around me

Not straying very far from the nest these days I am noticing the detail of what's around me more and more. Small walks around the marina make me appreciate this little dead end of water we live on, and the beauty in the details that we normally rush by on our way to this and that outing for the day.
The natural beauty is a given, but lately I am struck by the rough aesthetic of this little nautical neighborhood as well.

Thank you to everyone for the kind words and encouragement lately. Things may be off and on around here until show time. My mind and body are in a weird place at the moment. But... I will keep you posted.

whoosh

That's the sound of my due date whizzing by.

GROAN. That's the sound of me standing. Or walking. Or laying down. Or moving at all. It all hurts.

Gurgle.  That's the sound of our overworked head as I use it once every 20 minutes or so.

Bump. That's the sound of this enormous belly of mine bumping in to every part of this boat. (followed by an "ugh".)

Ahhhhh. That's the sound of me drinking tea. One of my few pleasures at the moment.

BounceBounce. That's the sound of my sweet boy, not used to having a lump for a mom.

Grab & Giggle. That's the sound of the same boy taking the hand of any able bodied adult who happens up the dock and dragging them into a game of soccer or crabbing or chase or anything to be more active than that big lady sitting in the cockpit sipping her tea.

Shift & Scrub. That's the sound of my dear husband, not knowing quite what to do but wanting to do something. Wax the transome? Clean the guinea pig cage. Trying to feel useful until game time.

Whisper-tap. That's the sound of the fellas down in bed each night, telling stories and giggling together while I rock on the birth ball and try to make myself busy reading online and tapping at the keyboard.

Whoosh. GROAN. Gurgle. Bump (ugh). Ahhhhhh. Bounce Bounce. Grab & Giggle. Shift & Scrub. Whisper-tap.

~this moment~ On Watch

Watching for signs of fall in the 90 degree heat.
Watching for our friends from Zero To Cruising to arrive.
Watching for his little siser to make her appearance.
Watching the world go by.


A Friday ritual. A single photo (ok two this week) capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. - via soulemama

equinox

Happy fall to everyone! Signs of fall here are slow and subtle yet. But we're still welcoming the new season and all of the changes to come -- both in our family and around us in nature.

Zach is a little impatient about the leaves changing, so he decided to take matters into his own hands.

Of course the equinox is supposed to be all about balance. The equal sharing of day and night. But my nights have been long. Sleep is anything but balanced. My big belly is anything but balanced. Most nights find me out here...

Waiting. Wondering. Working out my own impatience with spicey foods and lots of tea.

september at the beach

For us, September is the perfect time of year to hit the beach.

The crowds are gone, the weather is sunny and warm without being humid and oppressive, the jellyfish have headed south again, and the water is warm enough for the littles to strip down and dive in.

The bugs are few. The sand is soft and warm.

And it's the perfect place to just sit and soak up the scenery and be in the moment.

~this moment~

A Friday ritual. A single photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. - via soulemama

WIP - sweet dreams

(trusty guard dog, trusty wooden sword in sleeping hand to slay any nightmare monsters, protective dragon, camping lantern... what more would one need?)

Transitioning Zach into his own room to sleep at night has been a WIP since I found out I was pregnant. To re-cap... we have had a family bed since birth. And we've loved it! And we wouldn't jump in to changing if it was possible to have a King sized bed or if I wasn't expecting a baby. There just is not enough space for 4 of us, no way, no how. Heck, there isn't enough space for 3 of us while I am this pregnant and often I just sprawl out and kick everyone to other rooms (poor Doug).


So the transition began with talks. I joke that they were Palestine-Israel level negotiations on who sleeps where. We chatted about creating a space on the floor of our cabin for him, a fold out cot, a hammock? Nothing was accepted. Then when I got pregnant enough, I just kicked the boys out in a cranky fit. They started sleeping together in Zach's room and it was going well. Zach LOVES the daddy time, loves the boys only time, eats it up. But then he was complaining that it was too squished in there. Well... we cooed... if you would be ok with daddy leaving after you fall asleep, then you'd have all kinds of space. So we organized the space, made some toy hammocks for the growing (they are supposed to be shrinking!) tribe of stuffed animals, and let him make the space his own.

(the foot of his bed set up with supplies)

After about 2-3 weeks of daddy sleeping in there with him, we had another 1-2 weeks of daddy leaving after Zach crashed (and sometimes having to return when the boy would wake and call out). And now this week... he is full on sleeping on his own in there. This is HUGE. I mean, we still read stories, tell stories, chat, tuck in, etc. And sometimes he wanders into our room in the middle of the night for this or that, only to get carried gently back in by daddy (we think he is not even awake when this happens actually). And we joke that if this were a house, we'd all still be in the same room because the space from our bed, down the book nook, to his bed is still smaller than most master bedrooms in most suburban homes. I tell him, we ARE in the same room, just different beds.

(view from foot of his bed down the hull/ book book to the door of our cabin)

And he's getting ok with this. And so then it's lights out, radio on set to the classical station, flashlight on, and he is 100% ok with just falling asleep on his own.

