home

due to crazy rainy weather the first couple weeks of summer vacation, and then a recent string of van troubles, we'd had the opportunity to spend a whole bunch of time at home. or maybe it just feels like a whole lot of time because the kids have been getting up at 5am and go to bed at 6pm. which sounds pretty cool but that's a lot of hours to fill with summertime-home-fun. don't get me wrong, i love staying home and i'm blessed to do so, but then there are other days where i've barely survived having three babes scream in my face and i'm covered in snots, carrots, and poo and i'm left feeling like i've survived some whirlwind. it's chaotic and messy and mostly beautiful here in gilbertland, and i'm learning to go with the flow and mostly just let go of perfect notions of parenting.

because they don't exist.

i need a creative date with myself to keep my energy up in the crafty world. it's getting harder to carve out any time because lulu is on the verge of crawling. she's at that even-more-dangerous phase where she can scoot all over the room and when she gets tired or needs a break she just slams herself face-down into the hardwood floors. so she pretty much requires constant supervision. goodbye showers! goodbye peeing and pooing for mama! guess i'll just have to hold it for the next couple of years :)

in other bright and shiny news, i won another giveaway! pixie hosted a delicious giveaway for these caramels which I CANNOT WAIT TO CONSUME. (i'm holding myself back from saying CONSUME WITH A BOTTLE OF WINE). if you get a chance, check out this etsy shoppe because it.will.make.you.drool. and then you will want to spend your whole paypal balance on everything.

also, my girl jenica is hosting a really great month of giveaways at her blog. so go. quickly.

in other, other news, mccabe's mermaid warriors class is rocking all of our worlds. joey is seriously getting into it, too. we've all done a journal (even lulu has one) and we're in the process of finishing up. if you haven't checked out mccabe's site, please do. you'll be a smitten kitten.

finally, i'd just like to give a glorious and very public shout-out to this generous soul. kelly, we are lucky to know you and so grateful for your amazing package! it has certainly helped our home-time be more beautiful.

xx

just in case

just in case you were wondering
we're all still here
still being dorks

just soaking up life.

xx

mystery.

"and i thought again how mysterious other people's lives are, most of all those you love and are closest to." -this is all, aidan chambers

happy.

i grew these with my dad.

it's the little things lately that have been making me
just
so

happy.

time flies when you've got three kids

cliche, i know, but these.weeks.are.flying.by.

it's completely ridonkulous to me that i'm the mama to three children, the youngest of which now has a real TOOTH and EATS FOOD and ROLLS OVER. this makes me incredibly happy but also so sad that i could weep. how can this be possible? this child of mine is the biggest joy i could ever have wished for. and now that i'm a seasoned mama (do i get to call myself 'seasoned' the third time around?), i'm enjoying it so much more because i don't have any of the anxiety associated with the not-knowingness of going through it the first time. oh, you want that binky off the bathroom floor baby? fair game! (just kidding, but you get my point). lulu freakin' rocks. that's all i'm sayin'. case in point::

and then there are these other two little humans that have been keeping me so busy and immersed in love. that kind of wild love that makes you want to pull your hair out and bawl with happiness all at the same time. i can't believe i made these people. i can't believe they are growing up and becoming such cool individuals.

they were both in a wedding this weekend and were amazing. i thought my head would explode with pride. seeing them walk down the aisle was priceless. and that little suit practically killed me with cuteness overload::

i am adjusting to being a mama of three now that gray is on day #2 of school vacation. since i had lulu at the end of january, i haven't really been home with all three of them because gray was in full day kindergarten and was gone from 8am-4pm every day (not including activities and sports). so only now, at the end of june, am i going through the transition.

and i'll be honest. it's kinda hard. but i'll get through it.

the sibling rivalry between these two is off.the.hook. but i'm going to combat it with
love
love
love
ice cream
pool trips
and fairy stories.

wish me luck. xx
in other news, i'm having a big ole sale in the shoppe. i've lowered prices on most items, just because i love you. thanks in advance for taking a peek.

