...because she sleeps. all. day.

We picked cherries this weekend in the orchards surrounding my dad's house in Hood River. When cherries are free, and you can pick them by the handful, its easy to come home with 10, 20, 30 pounds of cherries.



So, I did the smart thing and bought a cherry pitter (same one the chicken's got. You can see her cute girls using it on a video here.) and have spent the better part of the last 24 hours pitting and freezing cherries and making a cobbler.





After all, what else is a mother to do when the baby sleeps all day?

4th of July - Here we come!

With 2 days to go before Drew's real due date - the 4th - I couldn't be happier that she came to us early. For one, she is a joy and I can't imagine my life for the past 9 days any differently than with her in it.

But I'm also quite excited, because her earlier arrival means we'll get to go to my all-time favorite place in the world to spend the 4th of July - my hometown, Hood River. I feel like my 4th of July experiences growing up were sort of iconic and about as all-American as you can get...in a really great sort of way.



My memories of the day include waking up and heading to an early breakfast put on by the Mormon church I grew up in. We would all gather in the parking lot and sing patriotic hymns like God Bless America and America the Beautiful while the Cub Scouts raised the flag and a trumpeter (often my dad or my brother) played Taps. Then we'd all head inside for a buffet of eggs, pancakes, fruit, etc with all the people in our church community.

Next, we'd head to one of the main streets in Hood River and find a good spot to watch one of the best small town parades I've ever seen. People cheer for all the runners on the last stretch of their 5K (a number of whom you inevitably know personally), and children flood the streets to pick up Brach's candy and bubblegum while fire engines, local 4-H groups, and spruced up old-timey cars roll by.

The parade ends at Jackson Park, where for several years my dad played trumpet in one of the bands performing. People barbecued and picnicked, and kids threw water balloons and ate shaved ice to keep cool in the scorching heat.

By this time, we'd head back to my mom's house to regroup and have some down time, while the sounds of the little league playoffs were audible from the field across the street. "Next up to bat: Timmy. On Deck: Jeremy!" Please return all foul balls to the concession stand for a free snow cone!"

For dinner, we'd barbecue at home or at our family friend's house, then head to the Marina looking over the Columbia River for a spectacular fireworks show launched from the Washington State river bank, where all the big ones are legal.

Sigh-------

There are some things that shift and change so much from childhood to adulthood that they become unrecognizable. Like my childhood home that was bulldozed a few years ago--where an empty lot now sits waiting for something new.

But the 4th of July in Hood River remains mostly unchanged. The small town parade, the barbecue at a family friend's place, and the fireworks show... the sights and sounds and smells are all still accessible to me, and it gives me a sense of comfort and stability in my life that I think is rare in a time when our culture and surroundings change rapidly.

4th of July, here I come-- this time with my own children's memories in the making.

bliss

With the arrival of my daughter, I feel as though a white eyelet curtain has drawn closed in a circle around my little family and I am so happily swallowed up in the now we are living in.



Sure, there are lots of other things going on in the world. But none of it seems to matter when you look down and find this in your arms....

I did it!

Small and mighty, miss Drew Alexandria joined our family on Tuesday, June 23rd weighing in at 5 pounds, 15 ounces.



My labor was fast, and ended dramatically when she made a speedy entrance into the world, surprising all the nurses and causing my midwife to nearly miss the whole thing (this happened when Addison was born too).



We're home now and all is going swimmingly! She's a peaceful baby, and I'm so full of joy, I can hardly contain myself....

My mom's friend writes limericks for fun for such special occasions and I thought I'd share this one with you!

There once was a baby named Drew,
Who thought that her birth was past due.
So out she came, early,
More girly than burly,
And made all her peeps feel brand new!

xoxo

ready for her

My bags are packed, the house is clean, the nursery is set up, an extra meal has been cooked and stored in the fridge, groceries have been purchased, the plants have been watered, and I'm showered and as rested as I can be.

Time to have this baby. We will leave as a family of three tomorrow and return a family of four.

Wish me luck!

This week has been a strange one.

I received a call from my midwife while I was a work last Wednesday, letting me know that she was faxing over a letter to my supervisor that I was to stop working and go home and rest. My baby looks healthy, but she is a small one, and they are being cautious. And, we will be welcoming her into the world a little early...

I did my best to wrap things up at work over the next hour, cleaned out my desk, and drove home in kind of a daze. What just happened?

I picked up Addison from school and we went out for ice cream. I was prepared to give him this big mom-to-son talk about how things had changed, how his baby sister would come early, and how I wasn't going to be working anymore, and would just be resting. In my head, I carefully crafted sentences and vocabulary that he would be able to understand and wouldn't be alarming. Well, I must have done a good job, because I was surprised that he didn't have any questions. Basically, it went like this:
"Ok, mom. Can I have a bite of your ice cream? Wanna try mine?"

And that was that.

The rest of the week has been easy on my body and spirit, and my family and friends have been extremely supportive, bringing food, flowers, magazines, helping out with Addison, and doing some light cleaning. Its the transition time I didn't even know I needed, but it has given me a chance to fill up on "me" time before I give so much of myself over to this new little girl.

It has been an emotional week too, with much time to stew over the coming changes and obsess over the things I hope will or won't happen, but mostly its been fun and relaxing.

Last night Ben and I went on what is very likely the last date night to be had in some time. We enjoyed a relaxed and romantic dinner at a cute, authentic feeling italian restaurant called Lorenzo's.




My black linguini with scallops and shrimp was delicious, but things really got interesting when I started having regular contractions for about an hour (Ben, of course, had to time them all on his ipod Touch). We started getting excited and realized how quickly our lives could change at any moment...

But the contractions subsided and we headed to see Away We Go.















What a perfect movie for us to see. Not only was it hilarious, but is was a very sweet story about love, and finding what you need among what you already have. Go see it!

Now its a new day, and I'm doing my best to appreciate each moment as it is. I don't know how to end this post, except to say, I hope you're enjoying the now, today, too!

9 months ago I was here and I want to go again....NOW

I think I might make it my personal mission to invent a machine that transports pregnant women who are on bedrest to an all-inclusive Mexican resort with king-size beds, huge pools, round-the-clock gourmet buffets and all-night room service.







It just seems like the fair thing to do, no?