Since Miguel has summers off and I don't, weekends are precious to all of us.  The quandry of whether to stay home, to get out and go, run errands, or to catch up on sleeping is often apparent.  This weekend, we had penciled in a camping trip and possibly raspberry picking on our "to do" calendar.  We have to mentally gear up for a camping trip, and after heavy thought I was still up for it - and I think Miguel would have been happy to stay home, but he said he was game for an adventure.  We planned it all out over breakfast - but the thing about us is that we plan and we take a very long time to 'do'.  We figured we'd wait until after LE's first nap since she's never been keen on "sleeping in the car" when we make that part of our plan.  This time, we were going to be smarter than her.  I got a tip from a neighbor friend that Camano Island was a beautiful place to camp, and only 1.5 hours away.  So that was the destination.  All we needed was a piece of advice and our plans were in motion. 

While LE took her nap, I resourcefully went to the store to pick up the dinner items, snack items, and a few cute clothes that she 'needed', like a swim rashguard to protect against the sun and some plaid pants (of course!).  I managed to get home shortly after she woke up, but we were all hungry, so the lunch we intended on making at the campsite, we made at home.  As Miguel puts it, we were slow before having a kid.   Now, we're glacial.  So, to sum it up, we got out of the house at 2:40pm.  No problem, right?

Wrong.  We arrived at the campground to see a sign, which I should have taken a photo of to further dramatize this entry, that said "Campground FULL".  We kept an ounce of hope and drove around the 1-43, 44-78, 79-105 loops, and every single stinking spot had a car in it - or some sort of pathetic camp chair.  Not to dispair though, we pulled into the day use area and were determined to have a good time.  The beach was full of rocks the size of baseballs and covered in barnacles.  The water was brown and murky and the tide must have been out, because it was a long ways away.  Lucy was rambunxious as all get-out, and chased her frisbee ad nauseam.   We found a small patch of little gravelly type rocks where we put out a blanket and let LE sift the sand through her fingers.  Lucy ran herself ragged - and cut her feet all up on the barnacles, so we had to stop chasing the frisbee.  We didn't have enough food and the car was too far away. This wasn't quite the beach experience we were expecting, and both of us couldn't help but think, "We should have just gone to Larrabee Park in Bellingham - it is way better than this."  You know how sometimes you have to travel far away to realize how beautiful it is right in your own backyard?  We stayed for about an hour and then with little discourse, made the decision to head back home and camp at good ol' Larrabee State Park. On our way out, we saw big groups of college-age folks with their boom boxes, loud yelling and beercans, and thought "Yah, maybe it's better we didn't find a spot".   With a kick in our step, we headed back home to the first place we ever stayed in Bellingham,  the Larrabee campground.  

I won't go on forever, but you must know that we made our way along the twisting, winding Chuckanut Drive and pulled into the park an hour and a half later, to see the dreaded sign "Campground FULL".  Once again, beaten down.  "No, you will NOT go camping".  So, with a screaming, kicking LE (sick of being in her carseat), and a very tired & sore Lucy, we pulled up in front of our house and proceeded to take everything out of the car that we had so carefully placed there a few hours earlier.  Camping Trip Thwarted.

Never fear though, instead of putting a match to some briquettes, we put LE down in her own bed, made up two beautiful steaks on the grill with salad and corn on the cob and a couple glasses of fine wine (all of which we took out of the camping bin) .  We watched a movie, made a batch of Snickerdoodles and a batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies, and went to sleep in a comfy Queen bed.  We felt like morons, but we were comfortable morons.  

Sunday was much more successful as we did some yardwork, met our friends to pick 10 lbs of raspberries (and LE got very down and dirty), and even visited the water park on our way home.  Once again, this weekend was a good reminder as to why the heck we love living here.  We don't have to go anywhere else to have a great time.  Bellingham is seriously the best place on earth.

