The baby shower (the last milestone before D-day!)

The spread (creme brulee french toast - can such a perfectly indulgent thing exist??)



Me looking rather shaky holding my friend's 12-week old son (apparently it's not like riding a bike).

One of the last few pics as a threesome! Ah K, you look so at peace while I tremble within.

The ladies who made it all possible. I can't tell you how desperately grateful I am to personally know more than 1 other mom the second time around.

Professional pictures - better late than never??

We finally got around to having a professional photographer take some family pictures of us because 1) he offered the service for free (neighbor who needs to build his portfolio) but 2) he was more interested in snapping shots of my big belly than getting heirloom quality family shots.

These are the only pictures where he doesn't make me flash my belly. Anyway, I realized afterwards how badly we need quality professional pictures of our growing family so I will have to remember to add this to the to do list once baby #2 arrives (right after #42: brush my teeth and #43: return to the land of the living).

Baltimore marathon - done!

Whew, after months of getting up at 6am to run, Jimmy finished a quarter of a marathon (as part of 4-man relay) this past weekend in Baltimore to benefit the lukemia and lymphoma society!! K could not have been happier - she thinks she's at disneyworld with all the mouse ears floating around.

Ack, what happened to summer 2008?

Ever since I got pregnant with #2, my desire to blog or do anything remotely productive instantly evaporated. But 6 months without having made a single entry - I'm mortified by how lazy I've been...

...And how lazy I'm going to be by just posting pictures to sum up these past 6 months. Though I think these pictures do incomparably more than words to show how much K has grown over this summer.

The ultimate thing that inspires

The last post was an expression of just one tiny moment I experience during any given day. A more accurate picture of what lies within my universe of inspirations must, by definition, include my daughter, K. All that she says and creates, a flash of a genuine smile and the grip of her hand around my finger, it is the kind of inspiration that drives one to reach beyond one's grasp - to be a kinder, more hopeful, more patient...are we not all inspired to be better people as a result of our children? And what better reason to be inspired?

The things that inspire

Inspiration is one of those things that, unless it pertains to your craft (as an artist), you are not actively seeking. It is also one of those things that when I entered full-time motherhood, I desperately craved in my everyday life, most of the time unwittingly. It is wildly different for everyone, I am sure, but the daily routines of being a stay-at-home mom has the potential to numb your senses and your spirit. Breakfast, clean-up, play-time, clean-up, reading-time, snack, lunch, outdoor activity, fighting naps, a brief interlude of peace where i debate housework vs. sitting down in front of the computer, wake-up, entertain, perpare dinner, more clean-up, etc. How does one counteract the effects of predictable, daily routine? Of course there is sheer joy and awe in just being in the presence of your growing child. But when you are making the second breakast of the day because she refuses to eat anything that hints of nutritional value that morning, it is a muted joy indeed.

So imagine how great was my glee when I stumbled upon Maira Kalman last night. Never heard of Maira Kalman? Same here. But how happy to have discovered her late, than never. Words fail and can only get in the way of describing this lady. You will have to read her for yourself:

http://kalman.blogs.nytimes.com/index.php

Now I cannot get enough of her and am trying to dig up all her writings, interviews, etc. She not only inspires me, but those that inspire her inspire me! As her sources of inspiration, she lists J. Austen, Nabakov, and Sebald. Austen is my supreme source of inspiration for all things witty and strong + feminine. Nabakov - such poetry, such humor, always appropriate with a cup of tea! Sebald I have yet to discover but one of his books is now in my amazon cart.

I know there are entire blogs dedicated to those things that inspire and understandably so. What is our daily existence if it is not filled with a certain amount of whimsy, otherworldniess, sense of awe, impulsiveness driven by intuition, hungry learning, and lots and lots of wild uncontainable laughter?

One more link - her interview:
http://inspirationboards.blogspot.com/2008/03/maira-kalman.html

Daddy and daughter time

What do fathers do with their daughter when the mother takes the entire day to plan/attend a baby shower? It's terrifying to contemplate but I imagine it normally involves consecutive hours of Nick Jr. (if the kid is lucky and the dad actually locates a child-related network), round the clock snacking on whatever is sitting in the pantry closet, too much juice, juice-stained clothes and of course, no nap.

I'm not sure what really happened when I had to leave to prepare for my friend's baby shower a couple weekends ago, but J provided evidence that it was not all chips and TV for the day...

Home-made sailboats! Wow, if I can't reach the heights of martha, at least J's got a shot.