This is all she wrote...

"The time has come," the Walrus said,"to talk of many things..."

Our sweet Ella at 5 months and 3 weeks in the pumpkin patch.

Oh, poor neglected blog, I've been unfaithful. I've been cheating for quite some time now. Seems that I'm very barely still in my twenties, and the time I do have left before starting another decade is coming to a barreling halt. So, further in that same vein, "The mischief, misfortunes, musings, and miracles of a 20-something" is not as fitting as it was when I started here a little over 5 years ago.

I started this blog as "me", became part of a "we", and we made us "three". During my pregnancy I wanted somewhere to record my experience, to maybe come back and reflect on it, or to maybe show Ella when she's older. After Ella came along, I struggled with how I was going to deal with my two blogs. TWO blogs?!

Now that I'm a mama, most mornings I do my best to down my cup of coffee before it turns into cold, murky sludge. And let me tell you, a good portion of those days I'm wildly unsuccessful because I'm too dang busy with my girl. But I've never been so elated to sip cold, murky sludge with the company of the bestest little lady I know. So, after much thought and deliberation, this is really all she wrote.

And if anyone is still around these parts, please join us over at c l i m b i n g 2 b y 2 . b l o g s p o t . c o m

But the bouncer will ask if you're on the list. To get your name on the list, drop a note to c l i m b i n g 2 b y 2 @ g m a i l . c o m and we'll get that taken care of.

Much love and thanks to you all for walking this portion of our journey alongside us.

May 10th

2 years later, with our girl.

From "we" to "three"

We welcomed Ella Marie into our world on April 30th, 2010 at 2:40 a.m. via (unplanned) c-section. She weighed in at 7 pounds 13 ounces (we were expecting a 9 or 10 pounder!) and 21" long.

She seemed to know who Mike was right away.

She loved being cozy and warm those first few days and this apple hat, knit by the fabulous Michelle H., kept her very cozy and cute.

First car ride home, May 4th, and she had already learned to hold on:)

At home and taking it all in.

Ella at 10 days old, marking my best Monday ever.

Moving from "we" to "three" has been a fairly smooth transition for our new little family. Mike had a week off and returned to work this past Monday (oh, we miss him!). My Mom has come to hang out with Ella and I for a week and a half and we've been venturing out and about for little trips and having a good time.

My latest "discovery", in light of our little trips, is the Snugli my sister-in-law lent us. It's my new favorite thing. When I used it for the first time yesterday, I got the same feeling that I had when I first discovered the iced caramel macchiato...shock and chagrin at the sheer goodness of it all.

We love our Ella and feel privileged to be her parents. After 9 months of yellow, white and green we're jumping into this sea of pink and loving every minute of it. We know we are so blessed by the people that are in our life that already love this bun and can't wait until she's old enough to realize the same.

35/35

When you get this far along, it seems that most of the "milestones" have come and gone--out of the woods/first trimester, halfway there, viability date, all the developmental milestones have been successfully reached, and feet are mostly only visible when propped up or dangling off the front of an Ikea cart as your husband pushes you through part of the store (true story from today).

So now, in the interest of moving time along I bring you "35/35". 35 weeks down and 35 days to go. At this point, you've got to get your journey markers where you can.

Up until this point, all bump pictures taken have been me, my bump, or both. Today we fixed that by getting my sister to take a few pictures of Mike, I and my current resident, Bun, in my parents backyard.

30 weeks/7 months

This was taken last Saturday, after spending the night on the dance floor with Bun and Mike at a friend's wedding. I've found that as wine is a very vague and distant memory and as my bump has grown, my dance moves have conversely shrank. I believe there to be a causal relationship between the two. Although, I felt pretty alright dancing last weekend. Maybe now that Bun is bigger I've regained some moves in my attempt to dance for two.

I think I might be *gasp* loving this part of pregnancy. I was convinced I would, at the very least, hate the whole process and be a terrible pregnant person. I think I'm managing alright, and Mike agrees.

Today I'm 31 weeks, leaving me 9 weeks to go (theoretically). The single digits of weeks make me very excited.

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.

~Budda

The above certainly gives me something to aspire to. Too often I find myself living, not in the present moment, but somewhere where I am "should"-istic, "ought"-tistic, and engage in "must"-turbation, as my Theories of Personality prof once memorably put it.

Since autumn (when I usually find the sun is fleeting and "life" gets into full-swing again), how often I have said to Mike, "We really should...", "We ought to...I suppose it's the 'right' thing to do", "We must____, because...". But so much more enjoyable are the times when we go without a "plan", per se. The impromtu dinners, the hysterical and belly-shaking laughter, the unexpected blessing and support of friends who love us for no particular reason other than we are who we are. In those unplanned, uncharted moments, we are so very lucky.

The past four or five months have been a fury of unexpected. Just when we think things are settling down (or sometimes we haven't been afforded that opportunity) another scene starts to unfold. So we've holed-up, retreated, backed out and backed in to our suite. We have got a lot of cleaning, purging, and organizing accomplished.

There is currently a large-and growing-pile of things to take to goodwill sitting by our front door. Pregnancy has grown a desire in me to throw large amount of "things" out, cast them off and be done, to look forward. And now that February-the tease that she is, flaunting spring wantonly-is here we might just be ready to re-emerge. More focused and clear-headed, attempting to "live in the present moment wisely and earnestly".

CharIie Brown: I guess you were right, Linus. I shouldn't have picked this little tree. Everything I do turns into a disaster. I guess I really don't know what Christmas is all about.

Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?

Linus Van Pelt: Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about.

Lights, please.

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'"

That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.