Don't get me wrong.  Sometimes, we have good moments.  Sometimes she's awake and alert and looking around the room like she really, really loves the paint job we did on the door moulding (it's white).  Once in a while she'll actually go as far as to make eye contact - but that usually lies somewhere before or after a bowel movement like she's saying.  "Ok guys, this is what I've been waiting for...".  Yesterday, however, I was sitting with my inconsolable baby in the nice new glider rocker we bought just for her and thinking "I'm going to have to throw in the towel on this one.  I can't do it."  I got the earplugs out and put them in.  I wished I had a pair for Lucy, our dog.  She was looking at me like I was a complete idiot for keeping this crying thing around so long - especially since she herself is so super-obedient, quiet and lovely.  Lucy is utterly disgusted that we picked THIS one out, and are even letting "it" sleep in our bed EVERY night!

Yesterday (photo courtesy of Theresa Carpine)

I decided to take Linnea for a walk, which always calms her down.  This time however, was not just our routine walk around the neighborhood, I was on a mission to get something done - to buy stuff that might solve our crying problem - so I went downtown.  On my 3 or 4 hours of sleep, I was ready to try anything that might get this girl to sleep so I could lay down, even if it was on the sidewalk.  I got all ready to go with the mindset that I was just going to make it easy on myself and leave the dogs at home.  Lucy proceeded to jump and wag her tail and canter back and forth between me and the door.  Meanwhile, Linnea was screaming bloody murder and looking at me like "HOW do you not know what I'm telling you!  I've said it OVER and OVER and OVER...No Oh No, don't put me in that thing again...I"m not going to....Waaaaaaaaaaa."  Earplugs - check.

We got out the door, and Lucy's antics worked yet again.  I had dogs on a splitter leash, baby in the ERGO carrier (quieting down instantly), a hat for her, 2 bags for dog poop (I've learned to dislike picking up dog poop with a baby carrier on, although I'm pretty good at it), credit card, and cell phone just in case all hell broke loose.  Does AAA solve baby and dog problems on the road?

Luckily I had my Marcia Bloom skirt on, so there was a hint of goodness in the whole affair.  In about 10 minutes we were at the Co-op, our first stop.  Road construction meant I had to tie the dogs up in 2 different places because a door was locked - and I already had a bag of poop in tow with my one free hand, so that was awesome.  Once inside the building, I found the vitamins I came for and noticed an urge to pee along with a sudden onset of starvation, so I went to the deli and got a bean/rice wrap which I put in the microwave while I went to the bathroom.  Luckily I'm quick in the john and can do it with the baby carrier on.  Exit the bathroom, pick up the partially warmed wrap, and continue on.  Now I have a baby, 2 dogs and a wrap as I'm walking through the construction zone and Mocha and Lucy frequently decide to go to oppoisite sides of my legs, wrapping me up in the splitter leash - always convenient and pleasant with a skirt on.  I'm cursing to myself that I can't eat faster to get this wrap out of the way, and a lady passes by "Now there's a happy family huh?"  I smile and think to myself - "Am I really pulling this off?  It must be the skirt I'm wearing, because I feel like a dumbshit circus act over here.  And you think we're happy?  Yah sure, lady, talk to me tomorrow."  Still, it brings a smile to my face. 

We made the rounds and picked up an accessory infant insert for the baby carrier.  Somehow over the last week, I'd made up my mind that having this insert was going to solve all my baby problems.  I think I might have lost my cool if she said they were out.  Lucky for me, and her, they had one left - it was organic.  I couldn't have cared less.  Bought it, she showed me how to put Linnea in it, and we were out the door - Bam.  I stopped by Mindfly to visit.  Everyone was excited to see us.  Linnea stayed asleep the entire time and made me look like a big fat liar.   I continued on home, excited that once we would arrive, I'd have at least an hour's nap.  Linnea is still young and does not yet understand that although a walk is nice and relaxing for her, it STILL doesn't count as a "nap" for me.  I know this because she popped her eyes open as we rounded the last block to our house, and.....continued crying.  

