Swim day

Pregnancy Pumps vs. Fake Uggs

Here I am, sucking on a fudgesickle, thinking about one of the most embarrassing nights of my life. It was pretty bad, and the whole thing led my to buy these heels the other day. Which is crazy, because I honestly don't think I have ever worn heels in my life. At least not ones this high.

It was a night several years ago, when I was pregnant with Aspen. Nine months pregnant, to be exact. The actual day she was due. There was a law dinner the university was throwing, and Eric and I hadn't gotten tickets due to the night it was being held (just in case). We got a phone call telling us that a few seats had opened up, and would we like to come. I really didn't want to go. I was feeling fat, frumpy, and extremely unattractive, not to mention unsociable (go figure). But it was a free dinner, and a chance to get out, so we decided to go. Not to mention there was no activity going on in the womb area.

"Honey, what's the dress code?" I asked Eric.

"Uh, I think it's business casual," he said. So I grabbed some clothes: a nice black tee (I wore a long sleeved white one underneath, since it was February), a jean skirt (knee length), and a pair of fake Ugg boots (I seriously could not fit into anything else).

Okay, so we get there, and I walk in to the dinner. Every other girl there is wearing an evening gown, dressed to the nines. Hair is up, heels are on, and this dinner was fancy. I never felt so out of place in my life! I wanted to die, and was this close to turning around and walking out.

"Eric," I pleaded, "please don't make me go in there! Let's just go before anyone sees us."

Eric, being the positive, sweet husband he is, said something like no you look great, really. It'll be fun!

Well, after a while I started to feel less humiliated by my appearance, but this is the point of the story:

I saw several other pregnant women there, looking amazing. And in heels. I didn't know it was possible to wear heels when you were pregnant. And that image has stuck with me. So the other day I went and bought some, just to prove that I could pull them off. After the initial 15 minutes of tripping while wearing them around the store, I kind of got the hang of it. And, in fact, the first time I wore them out, it was empowering. Take that, gravity! And frumpiness! I'm actually on the search for another pair. So here's to heels! At least until the edema sets in, and I'm back to the boots.

Yet another hike

I know so many of my posts are of hikes the three of us do, but if I didn't post about them, you'd think I was sitting on my caboose all the time.
We went up to McCall this weekend to "get away from it all" and enjoy a little rest and relaxation. We were going to camp, but then a friend offered us the use of his woodsy, comfy cabin, and we were all about that. That's where the r&r came in.
We decided not to bring the pack 'n play, on the hopes that we'd be able to find somewhere convenient to place Aspen during her naps and bedtime, but ended up sticking her in bed with us. One night Eric ran into town to get us a movie, and Aspen and I just hung out in bed, reading magazines. She'd see a recipe ad and grab the magazine. "Woah, mommy (we're back to mommy now) that looks sooooo good!"
During our hikes I'd follow Eric while he carried Aspen on his back. They'd be having these conversations about moose and trees, and I didn't want to butt in. It was really cute.
We found this one hike that was really great. It wasn't marked very well, but it crossed a cascading stream several times, and Eric and I were glad we'd worn our sandals. It felt great to get our feet wet! Unfortunately we could only follow it for about half a mile or so and then we had to turn around because for the life of us we couldn't find the trail.
We saw several deer, lots of garter snakes (to my dismay, but they actually weren't so bad), a fox, several squirrels, fish, and lots of tracks (deer and bear). Aspen loved that.

Roo

Aspen's middle name is Rae, but we just call her Roo.
She's a great kid. She's also two, which makes things very challenging sometimes. The weird thing is, she can be an absolute crab one day, and I still love her more and more. Must be a mother thing.
Lately she's started calling me Mama. At first I didn't like it. It made me feel old. I think she got it from "won't my mama be so proud of me, I'm bringing home my baby bumblebee....." Now I really like the sound of it, and it makes me beam every time she says it. "I'm her mama," I think to myself with pride, getting all choked up.
She likes to dance to my ringtone, which makes me miss calls sometimes because I don't want to cut short her performance.
She really loves people. She knows all the names of her friends' moms, and asks me about them regularly. What's Rachel doing, mama? Is she at the store?
I sure am glad she's mine, my little Roo.

Eric and I have been married for almost five years. In those five years, we have moved six times. I'm not complaining; those years were years of discoveries, adventure, and new beginnings. It seems strange now, though. Usually this time of year we're getting ready to move somewhere new, and yet this year we're staying put. It's nice to be in one place, with a steady job and the confidence that when you make new friends you'll all be sticking around for a while. But we're itching to get out of our routine, if just for a day or two.

Our backyard looks like a wild prairie land, due to the high amounts of rain we've been having. Every time Eric gets ready to mow the lawn, it starts to pour. So we decided to pitch our tent in it last night and go camping, since it looks like we're out in the wild anyway. Honestly, the grass has to be somewhere between eight and ten inches high.
Aspen's Papa has been spoiling her lately and bought her her own kid-size sleeping bag (which is stinking cute), so she just had to try it out. Anyway, it was a fun way to just get out of the house for a night, free of charge. It was the perfect campout: when I got hungry I just popped in the house for a snack, and while inside grabbed an extra fleece and took a trip to the toilet (sorry about the details guys, but I am pregnant here). I told Eric we should try to do this once a week during the summer, and he seemed alright with the suggestion :)

It's true that when Eric, Aspen and I are out, people always comment on how much Aspen looks like her daddy. I'm okay with this, after all I think Eric's pretty cute himself, and I have to agree with anyone who thinks they look alike. However, I could probably count on one hand the number of times someone has actually said to me, "wow, Aspen looks just like you!"

Now I know I shouldn't take it this way, but when someone says my child looks just like her father, what I hear is something quite different: "your daughter looks nothing like you."
So I thought I'd post a little comparison of Aspen and I both around the same age, just to show that we are in fact related. I think I've proven my point.....

Makeover....