Welcome, Hudson Robert...

I couldn't be more in love with this boy.  I cant believe he's here! 

He is so perfect, and sweet, and wonderfully made.  I am constantly amazed at how blessed we are! 

9/08/10 4:05pm

6 lbs, 7 oz; 18.5 in.



such a proud big sister!



This was our birthday party for Hudson on our first night home.  This photo was taken while we were all singing Happy Birthday to him :)   mmm... cake!


We attempted a photo shoot today, but didnt get too many shots, this boy just wants to nurse every second of the day... what a boob man! 

Ive been meaning to post for days now, and feel like it's quite an accomplishment to have finally done it!  There's so much more I'd like to talk about; the labor and delivery experience, what life has been like the past few days, the generosity of our friends...

but alas, I'd rather take a nap with this sweet boy!

Baby!

I am 38 weeks pregnant today.  On this day of my pregnancy, with Neva, I was induced due to ridiculously high blood pressure.  I've been very thankful this time around, that it hasnt been a concern.  With Neva it started to elevate around 30 weeks and I was in and out of my OB's office twice a week for monitoring (not to mention all the pre-term contractions I dealt with that had me in and out of labor and delivery).  Dare I say, at one point my BP was in excess of 160/110.  Normally, I have a low BP.  High blood pressure is never something I deal with outside of pregnancy.  This pregnancy, it's been 110/70 the entire time.  I thought I was good!  Imagine my surprise when I go in for my 38 week appt today and the nurse informs me that my blood pressure has spiked up to 140/97.  They re-took it several times.  That's moderately high, *especially* for a preggo, but what worries them more is the spike.  It makes them think toxemia, which would be a terrible thing to happen right now.  That's like, emergency c-section time. 

My doctor, who I LOVE and trust very much to make the right call, says he would prefer to deliver this baby soon.  I ask "how soon?", and he says, well, how about tomorrow?  yikes!  Am I ready to have this baby tomorrow?  I mean, I AM, I've BEEN ready, forever, it seems like.  But... this is different!  I was really wanting to go into labor naturally this time, to experience what that's like... but alas, I do not think it is meant to be.  I'm full term now, it would be silly to wait for my BP to go any higher, for toxemia to develop, to take that risk.  I asked him to see if they could take me sometime later in the week so we'd at least have a few days, but the only opening they had for an induction in the next 4 days is... tomorrow.  So, tomorrow we have a baby! 

I'm excited.  Much more excited than when we were getting ready to bring Neva into our lives.  I had NO experience with babies, I had no idea what to expect.  I was scared!  I was wholly unprepared.  This time is different.  I've done this before!  I am much more confident in myself and my ability as a mother to do things differently, and more easily, than what we experienced the first time.  And so I've allowed myself to become REALLY excited about this birth, and that makes everything different, and ok. 

I cant wait to meet this boy!! 

Mosaics

More things I love: little pieces and bits of all kinds of stuff that I can create into beautiful mosaics.  Whether it's broken china, pottery, sea glass, or ocean rocks, or something I havent even tried mosaicking yet... I love arranging different sorts of things into a larger piece of beautiful, usable art. 

Here's a sampling of things I've made.  Custom orders accepted!

This window resides in our house and was made using sea glass found at local beaches (locations to remain secret unless you wish to accompany me someday... then I will gladly share the bounty)

These wall mosaics are made with hand polished beach rocks from the Central CA Coast.  The most amazing stones can be found there, and among these are jasper, agate, and serpentine.  The metal frames are hand made and were welded by my awesome husband.  These also reside in my house.  

Smaller pieces are currently being made and will be available for sale. 

  

school!!!

i dropped the kiddo off at preschool this morning and realized how proud i am of her ability to jump right into things (usually!)

here are several photos from her first day at school, a couple weeks ago. 

her teacher, Miss Jeannie said i could stay and watch her get acclimated, and after 2 minutes Neva runs up to me and says "Ok momma, I'm fine, you can go home now!"  I did manage to get a couple shots of her playing before i was excused.  That's her teacher next to her.

When i picked her up, the first words out of her mouth were "Momma, I hit some boys".  Great kiddo, way to be the bully already.  :)  She is certainly my alpha-child.  And i love her for it!  Not that i love her hitting other kids, of course.  But she will never be the one pushed around!

old map art

things i love: old maps. there's just something about them... i cant get enough! i hoard them. i have a ridiculous amount. you may certainly commission me to make a wonderful piece of wall art based on specific locations...

this was my first.  i've had offers on it and turned them all down.  however... for a price... anything is possible!  all maps i ever use are vintage, pre 1980's, i have many maps as early as the 1930's and 40's.

these are from my collection of rare ocean floor maps from the 1960's. 

this is my most recent map project.  it's wonderful.  the squares are 2inx2in and the size of the canvas is 5ftx4ft. 

it features road maps of the Western US, and the colors are incredible. the maps are all from the 70's.

i also have a lot of these cute little map squares.  i think they're 5 in. squares?  they are adorable. 

arent maps awesome?  i think so.