to em and boo

i want to plan a pre-xmas but xmas celebration weekend for us, but need some date suggestions...it doesn't necessarily have to be the whole weekend, but a day we can all hang out and drink hot beverages and open presents and hopefully make cards and finish up last-minute crafting gifts and help boo with his lack of craftiness and catch up before the crazy holidays and arrival of babyjoe. maybe we can have some sort of seance where we try and break my water prematurely. let me know what works for you guys and what doesn't. i'm sure our schedules are going to fill up pretty quick.

xo

also, em, or anyone else who may know...
where can i find those cool "handmade by" tags for craft projects that have that antique look to them? everyone has them and i want some!

yesterday

city adventures

haven't posted words in a bit...getting through another emotional funk, but feeling fine now. thank you so much to boo for talking with me and taking ultimate care of me, and my dad (not that he reads this) for driving me simultaneously crazy and keeping me sane all at once, and treating me to hot chocolate and hummus and pita bread when i think i just can't get through the week. yesterday's family day adventure took us into the city for gyros and walking and hat shopping and fall foliage looking through parks. grace is an amazing two year old and she's oftentimes funner than hanging out with adults. she kept us laughing and amazed at her wittiness and silliness and love for nature, picking up fairy treats and acorns and sticks that she called "magic paintbrushes". there should be a law about pregnant people walking around the city in high-heeled boots, but i looked damn cute. off for sprinkle adventures today...looking forward to seeing family and friendies. cameras are charged and ready with new film!

xo

and thanks to melissa for your wonderful over-the-top response to my jewelry email...i can't wait to start shopping around for beads! as you can see from above picture, i recently purchased chunkyfunky necklace on www.etsy.com and i'm completely obsessed with it. it makes me look more like frida khalo than i'd like to admit...my friend crystal would be proud!

photo series 3: snowballs and yarnballs

the first snow...this past weekend in newburyport, finished off with hot lentil soup at home-

photo series 2: indian dinner in cambridge

photos by gracie eileen, resident photographer.

send your lovins my way today...this mama's got some achinbackandbelly issues. please labor...either start or stay away until december! this purgatory stuff has got to go. i may break down and take my first tylenol ever!

xo

self portrait tuesday

in the car. i like that you can see grace's littlefoot in the backseat in the first picture.

photo series 1 continued: a day at the farm

photo series 1: day at the farm

due to the large amounts of new pictures this week, I'm going to be posting in series and groups while I get seconds here and there-

happy happy halloween

grace's favorite halloween present, by far...a bag of buttons from her auntie emily. thank you so much for her halloween package! she felt so special and carried around the buttons all day, sorting them and loving them!

little mickey with her first whistle pop-



a cutie pie lick-

a cutie pie pick-

more halloween to come later...for now, let me say thank you to everyone that made our weekend wonderful and grace's halloween safe and fun and enjoyable. we've got a bunch of new photos for the week, so stay tuned! xo

dream registry

(a snap of me, thanks to crystal, taken at her house this past weekend during crazy pants-making extravaganza that almost made me cry, but in retrospect was a growing experience that i'm looking forward to doing again :)


i propose that mamas expecting child #2
and have most if not all of what they need
make dream registries
(that is, of course, if they are lucky enough
to have legions of other mamas and peeps asking them what they want) :)

here's just a snippet of my dream registry, a work in progress:

green and black's organic chocolate
organic or delicious lotion for dry-winter-skinnertins
warm and comfy socks
yard sale finds for babyjoe
sentimental children's books that were friends' favorites with inscriptions in inside cover
lent-out books for mama to read while nursing that i don't have to return for a long time
recent issues of good magazines that people don't want anymore
subsciption to martha stewards everyday food magazine
yummy shampoo and conditioner
sabrina ward harrison's new art journal

well there we go. and i'm not even going to feel bad about writing it down. and there's probably more where that came from. the list doesn't even include my random food deliveries to the hospital, and my tucks medicated pads requests!

sending love

sending love and good energy to our dear friends shaun and sara who are getting married today in the dominican republic. here's just a glimpse of what you can look forward to...being an old married couple together. we're so happy that you both found each other, and can't think of two better people. we wish we could be there with you...but we're with you in spirit. love you guys!

a clearer self portrait tuesday

for those of you :) who may not have gotten the full scope of my belly in the first self portraits, here's another shot...where you can see the whole belly! as you may notice, my belly button is no longer a button...it's pushed out completely flat! no stretch marks though, knock on wood. my skin is made for incredible stretching, evidently.

self portrait tuesday

my belly, with and without flash...taken at tracy's dinner party on sunday night. my feet are seeming farther and farther away...it's getting harder and harder to shave my legs, put on socks, put on my shoes. luckily, as this pregnancy progresses, i'm feeling better and better energy-wise. unless i'm just getting used to the aches and pains and my body has given up complaining.

just finished "my sister's keeper" by jodi picoult. the most depressing thing ever. there were some good quotes that i had to dog-ear. looking forward to moving on to the "kite runner".

"this is the language of a marriage. morse code, punctuated by baths and dinners and stories before bed." -jodi picoult

"the human capacity for burden is like bamboo--far more flexible than you'd even believe at first glance." -jodi picoult

"i have only known her for two years. but if you took every memory, every moment, if you stretched them end to end--they'd reach forever." -jodi picoult

"you don't love someone because they're perfect. you love them in spite of the fact that they're not." -jodi picoult

all i want is my bed right now

thank you to jess and babycollin for hanging out at the library today
thank you stop and shop for having discounted organic food
thank you fall for inventing pumpkin flavors
thank you heating pads for saving me from the worst pains in my legs
thank you jodi picoult for writing "my sister's keeper", a book i just picked up at the library and i'm about to start as soon as grace goes down for a nap
thank you decaf green tea and squirtable honey that comes in bear shaped containers
thank you mini chocolate chips

and thank you, taco night at the gilbert house. i look forward to enjoying you tonight.

xo