Will This Garden Grow

I don't know how he did it, but somehow Papa-T managed to find the energy to spend Sunday afternoon totally overhauling the backyard. He set us up with an incredible vegetable and herb garden. Again. Last summer we proved we were capable of growing only a cucumber and a tomato. I suppose there is only room for improvement at this point.

So, here we go:


and he did it all while these two were completely underfoot:



I can't even make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with these two hounding me.

Impressive.

A Few More, With The Rebel

Aunt Sue, holding her godchild for the first time:


James, all baptized, all love:



and with his hot dad:


The Vaicius Martin cousins all together for a picture. It isn't great, but it is a start:


La Luz, with Pete and Liam:



and with Edward and Liam:


I know, words escape me...

My Weekend, How Was Yours?

La Luz recovered just in time for an action-packed weekend. Despite all of the foaming at the mouth of the meteorologists earlier in the week, the weather was actually quite beautiful...balmy, sun shining through occasionally gray skies, a small patch of rain here and there, and a lovely breeze.

We celebrated La Luz's 4th Birthday with a party at GG's for La Luz and two of her friends who also share June birthdays. It was a Wizard of Oz theme and I think all of the girls had a great time.

On Sunday James was baptized and it was not a moment too soon because the gown fit perfectly. If we had waited any longer he probably would not have been able to wear it and that would've bummed me out because it was my grandfathers and, obviously, has tremendous sentimental value.

My nephews were in town for the festivities, along with my sister and brother in law and Nana and Papa-T. The house was packed and with so many of us under one roof things were a bit chaotic at times but it was worth it to see La Luz enjoying her time with her cousins. I know she will remember this weekend.

I took a bunch of pictures with Christian's camera this weekend and I wish I hadn't relied on it so much. I am a bit disappointed with the blurriness in pictures (and I know this is my fault) and the red-eye (which I am sure I can figure out how to reduce). I suppose it is a good lesson that I have become completely reliant on the magic of the Rebel and that it is, perhaps, the camera that makes great pictures and not the photographer.

Here is the first batch of pictures from the weekend. These are the ones that were taken with the Cannon Power Shot. I will post the ones that I took with the Rebel later this week.

Little Dorothy on her way to the party via the very cool yellow brick road Molly created:



La Luz playing Dorothy, playing Glenda:



GG, babysitting for James during La Luz's party:


And for some amazing, beautiful reason many of my cousins on both sides of my family were in NOLA this past weekend so, inevitably, there was some drinking going on. Here is one of me and Molls at the Columns:


How we spent Monday:

Big Sexy

Every morning when I drop James off at daycare one of the caregivers always asks how "big sexy" is doing. I didn't really think he was all that big, but I imagined that they have seen quite a few babies, being that they work in a daycare and all, so I started to worry they were right, that he was some sort of monstrosity. Luckily, I didn't have to wait too long to clear it all up because James had his 4 month checkup today. According to the doctor, he weighs 15.8 lbs and is 26.5 inches long. She didn't gasp when she read the numbers and didn't even mention the stats, except to repeat them to me. In order to figure out whether those numbers actually mean he is big and sexy I had to input the numbers and have the computer plot them on a chart. As far as I can tell he is somewhere around the 50th percentile for weight and around the 75th for height...so, not unusual. I suppose it is the way he carries it.

Here he is testing out the Bumbo (a hand-me-down from the Bourgeois family). What a great invention. When La Luz first saw it she said,"where did you get that awesome potty?". I don't think these things existed when La Luz was a baby:


and with La Luz, whose mouth is covered in Spaghettios (she was sent home from school today with fever and immediately changed into her princess nightgown so she could get comfortable for marathon movie watching in her bed). They are watching Dora the Explorer. Riveted, as usual:


For some reason he looks particularly pasty and drooly in the pictures. I guess it looks like I don't bathe or properly care for my kids and, honestly, at 6:30 p.m. this is generally how they look, so I have no great excuse.

Through A Different Lens

Christian requested a "point and shoot" camera ages ago. He wanted one to throw in his bag or carry in his pocket. He wanted one that was less bulky and more dispensable than my precious Rebel. The Rebel is an incredible camera but the thought of carting it around Jazz Fest and on trips to the zoo tends to be somewhat of a deterrent to picture taking.

I love reading and learning about cameras. Photography is a hobby of mine and I wish I had more time to devote to taking pictures, using new cameras and techniques, and just becoming a better photographer overall. I love portraits more than any other subject matter, which is perfect because I have great subjects around here.

When I started researching "point and shoots" I read about and fell in love with this guy:


Sadly, it was a bit out of my price-range and the extravagance would have been completely lost on Christian who has never held on to a pair of sunglasses for more than a few months at a time and misplaces ipods like loose change.