a reminder

i know i've said it before

but seriously

be you
it's ok

even if YOU
is messy
or a complete trainwreck
and sometimes
you break down
or maybe you do a little toot in public by accident
or just act inappropriately
when everyone else around you seems
to be walking
the straight and narrow
(they aren't, i promise you)

i give you
permission
to smack your fanny
with glee

and embrace
the
youness
of
you.

j.o.y.

this is pummie's painting. and it does in fact bring me JOY. now that i'm moving things out of my studio, i have room for new and sunny things like this to inspire me. his painting has now taken center stage on my inspiration wall.

i've been so loving creating new things and sending them out into the world. i've had a burst of creative energy. i'm riding it while it lasts. record bowls, baby quilts, and burp cloths up.

drop me a line and tell me what's up in your world. what's been stoking your creative fires?

big ole studio-cleanout update!!

click here to see all the new goodies that i just put up in the etsy shop! not only is it a bit of a studio cleanout, but i've also been working on these new "postcard sets" that come with the vintage covers, too! total cuteness.

any order placed within the next couple of hours will be going out this afternoon when i go to the post office. i tried to price stuff really fairly considering the funky economy! i figure we all need a little brightness.

felt pins, postcards, notecards, paintings, collage, and fingerless mitts- oh my!

(the shop isn't going to be up forever- and i promise you won't have to hear about it all the time. xx)

my delicious life

so here's a little summary of my delicious life in a nutshell.

basically lately i've been doing this new hairstyle that is so whacked out that even the baby looks up and laughs at it. this picture is only a very tame version of it. i try to make this huge nest on top of my head, and then i tell the kids that rats and birds live inside my hair. they call me "ice cream cone head" or pretend that i have a big thing of cotton candy sitting on top of my head and they are constantly licking me. it's fun and bizarre and disturbing all at once. but anyone that knows me knows that one of my hugest hangups is that i pull my hair back waaay to tightly and it's this control thing i have so this is my first step in my recovery. getting my head licked by kids.

other things that are good:: dirty dancing to phish songs on the deck while we have family cookouts and eat crackers that taste exactly like gorgonzola cheese while drinking coronas with lime. our neighbors must really hate us. we put clothes on before we took this picture just to be nice.

naked baby feet. rolls. it looks like i've tied elastics all over lulu's body. her rolls collect sweat and dirt and weird grey-colored baby cheese and i would eat this cheese for the rest of my life if i could, and i don't care how disgusting it is to admit this.

lulu is rolling around. and playing with toys. and laughing. and she loves all of us, even when we are putting things on her head and making her eat jarred peas and laughing at her when she poops. she really does love us.

my kids have the bluest eyes on the planet. and the ones with teeth have the exact same space in between their two front teeth. which is the exact same space i had before i had braces. genes are powerful. they are also complete dorks, just like me. gray especially. and this is why i love her and why my heart breaks into a million stinkin' pieces every time i look at her.

ps-

i love summer.

xx

etsy love

mama wants some new art supplies for the kiddies for the upcoming summer vacation, so i'm reopening and relisting some things in my humble etsy shop. i want a tiny amount of cashola in my paypal account so i can buy some delicious things for the kids to create with! if you have the time or the inclination, click on over! and expect a shop update soon, with more notecards, postcards, and hopefully a small quilt or two!

xx

check check check out mccabe's goodness

little girls changing the world from mccabe russell on Vimeo.

and then click here for additional info.

xx

this week

this week
i am on
a one-woman crusade
to do
as many
random acts of kindness
as i can

and let me
tell you
it's the best medicine
that i know
of
in the world.

xx

mermaid warriors e-camp and other fun mermaid goodness

dear sweet friends,

rally around the insanely inspiring mccabe of dancing mermaid! she's offering an amazing e-camp for girls and she's having a rockin' special on her blog. for a delicious $45 (regularly $55), a sweet girlie in your life can attend this e-camp, watch the videos, and get a huge dose of BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. click HERE for more details.

i cannot WAIT for gray to dive into these videos. and neither can she.

