Lilah Arin

"Isn't she lovely?

Made from love"

-Stevie Wonder

It's official: I am someone's Aunt. I'm going with Auntie D. My niece, Lilah Arin, was born last night, November 29th.

6 pounds 5 ounces and 19 inches

I got to be there with my sister during her labor via skype:

I love skype. It's like the Jetsons!!

Here she is, my niece:

captain destructo

"Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!

But I think I'll miss this one this year"

-The Waitresses

Love this "Christmas" song. Always fun to hear it and even more fun to hear which 'hipster' band is covering it this year.

Had to run into a store on Thanksgiving and Little Bird happened upon a small Christmas display. Here's her reaction:

Think it's because she's Jewish?!

Giving Thanks

"Thank you thank you thank you

You're far too kind"

- Jay-Z

Alright, Thanksgiving. Gratitude and all that. Let's do this.

A little list of things for which I am feeling grateful. Please enjoy the fine art, as well.

1) Everyone on Little Bird's "team": doctors, therapists, supporters.

2) The library. I think I've saved $2076.97 already this year.

3) My friends (new and old) who love me and my kid and accept us as we are. (also grateful that those who have shown us that they can't be the kind of friends we need have proven it before I could get even more hurt)

4) Ellen the waxing lady at Tamara Spa

5) Skype

6) Spell check

7) Adjustable waist pants for my very tall and very thin baby bird.

8) Israel and the AllStars

9) Scramble

10) health, happiness, family, unconditional love

She was so annoyed that I was in her way and interrupting her game on Starfall.com

Miami Oh My!

"We're on our way home.

We're going home."

-The Beatles

Well, I'm back in another Delta lounge in another town, getting ready to board another plane. While I'm rarely excited to fly, knowing that Greg and Little Bird are on the other side definitely helps!

What a nice little vacation this was. Lisa and I spent most of our time reading, relaxing, and relishing in our time off.

So hot in the sun, everyone needs to take a little dip

Staying Hydrated

Going Green...

My pocket moment... you know, the one I need to keep in my pocket and pull out in desperate moments? It's this one:

Going Rogue

"I'm leavin' on a jet plane"

-Peter, Paul, and Mary

I've never taken a vacation just for me. In the last 13 years, I've rarely been on a plane without Greg and/or Little Bird. Well, my friends, I'm going rogue. Off to Miami with my friend and fellow Warrior Mom Lisa. A nice, long weekend to sit by a pool, read books, overeat and over drink. I packed very little: skirts, jeans, couple cute tops, flip flops and bikinis. Just finished reading a great book called The Weight of Silence this morning so I could start Jane Eyre on this trip. I also packed Twilight to re-read since it's a good vacay read. Oh, you didn't know I'm one of those desperate housewives who fell for the whole Twilight craze?? It's true. In my defense, I got into it before the rest of them. Thanks to my friend Jessica K, I started reading all that WAY before it was cool. And trust me, it's cool. Sitting in the Delta lounge, using up their WiFi, drinking their drinks and eating their snacks. Suckers!! And we're off....

Cover-Up

"I'm not a player, I just crush a lot"

-Big Punisher

Many women have crushes on the clean cut, handsome film actors like Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Hugh Jackman, etc. Me? I'm more into the dark, brooding indie-musician. Don't get me wrong, I definitely crush on the preppy nerdy thing as well. Funny thing is, a lot of these musicians have these big thick beards.

Sam Beam of Iron and Wine

I love me some Justin Vernon of Bon Iver

And because he really is my favorite, I'm including two pics of Mr. Ray LaMontagne

Of course, there's always an exception. For example, I'm just not so into Devendra Banhart:

Anyway, my point is that a few weeks ago I was mentioning this to my sweet, surfer/snowboarder looking husband (it's all in the long curly hair) about that and lo and behold I noticed he was getting a little Don Johnson-y. He hasn't let it go past that stage, but it's still pretty cute. I might have to snap a pic and throw it up here.

Enjoy it while it lasts

"What's the use in regrets? They're just things we haven't done yet. What are regrets? Just lessons we haven't learned yet." -Beth Orton

A couple weeks ago I was at Franklin Cider Mill with my mom. It's only open for 3 months each year. It's definitely one of the things we do when she visits during the Fall Season. There we were, watching them press the apples and make the cider when we turned around and were bombarded with all things apple and delish: apple pie, apple cider donuts, caramel apples, apple cinnamon raisin bread with icing, etc. She asked me if I wanted anything. I said I couldn't. I know I can't because I will make myself crazy about it afterward and it's probably not worth it. But I know that in 10 years I might weigh (gasp!) 5-10 pounds more (since many women tend to gain weight as they age. It's natural and probably hormonal), and I will REGRET having not enjoyed the things I wanted to. You know, things like apple cinnamon raisin bread with icing, for example. I mean, I look at little girls with their 21 year old bodies and I think "bitches!" Kidding. Kind of. What I really think is "that's right, girls, eat that ice cream and that apple cinnamon raisin bread with icing now because in 10 years...." But I know that people look at me and think the same thing. By the way, at 21 I didn't enjoy those things either for all the same reasons I don't today. I regret not doing it then. Kinda like I know I'll regret not doing it now.

Grandma comes for a visit

"I miss you I'm going back home to the west coast.

I wish you woulda put yourself in my suitcase"

-Coconut Records

Top 10 reasons I love when my mommy visits

(in no particular order)

1) She brings me Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf no sugar added vanilla powder for my coffee.

2) She brings me other treats that I can't get here like Mother's Iced Oatmeal Cookies

3) She cooks for me: helllooooo Dover Sole!

4) She loads and unloads my dishwasher and laundry machines

5) Free babysitting

6) She yells at the TV with me when the news is on

7) She brings Little Bird KISS recordings. Although I'm kinda sick of hearing "IIIIIII wanna rock n roll all niiiiigghhht...."

8) It's pretty cute to hear my little bird say "doodnight dooowaaamaaa"

9) She calls me a hero and always praises my performance as the bird's mom

10)

'Nuff Said.

The old switcharoooooo

"Groovin.... on a Sunday afternoon"

-The Rascals

So after a great visit with my mom (more on that later), it was time to take her to the airport. Greg put her suitcase in the car while Grandma hugged and kissed Little Bird goodbye. We hopped in my car and made the drive out to the airport. We pulled up and got out to hug and say goodbye. I opened the trunk- no suitcase. Greg put it in the other car. FML.

Get in where you fit in

"Get in where you fit in"

-Ben Harper

Ok, first of all yes, there's a Too $hort record called get in where you fit in, but I like the Ben Harper melody better.

I know a lady. She's probably 45 years older than I am. We both belong to a club and I'd see her every so often, but not really talk much. A couple years ago I ran into her and she asked me how my "baby" was doing- I don't think I'd seen her since I'd given birth a couple years before that. I was honest. I told her that Little Bird had some developmental delays and other "issues". She took a deep breath and told me "the world is so big. she'll find where she fits in." I loved that. I haven't seen that woman since.

Why am I telling you this now?? Well, this evening I discovered a company called Specialisterne. Its founder has a son with ASD and knows very well the talented gifts that people with ASD can bring to the table. He hires people with ASD for his software company. They have been known, after all, to be very detail oriented, have great memories, be comfortable with repetition, etc. Love it!