Tutu cute

Here are some pics of Roan in her new fairy outfit, and also some of us just hanging around the house.

"Yeah I can grant you that wish, but what are you going to do for me?"




Abra cadabra! I'm adorable!




Sorting rubber bands with Daddy. Notice she's still wearing the wings.


No, I don't want my picture taken!


I love my blue bathrobe


And then here are a couple of videos too. Here is Roan (mis)identifying the animals on the blanket I cross stitched for her eons ago.


Here is a very brief video of her in the tutu getup. For whatever reason, she kept wanting to sit in my lap that morning instead of being on camera. Very out of character!


And here she is the other night at tooth brushing time. For some wacky reason she wanted to wear her snowboots with her pajamas. Notice at the end of the video she keeps saying a word I can't figure out. It turns out it was "caballo," which is apparrently the Spanish word for "horse." I think she was trying to say that she was wearing cowboy boots, but I wasn't clever enough to catch on.


So let's see, what is new... Well we are weighing whether it is wiser to try and make use of the downturn in the economy by making some savvy investments, or to bury what little savings we have in the backyard. We are also weighing the similarly confounding decision of whether or not to expand our family.

Here are the arguments for:
1. Roan is so cute/ smart/ wonderful we have a responsibility to the betterment of human civilization to reproduce again
2. We aren't exactly spring chickens anymore, so if we ever want to have more kids we better get it in gear
3. Roan would be an excellent big sister
4. More than 1 means they can entertain each other
5. Without a sibling, Roan will have to make all the decisions about what nursing home to put us in all on her own.

Here are the arguments against:
1. Roan is so cute/ smart/ wonderful we could not possibly get that lucky a second time around and would therefore be tempting fate.
2. Between the bomb scare and the emergency C-section, it's hard to get excited about facing labor & delivery again
3. Two kids = ten times the mess/ noise/ insanity
4. The residual pregnancy hormones have only recently worn off, and I just recently started being nice to Arwen again
5. What were the other arguments against? I know there were more...

So who knows. We will have to weigh the benefits, crunch the numbers, and see where all this shakes out.

Also I don't know if I've mentioned lately, but I am so very grateful to be blessed to be Roan's mom. She is an amazing human being. When I think that I will get to see her grow and change through so many stages of life, it makes me really happy. I do get a little sad sometimes when I see a teeny tiny baby and know she'll never be that small or helpless again. But then I try to remind myself of the sleeplessness and the crying. And then I think am I really considering going through that again?!?!

But back to Roan. Back before I had kids, probably even when I was a little girl playing with my dolls, I would think to myself, "When I grow up I'm going to have a daughter and she will be just like me in this way and that way, and we will see eye to eye, and we will get along great and it will be so fun." And then as I got older and became aware of my shortcomings, I would think to myself, "If I have a daughter I hope she's not like me at all in this way and that way."

I don't know if the universe was taking my order or what, but I just feel the most incredible closeness to Roan in all the ways we seem similar - she is compassionate and kind, so loving and sweet, a total bookworm - and at the same time so relieved to see the ways she is different from me. She's not shy and afraid, she is outgoing, confident, an explorer. How did I get so lucky?

Well I'd love to keep waxing philosophical here, but the little dear has just awoken from her nap, so off I go...

Photos, phinally

Well I'm not sure how it happened but nearly the entire month of January has zipped by in a flash. Things here are good. We've been having a lot of fun, working hard, you know, the usual stuff. Roan is growing and saying and doing new things all the time. Here are some photos from this month.

This is at an indoor playground some friends recently turned us on to. Really comes in handy when it's too cold for the playground. The animals are all made of a squishy foam, in shapes that are fun to climb up and slide down.








Here's a smattering of photos from our recent company trip to Winter Park. Here's Roan with Lindsay, who is now due in July.