even before i had children, i was always acutely aware of the difficult transitions that our young girls sometimes go through when travelling into womanhood. i spent most of my college days hanging around campus with young girls from the city, listening to them, laying in the grass, and creating plays. my most favorite professor created a program called "all kinds of girls" and we gathered the girls together, created little books, interviewed them just to hear their answers, and then had them put on little theatrical performances. some of my best college memories are of these little girls, who must be young women now. i hope that those days spent covered in paint and glitter made an impression on one of the girls. because i know they made an impression on me.

and now thanks to the wonders of the magical internet, we can encourage and inspire our young girls in such powerful ways. mccabe's videos are a dose of glitter and pack a powerful punch when it comes to encouraging us to get messy, have fun, and just be. after watching only a few installments of her mermaid warriors class, i created three pieces. and this was with a newborn on my hip and a very curious and whiny three year old in tow. so you KNOW it HAD to be inspiring. now that i'm a mama of three, i believe in the magic and power of youth even more than those "all kinds of girls" days. i want my own children to remember just how they are NOW- boisterous, clever, oftentimes inappropriate, creative, and messy. i want them to know it's ok.

the above picture is from last weekend. gray's piece of artwork was chosen for a methuen-wide K-12 art show. we didn't enter her piece. we only received the invitation to show up at the show! this was a big deal for my girl because we have about five public schools in our city and her piece getting chosen was so special. i was a beaming mama and bawling because i'm a DORK and because i was so proud of her creative spirit. seeing her there next to her work was freakin' awesome.

so there's my long-winded endorsement for all things girl empowerment, all things mermaid, all things mccabe. sign up now and get the dealie-deal! you won't regret it.

(video to come- stay tuned!)

Art for the Heart

Hello lovely ladies and dear peeps,

I'm getting involved with a volunteer project put together by my awesome cousin Tabatha. She's beginning to volunteer for a Hospice program, and she'll be spending time with people who have six months or less to live. She will sit with them, hold their hands, and listen to their stories as they pass. Unfortunately, lots of these special people don't have family to sit and visit with them, and as a result, their rooms are often very bare. So this is where "Art for the Heart" comes in. Tabatha and I will be collecting any and all artwork done by our kiddies (anything from coloring sheets to scribbles- anything! The only rule is no last names.) and then she will be taking it to hospice and hanging it up in the rooms. I really believe that this will brighten some days. I know my recycling bin is filled with drawings...so I've started a big bag to pass on to Tabatha. If you are interested, keep some stuff aside and pass it on to me when you get a chance. I'd like to get our first shipment off soon!

Here's the original posting:

Is your refrigerator overrun by your children’s colorful art work? You may think of them as drawings or paintings. We call them “Art for the Heart” and we have patients who would love them.

Most of our hospice patients are elderly and are delighted by children’s artwork. If you send us your children’s crayon drawings, paintings or other art work, our staff will joyfully deliver them to an appreciative audience.

We visit patients in nursing homes in Manchester, Bedford, Nashua, Goffstown, and the Seacoast. We will all treasure your child’s art.

Mail to:
Art for the Heart
Allegiance Hospice and Palliative Care
340 Granite St.
Manchester, NH 03102

Thank you.
For more information, contact: Susan Nolan, Allegiance Hospice Chaplain, 877-255-4623
snolan@allegiancehospice.com


I know I see most of you on a weekly basis, so you can just give me anything you have instead of mailing it to Art for the Heart.

Thank you for your time! And enjoy this gorgeous weather...

Nina

ps- I'm going to be seeing Tabatha this weekend and I'd like to have a big push these next couple of days for submissions- I want a nice, full bag to present to her!

message from me to myself and to you, too. xx

today can you please?

today
i would ask you to
please give yourself a
wedgie
from me
and then give yourself
a little smack
on your fanny-sheikh

smack
smack
smack

just because
from
yours truly.