It was a week night and I was on my way home from work on a lovely sunny evening.  It was one of the nights where we take turns to get out on a bikeride, or to do something out on our own for exercise in the evening, but it donned on me that I'd much rather spend an evening with my family (together) outside.  So, instead of rushing to feed Linnea and rushing out the door to run around, I pitched the idea to Miguel to rush to Fred Meyer for a roasted chicken so we could spend the evening at Boulevard Park with Linnea & the dogs.  Miguel had no qualms with the idea, so that's what we did.  We took a blanket, some drinks, Lucy's frisbee and about 25 other things we probably didn't need, and ended up at one of our favorite places in Bellingham.  So what that Linnea went to bed an hour late.  So what that I didn't get to run.  There will be plenty of time for all of that.  We did get the memory - some great photos - and two very happy dogs out of it.  I'm sure Linnea will forget that we did that, but for me, it was important to see that with a little initiative, we can still do little things that put life into living. 

When I heard Miguel say through the bathroom window "Linnea, remind me to listen to your mother", I didn't know whether to worry or say "I told you so".  This, along with the smell of smoke emanating from his sweatshirt could only mean one thing...lighting the briquettes wasn't going as planned.  Earlier in the evening I offered a snyde comment when Miguel said he was going to cook our steaks using the briquettes in our yuppy portable fireplace.  I said "Isn't that going to take forever?"  It was already past 6pm and I've learned that on weekdays, dinners need to be started before 6pm in order to eat at a decent hour.  I didn't harp on the subject though, and I said that if he thought it was a good idea, he should go for it.  Meanwhile, our gas grill was sitting in the corner. 

Once Linnea was tucked into bed, I came outside to find Miguel with the briquettes actually on the gas grill and he filled me in on the sequence of events.  He started with the briquettes in the fireplace and lit some wood shavings underneath - only to be covered in a swath of smoke.  He tried newspaper, white gas, the blow torch.  Nothing was moving him any closer to dinner.  In admission of defeat, he pulled out the propane grill and decided not to waste the briquettes, so he put those on the rack underneath the steaks.  Next time he checked, the plastic knobs on the BBQ were practically melting off of of the front panel because so much heat was being generated inside.  Thus, the steaks are smoldering nicely above open flame.  A good ending to the story though, the steaks were wonderful and not burned or dropped into the briquettes.  It is no wonder we don't use those things anymore.  

To his credit, our gas grill was not a man's grill.  It was cheap to begin with and we were the 3rd people to own it.  The racks were thinning out and barely holding onion rings anymore.  Needless to say, Father's Day this year was not a difficult purchase.  Unfortunately, I don't have the photo documentation to show you, but once we got our neat box (grill in a box) home, we didn't account for the dismantling of the packaging and backyard chaos of putting together a BBQ before dinner.  We planned a lovely dinner of tuna steaks and scallops just for the debut of the Father's Day BBQ.  We had styrofoam, cardboard, nuts & bolts, doors & stainless steel parts scattered througout the lawn at 7pm.  Never fear though, we busted through those mind-boggling instructions and 2-D figures to produce a spitting image of the BBQ that was already put together in the store.  At some point, you've got to wonder how this was a "gift".    We had our tuna steaks breaded with sesame seeds over salad and 2 giant scallops each with butter, lemon and salt - a perfect meal to reward our effort.

We now have a beautiful (large) functioning, 4-burner gas grill that can stand up to any man's man.   Happy First Father's Day Dad - let's figure some way to donate those leftover briquettes - or maybe smoked smores would be good someday!

It has been said that there are many milestones in raising a child.  I believe we've hit a milestone ladies and gentlemen.  Now, some of our friends have claimed (and I think they're lying) that their child slept through the night at a mere 8 weeks old.  Well, our darling Linnea waited until she was good and ready, and as of last night has slept a record breaking 8.5 hours (7.5 months).  She made a few peeps and cries in between, but didn't officially need parental involvement between 10:30 pm and 7 am.  Miguel and I were such nonbelievers that we had to go in and check for breathing at 3:30am just to ease our minds.  Actually, it was more Miguel than me - as I was in a sort of blissfull "I'm still sleeping and it's awesome" frame of mind. 

In other news, Linnea has been pinching "puffs" between her fingers and putting food in her own mouth for about a week now.  We're also quite smitten with the fact that she's saying "ma-ma" - although we're not convinced she knows what it means yet.  I particularly like it when she accents the first syllable to sound more Italian "ma MA", so I'm trying to encourage that one as much as possible.  She's sitting up with confidence and lunging forward at will.  Her newest trick is all of a sudden arching backwards when you're holding her so she can look at the world upside down for a few seconds.  This comes as a surprise to us much of the time, so we've got be on top of our game when holding the little wiggle worm. 