Two adorable snowbunnies



Posing with her snow lady Penelope



Here's Roan proving that there's nothing more fun than shoes that are too big for you and an empty laundry basket



And here is our homemade kitchen hutch that Arwen and I made for Roan. This was a fun project. I came up with a design that was "so easy" it was supposed to be my first attempt at a woodworking project. I did learn how to operate the table saw, but thankfully Arwen had mercy on me and took over the actual assembly. I sanded and painted it with a kid-friendly non-toxic paint. It gives a place to stow all the toy pots and pans she got for Christmas, as well as a spot to hang her broom, dustpan and apron, which were all previously littered about my kitchen. I wish I could say that she actually loves to play with it. Hopefully it'll grow on her!

This is from the snow we got on Monday. It came down heavy most of the day and left us with 3-5 inches.

Now here come some videos. This one is from back at Christmas - Roan singing Jingle Bells.

Roan playing with her beanie buddies Carmen (the kitten) and Marshall (the puppy). She named them herself.

Dr. Roan gives Daddy a checkup

Roan and me sledding down the luge at Winter Park

Roan & Daddy playing floor games

I have gotten multiple requests to post a photo of Roan in the tutu, wings and magic wand she got for Christmas from Great Grandma Gamber. Let me assure you, said photo will be posted promptly as soon as I manage to snap it. Getting Roan to do anything on my schedule is a rare feat these days, and getting photographic evidence of it is even tougher.

Still no photos?

Wow, that is just mean. Someone should beat me up.

We're going to Winter Park this weekend for a company retreat, so hopefully we'll snap some cute ones of her on the sledding hill.

Happy New Year

First I would like to say to my faithful readers out there, thanks for not shredding me a new one for the long pause since my last post. I didn't want to publish this one until I got some videos posted, but since that's taken longer than I expected tonight I'm just going with what I've got.

Warning: This post is a lot of words with no pictures or videos.

I love this time of year. The New Year - a fresh beginning, a chance at a better "me," time to get my affairs in order, time to start checking things off lists.

Last year my New Year's resolution was rather pragmatic, not very esoteric: to go all year with no library fines! As much as I use the local library - and as much of a space cadet as I can be - that was a tall order. I'm glad to report, however, that I went all year with (almost) no fines.

Building on the tremendous success of last year's resolution I was emboldened to really go for something great this year. My resolution for 2009 is simply: Gratitude. Be one with it.

Ever since oh about month 8 of my pregnancy with Roan I've found myself tending towards a cup is half empty point of view more often than I'd like. It's the littlest things that can put a cloud over me - yarn shop closed unexpectedly, cross-town traffic, lines at the post office, the everyday inevitable inconveniences and disappointments. I've been letting those little things really get to me.

So gratitude. That means when Roan wakes up at 4 in the morning ruining my plans to hit the gym at 5:30, I try to channel some gratitude for having a child that is (mostly) healthy. And smart. And so sweet.

When Arwen and I get in an argument (not that we would ever do that) about how to (not) spend our money, I try to feel thankful to have a husband who is so responsible with our finances.

It's not that I am denying myself permission to get angry or sad any more. It's just that I'm trying to create a tiny space, a pause, just long enough to get some perspective before my emotions go off the deep end.

Now that we're two weeks in to the new year I can honestly say I am amazed at how much this tiny change in attitude has turned things around. I would say I'm about 60% happier. Just happy period really. I haven't felt lately that something needed to be "fixed" with me. Arwen and I have been getting along great, and I've noticed Roan and I are enjoying are time together more.

All this positivity seems to have spilled over into other areas too. I have found myself more oriented towards solving problems rather than complaining about them. And I've felt more joyful, more playful, and more like the me from before kids that I liked better.

I think I need all that positivity too. There seems to be an awful lot of fear on the horizon with the economy where it's at. I think probably everyone is worried for their jobs. Myself, I plan to focus on the things I do have control over, make the best choices I can and try to let go of the things outside my power.

Here's to peace and happiness for you in the New Year!