Just in time, eh?

handmade baby

Although all of the cute little girl items in the stores are insanely tempting and may be my ultimate downfall one of these days, the handmade baby goodness is always best. Look at these...!

Joy from An Art Family knitted that gorgeous hat & mitten set. Isn't it precious? I can't believe hands come that small, but apparently they do (it's been a while!) The detail is so beautiful and the yarn she picked is the softest I have ever felt.

Fellow boat dweller Charlotte (who just had her gorgeous baby girl!) made the burp rag/ bib set and sent it my way. Charlotte has such fabulous taste in colors and fabrics (you should see what she's done with her boat!) and is a sewing whiz to boot.

And speaking of sewing whizzes -- my Martha Stewart neighbor SuperJen who hosted the blessingway sewed this gorgeous hooded baby towel for me. Aren't those mushrooms fabulous? She made that big one from scratch!

It was packed in a basket brimming with other drool-worthy baby goodness. Another one who has the good taste to match the handwork talent.

Of course Zach can't help himself and has been making things for his sister all the while too. From little beeswax candles to a stack of drawings and cards. But here are his latest creations.

All of the white hand-me-down onesies we've been getting are turning into his blank canvas. Let's hear it for fabric markers! And he's been making lots of little pillows as well.

So, I even took a turn at making something. I SO need to keep my hands busy during this waiting game since the body doesn't feel like being as busy as usual (now I understand why people knit. oh I wish I knew how!) Inspired by Nicole at Frontier Dreams I made a little soft block from wool felt. I decided to go with an ocean theme (shocking, right?) and tried my hand at embroidering little pictures.

(that is supposed to be coral on the right there and a wave on the left... I tried! Luckily babies are not picky.)

I swear I wasn't drinking when I was sewing this. I don't know why everything I sew has a swagger to it? Maybe if I tried on land rather than on a moving boat...?

right now

This waiting game is hard. I feel like a swollen, achey ticking bomb. I have emptied the junk drawer, cleaned out my car, organized every cabinet, categorized the books, and even did some sewing. Tick. Tock. Tick. (contraction) Tock. Will it be today? Will it be next week? Will it ever be?

So I am trying really, REALLY hard to be in the now. Take it all in, savor where I am, not think about when.

Right now...
I am loving the way he chases prism rainbows in the mornings and tries to wear them.

The way the phragmites (reeds) bend over heavy with the weight of the welcome, cooling rain.

The view looking up...

The view looking down...

The wreckage of his creative spurts...

My big boy looking so little when he sleeps and I hold his dirty, brown hand in mine...

tick. tock.

~this moment~

A Friday ritual. A single photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. - via soulemama

enough with the shells already

Ok so we have too many shells. And we started getting crazy with the hot glue gun before. And now yet again we're trying to create some sort of magic with hot gooey plastic and seashells.

Rather than ramble on, let me show you.

(viking ship)

(chair)

(bed)

(ship on its maiden voyage)

All it takes it kid imagination and grown up glue gun prowess. Oh, and a lot of shells.

what not to do when you're 9 months pregnant

It seemed like an easy enough plan. The boys wanted to take the new sailboat that was gifted to Zach by our awesome friends Scott & Lisa for a spin. And they wanted me to chase behind in the dinghy and take pictures. So we hatched a plan. Doug would start the outboard for me before they took off in the sailboat. I am just a wee bit too pregnant to yank on the pull cord for the outboard hard enough without either falling backwards or straining myself into labor. I packed up drinking water and cell phones and marine radios into wet bags and we started our chase.

It was a beautiful, halcyon day. Cool light breeze, lots of sunshine, and boats of all types out plying the waters. They sailed. I snapped pictures and tried to avoid powerboat collisions at the same time.

The fellas were having so much fun I didn't even have the heart to tell them they had the boat rigged all wrong. 

(Aside from the fact that the main sheet is all twisted, it's also fed through backwards. And it was not the 6 year old who rigged it that way - ahem!)

But then it happened. They caught a strong puff and were off. And I heard put-put-put-sputter... silence. The stinkin' outboard died. I took a deep breath, went through all of the usual trouble shooting rituals, steadied myself on my knees, and pulled. No luck. I tried and tried (getting crampy all the while), but just didn't have the umph required to fire her up. Rowing home in my condition is just not an option. I hailed some passing kayakers who towed me to a near by dock where I tied off and called Doug. It took a while because heck, it was a beautiful day and they were off sailing. I had water. I wasn't drifting anymore. I waited.

And waited.

And finally they were home and had two hands free to answer my call. They had to commandeer a neighbor's dinghy and come to my rescue.  I was really, REALLY hoping it was a mechanical problem and not me. But Doug hopped in, pulled it twice, and vrooooom!

(Old Faithful. We have had this outboard since before we went cruising back in 2001. It has taken us on many adventures and even saved us from being stranded on an uninhabited island on our former boat in the Bahamas. With the help of fun loving friends and lots of rum and paint, she got the groovy paint job before we started cruising. It's supposed to be crazy looking enough to be a deterrent to outboard thieves.)

*sigh*

Tail between my legs we motored home in tandem. No more solo dinghy rides for me this month.