which was hilarious in itself, and the sheer amount of paint he was eventually covered in and how quickly he became covered in that paint were both pretty incredible.

The aftermath (which could be considered art as well, right?  Just a little abstract):

And here is AA's finished masterpiece and his paint-covered little body:

I told Scott today that this is now my most cherished possession in the entire world.  I will never, ever, ever, ever get rid of this beautiful mess, and I'm so grateful for the memory of its creation!  And of course, for the artist himself, for making me a mother.

Viva-ing in Las Vegas: Hiking Springs Mountains National Recreation Area

This weekend we took our second little family hike (here's the first!).  This time, we headed to the local mountain area known to locals as Mount Charleston, but the official name is either Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest or Spring Mountains National Recreation Area...as you can see, even the sign below says both.  About 30 minutes from the north edge of Las Vegas, this is a gorgeous area perfect for a day trip; there are dozens of trails to choose from and even a ski/snowboard area in the winter!

We chose Sawmill Loop trail because it was only 1.3 miles and had less than 100 feet of elevation change.  Sounds about right for taking a baby along!

The views were beautiful, the weather perfect, the sun shining brightly.  We could not have picked a more perfect day.

Nor could we have chosen a more ridiculous hat to put our baby in (isn't that the best thing about babies?  You can dress them however you want and they can't say anything about it!).

 Spring was springing!  Along with the ol' obligatory cactus.  We are still in the desert, after all.

Then AA decided he didn't want to be in the ErgoBaby anymore and would rather be physically carried in someone's arms the rest of the trail.  The better to feel the trees, I suppose!

How un-Las-Vegas-like does this picture feel with that gorgeous mountain in the back?  Just so beautiful!

Please allow me to take the rest of this post to post more baby ridiculousness that is so cute I can't even deal with it:

THE HAT.

 THE PANTS.

 THE STARE.

 And for the baby who insists on being carried, the only thing that will do is THE LION KING POSE.

Four Generations

Our house was full last weekend.  Bursting at the seams, in fact.  With baby smiles and good food and reminiscing and lots of hugs.  An AA and a Mama and a Daddy and a Grandma and a Grandad and a Mimi and a Papa Ted.  Four generations of one family, all under one roof.

AA is lucky enough to have six living great-grandparents.  Six!  Over the weekend, he was able to meet his first two:  my incredibly loving grandparents.  And AA just happens to be their very first great-grandchild, too.  Watching them meet warmed my heart in a way I didn't know was possible.  Hearing them tell him how sweet and cute and wonderful he was brought tears to my eyes.  Knowing how much they love him overwhelms my soul.

This is the first version of a four generation picture we are so blessed and excited to take many more times with AA's four other great-grandparents as well.

These are some of the people I will tell AA about for the rest of his life:  my Grandma and Grandpa, his Mimi and Papa Ted.  I will tell him how they spent the weekend reading him books and playing with his toys and talking to him about anything and everything and hugging him when he cried.  I'll tell him that they spent 36 hours in a car just to see him face-to-face.  I'll tell him his every smile made them so, so happy.  I'll tell him that's what love is.

Teammates

I know nothing about babies.  And I mean nothing.  (For example, I thought that there were diapers for girls and diapers for boys...this is not true.)

So, ever since AA was born, it's been a learning experience, to say the very least.  For both of us.  For AA, to learn how to be a human.  For me, to learn how to be patient, flexible, steadfast, understanding, creative, spontaneous, and basically a better person all around.

Early on, I would find myself thinking (and sometimes saying out loud), "Why are you doing this to me?" whenever AA would be especially fussy, or unpredictable, or just downright befuddling.  I felt like he was against me somehow, that we were competing to see who could live on less sleep or who could cry longer, or stop the other person from using the bathroom when they really needed to.

But that's not how it is, and thank goodness I snapped into that realization sooner rather than later.  AA doesn't know how to be a baby any better than I know how to understand a baby.  We're both starting at square one.  We're both total newbies.  Neither one of us knows what the heck we're doing.

So that means we're a team.  We're in it together, figuring out how to sleep and eat and nap and play and smile and laugh.  I can't become patient, flexible, steadfast, understanding, creative, spontaneous or better without him; he can't become a human without me.  We need each other mutually and equally.

We're teammates.  Go us.

photo by Sam Lorton

Viva-ing in Las Vegas: Pinball Hall of Fame

For all the nostalgia geeks out there, there is a magical place with your name on it here in Las Vegas.  That place is the Pinball Hall of Fame.

If 10,000 square feet of pinball machines--old ones from the 1950s all the way up to brand new ones like a Transformers one--sounds appealing to you, this is your place.  It sounds SUPER appealing to Scott and I, and we've spent many a quarter in this dark concrete building already.  Walk in with a $20, visit the change machine, browse the rows with about a pound of quarters in your pocket, and you've got a good hour of solid entertainment for a Saturday afternoon!  My personal favorite is the Space Jam one; it gives you crazy good bonuses and, you know, Michael Jordan.

The Pinball Hall of Fame is actually on Tropicana Ave, essentially down the street from the Strip, so it's not even too far off the beaten path.  Plus, I figure if you're going to be putting quarters into a machine and losing all your money anyway, you just as well give your wrists a workout while you do so, right?

P.S.  There is also a Super Mario Bros (the first one) arcade game here, which I dominated for like 30 minutes straight without losing all my lives.