It was Miguel's birthday last night and so we had a babysitter come to the house while we went out to dinner.  We tried a popular Italian place here in Bellingham and had a great time enjoying ourselves.  I notice that when I see other kids out and about now, I have a different perspective on them.  I think about what Linnea will be like when she's their age, I think about the parents and try to guage their faces to see if they're tired, content, or disheveled.  One thing Miguel and I both noticed while out on our date was that we missed Linnea.  Funny how that works.  She's become a major part of our daily routine - but even moreso, we now feel like something is missing when she's not around.  Speaking of that, you know how we're so busy all the time - doing laundry, washing diapers, dishes, sweeping, picking up toys, changing diapers, feeding...etc.  We wonder what in the world were we doing BEFORE when we thought we were so busy?  Good question. 

Our chickens are starting to eat each other.  They've been cooped up together for about 3 years now and its starting to get to them.  A couple weeks ago, Gertie decided to defeather Big Red's entire head, and she decided not to stop there.  Big Red has a gaping wound now on her head that looks like a bit of a problem.  We're letting her out of the coop during the day as to not expose her to the continual wrath of Gertie - but it doesn't look good.  It's about time for new chickens anyway  - but we're doing a heck of a job procrastinating on actually doing anything about that, so Gertie has taken it into her own hands I suppose.

So, Mother's Day is coming up this weekend.  My first real Mother's Day as a mother.  I think I've earned it and I'm going to love every minute. I'm going to celebrate 8 hours of sleep - even though that has not been 8 hour for me - hooray!  As a matter of fact, I'm going to go to sleep right now and cross my fingers that she can pull this off again. Snoooze button here I come.   It's been a long time coming and I am so ready.  As a matter of fact, I'm so excited I probably won't be able to sleep. I'll try anyway.  Goodnight!

They said they could tell a difference in the development of their child each day.  I thought to myself "no way - such liars".  But now, I'm one of them.  Linnea is literally getting stronger and more mobile each and every day.  The crawling stage is close upon us and it will probably be a matter of a couple weeks before she's cruising all the way across the floor.  Yesterday she could scoot a few inches backwards by pushing off of the ground with her arms.  Today she scooted backwards to get away from something and moved a couple feet! 

Baby proofing our house is next on the weekend list of "to do's" along with lowering the crib mattress.  Things certainly have changed from the weekend plans of a Saturday morning bikeride followed by a day of yardwork or ultimate frisbee practice.  This week I totally chickened out of our Wednesday night run because of bad weather and the fact that Linnea wouldn't be able to join us.  Rain and wind are no fun for a 6 month old - although I seriously contemplated suiting her up in her pink snowsuit so she could come with us.  Somehow we got the entire crew to bag out on the run, which never happens.  That kid (along with the crap weather) sure has us wrapped around her finger.

I've been having the dreams that represent the fears of a mother.   Once I wasn't holding Linnea on a flatbed trailer and she fell off as we rounded a corner.  Another time I was in Fred Meyers and I turned my head away from the cart to get something and when I returned she was missing.  Last night I was watching a performance at my high school reunion and was juggling a grocery bag, Miguel's backpack and Linnea.  I got so engrossed in the show that the next time I looked down, Linnea was nowhere in sight.  I had left her in another section of the stadium by herself.  So, I don't know if these dreams will continue for the rest of my life, but now that I'm finally getting longer stretches of sleep, it is more stressful to be asleep and ironically, a huge relief to wake up! 

I don't think I ever officially made the annoucement that I'm only 3 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight, but as of yesterday morning, I only weighed 138!  At the tippy top of the pregnancy I was 160 - and 150 after Linnea was born.  Thanks to our weekly runs, a few bikerides and 4 months of boot camp, I'm back in the game.  I can even do 10 pullups again, and I played in a women's Goaltimate tournament a couple weekends ago.  Yay for back to normal!