studio schmoodio

first off, some pretty things for you:

and some of these:
and next, a little trip into my "studio" space. and i use the word studio very loosely. it's more of a little nook in my front porch- a thrifted table, a sewing machine, and a couple of shelves with lots of lots of supplies crammed in (what you don't see in this picture are the three kids asking for juice, milk, dinner, or their bum(s) to be wiped):



now that the weather is nicer and it's not below zero on the front porch, i can actually get out there every once and a while and create. although there is a bee problem. thankfully, the flying termite problem from last year is now resolved after the $1,000+ problem solving, but it seems the bees have found a way in. so crafting/playing time on the front porch is often interrupted by screams of DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK! A BEE! IT'S ON ME! GET IT!!! THERE'S ANOTHER ONE! AND ANOTHER ONE! i've used a piece of tape to cover a very suspicious looking hole in the wall and our bee tally has been dramatically reduced. so let's hope the piece of tape holds up and i can keep getting my craft on!
here's a closeup of just some of the things that have been inspiring me lately. the photobooth strip that you can see was one that em and i found in the machine at diesel- it was an abandoned strip because it just took a dark outline of the two women instead of these pictures. is it weird that i love it more because of this? i knew i had to pilfer it and i felt really sneaky doing it even though it was abandoned and unloved. it almost made up for the fact that the machine was broken and it tried to steal our FOUR dollars without producing a strip for us.

another favorite on my board is a postcard that gray wrote out to lulu a couple of weeks ago that says

"dear lulu,
why do you suck a binkie?
love, grace"

but of course it's all spelled weird and you have to decode it. i just love the innocence and simplicity behind it. there's also a pick of a newborn babe, a moo card from elizabeth bunsen, a sketch of my tattoo, some dried sage from the garden, a note from gray that says "mom, i mish you" even though we were in the same room when she wrote it, a hand-drawn deer with a suit on from pancakemama, a postcard from andrea, and of course bits of ephemera from vintage children's books and such. i've since changed the board a bit so it's always evolving and fresh. it motivates me when i'm just sitting at my desk picking my bum waiting for inspiration to strike.


well, that's it for today i guess. i was going to get all deep and write about motherhood and how my new mantra is "we are all doing our best" and judging ourselves but it will have to wait for another day because i'm just exhausted thinking about all those bees and how i live in one of those crazy bee houses. i just know it.

two things you can do today

believe in yourself

and take time for the little things.


meow,
nb.

quote of the day

joey's quote of the day:: "mumma, can you nuggle me after you're done breastmilking?"

i love this kid.

happy spring

so it's school vacation here in gilbertland, which means i'm sorely outnumbered. and it also means that the wine is chilling in the fridge for mama when it's kiddie bedtime. but we've got some fun things planned this week to keep the week moving along- dates with friends, earth day celebrations, some outdoorsy stuff if the weather gets nice, and meeting the real emily elizabeth from the clifford show (norman birdwell's daughter). there will also be a major amount of sibling rivalry, some time-outs, some mandatory separations, and general referree-ment on my part. luckily, lulu coos and smiles through just about anything, so that's one less thing to worry about.

yesterday we went on some letterboxing hiking adventures which ended in two crying kids and lots and lots of ticks. for all the letterboxes we've found (33) and all the hiking we do (pretty much every weekend day in the spring and fall) we've never had any ticks. which is kind of bizarre but i just considered us lucky. but yesterday was a complete tick festival, resulting in me having to pry one off of johnny's bum this morning. and did i mention that ticks are like my all-time biggest fear? and did i mention that i thought i was taking a black piece of lint out of the corner of joey's eye and it was actually a freakin' TICK? i'm not sure i can go back into the forest. just kidding, but i may need tick therapy or something.

the funniest part of our letterboxing adventure yesterday (besides the fact that it was a grateful dead letterbox called "box of rain" and we had to follow very obscure grateful dead clues that were in song format to find the box) was that we decided to ignore the "steep terrain" warning on top of the clue page and still take our regular stroller (mind you- it's this really cheap stroller that we've had since before gray was born and it's all broken and the wheels are essentaily falling off) on the hike. thanks to the beautiful new england terrain, there was rocks and hills and bridges and water and pretty steep inclines abound, so we had to carry the stroller and it was pretty hysterical. two adults, three kids, one stroller, and a butt-load of ticks. all while singing grateful dead tunes in the forest, smoking pretend joints.

happy spring from gilbertland.

