sara without an h

Happy Mother's Day, Sara

Hello Everyone,

This is Travis. Those of you who are long-time readers may remember that last year on Mother’s Day, I commandeered this blog to express my appreciation for my wonderful wife Sara, and mothers everywhere!  This year I thought I would check in again to report on the year since then.

At this time last year, Sara was six months pregnant, and I was just finishing up my first year of grad school. It is amazing how much can change in such a short time! Today Sylvia is 9 months old, I have officially finished my degree, and in a few short weeks we will be starting a new life in Houston, Texas! The three of us could not be more excited for all the wonderful new changes in our life! 

Looking back on our life one year ago, it is hard to imagine what things were like without Sylvia. She has truly brought us closer in ways that we never could have anticipated. Over the course of this last year, the two of us have shared tears of desperation and sheer exhaustion as we learned to care for a newborn. We have worried together about Sylvia’s health (thank goodness we’re past her tummy troubles!), about money, and insurance.  We have learned how to lean on and support each other through all of these experiences. We have had to learn how to more easily forgive each other when being tired and over-worked gets the best of us. Having Sylvie has truly strengthened and deepened our relationship.

But it has also been a joy to share so many wonderful new experiences too. We have shared moments of joy and wonder as we have watched Sylvie grow and flourish. She is looking less like a baby and more like a toddler everyday. As Sara has reported, Sylvie is talking (well, sort of!), freely rolling around (SO CLOSE to crawling), smiling, laughing, hugging, and kissing (licking, to be more precise). She is getting HUGE!  Where has the time gone? 

Throughout all of these months, I have been increasingly amazed how blessed I am to have married such a wonderful woman. Being a mother truly brings out the best in Sara, and it is a joy to see her settle more and more comfortably into that role. How is it possible for someone to be so nurturing without being stifling? There are so many things about the baby I find baffling that come completely natural to Sara. How in the world do you tell the difference between a ‘sleepy’, ‘hungry’, and ‘I have to poop’ cry? I guess it’s a mom thing.

This time last year I had to work on Mother’s Day, and this will no doubt be the case in future years.  That is one of the downsides of my profession. This year however, on our first official Mother’s Day, we are fortunate to be able to spend the entire day together and celebrate (Sara doesn’t know it yet, but we are going out for brunch at our favorite restaurant!). Devoting just one day a year to the women that keep the world running seems wholly inadequate, but we are going to try and make the best of it! In this coming year, I pray that I can make Sara feel loved, honored, and appreciated every day.

Before I finish, I would like to thank my mother and mother-in-law for supporting the two of us this year. The advice, the help with the baby through school and surgeries, and the wonderful toys, clothes, and books have been such an enormous blessing. Thank you for providing such incredible examples for us to try and live up to!

So, to all you mothers out there (and mothers-to-be!), and to my dear wife Sara, I wish you all the best on your special day, and I would like to thank you for everything you do. You are an inspiration to us all, and you somehow manage to find ways of making us fall in love with you all over again each and every day. Thank you for reading this post, and for supporting Sara by frequenting the blog. We hope that you will continue to follow along in our incredible adventure.

All The Best, Travis

 

proud, full, nervous, and excited.

I'm so sorry that things have been quiet around here for a few days.  this past weekend was incredibly busy, and today the dust has finally started to settle.  on friday i came home from ohio and attended the opening for travis' thesis exhibition.  his speech was wonderful, and his work looks great.  i'm so proud of him!

our parents and travis' brother were here all weekend, so saturday and sunday were equally as busy.  everyone except for my mom left yesterday.  she is here until wednesday morning.  saturday night we enjoyed an amazing meal at our favorite restaurant.  sylvie tried both octopus and rabbit for the first time and loved them both!  she also went to town on some rosewater black pepper ice cream and some butterscotch pudding.  my girl can eat!  in fact, in the almost 3 month since she started solids, she's enjoyed raw salmon, duck tamales, palak paneer, lamb shank, fish and chips, curry, and goat cheese.  my baby is awesome.  just sayin'.

next step:  BABY-PROOFING.  sylvie is this close to crawling, and is scooting/log rolling everywhere.  she has such busy hands.  i feel like she's into something potentially unsafe every time i turn around.  NOT COOL.

on a separate note, a big CONGRATULATIONS to my cousin, marci!  she is expecting baby #3 this fall.  travis, sylvie, and i can't wait to meet the little guy or gal!

daddy magic.

