His face here reminds me of puddy. And if we want to tak ite a step farther.., silly puddy, to be exact.  He gets his skin genes from this daddy's side.  I realized this when ender was quite younger and one day he discovered that he too could plug his nose with this upper lip.  Go on, try it.  I certainly can't do it. 

 

The morning light and I are becoming well acquainted again. Its peaceful to see it caress cora's chubby cheeks. (oh, nice alliteration, leslie!)

in the first few weeks of cora's homecoming, the start of the day would be really rough.  i would need to nurse her, but ender would be very grumpy and needy.  I found myself waking to feed her first, making sure she is in some comfortable state,  go get ender up out of bed because you could always count on him wanting to be held and cuddle him until the baby cried again or I just couldn't push breakfast out any longer.  it was tricky and annoying :)

 

 

but now, i can get ender up before nursing her and bring him in bed with us.  he kisses her good morning, brings his books and milk in bed, or "tidies" cora's things for me.   This time is quickly becoming the best way to start my day. 
Thank you Jesus, oh my, thank you

I enjoy Saturday mornings.  Zander is in the kitchen whipping up really tasty oatmeal.  I mean really tasty. 

He once said "Oatmeal is so good.  Its like really good bread thats already been chewed for you."

Wow. Okay. Sure.

This last time I offered him some delicious blueberries to mix in with this porridge.  He flat out refused and gaily cut up his nasty biltong.  (remember?  The raw pieces of meat he had hanging in our spare room.?) Well they finished curing and now they are in the freezer.  I don't mind that so much.  Now I do not have to hold my breath, duck and avert my gaze every time I enter the room with the meat chandelier.

During one of Cora's feedings in the early after midnight hours I looked over at Zander to admire him.  Because yes, I do adore and love him.  But when my gaze fell over his head, my heart nearly defecated from fright.  (hearts can poop if you are really scared.) 
Well, it was not a nightmare. Indeed I was sleeping with the awful reality right next to me. 
bald, Bald, BALD!  As bald as my newborn baby's butt.  The boy is bald!  It happened last night while I was grocery shopping.  I pulled into our carport worshipping the Lord while Mumford & Sons preached over the radio when I saw someone duck behind a dirt mound we have in our back yard.  Typically this would startle me, however, I have two kids and things that go bump in the night are not as potent anymore.  I knew instantly it was Zander by the ornery way he moved and his beady blue eyes glinting in our porch light.  And then I saw why he was trying to hide.

I got out of the car.  "It was an accident!  I didn't mean for it to happen!  But I gave myself an inverted mohawk and had to finish the job" 

Somehow he didnt' realize he took the razor off his shaver?  Or he put on a really short one?  Or what was his excuse?  Anyhow he ended up with a paved road right down the middle of his head.

I'm mortified.  No picture included unless you want to know what it feels like when a heart poops. 

we spent the day in our old stomping grounds (my parent's hood)
went on a walk to introduce cora to neighbors
read with Papa and Lu
played in dirty irrigation water as true phoenician water rats
didn't take a nap, but it doesn't matter when you are a happy boy with his cousins
ate pulled pork with family from out of town and called it a night

I love going over to my mama's house.  I don't think I will ever cut the apron strings.  In fact, they got even stronger, scarily stronger, after having kids.  I'm trying to come to terms with that, accepting that I'm a mama's girl.  Honestly, I have always chosen to be with my family over friends.  So its no wonder. 

Tuesdays with Veronica

 

I know two Veronicas.  One is a jealous, backstabbing comic cartoon who cannot make her mind up between Archie & Reggie (and you can just forget about Jughead).

The other is a polished mother, ex-archaeologist, mod glam (did i just make that term up?), dog groomer, builder, crafter, & hamburger lover, with Spontaneity being her middle name. 

And I have immensely enjoyed her company during the postpartum moratorium of my "normal" "bustling" life.

She makes me lunch, holds my newborn, is gracious with my two year old, and doesn't seem to mind that our Tuesdays are planned and not spontaneous. 

this is her tike Niko.  Him and & Ender get along so well when they are not hitting, screaming, or pushing each other.  :)  This is the little dude that warmed ender up to the idea of wrestling as a form of fun.  Ender tends to be a bit particular about his personal bubble.

March 4

Yesterday was a first for me & Zander.  He remembered our anniversary before I did.  I am becoming less puppeted by the dates of the calendar anyway.  I prefer to sway with the seasons these days. 
So "march fourth" i am not terribly attached to you.  We were married in the Sonoran spring.  So when weather begins to gently warm, and the sun lingers a little longer, I will remember the pecan grove. 

Now, I cannot post a photo of our wedding because the photos are on a cd which are in a room in which I dare not go.  Zander, has strung up raw meat strips from the ceiling fan and is curing them.  It doesn't smell, thankfully, but my imaginations is sending signals to my brain to stay far away from the creepy, disturbing scene.  I tried to convey to zander how scared I was that what he did was a cruel joke.  In fact, if you're reading this boy, we are going to "talk" about removing the horrid meat from the house when you get home.  Ok this is how I see it:  My room has been turned into the workshop of a serial killer cannibal.  There I said it Zander, now go string it up at Pj's house!  If you don't, I will put gloves and a mask on ender and he will be more than delighted to yank the meat down and throw it in the trash.  Beware of me and my little minion!

I love you!  Happy Anniversary!

a happy couple spending a summer in the emerald embrace of junipine.  you can hardly notice it, but if you look closely, we are standing on a cliff  and are about to jump and begin our out of control free fall into parenthood.  look at us!  So oblivious, so naive!