I've been a bit reflective recently and have to mention that I feel extremely fortunate to be in this life.  Even with the ups and downs, I love the time I spend with my family & pets, friends, and co-workers.  Looking back at my past 10 or 12 years ago, I could never have guessed that path it would take.  I own the dog of my ex roommate from 8 years ago.  I married that guy I met on a rock climbing trip 12 years ago.  I was pregnant and have a child of my own - what??  I'm the creative director of the web company of which I interned with 5 years ago (following a spontaneous lunch with Rusty).  I went to college for 5 years studying biology and gave up teaching science to become a web designer.  I don't know that it's material good enough for a novel - but I love it just the same.  Bring it on - what's next?   

When I'm riding my bike home from work, I can hardly go fast enough.  Even though I'm dodging traffic at the 5:00 hour, I can feel a smile coming on as I think about seeing Linnea again.  This must be the feeling of motherhood I've heard so much about.  This morning I think I experienced it again.  Nothing particularly interesting or different happened.  Miguel had left for work on his bike and we had waved goodbye in the yard.  We took the dogs to the park and walked around the circle a couple times.  We went down the slide and back and forth on the swings a few times.   We came inside and Linnea was sitting in her ExerSaucer tapping some things around.  The dogs were laying on the couch watching me walk around.  At that moment, I realized that I was happy - really happy.  I took a moment to think about it because it felt so nice.  Work is going well, we're healthy, we're having fun, and Linnea is making strides in her daily development. 

Sometimes I think about it and I'm actually stricken with sadness simply because everything is going so well.   So today I had a moment when I realized that noticing happiness is just as important as being happy.  Perhaps those moments are fleeting and they don't officially last very long - but I'm going to try to have more of them.

After researching for a client project the other day, I came across this video: www.theyearsareshort.com.  I'm not sure if this would have hit home a year ago as much as it does today - but it does tug on the heart strings a bit. 

This is it.  This is life.

My parents came to visit this past weekend.  Miguel and I had the pleasure of playing my dad in racquetball after an 8 year hiatus (the last time I played Dad I was in college).  We played for 2.5 hours and we loved every minute of it.  Dad & Margo got in as many photo sessions as they could in their 3 day visit.  Linnea was a good sport and she allowed us to get a few 'keepers'.  Every time we have family visits, we talk about how we wish we lived closer to each other.  I wonder where Linnea is going to be when we're 50 years old.  Is she going to move far away too?  I can see how that would be hard to deal with when college comes around.  Kids are so eager to get out of the house - and parents wouldn't mind holding on a bit longer.  

For now, I'm loving the nights when Linnea falls asleep in my arms and the mornings when she wakes up with a big chubby leg stretch in the bed.  Her squeal of delight when I say 1 - 2 - 3 - and tickle her little tummy.  And that happy feeling of anticipation when I'm riding home from work - that soon I'll be able to see my little girl again.

I have tons of cool gadgets with which I plan on capturing a very nice, cohesive history of Linnea's life, and the rest of mine.  I've always had a photo documentary of my life.  My parents kept album after ablum of photos from the day of my birth, and I looked through them often as I was growing up.  Once I got old enough, I got my own camera and started making gigantic scrapbooks full of photos, stickers, and other middle/high school paraphanelia that one might collect (keychains, movie stubs, friendship bracelets, etc.).  Thankfully we've moved into a new era of digitalous.  Everything has gotten smaller and supposidely "simpler".  I'm not so sure that is the case.

I have touted Flickr to friends and family and I've got about 2000 photos posted on my Flickr account.  I'm a big fan of being able to show my history to anyone who asks with a simple URL.  However, I can't help but feel that with all its advantages, the digital age has also taken something away - that simple ability to turn off the TV and plop down on the couch with a good old fashioned photo album.  I haven't made an album for about 8 years.  Everything is online.  I found a solution to that for our wedding, which was Mpix, a company that allows you to make a book and have it printed for a reasonable cost.  Awesome - there is my new ability to have something tangible, and I do go back and look at those books periodically.  The only problem is that it takes about 10 or 20 times longer to put together one of those books.  Time that is suddenly withering away with a newborn in hand. I'm working on a new book that is of Linnea's birth and first 5 days.  I have about 800 photos to choose from.  Ugh.

