music is a memory

As D-day quickly approaches [44 days, holla!] I am getting my ducks in a row: Things to have on hand for the birthday. Ordering the birth pool liner. Ice cream bucket for the placenta. Say it with me in a spanish accent, PLAAACENTA. Drag out that A. Cheking off the list of midwife requested items: washcloths, towels, coconut water, witch hazel and jumbo jet 747 sized pads. But I've added my own important item thing on the list:
Birth play list! MUSIC!

I had a playlist prepared for Rue's birth, but when shove came to push [ha] all I wanted to listen to was Brian and Jenn Johnson's cd "Love Came Down". That sucker was on repeat for nearly 24 hours. Straight. I didn't want to listen to anything else. Afterwards, I was tempted to throw the cd into a bucket of gasoline and light a match. It was a gorgeous cd, tainted with crazy wonderful painful memories. I couldn't listen to it after [for a long time] without being lurched back to that place, and just turning it off.

Then tonight, it came on my iTunes and all I could do was smile as I remembered my 24 hour labor! It was a beautiful cd for me again! That makes me think I am more ready for this birth that I ever thought.

Isn't it amazing how music [and scent!] can contain such sensory memories and bring us right back to a specific moment in time?

OK, off I go to start compiling my song list. Any recommendations?

sand in all the right places

Florida. Was. Lovely.

[ignore the improper grammar and hear my sentiment.]

[I need to pause between each word for emphasis.]

Florida. Family. Vacation. Was. So. Lovely.

!!!

I *actually* rested. I didn't think that resting & relaxing on vacation was possible with a toddler. Honest. But we did, and it was magnificent. We grilled. We swam. We sunbathed. We walked. We played shuffleboard with the rest of the 65+ snowbirds. We fed seagulls. We rented a boat. We talked about baby girl names. We laughed. We played speed and Taboo [& I kicked Chris's butt] We didn't watch tv. We didn't sleep in [thanks to Runi]. We went on a date night to a swanky foodie restaurant [thanks to Coco for babysitting]. We got sand in all the right places. 

It was a glorious final vacation as a family of 3!

Photos to come.

xo.

27.

Monday was my birthday. I am 27 years old, and it feels goooood.

I truly had the best weekend ever. Eveeerrrrrrrrrrr. When you love something a lot you are allowed to write with extra consonants and vowels. It was ahhhmmazing.

Sunday morning started out with gift opening. My stud husband gave me a camera. A swoon worthy, drool worthy Canon Rebel tSi. I cried a little. Finally, I can take the photos that I see in my minds eye. We left the baby at home with my in-laws and headed to Philly. On the way we made a fabulous detour to Terrain, Anthropolgie's outdoor home and garden store. It was incredibly rustic. Every where you looked was something beautiful and inspiring. Their cafe is in a greenhouse, where we dined on a delicious brunch. Our favorite part was the bread that they bake and serve in a terra cotta pot, paired with a lavender honey butter. I'm still rolling my eyes....it was soooooooooooo good.

From there we headed into Philly where we grabbed a Starbucks and hit my fave Anthro. I picked out a few home tchotckes [that sounds better than it looks] and knobs for my new buffet. Then an afternoon pickup was in order, so we stopped at Parc for a little French goodness. Iced coffee, roasted beet salad and creme brulee.

We finished the night at our favorite seafood restaurant in Hershey, Devon. And as good as it was, it was our least favorite of the day. Which...says a lot. Here are a few snaps from the day taken by my new camera!

Here's to a new year! My next birthday, I will be a mother of 2. Wow.

favorite photos of late

we snuggle, every morning. it's tradition.

breakfast sweetness

baby model much?

At the park, spinning his favorite toy

just call me dirt boy

three 'snaggle' tooth grin.

bebe booty. can't get enough.

He's a classic boy: loves to be naked, and knows it's funny. He runs around laughing hysterically, wagging his little peepee

Le pout. So endearing.

Spring walk with Dad

Get away from the street Rue.

'Impressed with birthday balloons!

Unimpressed with mom's baby sitting strategy while shoveling: bundle him up so tight he can't move.

Playing with his John Deer tracker while naked. Like I said....classic BOY.

Bathtime

Swinging! Shrieks! Silly!

'weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!'

Stairmaster

2.10.11

This is my little man the day after his first birthday party.

After a crazy night of partying he was ready for some hydration.

Gotta kick that hangover somehow.

Forcing some smiles with Great Grandma-D.

Then he shared his breakfast with Grandma. Gave the term 'finger food' a whole new meaning.

After some serious playtime, this happened shortly after.

It was a sweet morning, and a great way to start his first year.

One year & 9 days ago...

We had our first family photo shoot.

Our baby was freshly out of the oven and a tender 9 days old.

He had never left the house. {love homebirth!}

'Brink Party of 3'

xo,

Y

remembering: Birth Photos

One year ago today I was swimming around in my birth pool, waiting for my little prince to arrive... Le birth pics

11 months (10 days late)

11 months?

how did that happen??

well my little man all I have to say is: leaps and bounds.

you're growing up in leaps and bounds.

you and I have conversations now.