AA's Best Blanket

When you are having a baby, you get a lot of baby blankets.  Like, a lot.  And you need a lot!  For the first 6 weeks of his life, AA was wrapped up in a blanket basically constantly, and thus many bodily fluids of various types ended up all over these blankets...which is why you need a lot!

But there was one blanket AA got that was a little more special than all the others, because it was crocheted by his Aunt Kelsey!  And it's basically the coolest baby blanket ever.  I mean, look at it!

It has raised adorable animals crocheted into its border.  I don't even understand how that's possible to make!  But I don't need to understand anything more than this blanket is so beautiful and so special, so I figured this blanket needed to be in as many pictures as humanly possible for the rest of AA's life.

So every Thursday, we take a picture on this blanket, and I watch AA grow before my very eyes.  To think he started out smaller than that middle square!

Here AA is at 1, 5, 9, and 13 weeks. 

(And my heart already hurts for the day he outgrows the outer square too...stay tiny, baby!!!!)

Viva-ing in Las Vegas: Red Rock National Conservation Area

Living in a city that is almost completely known for being a tourist destination can be a little tricky.  Before we moved here, I was legitimately worried that the entire town would be like The Strip:  all flashing lights and casinos and just general wildness.  While there ARE slot machines and poker games in the grocery stores and gas stations (because why wouldn't you want to be able to gamble while picking up some produce?), we have been so pleasantly surprised to find that there are tons of other unique and fun things to do in Las Vegas besides just going to the strip.  I'll be writing about a few of them over the next few months in case anyone who is visiting Vegas wants to venture off the beaten path!

Red Rock National Conservation Area sits on the western edge of Las Vegas and is so easy to get to.  There are trails for hiking, biking, horsebacking riding, and you can rock climb.  But, if you have a baby (or some other person who is physically incapable of walking over rocks for several miles - or just doesn't feel like it), good news!  The 13-mile scenic drive loop is breathtakingly beautiful and will get you a million spectacular views.

We did duck off the scenic loop and take a short little hike (as in, approximately 1/2 mile) with AA in my Moby wrap!  Hopefully we can both build up our endurance (me, for carrying a 15-lb. object on my person) and tolerance (AA, for being wrapped and strapped to Mom) and take some longer hikes in the future!  Or just get a different baby backpack and throw AA on Dad instead :)

If you bring some friends, it makes the drive and photo ops even more fun (we had Heidi and Marshall with us that weekend!).

But of course, watch out for that extremely bright Las Vegas desert sun.

 

Three Months Later

Well, I last left this blog on quite the cliffhanger:  it was my due date!  I'm happy to tell you that, yes, don't worry, we did eventually have that baby.  Proof:

AA came 8 days late, in a way that was sort of planned and then not planned at all, but he got here and he is, of course, perfect.  And now, he looks like this:

AA is 3 months old today.  The last 3 months have basically been nothing at all like I imagined they would be.  They have been better and they have been worse, and thank goodness for that.  Both ways, they have been more full and intense and meaningful than I could have predicted, and I am continuously amazed and surprised each and every day.

Although I stay at home anyway, I've had a little self-imposed maternity leave of 3 months from sewing and blogging and the internet in general, getting to know AA the best that I can, learning the new way that Scott and I function as parents, listening and learning about what it is to be a mom.  Now, it's time to learn what it is to be a mom who also works and has dreams and goals about a business she hopes to return to, and at the same time cherishes and engages with her son as much as possible.  It's a whole new world over here!  And I'm excited to explore it and write about it and so, here we are.  Here I am again.

One Last Little Trip as Two

Before it was "too late" - before I reached full term (I was at 36 weeks for this trip) - before there will be another human to be responsible for - before there will forever be another part of our family to worry about if we're away - we took a little trip.  24 hours to Los Angeles to be exact!

We packed in a lot - Santa Monica Beach, some delicious meals, spectacular views on Mulholland Drive, Griffith Observatory, a studio tour.  But mostly we just tried to take in the time together.  I'll always remember this weekend and really cherish it, not for what we did, but for who we were in these moments.  Two people on the cusp of parenthood.  Two people about to be completely changed by what the future is bringing.  For now: just two people holding hands on the beach.

I hesitate to call it this because I think it's such a strange word, but yes:  it was a babymoon!  And it was THE BEST.

Bryant Boat #2

Since arriving in our new home of Las Vegas, another change that's taken place is we graduated a step up from our tiny boat to a slightly less tiny boat!  This one's a genuine 14-footer with a huge mast and a jib and benches to sit on and a little cubbyhole for gear!  We're in the big times now.

We were very pleasantly surprised when we got to Vegas to find that there are lots of opportunities to do very un-Vegas-like activities (because while the Strip is fun...it would get kinda boring, right?).  Lake Mead Recreation Area is just outside the city and it an absolutely gorgeous, gigantic lake perfect for sailing.  We've taken advantage of it was many weekends as possible!

(Also a great advantage to Las Vegas:  the fact that we're in a sweltering desert, so even now, in November, the high temp was 75 degrees today!)

Although my currently-39-weeks-pregnant self can't maneuver around the boat anymore, we sailed regularly until the end of September, and can't wait until spring to get back out on the water.

(Fact:  we're really bad at naming things.  We've yet to name this sailboat, as well as our unborn child!)