Mint Abounds on Keats' Day

Keats investigates the chocolate mint.

Planting the peppermint, spearmint, pineapple mint, and chocolate mint.

Singing "Happy Six-Month-Day to You!"

Hugs before covering himself with homemade cinnamon applesauce.

Chocolate ganache torte (a la Trader Joe's) and coffee ice cream sprinkled with espresso chocolate shavings for the "grown-ups" once Keats was asleep in his crib. :)

Flurry of Last-Minute Activity

Two weeks left and feeling it. Keats is doing Tai Chi in preparation while Birch and I finish up all those last-minute details and try to ignore the strange last-minute bodily annoyances of a 9-month pregnant lady (of which there are many).

We’ve planted a few more flowers and herbs in the garden and Birch is gearing up for next month when he can finally plant his vegetable seeds and we can put together Keats’ bean tepee. We’ll have summer squashes, beans, peas, tomatoes, peppers, and artichokes this year.

My mom and sister took me to do some last-minute shopping including a new car seat and other things necessary for the week or two after Keats is born. Birch and I took his car to get a thorough cleaning inside and out so that we can sell it and then we snagged some ribs for dinner later. Delicious, by the way. I scarfed them down so fast!

We drove down to Santana Row to try and find some presentable pants for me to wear to our maternity shoot the next morning and I remembered why I hate it there so much. Seriously, that place is pretty much my version of a circle of Hell. Not sure which, but it’s in there and buddy’s flappin’ his wings nearby. Granted, going shopping on a Saturday afternoon was not the smartest idea ever, but that place is pure madness and crawling with some of the most self-involved shoppers ever. I was literally pushed out of the way a couple of times and later stepped in dog poo right outside Urban Outfitters. I mean, seriously? You really didn’t think it was necessary to pick that up? Ick. Oh, and while I was standing in line for the fitting room at Anthropologie a lady behind me asked me flat out why I was wasting my time trying on pants. They “obviously” weren’t going to fit. I was glad Birch was waiting outside. That would not have gone well. So yeah, Santana Row has reaffirmed my love for online clothes shopping.

Sunday was maternity shoot day. The city was beautiful and after our shoot Birch and I walked around the Botanical Gardens for another two hours. Correction: I waddled, Birch walked. We took a short “nap” on a bench in the sun and all was right with the world once again, the stain of Santana Row washed away by magnolia blossoms.

Monday reminded me why I don’t go for long walks anymore. I could barely move around the apartment but that’s why YouTube was developed, right? Poirot, Miss Marple, and Inspector Morse kept me company and I realized once again how much Morse really bothers me. I mean, is there ever an episode where he doesn’t hit on someone? Especially witnesses and even suspects! So unprofessional. Haha.

So, with fifteen days before the due date left, Birch and I still have a few things to do: put together the labor bag, do our taxes, launder the baby things, get my car thoroughly washed, install the car seat, and clean the place up like it’s never been cleaned before. That last one is starting to feel more and more dubious everyday as my energy and physical prowess dwindles with each passing moment, but I’m determined to at least get the bedroom tip-top and the kitchen spotless. If we can do those two things I will be very happy.

I am so excited for the baby to be in my arms. It’s hard to wait now, it’s so close! Birch and I enjoy the contact we have with little Keats, but it just can’t compare with what we know is coming. Once again Miriam and Ben have come to our emotional rescue. Some people still insist on letting us know how hard having a baby is, but Ben and Miriam help us to see what we already know: it’s worth it and it’s better than being pregnant. Pregnancy is a strange thing—it’s a waiting game, a process with a very definite goal in the end. Without that ending, the past nine months seems cruel and pointless. Perhaps not pointless but most decidedly cruel. To feel that baby’s fingers wrap around one of your own, to hear it coo and even scream, to begin to understand the meaning behind its expressions and various noises—all of it is magical and beautiful, no matter how hard life has become because of it. Because “it” was the point. We planned this. We wanted this. We knew it would be hard but we knew with an even greater certainty that we wanted the challenge in order to have the reward—to have the child. We wanted a child and now we are so close to seeing his face. Not with a machine but with nothing but our eyes. How incredible it will all be. How completely worth everything that has and will be hard. How completely complete.