travis is quitting his second job. he will be home 5 evenings a week now, instead of just 1 or 2. i know one little girl who will be very happy to have more daddy time. travis has what i like to refer to as "daddy magic". sometimes sylvie sees him and immediately calms down. well, little girl, there's a lot more daddy magic coming your way!

the park and tummy time.

today we went on our first real family outing to the park. by real outing i mean that i had to change and breast-feed her in public for the first time. we had a great time lounging under the trees, reading aloud to each other, and just being there together. sylvie slept most of the time: look at those lips! after she woke up we got her changed. she peed all over herself. being the novice parent that i am, i forgot to pack a change of clothes. no matter. with her belly full, we laid her in the sun to dry out. our first public feeding: tummy time/tush drying time: shortly after tummy time it started to get a little warm for her. we packed everything up and headed home. she is still napping in her car seat. we started doing tummy time just a few days ago. this is a video of her first time. she picked up her head and turned it over no less than 3 times her very first go at it! it may be silly to get so excited about such a small thing, but i think it's pretty impressive. i can't believe that her original due date is still 6 days away. she's grown so much already. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyuhY6cZ0zk] the song in the video is "tick eats the olives" by devendra banhart.

raised in the wild space between two hearts.

one year ago: photo by geoffrey horowitz of leapfrog photography. today: happy anniversary to my wonderful, sweet husband and the father of my child.  i love you more and more everyday. these pictures are from yesterday, to mark sylvie's one week birthday:

so much love.

i apologize for my lack of posting over the past week. however, in my defense i have the cutest reason ever to be preoccupied. we finally got some clothes that fit her today. she's so tiny that my mom had to venture into the preemie section. the newborn items we have are HUGE on her. can someone please explain to me where the clothing items for 5-7 pound babies are hiding? the preemie items are just slightly short on her, but they fit her better than anything else. oh well. i'm sure she'll fit into her newborn stuff by her actual due date on the 31st. there are many unexpected side effects of having a baby that no one ever tells you about. the one that has hit me is the overwhelming love i have for my husband. it's an entirely new kind of affection now that we're nurturing this life together. i'm more in love with him now than i ever thought possible. he just blows me away. he went from changing his first ever diaper to being super dad over the course of a day. you always hear about the mother's instincts and intuition. i think it's about time we give it up for the dads. his instincts are spot on. i'm continually impressed with how well he has adjusted. there is so much love in our little family.

so far so good.

my sister-in-law, melissa just left and my husband should be landing any minute now. it was great to have her here this weekend. we had a wonderful time taking it easy, watching movies, and eating delicious food. i am so thankful she could come up to keep me company. i know that travis is, too. her visit allowed him the freedom to focus on his family and not have to stress about me every second. i wish i could have been there with him and for him. i think we both underestimated how hard it would be to be separated right now. i could conceivably go into labor at any time. i have a funny feeling that she will be here within 2 weeks. my intuition has been pretty spot on throughout the entire pregnancy. from the day we found out about our baby i was SO SURE that she was a girl. by the time we got to that 19 week ultrasound, there was no doubt in my mind. i just knew. before our last midwife appointment i told travis that i had a funny feeling that i would already be a little dilated or effaced or both. i made sure he knew that he was to go to texas for the funeral no matter what the internal showed (barring, of course, any sign that labor would be imminent). sure enough, my first internal showed 1 centimeter dilation and 80% effacement. i have been sure for a while now that she would go early. everyone told me that first babies never go early and it was probably just wishful thinking. only time will tell, but i don't think she'll make it 30 more days in there. one thing is for sure, there is nothing like partial dilation, near complete effacement, and baby head engagement to get one's butt in gear! in the half day we had together between the midwife appointment and travis' flight, we got the bassinet put together, packed the hospital bag, chose a pediatrician, and wrote out our birth plan. yesterday melissa got the travel system unpacked and installed the car seat. i'm going to drive it by the fire station tomorrow to make sure we did everything correctly. there's not much left to do. i have a few things to buy for the hospital bag, such as travel sized toiletries. i'd like to try to sneak in for a hair trim sometime this week, too. other than that, all that is left is to wait. dilation, effacement and engagement aside, i've had a few of the classic early labor signs. most of those are a little TMI to share. let's just say that the toilet and i have become well acquainted over the last few days. other than the gross stuff, i've had A LOT of pressure (and dull pain) in my pelvis, a new strange lower back pain, and a good deal of menstrual-like cramping. i have also been nauseous off and on for the last week or so. i know that none of these are super reliable signs, but i have the feeling that things are beginning to ramp up. please note that i am NOT actively trying to speed things along. quite the opposite, in fact. she will be considered full term in 9 short days. i sincerely hope she stays put until then. after she hits that milestone i will happily start walking, bouncing and eating spicy foods. until then i'm spending most of my time crocheting, staying hydrated, and sitting. poor auggie doggie hasn't gotten much of a walk since travis left. i'm too scared to accidentally trigger something! i just received the text message i've been waiting for. travis had landed and i will see him soon. i've missed him so much this weekend. i don't know if i've ever been more excited to see my husband.

