here comes the rain again...

Did I happen to mention that Sasha is the most beautiful, brilliant baby I know? I know, I know, everyone thinks their baby is the most beautiful and brilliant, but I swear she is special. What? Everyone once in a while I just need to be one of those moms. Every once in a while I need to compulsively italicize every other word. Ahhh, all better.

Jay and I have gone to a pumpkin patch every October since we've known each other. Every year we would wander the patch, just man and woman among the squash and the mud and the rosy-cheeked children. We'd pick out our favorite pumpkin, grab a steaming cup of cider, maybe pet a goat or feed a chicken. Despite our delight in pumpkin hunting, somehow it just always felt empty; like we were missing something. Every year we'd say, "It would probably be more fun if we brought a kid with us." There was one year that a 10 year old kid followed us through the corn maize. It was kind of cute at first, but then we started getting that itchy, annoyed feeling that childless folks do when chatty 10 year olds overstay their welcome. We decided then that it wasn't just enough to bring any old kid. We needed to bring a chatty tot of our own.

Long story short, it's much more fun now that Sasha is around. Sasha picked out a beautiful pumpkin which will be carved this weekend. Thank you, Sasha, for brightening our pumpkin hunts.

The auction at Tougo Coffee Co. for the Community Birth & Family Center was a great success. We made almost $2500 which is several hundred more dollars than I had expected to make. I was nervous that the space would be too small, but it ended up being perfect for the number of people who came. It almost makes me want to do it again!

No time for that, though. Stefanie and I are plugging away again at our business plan. As always, the numbers portion of the plan has us biting our nails and we need to find some friendly salon owners to give up their start-up numbers so that we can do first year projections. I have a few leads that I can work on, so I'm crossing my fingers that someone will be nice enough to divulge some numbers.

We also met with an architect, Ariel Kemp, and we like him despite the fact that he gave us homework. It's fun homework, though - finding visuals of spaces that we like, writing narratives, mapping out the space we envision. I like his previous work and he comes highly recommended by Brian, the owner of Tougo.

I need to raise a good chunk of money, though, so if any of you win the lottery and want to share, give me a call.





Word to all the mothers.

Three More Days

Just three more days until the auction and then I lose my excuse for not posting to the blog. I've been seriously busy with this thing and when I've had a few minutes to post, I only want to sit and just not think about anything.

However, there is much to recap and I feel like as time slips away, so does the memory of all that has happened recently.

Sasha and I went on another adventure together, this time to visit Gigi-ma and Gigi-pa in Las Vegas. I am always incredibly proud of my grandparents, and our trip down there did not tarnish the image they hold in my mind. These two wonderful people rented every baby item we could possibly need, they bought the food Sasha loves, my grandfather pushed the stroller around the mall and washed bottles - they were just perfect hosts to me and my babe.

Unfortunately, our visit meant that their dogs, Dudley and Sparky, didn't eat for three days - Dudley because he was so darn thrilled to have Sasha around and Sparky because he was so darn miserable. Dudley and Sasha were the best of friends all weekend and enjoyed many rousing games of Slobber Ball. He didn't even mind when Sasha would try and eat his food. Heck, he wasn't eating it, so why not?

Here's a photo of the happy family. And no, despite our Eastern European ancestry, we are not a family of vampires. I just forgot to use the red eye flash thingy. I think it's actually called that.

Don't I have a gorgeous family??






In other Sasha news, she is continuing to prove herself to be a physical dynamo. She's lightning fast and has stood on her own several times now. She also can clap, although not quite on command. She loves to clap at the end of a song, so sing her a little ditty the next time you see her and I bet she'll clap for you. It's great for the ego.

I think she understands the word "ball" and "where is" and "kitty." She definitely understands "Daddy" and still throws a party every time Jay gets home.

Oh, the lady of the house just woke up, so I better go. I hope not to let so much time go between posts next time!