Rainbow Monday

I'm celebrating Rainbow Monday with my friends Shelley and Nicole....

Luca's yummy toes and his wooden activity beads

Some mohair roving for a special project in the works...

and of course, some of our favorite toys, the large rainbow stacker and Ostheimer Seven Dwarves

Wishing All A Colorful Week!

My Luca Bean Lately

Little Luca Bean hasn't had much face time here lately since most of the time he's strapped onto me... but here's what my 3 month old Bean has been up to lately

Luca swats at his baby gym

He holds his head up for tummy time

He smiles (and melts his mama's heart)

Rock on, my lovely little Bean!

Spirit Babies

Jizo Bodhisattva, The guardian of infants*

I hope you'll indulge me. This is a passage from one of my favorite books Baby Catcher: Confessions of a Modern Midwife by Peggy Vincent and has been on mind quite a bit today. Peggy is a legendary Berkeley home-birthing midwife. In this passage, she has recently had a miscarriage and her son is explaining the story of Spirit Babies as he implores her to have another baby.

"So my first child, this not-yet-teenaged boy, pulled a wooden chair to my side and draped his thin arm across my shoulders , saying "Well, Mom, here's how it is. See, I was one (Spirit Baby) myself, so that must be how I know. Anyway, every woman has a circle of babies that goes around and around above her head and those babies are all the possible babies she could have her in whole life. Every month, one of those babies is first in line. If she gets pregnant, then that's the baby that's born. If she doesn't get pregnant, the baby goes back in the circle and keeps going around with all the others. If she gets pregnant but something bad happens before the baby's born...now listen Mom, here's the really cool part- it goes back into the circle, but it becomes a Spirit Baby, and all the other babies give it cuts. Each month it's always first in line. Isn't that great?"

A year ago I had a miscarriage. I looked at the calender today and noticed the date. Obviously there has been a lot to celebrate in this past year, but I had to stop and pause for a moment to think about our little Spirit Baby. Is our little Luca Bean the Spirit Baby that got cuts? I don't know the answer to that but that story warms me deep inside.

At the end of this particular chapter of the book, Peggy asks her son why it is so important for her to get pregnant again... his reply is "Oh, for the joy of it!"

Oh, the joy of it indeed.

* After our loss last year, a caring friend told me about the Jizo Bodhisattva, a Japanese enlightened being who has special significance to pregnant women and to those whose children who have died. I've kept this little Jizo statue on our kitchen window sill above our sink. It's a sweet reminder to me of the caring beings that are out there to watch over all of us.

Introducing My Newest Love, Luca

There you are...

Right in front of me
A Brand New Day
Sunrise Over Sea

- "Sunrise Over Sea", John Butler Trio

Lucien Gabriel
11/21/08
9 lbs, 1 oz
21 inches

Winding down

Today my beloved friend Erin came over to do some Mehndi art on my enormous pregnant belly. Erin has two little boys who are the same age as Matteo and Nico and we've spent many a playdate chasing the boys while trying to finish sentences with each other. It was such a rare treat to have some quiet time to actually talk and have a conversation!

I made us a loaf of chocolate chip banana bread, Ivan brought us lattes and Erin got to work. Every once in awhile she would have to stop and we'd laugh as the bump made sure we knew he was there by showing us how he could move his foot all along my torso against my skin.



After the past few days of frantic cleaning, organizing and sewing, it was incredibly nice to have this still time today with my lovely friend talking about our boys, motherhood and just being women. I am so blessed to have her friendship.

Today was Ivan's last day of work before going on paternity leave. We are so fortunate that he'll be able to stay home until the New Year. I'm really starting to feel the change coming to our family. Our new little love will be joining us in a few days and we'll have this special time to adjust to our new tribe.

Anticipating Baby

10 more days until our littlest love will join us! I had an appt this morning with Dr A. and she said he's still pretty high up, but finally head down AND that I'm measuring to be about 2 weeks further than I am... so she thinks I'll have another enormously huge bruiser baby :)!

I'm getting more and more excited to meet our little boy! This morning, Matteo pulled up my shirt, kissed my tummy and said "good morning little baby, how are you?". Such a sweet, sweet boy... sigh

Our tribe is growing

Only one more month and our new little boy will be here (November 21st)! Because of that date, Ivan has been calling the little guy "Lucky" BUT only after I vetoed "Black Jack". People ask me if I'm disappointed about not having a girl and admittedly, I think I was in a funk for a few days. But I see how fun and sweet Matteo and Nico are and it's hard to wish that they would be anything (or gender) that they already are. Ivan is such a rare and wonderful man that I truly believe that God must have wanted more of him out there in the world.