Pool time

We had an amazing time at my friends pool! It is fantastic to have a big cold wet thing to dive into on a day like today, when it is 99 degrees out.

It was so nice to have a more fair ratio between children and adults. lol Also Bree is at a great age where if I throw a blanket or towel down just about any where I have created an instant play mat. It is great to finally have a baby who can entertain herself and wiggle around on her own. She even got to put on her big girl one piece suit. It is still a bit roomy, seeing as it in meant for a 6-12 month old, but she was rocking the cuteness non the less.

Guest

I have been MIA for a bit because my friend from Australia arrived by train (from LA not Australia) on Sunday afternoon. And she is pretty fabulous so she has kept me on my toes.

I was so excited to see her! I even fussed over what Bree was going to wear so she would look super cute for introductions and took the car to the car wash . . . so you know this is serious.

Shaun is entertaining Taya with the Wii at the moment so I have a chance to fill you in.

It started like this . . .

It was like those old romantic movies where the lovers have not seen one another for years. I was sitting on the bench all a twitter when the train pulled in (It was a sunny day so there was no rain or steam emerging from the train as it pulled in but you make due with what you have.) and there she was all blonde and smiles . . time melted away and it was three years age. We were young girls frolicking across the Canadian country side. (we met at University in Quebec) I had to keep myself in check though because the husband and baby were with me, sigh.

We have been making the most of our sweet time together even since.

It has been so wonderful to have a mate to spend my days with. We have gone down to the park and laid out a blanket where Bree can practice crawling and squirming around and we can escape the heat under a tree and just gab. We walked to get smoothies and to enjoy the feel of the sun on our backs. We have spent our nights playing tennis (real tennis, like outside), going for ice cream, and having game nights. Our morning in SLO shopping was fantastic. (Shaun is keen to go shopping with me if I ask but it is just not the same as going with a girl who is actually having fun.) lol

All in all our days have been sublime and I am looking forward to the next five.

I'll keep you posted. :)

Husbands

I was having a really rough day over this past weekend. was losing it probably because I was tired and that made me cranky but and not much fun to be around. So what does my husband do? Once the baby was asleep he pulled me into the living room, laid me on the floor, and proceeded to give me a full back massage, including butt and legs.

What a guy!

I am so glad that husband are called to love their wives like Christ loved the church and not to treat us the way we deserve to be treated. And I am pretty sure if the church were a person Jesus would definitely give that person a message to bring them out of their grumpy mood!

Car

So we have been operating with one car for awhile now and it has its pluses and minuses.

Pluses:

Being nice to the environment by sparing it one less car emitting pollution

Spending less money

realizing that I almost always use the car to go places then require me to spend money

Getting super excited when I do decide to take Shaun (the husband) to work so we (me and the baby) can have the car

Getting good exercise and time outdoors by walking to the store

Minuses:

being drenched in sweat, getting heat stroke, and wanting to pass out because we walked to the store! (it pretty toasty here in the summer)

Sometimes going well, a little crazy . . .
(that will happen when you spend all day with an infant in a condo that has less then 800 square feet)

Today was one of those super exciting days when I got to hang out in SLO. I dropped Shaun at work and drove down town. Of course Aubrey had just fallen asleep and normally I feel guilty and don't want to wake her by stopping the car but not today baby! Today was our day in SLO. So I pulled the baby out of her comfy seat and tossed her in the ergo and off we went.
(Side note: I had no idea what I was doing when I bought my baby carrier and I feel for the ergo because it was made from organic fibers and looked so hip and hippy. And before I knew it I had bought a very expensive baby carrier where the baby can only face inward and of course I have a baby who loves to face outwards! To solve this for the time being I just put her in standing up facing out. It works fine for now because she is small and doesn't mind having her feet squished. Bless her heart)

I was excited to get a Starbucks latte, because I had a gift certificate, but that was about all I had planned. There was another Mom in there with a cute little girl all wrapped up in a moby style carrie. We made eye contact like Mom's do and smiled and that was it. I grabbed my drink and headed out to enjoy my morning down town. It is rare that I am downtown now so I had no idea what to do next! I zig zagged in front on Starbucks for a bit changing my mind about where to head next when the Mom I saw before called out to me from her table and asked if I was just hanging out. Apparently I looked as lost as I felt. lol I said yes and she invited me over to sit with her.

We talked for about an hour and she turned out to be this great woman and we had a ton in common, granted we have only talked about our kids so far but as I'm sure you know opinion about child rearing can vary quit a bit! I got her number and am looking forward to calling her.

The reason I am writing about this is because it was a big deal for me. It is hard for me to justify going to SLO and today I just felt like we made the right decision. It was one of those days when I felt like I was really making the decision that God wanted me to. I just felt on. I didn't go back in forth about whether I should go to SLO and drive Shaun and myself crazy. I am really good at that by the way. I'm talking real natural talent.

So back to the one car subject. Turns out today having one car was a blessing. I got a latte, had a great conversation, meet a potential friend, snuggled with my baby, bought a new shirt, and got to feel like I was living this day in sink with God!

I'm off to pick up the hubby and go to Farmers Market. What a great end to a fantastic day.

Then there were two . . .

We are without the baby for two whole days. I meet up with my Mom yesterday half way between our two houses and we swapped. I gave her our only off spring in return for some pots. I'm starting to wonder is the trade was all the fair.

So besides doing some planting in my new pots I have a whole lot of free time on my hands. And let me tell you, it feels good. At first I had no idea what to do with my self. Everything I used to do seems frivolous and silly and well it all is compared to raising another human being! I'm going to need to let that comparison go or else I'll not do a single thing this weekend.

We did come up with a few things that sound pretty good though

Sleep in (the husband is doing that right now)
Got to the Beach
Play a game of Tennis
Pet the Cat (who is sorely under loved since the baby came along)
Eat Out (a very yummy idea)

I miss her like crazy but I know how good it is for us to get these days to renew our strength. Having kids changes your life forever no doubt about it. So I am taking this weekend to turn back the clock. Travel back in time to the summer before we were married. When we were young and had no real responsibilities. We are going to rock this weekend like it is 2006!

And take some good naps in between . . . :)

Love

All of those Mom's out there know what it is like to be woken out of a tasty midnight slumber by the cries of a little baby. Depending on where she catches me in my sleep cycle I feel differently about having to wake up and tend to her. Buy last night made all the interrupted snoozies worth while.

I went into her room and lifted her out of her crib to feed her. She was so tried and all she wanted was to eat and go back to sleep. When she was all done I just held her a bit as she slept on my chest. It was one of those profound moment in my relationship with her where I really felt like she needed me. It was pretty magical. I love knowing that when it come down to it, I am all she needs right now. I got the food, I got the love, and I am pretty dang entertaining to a four month old.

All in all, life is good.

In The Beginning . . .

So I think I might be ready to tackle this whole blogging thing. A couple things have stopped me in the past.

the fist being lack of time: Becoming a stay at home Mom to an infant took care of that one!

the second: being a little weirded out by stranger knowing the usually some what private inner workings of my mind

the third: feeling that the private inner working of my mind might not be ready for blog prime time

I'm still feeling a little "iffy" about the second two road blocks but after some encouragement from my favorite partner in crime (rachel) I am ready to give it a shot!

I suppose I should use this first post introduce myself and my mission:

I'm a wife and a mom and a follower of God.

Yep . . . right now those are pretty much the three big things that define me and consume a lot of my time at the moment. lol I'm trying to figure out how to fill all these roles more beautifully, gracefully, and completely every day. My hope is that this blog will help me do that and will also bless some other people along the way.