Fox Family Gatherings - Part One

I have a large family. Five siblings, five in-laws, and eight nieces and nephews. My parents are still together after forty-two years (!) and we all get together as a whole family at least once a month. Barbeques, birthdays, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Independence Day, Christmas, Easter, cherry picking, and much, much more. It's always such fun. I honestly never really understood why people dreaded getting together with their families so much. We're extremely lucky, too, in that we've always lived very close to each other. Two hours, tops. (This was thrown for a huge loop recently when my sister met and married a wonderful man from England and moved there. We noticeably don't really know how to handle that little reality and I am for sure living a slightly lonelier life without her here. Love you, Suzie!) The two years I spent at school in Virginia were fantastic, but it was hard getting used to not being home for births, birthdays, and family outings.

The Garden's Progress - Year (and Part) One

Man, I really need to process photos more often. I wait to write blogs now because I noticed so few of them had photos to go along with them, but now I have so many pictures of all the fun things we've been doing and it's slightly overwhelming! Okay, must pace myself. Maybe I can make it a goal to write a blog every other day this week. Here's hoping. (And yes, I realize Birch STILL hasn't written a guest blog. This vexes me slightly, but he'll do it at some point. Patience, young Jedi.)

Annoyingly enough, I completely forgot to take pictures of the yard when we moved in almost a year ago. We must have been in a serious hurry to take out the eight inches of pea gravel that was filled with cat feces, not to mention the 10ft.-tall oleanders that were acting as a privacy screen simultaneously making it impossible to garden.

We (take that loosely as I was pregnant and horribly sick throughout the whole process) set to work. Birch dug out the gravel first and piled it into a back corner of the yard that doesn't get much sun year-round and then I sawed the oleanders to pieces leaving only the stumps (and some massive root systems) for Birch to pull up. And yes, that was absolutely 100% sexy to watch. All that took about a month to finish. Ugh.

Keats and the Cool Vibrations

I wrote this over a month ago, but it was lost in Draft Land. :) Here 'tis:

Thank you to Amy and Andy for the wonderful vibrating baby chair! Miriam and Ben showed us the light on this thing with their darling little lady, Sofie, and Birch and I were planning on buying one for Keats this month, but once again our friends swooped in for the rescue! While at a house party to watch some fights on UFC (Birch is a big fan), Amy slipped Keats into an electronic rocking... thing which had Keats mesmerized enough for Birch and I to eat at the same time. We were sold. Unable to fit that into the trunk at the time, Amy offered up the vibrating chair. (Can you tell they wanted to get rid of some stuff?) It's only been a bit over a day with the thing and both Keats and I are truly infatuated. It's what is allowing me to write this, actually. I can rock it with my foot which is great.

By the way, Keats sleeps with his arms up almost always. Apparently, just like my eldest brother, Hugh. Isn't it adorable? I love it.

Realizations of Thoughts Already Thought

In describing my hopes for our small "plot of land," I could merely refer you to Michael Pollan's second chapter of his book, Second Nature, and although I believe everyone should immediately go out and buy it, read it, and pass it along to friends, I'm no sure that simply passing the torch to another will necessarily fulfill my own need to express myself and the hopes not only for my garden but my family as well.

Craft Lust and Lists

I'm sure I'm seriously late on the uptake here, but Kaffe Fassett is my new quilting hero (if I had a quilting hero before, that is). I ran into his book, Passionate Patchwork, at Golden State Sewing & Quilting Center and was somewhat frustrated because my hands were already full of fat quarters and I had Keats in a front carrier. I felt like my niece who never puts down her toy rabbits. I managed to flip through it and was dumbfounded by the beauty within. He has an absolutely flawless sense for color, texture, and placement. He makes me want to go out and buy all the schmanciest quilting equipment out there and turn Keats' nursery into an all-out quilting den. Of course, I won't, but the desire is there and has implanted a very serious need to add this to the list of must-haves if Birch and I ever get to build our own house: a quilting section in my crafting room. For now, I'll settle for his books Passionate Patchwork and Quilt Road. I've got to get my hands on some of his fabrics, too.

A Brief Tangent and The Labor Story

Before I write all about how amazing being a mother is and how absolutely adorable our little Keats is, I have to take this opportunity to write about just that: this opportunity. Birch and I decided before we even got married that if we could at all afford it, I would be a stay-at-home mom. It's a sacrifice on a few different levels, mostly financially (especially in the Bay Area), but I can't imagine going to work and leaving Keats with a nanny or daycare. Not because I think I wouldn't be able find somebody good, but because I'd have to leave him. That being said, the combination of waking up during the night to feed him/change his diapers and being alone with him until around 5pm each day can be a bit much for me mentally, physically, and most decidedly emotionally. Hearing a baby cry for so long can be really draining and while most of the day I handle it pretty well, talking to him and bouncing him and going on walks together, at the end of the day I am ready to hand him to Birch and take a break. This is one of those precious breaks and it must be said that without my dear Birch, it wouldn't be possible. So thank you Love-of-My-Life for this opportunity filled with silence and free hands.

Now, our little man was born just over a month ago and no, I'm not sure how big he is at this point. At his two-week check-up he was 10 lbs. 11 oz, so he's gaining weight really well. Birch is estimating Keats' weight at around 13 lbs. He's outgrown half of his 0-3 month clothing already (some NEVER fit him). FYI: Newborn size is really "preemie" size for most brands and Gerber brand runs small. Keats barely fit in those when we were dressing him to leave the hospital! So, note to self, if buying Gerber, buy the next size up.

Keats Anchor Wilson

Well, he's here! Keats was born on April 5th, 2010 at 3:18 a.m. weighing in at 9 lbs. 10 oz. He has been an absolute dream and a truly mellow baby so far. I'm recovering well and Birch is loving life away from work and with his little boy. I love seeing him positively giddy and beaming with pride. More details to follow but thought I'd post some photos for you all to catch a glimpse of our little man and let you know we're doing great!