I passed the baby off to Miguel after another feeding, thinking he'd have a quiet afternoon with her.  The kid hadn't slept more than 8 hours in the last day.  When I returned home at 5, Miguel had a sorry look on his face - almost as sorry as mine.  She'd only slept an hour or so, and was in the middle of another crying episode.  He'd tried all the tricks he had up his sleeve and hadn't gotten anything to work, let alone any of his grading done at home.  By 10:00 last night, we decided that it was actually very simple - our baby doesn't like us.   She didn't want to be picked up, didn't want to eat, didn't want to bounce, and didn't want to listen to our singing.  She wanted nothing to do with us, and was ready to cry until some new parents that actually knew what they were doing would come to rescue her.

Today:

Linnea is doing better today than she was yesterday.  Maybe she likes us a little bit.  Here's the scenario: She has a bath.  I use the blow dryer to get her hair standing straight up and out to the sides.  She looks very cute.  Then she starts her crying routine again.  I decide nothing is lost if I try the Ergo in a few new positions.  I taco her into the infant insert and slide her in sideways - crying and screaming all mighty the entire time - and all of a sudden there is less crying.  I tighten a strap and the room falls silent.  Eyes closed.  Lucy is totally shocked and in awe of my parenting prowess.  Linnea is totally zonked out - still.  I'm even sitting down.  This is a miracle - a gift from all our hard work yesterday. It's been an hour and FORTY minutes (and counting).  I even had time to write and edit this.  Thank you Ergo Baby Insert Gods (and Sydney for lending the carrier to us) - for now.

Linnea's Moods from Heather Alvis on Vimeo.

Truthfully, I just went to the store to "look" at the skirts.  I wasn't intending on dropping another chunk of cash on a 4th Marcia Bloom skirt.  However, that is exactly what happened.  Turns out y'all, that Marcia Bloom has not only created an awesome fashionable and fun skirt, but she's also created one of the best - if not the best - pregnancy skirts anywhere.  My excuse was simple: I only have a handful of outfits, especially pants and skirts that I can wear to work.  I don't want to invest in "Motherhood"-wear, and really, I've tried a lot of that on and I don't like it.  So it was merely a decision in practicality.

Marcia Bloom skirts are great for growing bellies.  The waistband is a wide strip of spandex fabric that is very loose fitting and still flattering.  The swinging nature of the skirt itself allows for plenty of airflow and freedom of movement - whether you're sitting behind a desk, mowing the lawn, or going for a long walk with the dogs.  You can seriously take this skirt anywhere.  As an added bonus, the patterns are so loud and varied that it is almost impossible to stain it - although you do have to be careful not to catch the Marcia Bloom - signature lace that borders the bottom of the skirt - on things like blackberry thorns, stray nails or scraps of wood.

To tell you the truth, I wouldn't be surprised if I bought yet another one of these skirts.  At this point, I'm fairly glad that I only get a select few of the skirts to choose from each time I go into the store.  If I ever get the chance to go to Marcia's real store, I might simply be blown away by the Paradox of Choice - having so many choices that I just can't decide on anything.  Bottom line here is that I have 4 of them so far.  I wear 3 of them regularly, and usually once or twice a week each.  Thank you Mom and Margo for helping me to get this many skirts.  One of these days, I'll have both of you wearing one too.  And thank-you Marcia Bloom, for not making me have to buy ugly clothes! 

Now that darkness is falling on our city a little later, I can get away with not bringing my headlamp to work to ride my bike home at night.  On Wednesday night, I decided to take a leisurely bike ride into Fairhaven to check out the new shipment of Marcia Bloom Skirts at my favorite store: Fun To Shop.  I hopped on the Interurban only a few blocks from work, and meandered on the gravel trail.  Along the way I was joined by many, many people out to enjoy exercise and the beatiful sunset along the water.  People of all ages, classes and interests were out and about, either walking, riding, biking, or even skateboarding.  I kept saying to myself how lucky I was to have found such a great place to live.  I love it here. 

I dropped into Fairhaven and since the boardwalk along the water was so crowded with people - a great thing in my mind - I took the quieter road to the center of town.  Once there, Miguel met me and I started trying on a few skirts when our friends Adam and Lenore just happened to walk into the indoor courtyard on their way to dinner.  So lucky for me, I then had 3 critics to tell me what they thought of the different skirts I was trying on.  In the end, I walked out of the store without any new Marcia Blooms to add to my small collection, but with even more of an appreciation of this lovely town of ours.  

