the air

last night, 

falling into bed exhausted,

the air was full of laughter.

like when I was a little girl at sleepovers-

when everyone agrees its time to go to bed

or someone's mother comes downstairs and decides its time to go to bed-

but thirty seconds later someone giggles,

and then in the sleeping bag next to her 

it's impossible to close your eyes,

because the air is just so full of laughter.

that's how the air was,

last night,

at 23-almost-24

crawling into bed with my love,

after wiping spit up away

and rocking to sleep

and kissing goodnight

the tiny human who has taken up all our cumulative energies.

it took us so long to calm down

and settle in

and sleep.

but it was so nice,

to breathe in that air,

after crawling in bed,

and being unable to hold in all of that laughter,

to let it out together. 

Eliza, Month 1

We love her. 

So sweet, so determined, so strong. 

Summer To Do List Update

1. Have a baby.

Eliza Kristi, born July 4th

[God bless America!]

2. Family walks to go get ice cream. 

twice or three times already!

3. Go to the park, pack a picnic.

4. Make new friends in the new town. Making friends in adult life is...not like college.

To be honest, I'm kind of hoping for a magical "in" somewhere. 

Not doing so well on this one. 

5. Attend at least 1 true barbecue. (Grill, burgers, beers.) A beer-b-q?

Why is no one I know having one of these?

6. Keep my brain "on" by posting a few times a week. 

Well, a month and a week after baby girl was born, I'm making an appearance. So that's something. 

7. Achieve my goal of a frame wall. And plate wall.

I just wrote those down on a to do list, so I feel like I'm really moving forward. Ha.  

8. Read some new novels. First on the list is Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. So good so far.

Still reading! Also intermittently reading books about babies! 

9. Go somewhere with live music. Baby optional.

There is a du-wop concert in the park next Thursday- maybe I'll magically make new friends there and kill two birds with one stone?!?!

10. Continue my love affair with the farmer's market.

No brainer. 

11. Read Scripture to baby girl. 

Almost everyday! So far so good.

So basically, I need to get over my fear of driving by myself with the baby in the car.

That would make several of these items more plausible.

Not sure when my terror  checking every minute to see if she's breathing anxiety will subside, but lets hope for sooner rather than later, I guess. 

six out of eleven done by august tenth! not bad, mrs.ralph.