A Year Ago

Along with my best friend Andi, I am one of those unfortunate souls who suffers from serious nostalgia. I'm constantly having thoughts such as, "A year ago today I was doing such-and-such," usually followed by a sense of melancholy for the days of my youth (I'm not really that old, but that statement makes me sound like I'm 80). This week has been a particular roller coaster for me, but I had been bracing for it. Tomorrow we're celebrating Silas' first birthday with family and a few close friends that promised they didn't mind the agony of a baby party, and on Monday he officially turns one year old. This entire past month I've made forlorn statements such as these to BJ:

"A year ago today Dr. Brown told us Silas was coming sooner than expected" and "A year ago today was my last day of work" and "A year ago today we went to Chipotle for lunch right after our last doctor's appointment before Silas was born."  A year ago tomorrow, I stupidly allowed myself to be dragged to an NBA playoff game where I was completely overstimulated, miserable, hot, and nauseated...and my water broke 24 hours later.

Part of me was in absolute misery at this time a year ago; I was desperate to meet Silas, physically so extremely uncomfortable, nervous that something traumatic might happen during delivery that might cost Silas his life... you know, the types of emotions that women typically feel when they are about to meet their child for the first time. I felt like I was sometimes hanging on by a thread, and I relied quite heavily on my good friend Sommer, who was equally pregnant and equally as excited and miserable as I was. Her beautiful daughter was born on April 28th and I cried with both happiness and envy when she texted me her wonderful news of Ellie's safe and happy birth. 

Then Sommer did an amazing thing, against all expectations that I had, even of a great friend like Sommer. She KEPT texting me, day and night, with words of encouragement and hope (i.e. 'This baby WILL come. Hang in there! He can't stay in you forever!') Sommer had her own new baby to consume her, her own delivery wounds to heal, her own new life to adjust to...but she didn't forget about me, and I swear that it was on Sommer and on my family that I didn't go absolutely berserk in those final days. Every day a member of my family took me to lunch or breakfast (or both), dragged me to Home Depot or some other made-up errand they needed to run, and kept me busy. Of course, they also made it kind of hard because every time I tried to text or call one of them, they would say something like "I thought you were calling me to tell me you're going to the hospital! Don't call me until you're in labor!"

Well, that's just not fair to a girl who needed companionship. But overall they were awesome.

A year ago tonight, I'm sure I was a mess. And tonight, one year later, I'm a 30-year-old mother of a one-year-old, a seasoned gal with a baby on my hip and an uncanny ability to do all things with one hand now, and I'm nostalgic. God willing, we'll be able to do it all over again someday...soon.

Knitting, Jogging, and Cheering

I have missed blogging. So many times over the past week I have thought, "I should blog about that." And then I remembered that there just aren't enough hours in the day and I really want to sleep at the end of it. Mostly my time lately has been spent either with family or at work. We've been playing hard with Silas and we have lots to show for it this week. Silas stands pretty well on his own now (even took three steps the other day!), successfully says "dog" and "book" on command, and is doing his darndest to learn how to clap so that he can patty-cake independently. It has been lots of fun. I used to wonder before I became a parent if playing baby games with my baby would ever be fun to me, and thankfully it is.

Free time has been spent knitting like a crazy woman. In the past couple of weeks I have knitted two more grumpy bears, and they are gradually improving. This latest one I knitted, pictured below, will be given to Silas to open at his birthday shindig on Saturday. I figured out a trick that makes the arms look better, but I didn't figure it out until the third bear. My apologies to the recipients of the first two bears, whose arms are slightly funky but were knitted with love.

Other free time has been spent at Thunder playoff games or watching them on TV. Even as I type I am watching game five on TV, pulling for the Thunder over the thuggish Denver Nuggets. Although I had a ticket, staying home from this game seemed like the best idea since it's a work night, I'm tired, and Silas would sleep better in his crib than he would on our laps. Hopefully BJ and my brother-in-law are living it up!

Lots of jogging has also been taking place, since our marathon relay is this Sunday. I am slated to run the first leg, which is a 10K. Make no mistake: I have not adequately prepared for this race and almost certainly will not be able to run the whole thing, despite race adrenaline and a picturesque route through Bricktown and past the State Capitol. However, we all know that I'll do my best, which I think will equate to running over half of my leg. I'm not uttering aloud what my target time is, but I'll let you know if I pass or fail on Sunday after the race.

Welcome back, me.

Weekend of Bliss in Seattle

This may have been the longest I've gone without blogging since starting this thing up. I'm sure you're crushed. I'm sorry. I've either been heinously busy working or preparing for vacation, and then wonderfully enjoying said vacation. For any of you who might not have listened to my incessant boasting, BJ, Silas, and I were fortunate enough to spend a long weekend in Seattle. I love Seattle. I don't mind gray skies, and there are so many things about Seattle to love, including but certainly not limited to delicious seafood, gorgeous views, cityscape on the water, progressive atmosphere, excellent people-watching, and tons of great ways to spend your time. Add to that our fortune of having wonderful family members to stay with, and the weekend couldn't be topped.

As I looked back on our pictures, I realized with horror that nearly all of our pictures were taken while we were by ourselves, doing touristy-type things like the market. Virtually no pictures were actually taken at Bill and Lynn's house, and NONE of the pictures have any of our precious family members in them. Way to go me. I'm getting better about using my camera more frequently, but I need to remember to use it at more appropriate times!

The first day we got there we crashed with Lynn at her place and barely left the house actually. This was the view of Lake Washington from their lovely home.

It was great to catch up, eat a delicious meal at home, meet Bill and Jakki, and spend time with Luther the Dog, Rooney the Cat, and Elijah the Parrot. Silas loved all of the animals, and each of them in turn tolerated him quite well, especially Luther, with whom Silas engaged in many games of fetch.