today

today
my goals
are simple

cook some eggplant
burn some incense
plant some seeds in recycled containers
sew up some things from the recycling bin
go to the library
talk to some friends along the way
drink some water
take my vitamins
play school after school
breastfeed here and there
fill up the birdfeeder
listen to some reggae
trim the hair above joey's ears
eat some orange slices

cultivate gratitude for the little, simple things in my life.

where i'm at

(photo courtesy of auntie emily)

so i've been missing here in bloggieland, thanks to facebook and thanks to family. there's been so much living going on, and so much tending to minute-to-minute needs like "mum, can i have some juice?" and "waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah" (meaning, "mum, can i have some milk?" in baby language) and things like that that it seems like every time i sit down to write i get derailed and have to start another time.

like right now. milk calls.


-----------

ok, fully milked

so back to the update. lulu is pretty much the best baby, better than our best dreams and wishes about what #3 held in store for us. people keep asking me how hard it is having three kids, and how it is with a newborn, and i keep dorking out and drooling over my little package of lulu lubbins. this child smiles all day long, coos to us, comes along for all my coffee dates, sits by my side while i quilt and sew and hang out my friends. she takes champion dumps and chills with her brother and sister and lets them kuber her earlobies without a complaint. if she does cry it's because she needs to take a big dump, and then she falls asleep and she's fine again. she's a great sleeper and i'm thinking i get more sleep now that she's born than when she was in utero. the only differnce now is that i can't read vampire books anymore- i now have a voracious appetite for memoirs. it's all memoirs all the time here in gilbertland. and the other thing- girl loves her milk. she nurses and then stops and looks up at me with her ginormous blue eyes and opens her mouth and smiles and smiles. all this cuteness has earned her her nickname "nine pretties". it started by us calling her pretty and then we kept adding them on as her prettiness increased until she got up to nine pretties but it took a long time saying "pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty" every time we needed to address her so uncle booboo just shorted it to "nine pretties".

which brings me to nicknames.

she's got a LOT of them (surprise surprise).

luigi
luigi-board
lubear
luby
luby gills
sippy
sippy galloo
sippy galloobear
lucy
and many more i'm sure but i can't remember now

but the one that has stuck the most is LEWIS. gray and joey don't call her anything else. if strangers ask joey "what's your sister's name?" he looks up at them and without missing a beat he replies "lewis" every time. i'm not sure he even knows what her real name is. which is fine because it saves me from having to explain over and over to people why on earth we would name our child lulu, and what kind of name is that anyway, and do we watch general hospital? when the priest asked us last weekend "what name do you give your child?", i replied "lulu ruby", he replied "what?" but it was a what like "what what?" if you know what i mean.

gray has adjusted beautifully and is the best big sister. she busts into our room in the morning and immediately asks "where's lewis?" she's doing well at school, has been in the newspaper twice, is pretty much reading and is starting to leave notes all over the house that say things like "dear lulu, i love you. why do you suck a binky?" except it will be spelled all weird and i love decoding them. i did get a note from her today that said across the top "this is for mom and dad" and everything was spelled perfectly and i was beaming with pride.

joey has come around nicely and is quite obsessed with lulu. so obsessed that he doesn't want to share "his bee-bee" with his friends. which is super cute but can get tricky at times. he's finally showing interest in learning his letters, and has claimed A as "MY letter". so when we pulled into market basket the other day, he was all enthralled that there was "my letter!" two times in one sign. he's still a very simple guy with very simple needs- organic single serving chocolate milk, "ships and salsa" (chips and salsa), and a mom date every now and then. he's my little red-headed guy and while i sometimes wonder where he came from, i'm certainly glad he's here.

our lives have not changed much- just gotten much cooler. we still have lots of wonderful people in and out, dinners and desserts with endless family and friends, dates and playdates. there's just a little new person that joins us on all our adventures. johnny and i just sit around at night and wonder how the hell we got so lucky to have this life we have.

and that's the long and short of it. cheesy but true.

if you see me around, i'm the one covered in dried spit-up, maybe a mustard baby poop splatter across my jeans that i can't button, but trust me...it's exactly where i want to be.

dear world,

busy doing a lot of this. what's new with you? xx

thank you universe

(notice the sleeping guy in the back?)