And with that said, I've also jumped into the realm of video.  Family video, that is.  I've got a Flip Video Camera now.  So far I've got about 35 different clips ov varying lenghts.  80% of them are of Linnea sleeping and doing absolutely nothing.  Hopefully I'll be more discretionary as time goes on, but at the moment, I've got a lot of footage to root through in order to make anything of any interest.  And in order to make a video by stitching together several little videos, I need even more time.  This is hard work.  Not to mention that I have a blog to keep up on top of all of that.  

Be ready for more stuff y'all, I'm jumping further into the technology quicksand.  There's bound to be some jewels in there, right?  

Linnea's Friends from Heather Alvis on Vimeo.

If you ever asked my parents, they'd tell you that they never quite know what to expect with me.  It seems I'm always trying to conjure up some sort of surprise and I dont just do things the way most people do them.  For example, the way we told them we were pregnant - through a webpage (of course).  Here's a link to that post.  So, as to not shake the boat, Miguel and I decided not to simply "tell" our parents the name we'd decided to give our new baby girl.  We had to make a game out of it, so we had an impromptu "naming party" with the grandparents.  Miguel's dad Julio even joined us on the telephone.

We announced that we were having a naming party that night with the works: cake and sparkling wine.  We asked everyone to put their suggestion for a first name in one bowl, and a middle name in a second bowl.  Then, we would pick names out of the bowls.  If we liked any of the suggestions better than our own, we would use them.  What seemed like a rather silly and benign game ended up being quite a hilarious affair.  Names came out of the woodwork like Sunnie, Bellebonne, Rose, Bella, Gertrude, Star and Chickadoodle (an entry from our chickens, apparently).  With Julio on the phone giving Miguel multiple suggestions - and even calling us on our second line to add others, we had quite a good time with all the combinations.  

In the end, Miguel and I decided to stick with our original decision, and our baby girl was "toasted in" with the new name of Linnea Evangeline.  Nickname: "Ellie" for her initials "L" "E".  I'd say that the reaction overall was not as grandeur as we were hoping for, but I think it takes a little time for names to sink in.  Now that a day has passed, and Linnea is sticking to her as a Pronoun replacing "Whose Its" and "It" and "Sweet Pea", I think it fits her perfectly.  Linnea stems from the name of a flower - the Linnaea Borealis (a small fluted white flower on a delicate creeping vine named after Carl Linnaeus).  Since I am named after a flower "Mountain Heather", I thought it would be fitting to have my daughter also named after a flower.  Evangeline comes from nothing other than the fact that Miguel and I both like it.  It also happens to mean "the bearer of good news".  We like the way it rolls off the tongue and creates a distinct separation before her last name.  

Grandpa and Miguel also celebrated with fine cigars in the backyard and fancy Argentine whiskey to seal the deal.  It was risky getting those cigars - originating from that small unnamed country starting with "C" - but apparently well worth the effort.

So there you have it - all you wanted to know and more.  Can't wait for all of you to meet Linnea.  She's wonderful and we look forward to loving her more and more every day.

I think the baby is growing exponentially at this point.  Grandparents and friends are waiting on the edge of their seats for the "phonecall" that things are going into action, but alas, I'm still here walking to work and waiting.  We've reached the 40-week "finish line", but it's kind of like rounding the last bend when all of a sudden, the ribbon, timekeeper, and cheering crowd all disappear - and I just have to keep on running - for who knows how long.   

I certainly attest that this feels like an alien in my belly, and moreso every day.  I can feel hard spots and soft spots, and s/he keeps squirming around.  With little warning, a sharp protrusion from my side appears and disappears as quickly.  I feel like I'm up to my ears in fullness, and can hardly find any interest in eating food.  I know I need to keep eating, so I'm trying to ignore the fact that I feel like I've just eaten at an all-you-can-eat buffet Chuck Wagon special.  To the dismay of my midwives and myself, I've somehow managed not to gain more than a pound over the last 2 months.  Overall, I've put on about 25 pounds, but all in the first 2 trimesters.  So, contrary to popular belief, my new instructions are to pack on the fat.  Cheesecake, whole milk yogurt, coconut milk, avacadoes, ice cream - you name it.  Sounds great, right?  I think I'd be more into it if I wasn't so full all the time.  How do I make room for the vegetables, protein and grains - AND all that fat?  It's a challenge many people would be envious of, but right now, it doesn't feel much like bliss and gult free gluttony- I feels more like a goose on a forcefeeding track to expensive pate.  I'm not sure that a few more days on lipids is going to do the trick, but I'm giving it a go.  Come on kid, let's get the show on the road eh?