While in Seattle we visited one of our favorite places on the planet, Pike Place Market.

If you've never had the opportunity to visit Pike Place, you simply must put it on your list of things to do. In every direction you can see vendors selling beautiful (and cheap!) flowers, fruits and vegetables, artwork, and other goods. And the fish! The fish! Be careful because they're flying all over the place, thrown with precision by the shouting fishmongers. You can be sure in Seattle that the selection is only the freshest! Pike Place is also the site of the scene in 'Sleepless in Seattle' where Tom Hanks and Rob Reiner have lunch, talk about their butts, and impersonate Cary Grant ("Hello, Diane, take a look at these swatches!").

These gospel singers were phenomenal and were performing to a large crowd right outside the original Starbucks, which is also in Pike Place.

Seattle's downtown is on quite the hill leading down to the water. One slip and you're bound to be dunked into the Sound. This is a shot of the hill that we had to traverse to get back to our parking spot. The stroller required both of us pushing. At the same time. That's right.

The next day we visited the Seattle Aquarium, which was a hoot.  The aquarium focused on marine life in the Pacific Northwest and was lots of fun for all of us, but most especially Silas. He loved dunking his hands in the touch pool and exploring the sea slugs and starfish.

Then it was off for more fish and chips and clam chowder...

and ice cream.

What a great city. I miss it already. I'm ready to go back for a fourth time someday, for a great time to be had by all in the Potter clan. The three of us are hoping to all be in Portland, Oregon in September, so until then, we bid the Pacific Northwest adieu.

Emily's Shower

This is my friend Emily.

Isn't she pretty? We like Emily.

Emily is well over seven months pregnant, and today was her big day... the baby shower! We actually celebrated at her home with a couple's shower, complete with hot dogs, burgers, cake, and tons of gifts! Can you see her here behind Mount O'Gift?

We had a great time celebrating Emily and Brian's little one today. Here are some pics to chronicle the day:

Not all of the guests were human! This here is Buddy.

Silas loved playing with Buddy, and Buddy was an admirable sport about it. Silas also enjoyed playing with his daddy at the shower....

and other children.

Emily got lots of good stuff!

This was one of her gifts from us: Mr. Grumpy Bear, hand-knitted by yours truly.

After the shower, BJ fixed the roof with his dad while Silas and I went grocery shopping for a dinner that we hosted for friends tonight. We've been on-the-go all day, and we're both ready for a good night's rest!

Goodnight, everyone!

Earring Update

I have officially spent hours poring over the grass in an extremely small staked piece of yard. Hours.

And you'll never believe it but....

I found the BACK of the earring, as luck would have it. You know, the smaller of the two pieces that was missing. The one that costs three cents because it doesn't actually have the diamond in it.

I have a renewed sense of energy at least, and I haven't given up yet. I've looked at night with a flashlight, hoping for a glimmer, and I've looked for hours during the daylight. It's amazing how many pieces of grass are actually shiny and shimmery just like a white gold post. Seriously! Now I feel like I have a better idea of where I'm looking at least. I moved the stake that we initially placed where I was standing over to the exact spot where I found the back, which was a little less than a foot away toward the creek.

So here's my plan, concocted by myself, BJ, and my brother-in-law Matthew this eve (although #4 was all me):

1. Bald the area around the stake by pulling out all of the grass CAREFULLY.
2. Take a break.
3. Place the loose grass (you'd be amazed how much loose grass there is when you get up really close to it) in a clear container with water, so the grass will float and the beloved earring will sink to the bottom.
4. Take a break, and maybe help myself to a stiff drink.
5. Continue searching the dirt.

If all of this fails, I guess I will have to finally give up.

Breakfast Time!

Hi, my name is Silas. And I like to do drawrings.
Just kidding.
I'm 11 months old, and I love to eat breakfast!

This is me, giving my mom a devilish grin as I anticipate eating my good food.

Aren't I just something?

This is my brother Tex. His new favorite place is right beside my highchair. I just can't possibly figure out why!

One of my new favorite things to do is throw food down to my brother Tex. You know, charitable giving and all. Watching him dive for the falling food just makes me laugh and laugh. For some reason, it doesn't make my parents laugh. They just roll their eyes.

Oh, better throw some down this way too!

Then afterwards I like to let Tex wash my hands by hanging them down the side of the chair and letting him lick away. It's better than washing them in the sink. My parents don't seem to like this either.

Yummy breakfast!

Peering Into Grass

Do you see this view above? Well, it's the view that I've been looking at quite a bit since yesterday evening, when Silas got extremely exuberant and slapped his hand down onto my ear when we were standing in the backyard. The diamond stud that was firmly in place in my ear was suddenly no longer attached, and my friend Elizabeth, who was visiting for dinner, saw the gleam of the jewel as the sun hit it and it went falling...falling.... falling into the grass. Sigh. I froze on the spot and we marked the area with a stake, but no amount of searching has unearthed that earring. Honestly, BJ keeps telling me that I'd have to be "extremely lucky" because I'm searching for a "needle in a haystack." Once I really got into parting the grass with my fingers, I realized he was probably right. But still I kept looking. And Andi's story didn't help either, when she told me that she and Jason looked for his wedding band forever in their yard and never found it, and a man's ring is certainly bigger than my post!

Sigh.

I specifically asked for these little diamond studs for my birthday because I knew I couldn't wear my old dangling earrings anymore! It's hard for mommies to do that kind of stuff. The joke is on me though I guess, because even studs can be ripped out by little boys. At least it was HAPPILY ripped out.

Last ditch effort is going to be pulling my dad's old metal detector out tomorrow and listening, with little hope, for a beeeep beeeep beeeep.

I'll keep you posted. No pun intended.