if i could say anything
to the universe
today
it would be this:

thank you
for giving me
space
and perspective
and lots of wonderful people
that guide me
to exactly
where i need
to be

thank you
for
the quiet moments
with real life friends
where we can sit
and stare at my baby's face
and that is
enough

thank you
for
those rare
moments
where everything
is still
and perfect

thank you.

quiet

i've been feeling extra quiet here lately. maybe it's the shift in dynamics with having number three with us finally, or maybe it's the season, or maybe it's my new mama-bear protective mode, but every time i come to this space (or to the computer in general), i feel quiet.

blogging is a funny thing- it has sustained me through hard times, and made me question myself and my beliefs. it has challenged me, has lifted me up, and has helped me meet some of my nearest and dearest friends. it has also made me feel icky and closed off and vulnerable and quiet. right now, i find that i'm somewhere in between. savoring the sweet parts and feeling quite closed off to the icky ones.

today i choose to roll with the feelings, and to focus on the good stuff that feeds me. a quiet house, slowly coming into namaste, watching my boy go through the yoga moves next to me. a bowl full of cantaloupe. my favorite mug filled with pulpy orange juice. my babe sleeping in a furry lamb suit next to me. quiet. quiet. embracing the quiet today.

stream of consciousness

pretty much had the best weekend ever, which included a treasure hunt of sorts that involved things like "buy a new bar of overpriced soap that has a bunch of chunky seaweed pieces in it". nothing like stimulating the economy with crazy vegan-friendly purchases and then indulging in indian chicken tikka masala. we were all over the map this weekend, doing the things that we like to do and not having to justify them to anyone. we took the kids bowling which was actually pretty fun considering that team gilbert does not usually do family activities that involve organized fun. and then we had giant slices of pizza bigger than our heads. and then we took lulu for her first photobooth experience on her one month birthday. she pretty much slept through the whole thing but it resulted in the cutest strip ever (must post soon). and then we went to REI and tried on clothes and shoes and pretended we had all the money in the world and could buy all this ridonkulous stuff. and then we went and sniffed some overpriced products at lush, which is pretty much the most delicious place in the world. and have i mentioned how much i love fresh hot indian naan? and soy chai lattes? and snow days and hot blueberry coffeecake buckle out of the over? and watching the kids play games with johnny? (i breastfeed and he plays boardgames- division of labor in the gilbert house). and can i also just state for the record how much i love kat von d? i wish kat lived next door and we could trade services- i'd give her massages and she'd give me cool tattoos and then we'd whip up some chili and have some wine and lay on the couch together. pretty much the coolest friend ever, i suppose.

little lulu

i have the intro song to the show "little lulu" stuck in my head on repeat at all times.

"little lulu
i love you-lu
just the same"

it's what i sing to her when i want to calm her
it's what i sing to me when i want to calm me
it's the soundtrack to my days

and the kids just love the part where lulu hangs the lollipop in front of her mouth while she's sleeping and snoring so she can lick it


little lulu i love you-lu just the same...

love, love, love

so it's been all about the love here in gilbertland. being gentle to ourselves, saying no when we have to, asking for help when we need it, and opening our home to visitor after wonderful visitor that wants to a piece of the lovefest. i can't believe it's almost been four weeks since the newest arrival. it's been a blissful few weeks, much easier than i could've anticipated. it's also been filled with some sickness, some scariness, and some ickiness. but overall, i've been floating around in baby la-la-land (or lululand), snuggling on the sweet babe who fills us all up with so much love.

in the spirit of love, i offer you more good things:

*joey calls chips and salsa "ships and salsa", and when he runs out of chips first (because he always does) he says "mumma, can i have some more ships?" and every time i feel like my heart might burst open with love

*going to the ocean in boston yesterday. watching the kids run along the chilly shore with wonderful friends. dodging syringes and dog poop. seeing boo jump into the frigid ocean in drag for the gay men's domestic violence fund. holding lulu in the front pack carrier in her sheep snowsuit

*gray's school vacation week (last week) going much better than i anticipated. hanging with multitudes of our little-people friends. having the week fly by.