Today, to strengthen my love of Bellingham, I took the dogs on a 10-minute drive to one of the several biking trailheads in town about 10:00 in the morning.  Miguel, Sean and Adam were off on a 20-mile training run for the upcoming 50K, so I decided to go on a nice bikeride instead.  It was a cold, foggy morning and the air was brisk against my skin on the way in.  It didn't take long to get warmed up, and then we got high enough to be above the fog.  Up there, the sky was blue as blue can be, and the glare on the clouds below was so bright I couldn't even look directly at them.  The city was nestled beneath the fog and as far as I could see were just trees and clouds below.  We cruised around the trails for about 2.5 hours and hardly saw anyone else for the entire trip.  Mt. Baker was beaming with light and a beautiful sight in the background.  Again, I just kep thinking to myself "How lucky am I to live here?"  I know there are probably countless places in the world where people love to live, and for different reasons.  For me, there is no place I'd rather be.  

Yesterday after a long afternoon of cleaning the house and vaccuuming every inch of our 800 sq ft, I took a trip to Fairhaven to get...something at Fun To Shop, or at least make sure I was on the list for the next round of Marcia Bloom skirts.  My parents gave me some cash with which to buy a birthday present, and I decided to pool it together for a Marcia Bloom.   We had a party to go to in the evening in Seattle to celebrate Cory's wedding coming up in February.  The weathermen have been calling for record low temperatures and snow snow snow, but all we had by Saturday afternoon was the cold.  

After a bone-chilling trot from the car I walked into the courtyard and quickly assessed the rack of clothes in front of the store.  Then I peeked inside and saw what looked like 2 Marcia Bloom skirts on the rack against the far wall.  Since I hadn't received a call that the skirts were "in", I was surprised to see the quintessential lace in multiple layers peeking out from the bottom of the skirt on the rack.  Apparently the skirts came in that week and there were only 2 left.  There was a black and white one and a bright turqoise flowery one.  To tell you the truth, I liked them both.

Lucky for me, there are lots of other things in the store that meet my fancy, so I skimmed through a couple more racks of skirts and interesting sweaters.  I love that every time I go in Fun To Shop, each swipe of the hanger is like opening the door to a new room.  Each article of clothing is totally different than the last, and certainly different than most things you'd find in the mall.  There is only one of each item, so if it's not your color or size, you just move on.  No need to fuss with "Oh, I like that color, and that color, and I just can't decide if I'm a medium or a large".  It's either yes, or no, honey.

I found a cool skirt on the rack with a bouncy feel and a cool cut down the front, so I pulled a shirt that might look good with it and plunged into the dressing quarters.  There, I found a sweet pink scarf that just matched the skirt like they had been designed for each other, so I threw that on.  I also liked the display shirt and pants in the dressing room, but luckily it was on a faux manequin, so just a little too much trouble to deal with...did I mention that the dogs were in the car in this 20-some-degree weather?  Yah, I promised them a walk afterwards, so I wouldn't spend forever in the store.  

Ok, so the skirt is a go, the scarf is a go, but not he sweater.  Then I thought "Since I'm here and these Marcia Blooms are just sitting right there, I might as well try them on."  For some reason, knowing that I didn't get to see the whole batch made me feel like maybe I didn't have the best selection.  This brings me to thinking about The Paradox of Choice - a book I bought in Boston at a web conference that explains how we actually feel less depressed if we don't have a ton of choices.  Since I came "late", I only had 2 skirts to choose from.  This ended up being much less stressful (although a mild form of stress, I admit) than the other time when I had 8 to choose from.  I knew I wanted something fun and carefree, and although I liked the black and white one, the tropical one was a lot of fun - and I just happened to find a perfect turquoise top that matched - and it looked really good with the necklace Miguel got me for my birthday.  Final decision:  the tropical one with the pink scarf, shirt and necklace was just the perfect outfit package for the party tonight.  So batta-bing - SOLD!