I ask you 'how did you sleep baby' and you reply 'addsubbbs bueejah mmrrm leedibuh rroooo rrooo.'

which I interpret 'I slept beautifully mama love rue rue'

we have conversations like that all the time, and I look forward to the day that I can actually understand you.

on your 11th monthiversay you were very sick and threw up on me and then you made it all better by taking your first three steps. It was miraculously fun to watch. You haven't tried it again though, so I am enjoying the last few weeks of you crawling, ever.

just this weekend you became a sweet little snuggle bug. I will rephrase and say you've always been sweet, but you have never been a snuggle bug. Out of the blue you crawled up to me and nuzzled your head in my neck. And then later that day you crawled up to me and put your head on my knees. And you haven't stopped the spontaneous snuggling & nuzzling. I am SO happy about it too. Another new development is whenever you see a blanket you will dive headfirst onto it, lay flat and wiggle around like a fish, all while smiling and giggling/squealing/shrieking with delight. So I purposely leave your soft blankets around the house, cause it's just so.darn.cute.

you make me very proud. I love getting to know the little amazing person that you are.

happy 11 months of life!

xo, Mama

Brink Costume Party 2010

Chris and I threw our first costume party. It was a success!

What happened? Delicious food, dancing & a very taboo game of Taboo.

Who came? Navi Avatars, Pirates, a gay 'Cop Out' Cop, Wayne & Garth, a Coyote headdress, Jillian Michaels, The Mad Hatter & Alice, and Dorothy from Oz [who was our friend Mike wearing his wife's dress & shoes, btw]

PARTY ON, WAYNE.

PARTY ON, GARTH.

EXCELLENT!

4 years of LOVE

4 years ago [on a bench under a tree with orange leaves falling around us] Chris asked me to be his girlfriend.

I am so glad I said yes!

Four long-but-seemingly-short years later, we have dated, became 'fee-yawn-cays', got married and became Mr & Mrs, bought & renovated a house, loved each other real good, got pregnant [probably due to the loving real good part] & had our firstborn son. It's been an adventure to say the least, and I couldn't be more thrilled so share my life with you Christopher.

Cheers to love!

Read our love story!!! :)

The Beautiful Letdown

This weekend was a bittersweet emotional roller coaster, and not what we were expecting. It started off wonderful, had a heartbreaking middle, and had a beautiful ending. Chris, Rue & I flew to Maine to see his family. Parents, a sister & husband, grandparents, aunts & uncles, & cousins. But mostly, his Grandmother Loraine. A month ago, she was diagnosed with Liver and Pancreatic Cancer and we knew this would be the last time we'd see her. It would also be the first time she [as well as most of the family] would meet our son. We were so excited. Sunday was supposed to be our big family get together in the backyard bbq-ing and playing badminton. But instead, our family gathered together in a hospital emergency room. Chris's grandmother had a heart attack.

She had not been feeling well in the morning, so she was going to stay home. When we heard this, we planned to go down to her house and see her. A little while later she felt better and was getting ready to come up to the party. She had showered and fixed her hair and sat down on the couch with her husband, Grandpa Frank. She took 4 deep breaths and then collapsed. Frank called 911 and the emergency crew did CPR and worked on her for 20 mins, but she was gone. Everyone rushed down to the house when we got word of what had happened. Amazingly on the way to the hospital they resuscitated her and found a pulse. But since she had been without oxygen for so long, she had slipped into a deep coma. So the whole family gathered around in her hospital room, praying, singing, talking to her, holding her hand and saying our goodbyes. Chris and I were gutted that the whole reason we came up was to see her [alive], and we never got to. She didn't get to meet our boy.

She held on through the night and passed peacefully yesterday morning. We are still in shock, but while we are mourning, we are also rejoicing that she was spared the pain of chemo & the pain of two types of cancer. Her prognosis was to live only a few short months to a year and we know that it would've been a very painful end. Thank God she didn't suffer long. Such was a beautiful woman who loved the Lord very much and we know she is in Heaven.

The weekend had major highs & lows. Saturday we flew and Rue did great on his first plane ride. He was happy to see his grandparents [Chris's parents] and they were beside themselves to see him. We had a delicious lobster and steak dinner with my in-laws and sister and brother in-law. Sunday was the exhausting day in the emergency room. Monday she passed and we cried and breathed a sigh of relief, and then we flew back to PA. [the funeral is not till Friday] On the way home our friends invited us to a bbq pool party. While we were not in the mood to party, we knew that being around our friends would be the best medicine for our souls. I'm so glad we went. We swam, scurried 15 adults and 8 kids inside the house and watched the sudden thunderstorm cause a massive mud slide on the side of the house, ate homemade strawberry ice cream, drank coffee, held babies, listened to said 8 kids run around screaming like crazies banging on the piano. It was a scene from a movie...like the most beautiful insane scene where you think, wow, I wish I lived in a community like that. It was lovely.

On the way home, we went to the highest point in the city and watched the lightning and thunderstorm roll away. The air was warm and thick. It smelled like fresh rain and clovers. We walked through the park with our sleeping baby in tow, and talked about the legacy that was Loraine Jones, our beloved Grandmother.

It was truly, bittersweet.

8 weeks at Easter

This Easter I was flooded with memories of being a little girl full of excitement Sunday morning. Waking up with anticipation of the hunt for chocolates and plastic eggs that my mom hid around the house was the best! Someday, I will do the same for my little bird. The sweet part?

I will be just as excited to watch him on the hunt as he will...

happy first Easter & 8 weeks my little buttercup!

xo, mama