vidalicious.com

September 25, 2010

2:56 pm

8 lbs

My due date for this 2nd pregnancy came and went without much fan fare. I am now more than a week over due, which I’m strangely okay with. I was a bit in a hurry around my due date, but now I’ve settled back into a routine of just being pregnant.  (Of course this means I will be totally caught off guard when I have to run to the hospital.) If she needs more time to brew, then so be it. I don’t even have an induction date scheduled at this point.

A few months back I remembered that Maddox was born on the Harvest Moon (September’s Full Moon), so I looked up when this September’s full moon was thinking this second baby might have the same sort of lunar pull. When I saw that it was so far past my due date I immediately discounted that as an option. It never occurred to me that she would actually be this late! Now that today is the full moon, the Harvest Moon, it just seems too poetic not to hope that she makes her debut tonight.

“Babies born whenever a full moon occurs are said to live an extended and fruitful life. This is due to the full force of the moon’s brimming over with magical elements.”

Also instead of another Virgo, it looks like we are fully into Libra territory.

The theme for Maddox’s 2nd Birthday Party was generally monkey, banana, yellow. As with many parties, the crafting before hand is the most fun part. I love the idea of little party goers having some prize or special gift to take home with them to remember the day. For two year olds, crayons and coloring seemed the best idea.

I made monkey shaped crayons and each kid was given 2 different colors wrapped in a little celo bag with yellow Japanese paper tape. For the crayons I melted down Crayola brand crayons (I heard other brands are no good for this sort of thing), and used a Monkey shaped plastic chocolate mold. I knew I wanted to make shaped crayons for about a year now so I’ve been scouring Craigslist and hounding parents for their used crayons.  This search method was a big fail. Back to school time at Target was the real key. I found Crayola 24 count boxed crayons for 25¢ each.  What a deal.  So to keep things easy I bought 24 boxes.  Then I sorted them all by color into each of the 24 boxes.

Maddox helped me to peel the paper off the crayons and break them into small pieces (his favorite part). Strangely, he hasn’t taken it upon himself to break up all of his crayons since this project. We did lose a few in the early days, but he knows the difference now between craft project and coloring.

I melted the crayon pieces in baby food jars partially submerged in a pot of boiling water, then poured the melted wax into the molds and popped them in the freezer. The only cracking problems I had were when I used pieces from the “found” Crayola crayons. So my advice is to stick with brand new crayons and don’t mix.

The coloring books I made using a lightweight yellow card stock. Using our printer, I added the image of the Monkey from a quick internet search for Monkey Coloring Pages or something like that. The inside paper I cut to size, then sewed together with the cover using my sewing machine. (I didn’t want the little kids to have access to staples, and the sewing worked really well.) I then rounded the corners of all the pages and the covers and smacked on a strip of brown book binding tape. Voila! Toss in some monkey stickers and cup shaped like a monkey head and you’ve got yourself a little monkey party loot!

I’m so excited that I actually finished the baby’s quilt before she arrived!  I think it turned out pretty well too.  The back fabric is a tad billowy, so next time I might pre-wash the quilt front before sewing on the back. All in all, not bad for my first real go at a quilt!

For the back I used a super soft light brown Minky. It is nice to the touch and the bumps keep it interesting.

Last weekend we were up in Grass Valley, CA for the wedding of Jake & Kristin – Wahoo! Very exciting indeed. If ever two were meant to be together… The family and friends were fantastic, the ceremony was beautiful, and the food was delicious. I love that the entire event was held outdoors. When the sun went down and the music went up, the night became electric. The joy in the air was tangible. Oh how I adore weddings!

[Maddox’s wedding outfit]

[Eating a pretzel]

[During the ceremony with a fan]

Maddox had a blast at the wedding. He enjoyed playing with all of the kids, watching fish in the pond, gathering flowers and sticks, playing with toy princesses, staying up late enough to see the moon, experiencing his first night rain. He even picked out a special flower for his friend Riley. He is turning into quite the little gentleman.

[Getting ready to deliver a special flower]

After much deliberation, Maddox picked out the perfect flower for Riley.  He had one flower in each pocket, one for her and one for him.  It was so cute!  Though even his tantrums these days are pretty cute. What is that?  Maybe its my hormones, but I can’t help but to think he is the greatest thing in the entire universe.

This is pretty great stuff too:

Congratulations you guys!

Recently we had some family photos taken by Aubrey Trinnaman.  She is a joy to work with and is an amazing photographer. Here are a couple preview shots:

This is from last week. It is just cute and makes me happy. It was a really hot day for San Francisco (98), so Maddox was wearing few clothes. We like to play a game where we open our eyes as big as we can then make them really small again. At the beginning of the video he points to the straw and says and does the sign for ‘Orange’ for some reason. Then he shows off his verbal skills saying the words – blue, poop, and walk. The video goes until he gets distracted by a bit of milk splashing on the couch.

Today is the second day of daycare, which I have started calling “school” because it seems more appropriate and is just plain easier to say having fewer syllables and all (I need to conserve energy where I can). Anyway, drop off totally sucked.  He started crying in the car as soon as we pulled up and he saw the big yellow house. Even the peppy little Boston Terrier couldn’t snap him out of it.  When I left he was crying and saying “Baum Baum”, which means “Mommy, Mommy”.  Heartbreaking.

So I’ve basically been crying for an hour.  And beating myself up.  Then telling myself its best for everyone etc etc. blah blah blah.  And now I’m recovered enough to plan my day of distractions.

I’m going to start with sewing.  I’m working on a blanket for the new little baby and it would be cool if it was done before she is born. Following that, I plan to walk 2 blocks and get the longest, most fragrant pedicure money can buy. And if I’m really feeling crazy, I might walk one more block and see a movie.  And this my friends is really out there for me.  I am not a movie goer. I always enjoy them when I go, yet I avoid them like the plague.  The time usually seems better spent doing something social, or at least getting something done – like laundry or yard work. But today it might be the only way to escape my head and heart.

A cute photo from the archives to remind me of how good life is…

UPDATE:
The daycare just sent me a couple text messages. Apparently he is “doing really well today. He only cried for like 10 min! Now he’s playing”.

Also a couple photos…