Good-Bye City House, Hello Lake Cottage

The entire month of August I have been on the move. The baby and I have been transplanting our little life from the city to the country.  In the past I embraced a semi-nomadic life and tended to move every two years. Someone mentioned to me that the lifetime average of homes a person will make is around seven.  With this move I have reached home number 11.  And my little blueberry is already on house number two. 

My family was very concerned when I moved to the city.  Worried about crime. I lived on a nice street where the other houses maintained better lawns than I did.  Most people worked or were retired on my little city street.  People on my street looked out for each other and their homes.  Was there crime around us? Sure.  But on my street the hub-bub was the family of raccoons that made a home in my garage.

I will miss my first house. My first home for my baby.  I went kind of crazy trying to make everything perfect for his home delivery. His nursery had the imprints of several family members that pulled together to make it just right.  My father painted a free crib ( and left his finger prints and smudges in the paint---which I feel is endearing), my mother made the curtains, E's dad painted the room ( cutting it with a tiny paint brush), my sister found the most beautiful mobile ( and made sure that the new baby would have everything he would ever need), and I painted eight paintings for his first room. Six of them were based on the story and illustrations of Charlotte's Web (you can see the portrait of Goose in the corner). I read E.B. White's classic while my blueberry floated and kicked within.

And now we are almost moved into our small cottage. Living together as a family with my blueberry's father.  Giving it all our best to live among  my mountain of books and art supplies in order to create a place of love for my blueberry heart.

Trust me---we are all tired from the move.
And ready to let our little family's roots grow.

Runny Noses

My blueberry is a joyous little guy.  Even when he is a bit on the runny nose side he still puts forth the effort to be a happy baby.  This week his nose has been giving him some issues.  He rubs and rubs his nose trying to make it work better.  True frustration creeps in when he is ready to sleep and his nose is ready to run.  Poor thing.  A few times he cried real tears in his sleep.  And a few times he has cried himself to sleep.  Even though his nose drippings have been pooling on his bib with the rest of endless drool---still he wakes with a smile in his eyes---still he giggles and plays with his toes. Amazing.

Baby Book

I am a reader. I adore books.  The worst part of when I move from place to place is the transporting of my massive collection of books.  My family would gladly pay someone else to hull my library load to my new abodes.  Fiction, art books, pop up books, graphic novels---a cornucopia of nerdy delights. For years every payday guaranteed a trip to the book store. My budget was spent on eating books instead of filling my refrigerator.  I even have a nice eclectic selection of children's picture books.  All purchased over the years when I thought I would never be a mom only maybe an awesome aunt.

It has been almost a year since I have spent quality time in my preferred local book store.  A place where they knew me by name and what tasty hot beverage I preferred at the store cafe. There was even more than one time that I had helped customers looking for a book that the employees had difficulty locating.

It was my hobby. My home away from home.

For my blueberry's six month birthday I ventured back to my beloved store. As soon as I entered my old stomping grounds my agenda became skewed.  Instead of E's present my hands became full of other necessities: two feminist magazines that I miss, a discounted art book, a book on organic gardening, and a travel guide for Washington, D.C.

My arms began to ache from the load as I stood in line at the cafe waiting to place my order with whipped cream and chocolate shavings on my mind.

But before the barista asked me for my order----something caught my eye. Primary colored board books for babies.  As I waited I put down my load any began flipping the pages and felt my world come back in to focus.

I left the line before I place my order. I put each of the desired pieces of reading back in there home to await someone else to pluck their goodness from the shelves.

My destination was the children's book department.

For two hours I savored all the books for little ones.

And I thought about my mom.

My siblings and I always had new shoes at the start of every school year.  My mom?  She wore the same tired dusty blue Nikes for years and years.  In the summer she pulled out the same pair of flip flops again and again. For all special occasions  her bright red dress with the white piping would appear. My mum always put us first.  Even though I had disdain for years for her Nikes she made us feel special. Loved.

And so for E I found books that I hoped he would love.

In fact we read the book about Elmer the patchwork elephant three times on his six month birthday. 

I have the precious board book memorized....as well as the look on my blueberry's face every time we open the book.

I am thankful that I put my stack back and left the coffee line in order to make my E smile.

I am thankful for my mom and all the sacrifices she made to make me smile.

Summer Baby

I like lists. I like to make a list of things to do.  Crossing off things accomplished gives me a great sense of satisfaction.  Before my blueberry was born I was quite good at living by my list. During my college days I used to make giant list on sheets of drawing paper and hang them in the kitchen.  It was the only way I could juggle assignments, teaching, working, my art and living.  But now that my sweet boy is here my list is growing...and it is harder to get things checked off on the list.  Big things like planning the trip to Washington DC this September...to the daily things of paying bills and finding where I packed my extra set of eye glasses.  Instead other items take priority.  Such as Little E's first swim in his inflatable periwinkle blue hippo. Some how his smile as he splashed and chased his aquatic friends seemed more important than laundry.

Here is my Summer Baby list:

• 
  
  Take E swimming
• 
  
  Take E to an outdoor classical music concert
• 
  
  Take E to a county fair
• 
  
  Put up E's swing in the tree
• 
  
  E's first fireworks
• 
  
  First trip to the zoo

Item from Mama's Summer list:

• 
  
  Move to the lake house
• 
  
  Clean old city house
• 
  
  Start exercise program
• 
  
  Organize Fall trips to Washington DC an October weekend trip
• 
  
  Paint landscape for my sister
• 
  
  Paint fence and porch
• 
  
  Plant flowers
• 
  
  Refurbish metal glider
• 
  
  Purchase new eye glasses
• 
  
  Organize a studio space
• 
  
  Detail clean the truck
• 
  
  Find new home for my dear cat, Miss Memphis
• 
  
  Print pictures from digital camera
• 
  
  Frame pictures from digital camera
• 
  
  Send very late thank you cards

Of course the Summer Baby list is more inviting in every way....county fair time is right around the corner.  I look forward to my blueberry hearing his first moo and cock-a-doodle-do.

Blueberry Patch

Hello there.
And welcome back.
A little over a year ago my sister and I met my mother at a restaurant for lunch.  I had a surprise for her. We had her close her eyes and laid the surprise in front of her on the table.  When she opened them she found a sonogram photograph of a little seven week old life----the little life that would become my sweet boy. My Blueberry Heart. My Little E.
The first time I started a blog it served as a creative catalyst to find my way back to myself.  My life was a draught.  Work, love, and my life in art had begun to dry and crack.  In March of 2009 my nephew O was born.  He was my last post from my previous blogging life.
And then the weather of my life began to change.
In that year things began to grow again.
I cleared the weeds and let the rain of life shower my world.
It started with a new house, in a new city, a new truck, a cat and a man that could make me laugh.
That combination made a new happiness.  And in that happiness sprouted my Little E.
After nine months of eating blueberry pancakes, blueberry yogurt, blueberry pop tarts----my blueberry heart came into the world.
And now after six months of  baths, bottles, diapers, and burps I want to start taking time to cultivate and contemplate my new life as a mother, as a mama, as mom.
So welcome once again to my blueberry patch---a wild bittersweet place sunned by the love of my blueberry heart, my son.