The decision was ultimately an easy one. I opted for the Cannon PowerShot Digitial Elph (the SD 750 model). The tiny little thing shoots pictures in 10 mega pixels, way more than are necessary for a decent picture, especially pictures that will primarily be viewed on the computer. This camera is, by far, the best of the best of user-friendly, "point and shoot" digital cameras. Yeah, if you have the shakes your pictures will blur and, sure, you might capture the mouth agape instead of in the smile that melted your heart, but, with a little practice, you can get some great pictures. I recommend this camera to everyone looking for a good digital camera and no desire to fork out the ducats for an slr:


Although it is Christian's camera, it spent most of the weekend in my purse. I can't resist taking pictures of these guys:



And giving La Luz her first shot with the new camera, very avante-garde:

Happy Birthday Christian

With all that has been going on it was a bit tough to focus on your birthday, but don't think for second that I am not psyched about it...you are, after all, finally my age.
To commemorate the special day I decided to waste time digging through old photographs to see if, by chance, I had one of you on the first birthday we celebrated together. Wouldn't you know, I had one. I suppose that is the upshot to (or horror of) sharing your life with someone who attempts to chronicle almost every event. Without your IT assistance the cropping is sub par. Regardless, it is a sweet picture and it takes me right back to that day when we were just falling in love and probably couldn't even fathom what our lives would be like in 14 years.


Happy Birthday, with love, Jules

Four Months

I am a little late but things have been busy around here...
After just four short months I feel comfortable saying that James is possibly the most awesome baby ever. Thanks for smiling at everyone, even people that have somewhat scary faces. Thanks for never minding who is holding you. Thanks for sleeping through the night. Thanks for enjoying both your play mat and the vibrating, bouncy chair. Thanks for enjoying most of the many hours you spend in daycare each week. Thanks for making me feel like I would absolutely adore another baby and, most importantly, thanks for sinking deep into my arms and falling asleep so peacefully at the end of each day.


I have a sneaking suspicion that I might have just hexed myself. I guess I should prepare to be awake at 3 a.m., just in case...

A Little Sleep, A Little Running & A Lot Of Love

All things considered, it was a lovely mother's day weekend. Notwithstanding the usual (and not so usual) business of ballet, errands, laundry, grocery, and everything else, the weekend was peaceful. Christian and I took advantage of Molly's presence in NOLA and cashed in on some free babysitting for a late-night dinner at Patois and it was incredible...more about that later. On Sunday I slept late (of course, it was mother's day after all), opened a lovely gift, took La Luz for a run in the stroller (yes, in the stroller - she hasn't wanted to go with me for about a year now), and celebrated mother's day with a small portion of the Banos family at Aunt Margot's. We also celebrated the newest arrival to the Banos family, Jack Porter. 3 beautiful, healthy babies in just 4 months. We are blessed indeed.

GG, Molly, Mom-Mom, La Luz & Me:


GG talking to James:


Jane and James:


La Luz, petite fours in hand:


Mom-Mom and Jamesy:

What Was Old...

Remember these:

I had tons of them in the mid-80's. I LOVED them and, because they were cheap, I don't think mom and pop thought twice about purchasing a variety of colors to satisfy my wardrobe needs. At some point we realized that they were hideous or uncomfortable or a combination of the two and stopped wearing them. Forever. Until...enter Tory Burch's summer line:


I saw these and at first I gagged a little and thought, "jellies, why I..." but then I started to warm up to the idea and then ultimately fell in love and decided it would be the perfect shoe for summertime. They are sort of outrageously priced, considering that they are nothing more than the contemporary version of jellies, but I sort of think they might be my answer to the croc craze. I don't know how they feel on but if they are the slightest bit comfortable I think I am sold.

Sigh...

To get to this incredible, peaceful, beautiful point in my day, the part that I want to stick out when my brain is racing through past events to pull out the stuff that is important, is a long journey.

Today it started at 3 a.m. and involved a bleary-eyed morning, baby barf on my freshly dry-cleaned suit pants with no time to change, riding the elevator up to the 40th floor with the other mommys all running late with messy hair and sippy cups creeping out of the tops of their bags, a long day at work, and then the bustling evening hours rotating from arms to swing to play mat to lots of tears because La Luz doesn't want to be bathed first and instead wants to play and James wants to be bathed first instead of waiting, alone, on the bed begging for someone to entertain him.

It ended like this, with Tumble Bumble as a courtesy to James, because La Luz thinks it is a good book for a baby, and lots of kisses and whispers and sleepy, sleepy heads:

Jazz Fest 2009

Despite really wanting to see Neil Young live, I decided to skip Jazz Fest this year. James seems to be in the middle of a big growth spurt and basically wants to eat all the time. He was also (quite uncharacteristically) up in the middle of the night (to eat) last night so that, on top of three days traveling for work, was enough to deplete any remaining energy and desire I had in me. So, while James and I had a peaceful and only marginally productive day (I managed to make quinoa for the first time and I love it but accomplished very little else), La Luz and Christian headed to Jazz Fest. I can't remember the last time I missed Jazz Fest and La Luz has never missed it. They had a blast despite a deluge in the early evening that brought the adventure to an abrupt end.

Here's La Luz enjoying a snowball:


and hiding out in the neat sheet just before the deluge: