Moonshine Junkyard

a glimpse into life with a newborn: we made a nest in the living room; this is where we live lately. em made this banner to greet us when we got home from the hospital. it's still hanging, so cheery: addie stayed with us until saturday night. it was a dream to have her here. she kept everything tidy and pretty and helped with the baby and picked things up at the store that we might need. i cried when she left. i can't wait to return the favor for her come january! pretty flowers everywhere you look: our friends arranged a "meal train" for us. we have never eaten so well for so many days in a row! first night, rebecca made us corn risotto, watermelon-tomato-basil salad, and a green salad, YUM. monday night, chelsea brought us walnut taco wraps with all the fixins. apparently walnuts are good for breastfeeding women, and dang were they tasty! i need the recipe. every day we are the recipients of flowers, treats, baby stuff; the b...

as much as we wanted to try to avoid too much pink with our little baby girl, sometimes it just happens.... here's me in my pink slip nightie (the only thing i can comfortably sleep and breastfeed in as of late), with Lucy in her pink gingham sundress from Addie, on her pink boppy lounger from her uncle dave and aunt ashley, and with her homemade pink blanket from my mom (nana).  my rosy little cherry blossom! addie and i took her outside for a photo shoot in her big vintage bonnet.  lucinda on friday at four days old: darin's favorite place to be in the whole wide world: just beaming out pink moonbeams from the spring household!

Born July 17, 2012 Lucinda Violet Spring We are in heaven with our little girl. She is in my arms right now as I type.  Sorry I haven't checked in sooner... (but boy do i have a story for you) darin and i are under a spell. i want to work on my whole birth story over the next week or so. i want to remember every detail possible. but for now i will just say this: after my water breaking at home in the wee hours, laboring 21 beautiful hours naturally, having the most amazing experience together, determined to remain peaceful as possible, we found out at that late date, in our hospital room at 12:30 a.m. the next night that our baby was  breech and that because i was in such advanced labor i would need an immediate emergency c-section. yes, i faced my worst nightmare. my friends it was harrowing for me and i am still processing the grief that such a change in plans gives my heart. but i will tell you there is nothing more amazing than the love i feel for this ...

The day before my due date, Darin and I hiked down to the river.  it was the hottest day of a spree of days over a hundred degrees.  that cold river water never felt so good! oh american river, you flow and fill with secrets, scraps, time forgotten.... wood and bone, rock and sand and dragonfly. our bodies, even the gentle quiet movements of our babies inside. on a day like this, when you are waiting for your baby, every tiny detail seems of great portent. little love letters from the gods of the river; medicine from the ancient trees and shade and birds. we encountered a sleek and pretty friend. she did tricks for us in the tree. refreshed, our water spirits glowing... darin skipped rocks, i read, we felt our baby move and roll inside my crazy belly over and over. i think she's ready to see this all with her own eyes. to try out the river with her own tiny feet. to snuggle in our arms and feel our skin and kiss...

i've been waiting to announce this until she was ready.... my sister is pregnant too!!! you can read ade's  epic blog post catching up the last year or so of her life and including this incredible news. she is due in mid january so our babies are going to be exactly six months apart in age. as you probably know, we are only fourteen months apart and best friends. we grew up really super close, almost like twins, and always dreamed of having babies together. it started to seem like kind of a dim possibility over these last few years; well guess what.... dreams come true! this is the only photo i have of us being pregnant together so far.  it was taken at my baby shower with our other two friends who are pregnant too. of course, there's me, due right NOW, mary is due in october, elsie is due right after christmas, and addie is due in january. we've got a little baby boom going on round here :)

one week before my due date.  it is a friday and i have been off work for a week and my belly is so massive that sometimes it feels like i will topple over. here is how i spend my days: float in my pool water the garden and yard eat nap read clean up every little detail think of new things that still need taking care of around the house. i've been social a lot too. tonight i went to rebecca's birthday party and stayed till almost 11:30....woo hoo late night for me! both rebecca and sylvan finally got to feel the baby move as she wriggled her little rump inside me. i had the best carrot cake in the whole wide world, made from scratch by doniella, and even sipped a bit of carolann's homemade sangria. i wore shorts under my dress so everyone could see my real belly. it's more fun that way. the days are warm but i like them just fine that way.  hearing doniella and carolann talk about wearing jackets in the city made me so...