Henry in Action -- 10 Weeks Old

Stinkin' Considerations

As if I don't have enough to consider these days with only 10 days left of maternity leave, the joys of an 11-week old son, the upcoming commitment ceremony to the woman I love and the colors of Fall filling the landscape...

Stink bugs...Phylum, Arthropoda; Class, Insecta; Order, Hemiptera

They are everywhere! And I am freaking out! They have taken over the exterior of our house, permeate the woods, dive bomb me each time I get out of my car. And let's just be clear: I hate them. Sorry to be so decidely negative as I make strides toward believing in a better world for our son -- but I do loathe these shield-shapped stinkers!

I have had the exterminator out to assist in my second karma-crushing insect genocide of the year and even Rod, the fearless masked hero, weighed in, "Well, yes, you do have quite a problem...worse than I expected to tell you the truth." Ha! Ick! Grrrrr....

I've considered, given this is Idaho, that perhaps these critters have their Jewish holidays mixed up and are coming as one of the Passover Plagues, so I have been trying to convince them instead of the New Year and Repentence and perhaps fasting for the day (perhaps they'll starve?)...but I am having little luck here. They just continue to thrive. Even now, sitting at the CWC Wine Bar in downtown Sandpoint, 3 of them are crawling up the window!

I imagine wishing them all dead will have serious consequences for me on Yom Kippur -- but even writing this makes me crazy with desire to rid our home of the crunchy creatures...

Oy Vay, what to do?

Racing for the Cure

What a terrific Sunday we had Racing for the Cure! Shannon, Henry and I ran with friends and co-workers in the Susan G. Komen Foundation sponsored event in Coeur D'Alane. The Foundation's mission is to eradicate breast cancer through funding research and prevention education. http://www.komen.org/

Our dear friend Ali made Henry a wonderful "My First 5K" t-shirt, which he proudly wore. Next year perhaps he'll be running on his own two feet!

Nine Weeks In

65+ days old and I am off and running! Well, not really running, per se (except in my new sweet-as-can-be BOB jogger that mom pushes!), but I am a mover and a shaker. In fact, I seem to move my little fidget-self all the time -- love to love to love to move! Momma Di takes me in the bath and it appears I am almost swimming, except she still needs to hold me up outta the water! It feels so good...makes me smile and laugh! Each morning in the bath Momma Di teaches me Spanish -- we're covering the parts of the body, the elements of nature we can see outside our window and foods. I am particularly fond of the words "leche" and "pechuga."

I went on my first camping trip last weekend with our dear friends Auntie Lara and Auntie Melissa. Momma Di was needing some "quality friend time" and Momma Shannon was working, so we headed West to the Potholes Wilderness Area -- desert, moon-like landscape. It sure was beautiful! And so great to get into arms of my Aunties once again! I slept in the big blue tent, bundled up in Momma Di's sleeping bag for it was coooold! Fall is here -- no doubt about it!

Home again, we welcomed Momma Shannon back from her trip on the CWC corporate jet from West Virginia. By all accounts, it sounds like the whole experience was great for her -- she is doing some fine things at that company!!!

My 9-week check up found me at 11 lbs. and 23 inches long - I am growing! And ouch! They gave me my first innoculations...oh, to be human.

More Tour de Henry

A few more shots of our babe in arms...how fortunate is he?

Tour de Henry

The first Tour de Henry began in Spokane, en route to Seattle. Shannon, Henry and I spent 10 days in the grand metropolis, enjoying the company of many, many friends and family. Henry has now been in the arms of so many fabulous people -- librarians, consultants, rock climbers, grandmas, artists, anthropologists, kitty cats, guys...what a lucky, lucky boy! Here are a few "babes in arms" shots.