earthquake! (not really.)

i woke up around 3 o'clock this morning thinking i was in the middle of an earthquake. i was tired, disoriented, and my whole body was vibrating and shaking. it turns out it was just sylvie doing a very spastic dance in my belly! it was bizarre to say the least. i have a prenatal message booked for tomorrow afternoon. i am beyond excited. travis has been telling me to get one for a while, but i wanted to wait until i got really pregnant. well guess what, folks? i am really pregnant! i'll be 34 weeks tomorrow, which means only 3 more weeks until sylvie is full term and 6 more until her due date. speaking of that due date, i'm fairly convinced she will make her debut a little early. it may just be wishful thinking, but i have had a few dreams that she will be born on august 24th. the nurse who taught our childbirth class said she sees a spike in births during a full moon. travis' grandfather, an OB-GYN, said the same thing. i just found out that august's full moon is on the 24th. coincidence? maybe. then again, maybe not. only time will tell. as long as she's healthy i could care less whether she comes early, on time or late. however, i would prefer if she didn't hang out in there long enough to be induced. my midwife and i will try every natural method of induction first (herbs, essential oils, walking, etc.), but she won't wait longer than two weeks past due to start medical interventions. i was over two weeks late and travis was 6 days early. baby girl, this would be a good time to start taking after your daddy! in fact, just go ahead and take after your daddy. he's patient, kind, and can sleep anywhere and through anything. i, on the other hand, am irritable and an extremely light sleeper. eh, who am i kidding? you will be perfect no matter what. ******** we had a wonderful visit with travis' parents. they were kind enough to get us sylvie's pack-n-play (which will also be her bassinet), a boppy pillow, and some other adorable baby items. we had a great time with them and i can't wait to see them again after the birth. later on this week my parents are coming in for a visit, too! my mom got us an elective 4D ultrasound for a a first mother and father's day present. travis and i are beyond excited to see our little girl again on thursday! my practice doesn't perform a third trimester ultrasound unless complications arise. this means that we have only seen sylvie twice, the last time being 15 weeks ago. i hope we get a good look at her chubby little face! the ultrasound tech told me that 34 weeks is the perfect time for facial picture. she won't be super duper squished yet, but she'll have a fair amount of baby fat on those cheeks. i really can't wait! now i think it's time for a couple of hipstamatic nursery pictures! i have a lot of work to get done (illustration commissions and cleaning) before our next batch of visitors. i had better hop to it!

we ' re finished!

after a smooth start and a rough middle, the crib is finished! and the proud papa, who only teared up a little, standing by his handiwork: things are really coming together. it's a amazing how a simple thing can make me feel so much more prepared to welcome this new life.
p.s. aren't all of her little animal friends adorable? obviously, they are in the crib only for picture purposes. we will move them to a safer place once she arrives!

another first.

today is travis' first father's day! i got him a few small gifts (a nice wine journal and a funny book) and took him out to dinner. i really don't know what i would do without him. he has spent the entirety of this pregnancy anticipating and fulfilling my every need, want, and craving. he truly is the most patient and caring man i know. our little girl has no idea how lucky she is to have him for her father. i know he will be completely devoted to her and our little family. happy first father's day to my favorite, my one and only, my man. i love you more than i know how to express. thank you for everything you do for us.
p.s. if you like what you see here, please click the above banner to vote for us. top baby blogs reset all of its blogs to zero today. i would love to get back on the first page, but i need your help for that! all you have to do is click the banner and then click "click here to vote" on the brown page that opens. that's it! many of the blogs in my blogroll are listed, too! check them out and throw a vote their way if you like. we're all in this together! i began blogging as a way to find a community while pregnant and separated from the majority of my support system. through top baby blogs i have met so many other wonderful mommy and preggo bloggers. a lot of people have found me through them, as well. getting onto the first page greatly increases my traffic, which helps me meet new people! thank you so much and have a happy father's day!