Christmas: Seriously Overdue

Birch and I finally took down our Christmas tree a few weeks ago and I was missing it today so I thought I'd use it as a catalyst for a blog entry. Here we go:

When Birch and I first got married a year and a half ago, we weren't sure what new traditions lay in store for us. Each family makes their own traditions and adopts some old ones as well. Christmas has always been a big deal in my family. My parents go all out every year, putting money away in a separate account purely for gifts and when December rolls around my mom hauls out box after box of decorations. She takes down my dad's fossils and the various artifacts from Scandinavia and Central America (a seemingly random combination, but really very telling) and carefully places them all in boxes to be replaced with creche after creche, a macrame Santa face, a felt Advent calendar, and tree ornaments obtained year after year from Germany, Guatemala, Norway, Peru, Costco, Grandma, Denmark, and who knows where else. Come Christmas day and the entire living room is filled with presents for all of my parent's six children and all of their grandchildren as well. It is a sight to behold.

Though Birch and I have not mastered the extreme Christmas organization that my mom displays every year, we did manage to start and organize one Christmas tradition which will hopefully last for many years to come. We love to garden. We love plants and although we both display moments of impatience with watching things grow and come into their own, we love to create a natural setting with flowers and yummy things to eat. This fascination led to our first Christmas tradition: the acquisition of any kind of living tree or bush that would first be decorated and kept inside, then moved outside, planted, and allowed to grow. Our first Christmas, we bought a Redtwig Dogwood. Being December, it was in its dormant stage, providing lots of empty space for ornaments. Starting around August or September, I began picking up ornaments wherever I found them. Birch laughed at me, but I think that it was his first real introduction to my somewhat obsessive decorative side which he has come to know and love. This year, we searched for a gardenia or a Japanese Maple, but were disappointed by the choices available at the nurseries so we went with a Yellowtwig Dogwood. (Note: there were no Redtwig Dogwoods to be found. I guess the nurseries shifted color trends. Did you know that they actually follow the fashion world to know what colors are going to be fashionable the following year? Learned that in a horticulture class when a high-up employee of Monrovia came to talk to our class. Remember a year or two ago when chartreuse and purplish-brown plants were everywhere? Very interesting.)

We moved last July to a place with a sizable yard (especially for an apartment in the Bay Area) and we've been transforming it every since. Both dogwoods now reside outside on either side of a small fence Birch built for some pea and bean plants.

Due to the whole, you know, baby thing, Birch and I decided that we'd keep our actual Christmas-gift-giving for after Keats is born. This was mostly decided based on budgetary needs, but all-in-all I think it will be nice to include him in the festivities. Perhaps I'll put an ornament back on the tree outside, perhaps not, but either way our small family's real Christmas is coming late this year. Personally, I'm angling for a beautifully knit wrap from Hipknotz on Etsy (pictured above, can be found here: www.etsy.com/shop/hipknotz). Birch has yet to make his true desires known on the subject. I think his mind is just a wee bit preoccupied these days as he spent his entire week-long break fixing and setting up things around the apartment and murmuring about IEPs and sub plans. I've made it my goal for the next month to be extra super patient with him as his constant need to be getting things done proved stressful for me (mostly because I can't really help in any meaningful way). So, what to get Birch for Christmas? And his birthday? It's two days after Keats' due date and although I know Birch is hoping against hope that this means I'll just forget his birthday for the rest of his life, he's in for a big surprise. I have no intention of just letting his birthday fly by unnoticed. So, any ideas on what to give a man that's not really into stuff, is having his first child, and is the best husband a woman could hope for?

So we'll be having Christmas in April. We're happy with our little tradition. It's fun and somewhat different. The place doesn't smell like pine which is unfortunate (perhaps the addition of creating a wreath would suffice Birch's desire for said scent), but we like that we get to keep our tree forever and always instead of chopping it up for compost and mulch.

And yes, I'm already thinking of what I'd like to get for Christmas 2010...