Poor dogs.   I spent a bit longer in the store than intended, but I stayed true to my promise and took them to the dog park for a brisk 30-minute walk in the sub-zero temperatures.  I made it home in time for us to leave exactly 1 hour later than anticipated for our party in Seattle...perfect Heather & Miguel timing.  Road conditions were pretty good, but we could tell there was potential for worsening conditions with the snow coming down and the snow plows taking up the right lane.  We pulled into the swanky neighborhood with gated driveways and perfectly landscaped yards, and really didn't know what to expect other than Katrina and Cory being there.  We opened the door to a sea of black and white sprinkled with a bit of red sweaters here and there.  Talk about sticking out.  Man, I might as well have showed up on stilts with a rainbow wig and a clown nose on.  Regardless of my splash-of-color outfit, we were welcomed into the crowd and Katrina & Cory greeted us with enthusiasm.  

There were horsedivers galore, open bar, and finger desserts.  We shmoozed with all the high-rollers of the neighborhood who shared stories of their children and their children's children at will.  It was a very fancy place.  It was nice to catch up with Katrina and to meet Cory's fiance - albeit in an atmosphere very foreign to all of us, we had a good time.  The adventure didn't end, however, until we actually pulled into the parking spot in front of our house, as the conditions on the freeway were snowy, icy, and a bit tretcherous.  We counted 14 cars that had spun around 180 degrees and ended up in the ditch.  The tow-trucks were on call and making bank!  Although I was tense for most of the drive since I wasn't in the drivers seat and I depserately wanted more control, Miguel brought us safely to a stop in front of our house at about 1am.  Phew.  Disaster averted. 

I've never had a piece of clothing that I cherished until I got my first Marcia Bloom Skirt.  This is the best purchase I've ever had in the clothing department.  I have a history of buying a new shirt or outfit and then wearing it almost daily for the weeks and sometimes months following (like my Nuu-Muu), but this skirt is special. 

There is a shop here in Bellingham that my neighbor told  me about one day.  She said "Oh, if you're looking for skirts, you HAVE to go there".  It's called "Fun To Shop", and it's inside a courtyard shopping complex in Fairhaven along with a shoe shop, a restaurant, and some other places.  There are teasers of interesting clothes on racks outside the front of the store, and fun, eclectic music is coming from within.  The place is tiny, about the size of our small living room, but every corner and wall is covered with something you can wear.  They have a mix of new and used, but most of it is hand picked for originality.  I could easily go overboard on my impulse buys at this place.  Just when I think I've got waaay more than I should have, I find something else.  

My first time there, I saw this interesting skirt on the rack.  I saw ladies coming in and saying "Are they here?"  And when I started touching the skirt and admiring the oddball combination of 3 or 4 bright fabrics lined on the bottom with black and white polka dot 3-inch elastic, Jaimie came over and said "Yes, this is one of the last Marcia Bloom Skirts we have right now...isn't it fabulous?"  One woman had another skirt on and she was twirling around as Jaime and her mother ooooed and awwwed.  It was obvious she was going to buy one of these "Marcia Blooms", but she was having a really hard time deciding which one.  That day, I left without one, but I did get my name on the list for the next time "they arrived".

It was the week Julia, my soon to be sister-in-law was visiting....she visits like once every 2 years.  And I got a call from Jaimie!  We were already planning on going shopping for a wedding outfit for Julia, so this was perfect timing.  Julia wasn't convinced that she would get one of these crazy skirts....until she saw one.  The first one we laid eyes on was awesome.  Turquoise and white, and purely fantastic.  We tried on all 8 that were in the store, and then Jaime said there was one more upstairs.  As soon as I saw it, I loved it.  Orange, black, yellows, crazy fabric and black lace.  Awesome.  So we walked out of there with huge smiles on our faces, not a care in the world for how much I'd signed away on my credit card, and 2 Marcia Bloom skirts flipping in the summer sun.

It's been about 5 months now, and I think I've worn this skirt at least once or twice a week since I got it.   I feel so happy wearing it, and it's especially nice hearing "I love your skirt", and "That is such a great skirt" from perfect strangers.  I feel like telling everyone to get one.  It just makes everything better.  I'm going today to make sure I'm on the list for another Marcia Bloom Skirt.  I have the potential to get about 10 more.