Mom was up visiting this last weekend and we had a nice diversion from all the housecleaning and multiple pre-washes for the Bum Genius diapers I bought.  We went to the Dog Days of Summer with Mocha and Lucy.  We all took part in the fun walk around the lake, and Lucy even won a prize for dunknig a purple tennis ball out of a kiddie pool - old hat trick for her.  She's never liked the green tennis balls anyway, especially "new" ones.  Since she picked the alternative color, she won!  Mocha found a few bones in the dirt pile, and we saw lots of different kinds of dogs.  All the dogs seemed to enjoy smelling each other and hanging out.  I think they understood that they were part of a club that day.  Speaking of our dogs,  I get the feeling that they're picking up on being less "front and center" for our attention.  I've been sleeping more, and walking them less regularly (like 3 out of 5 days instead of 5 out of 5 days).  We're interested to see how they each react to the new family member.  Lucy could be a dedicated protector, or a pouting pile of jealousy.  Mocha - she's just going to be stoked for the food dropping to the floor for a change.

So, for any of you still wondering, no baby just yet.  Miguel is holding out for the 18th of September.  I thought it would be the 9th.  I'm still running the race and I'm just not sure how many more corners are ahead.  See you at the end.

I have to admit that it is kind of hard being the last one - and with this pregnancy thing, I'm coming in last.  Not that nobody else is having babies, but just that of all of our child-bearing friends in Bellingham, I'm the last one right now.  Who knows, there could be others hiding a secret until their first 3 months is up, but right now, I feel like I'm closing down the race.  Our friends Katie and Christina both had fabulous birthing stories to tell, and little healthy babies to hold while telling them.  Miguel and I are still in the completely unkown stage, with more than a 20 day window between due dates.  We both suspect that we've got 3 weeks to go before the big event, but only time will tell. In fact, we're entering into what may be our very last non-baby, non-booked weekend of our lives.  It's like we're on the log ride at Knott's Berry farm - it's dark, smells like excitement, but we can't really see what is around the next corner.  We're planning to go for a hike, relax, and bask in the quietness.  Perhaps the calm before the storm.  Man, that's intimidating!

In the meantime, we've almost completed the entire baby's room.  It was a long process of getting our attic partially finished, painting, demolishing a closet and rebuilding, but now that it is mostly behind us, we're happy with the results.   The room is fun to hang out in, and comfortable for lounging.  I'm feeling pretty good and just hoping with all fingers crossed that i don't come down with this sickness that seems to be targeting people in the office.  I only have a few weeks to hang in there - so hopefully I'll stay healthy.

My co-workers surprised me with a baby shower at work this week, and we played a few "shower" games.  My belly measured in at exactly 40" around - which Janae guessed with precision (she won some lotion).  I don't appear to be putting any more weight on, but the baby feels like s/he's getting bigger every day.  We're working on not calling the baby an "it", so in lieu of that, we're switching gender references from "he" to "she" every other day.  Today is a "he" day.  We have a few names picked out for each gender, but much to my mother's dismay, we probably won't pick a name for a few days after the birth.  Miguel and I are pretty excited for the big event, and it's been really fun watching Miguel with our friends' babies.  He's going to be a great father.  He's got the shushing and cooing and happy smiles down.  I'm going to need a little work, but I think I'll be ok.  The anticipation is rather challenging for me - in that there is an element of an unknown, and so I try to protect myself like many people do, by not getting really excited.  The baby's size is small, but what does that mean?  Will he be healthy?  Will he be normal?  Will the birth go ok?  Will I be ok?  There are many worries to go along with the final weeks of many people's pregnancies, I'm sure.  Being in the midst of it, I have to continually remind myself that positive thinking is the best thing I can do right now - and there isn't much else I can do about it anyway.  Good diet, lots of water and exercise and positive thoughts - that's what I'm working on.  

I've got a few animal paintings I've been working on, and I have 3 more to go - but these have been a good relaxing project for me.  Now, however, I'm finding it more and more difficult to bend over to paint - so it's a little slower going than I anticipated. So, we're off on our big weekend of nothingness - I'll tell you about it later.