*watching the kids paint at the ceramics studio

*having my food shopping all done for the week by 9:06am this morning (i really detest food shopping and want to throw a serious party when i finish doing it)

*sushi dates. chai dates. oregon chai's "slightly sweet" blend. tingy gifting me with sam adams new imperial white beer.

*watching gray try on flower girl dresses this weekend and seeing her so happy when we found the perfect one

*going to sleep at 7pm every night while john sleeps with lulu on his chest

*nursing in the middle of the night when everyone else in the house is asleep, and having lu hold onto my finger

*playing with friends at the library...and gray getting her first library card

*getting over the stomach flu- makes you appreciate regular, non-sick days

*having a week full of nothing-much lay ahead....aaaaaah.

seize the week

this week is going to kick last week's butt. just sayin'.

(power of positive thinking...
need i mention that it's school vacation week?)

also, priceless quote from gray just seconds ago:

"wouldn't be awesome if we had more than one bathroom in this house? because daddy has really yellow pee and it stains the toilet!"

word.

back after a blogging hiatus

after taking a much-needed blogging break, immersing myself in my new little family, i think a good things list is in order:

*can i just say that i had pretty much the most magical birth experience ever? i had a pretty rocking birth experience with miss grace, and joey's, while not perfect, wasn't that bad, but lulu's birth pretty much takes the cake. i was lucky enough to be surrounded by the most fabulous midwife ever invented, a nurse who was also a certified doula (and pregnant herself with her third!), one of my bestest of friends who is also a mama of four little ones (who better to guide another mama through birth), and johnny, who just happens to be one of the most hilarious and rock-solid birth partners out there. even though i had to be induced and have lots of pitocin and my water broken two weeks early, it turned out to be the most magical birth experience ever. i found myself in a really positive and supported place- and instead of getting through it with fear (as i sometimes found myself with birth #1 and #2), this time i gifted myself with only positive messages like "nin, you can do this, you can do this". and it worked. i went from 3cm to 10 cm dilated in 15 minutes, so needless to say the end was a bit intense, but it was all worth it. lulu came healthy and happy and i was literally ecstatic. not exactly like the women that experience orgasmic birth, but i was pretty happy! (and we did take a minute during labor to give some props to the women that manage to have orgasmic births- and how funny it would be in a hospital setting).

*joey, when he gets marker all over his lips. for some reason, every time he colors, he manages to make this happen.

*my mann's orchard dates with joey, that now include lulu. we stick her by the fire in her little carseat and just go about our business eating donuts and drinking organic chai and chocolate milk. she fits in seamlessly.

*watching gray and lulu interact has been the greatest gift over the past two weeks. gray is completely obsessed with her sister and is quite the little mami, always wanting to hold, hug, and smother the little bean with love. the biggest surprise is that it's actually been quite a help- i can give the baby to gray and go and empty the dishwasher, make dinner, etc. and totally trust that lulu is in safe hands (within seeing distance, of course :)

*watching johnny come home from work and lay down with lulu on his chest. he says that he looks forward to his lulu dates all day long.

*emails from friends that keep me sane, esp. from boo and aunties jo&lib. xx

*all the wonderful visits and dates with our peeps over the past two weeks- and all the lubbins that go along with it. meals and gifties and love and listening ears.

*going to the grocery store with a newborn. watching people smile.

*seeing little ones get excited about holding a baby (good thing i'm not a germaphobe!) passing her around and seeing the pride in all my little friends' faces.

*nursing at night. snuggling in bed.

*babes in tie-dye (thanks angela!). she pretty much lives in the onesie that was tie-dyed by dear angela from lovegreendog. i can't get enough of lulu in hippie-gear.

*have i mentioned how much i love the name lulu? i heart lulu.

*even though i have a fever and feel like poo today because i was up sweating balls last night in bed but also shivering, i'm still going to rock today's world and get some major living done.

what's good in your world? xx

introducing....

lulu ruby gilbert
born 12:17am 1/28/08
7 lbs. 8 oz.
20 inches long

happy, healthy, and a bona fide milkaholic.

more news to come. thanks to everyone for all the love, support, and kindness sent our way. xx