Life Wright Now | September 2018

September was a sweet baby-centric month for us - from our babymoon, to in-laws visiting, to parenting classes at the hospital, to interviewing a doula, to securing a pediatrician, to a maternity photo-shoot, to installing the car seat, and baby showers with friends. It's been a month of celebration, preparation, and anticipation! 

Here are some other miscellaneous highlights:

Watching | I've given into my Blake Lively crush and started watching Gossip Girl for the first time. Loving that upper east-side preppy style :)

Eating | I ate out a fair amount this month - tried Mr. Gyros in Ballard, Maslow's in South Lake Union, Esters Enoteca in Fremont, and Djan's in Wallingford for my baby shower. Good food at all of the restaurants, but would definitely recommend Djan's for the chocolate mouse cake alone! 

Reading | Unfortunately, there hasn't been a "I-can't-put-this-down" book in a while and instead I've found myself checking out a bunch of cooking and home decor books from the library. My current reading list includes:

Listening | "Crayola Doesn't Make a Color for Your Eyes" definitely wins song of the month! The lyrics are cute, creative, and clever :) 

It's a little hard to believe we'll step into October tomorrow! I've always thought of October as my birthday month, but this year it's more like BIRTH-day month....eek! NW could come any day now! In the meantime, here's some things I'm looking forward to as we play the waiting game :) 

- Enjoying Free First Friday at Bellevue Art Museum

- Seeing A Thousand Splendid Suns at Seattle Repertory Theatre

- Touring the Amazon Spheres

- Listening to Rupi Kaur at The Paramount

Embracing Fall,

SJW 

Sink or Swim

I love the anticipation of jumping into a body of water. Be it pool, pond, or lake - there's something about those moments right before you leap into the air and submerge underwater - especially if you anticipate it being cold! Growing up in Texas, I equate summer with time at the pool. I thoroughly enjoy laying out - soaking up the sun's rays, reading a great book poolside, and dipping in every now and then to cool off and swim around. So when I thought about planning a last "hurrah" summer weekend getaway for me and Mr. Fleece, a pool felt essential.

We ended up at a quaint Airbnb 15 minutes outside of downtown Bellingham - swimming pool included. Their fabulous garden with "harvest as much as you want" produce was an added perk! Escaping the city for a low-key countryside stay was exactly the retreat I wanted. It reminded me a lot of summer days at my Papa's farm in Missouri, even more so because I spent the weekend phone-free.

We ventured into town each morning, but hunkered down at the Airbnb each afternoon and evening and were in bed by 9:30pm every night. Soaking up all the sleep we can get before baby NW arrives and shakes things up. Having our relationship be just the two of us for 11 year now (six years married), it's going to be quite a wild ride welcoming an infant to our family! Thankful for all the opportunities we've had to vacation, explore, and travel together and excited for what that will look like as a family of three! 

Bellingham Favorites:

Saturday Farmer's Market

Village Books

Brunch @ Old Town Cafe

Woods Coffee & Boulevard Park

"Fish Fryday" @ Boundary Bay Brewery's Beer Garden

Fairhaven Village Fish & Chips (didn't go here this time, but it's so delicious!)

Current Reads:

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

The Happiest Baby on the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp

Gutbliss: A 10-day Plan to Ban Bloat, Flush Toxins, and Dump your Digestive Baggage by Robynne Chutkan (via Mr. Fleece)

By all accounts our "Bellyingham" babymoon weekend was a success - most significantly since I didn't go into labor on "Labor" Day...at least not yet :) 

- SJW

I Do Not Have Abibliophobia

I've been re-exploring the world of children's books, mostly out of curiosity to find new books that weren't around when I was a kid and choose books I want in a family library of our own.

So with library card in hand, over the last few months, I've easily reserved over 60 picture books. I love reading through multiple books in one short sitting - it's quite relaxing. Through this exercise, I've found that I value unique or whimsical illustrations, paired with playful, clever, or educational themes and advanced diction that emphasizes learning, creativity, or imagination. It should favorably answer the one key question "Do I want to pick it up and read it again?"

My hope is to be fairly selective of the books we actually own and continue to use the library as the amazing resource that it is for greater variety and exposure. I am fully aware that children can often be disinterested in reading and go through phrases, but I will never underestimate the importance of reading aloud to a child and introducing them to important topics through literature.

Two of my new favorites are The Loud Book and The Quiet Book, both written by Deborah Underwood and illustrated by Renata Liwska.

Librarian at heart,

SJW

The Journey of Motherhood

I have watched babies, held babies, sung and read to babies, changed diapers of babies, put babies to sleep, and completed other baby-centric tasks. But I've never birthed a baby, nursed a baby, or most importantly, called a baby mine. In a few months, that will suddenly change! The great switch-over lingers ahead, beyond the horizon, like the first port of call off the cruise ship (yes, nausea & weight gain expected!) of pregnancy.

In Sitka on our Alaskan Cruise (2014)

I've heard the travel tales of other passengers, other parents who have docked and explored the streets of newborn-care and have parenting souvenirs to share. But you just never know how your experience will compare. What will my trip be like? I'll take recommendations of foods to try, places to go, and things to see, but I also want to make my own decisions after reading the guidebooks I've picked out, acknowledging that some of your "must-haves" and "must-dos" may not be essential for me.

One of our most memorable dinners in the San Juan Islands (2016)

I don't want to worry about other people's travel plans (no meds/epidural, hospital/birth center, doula/no-doula, mid-wife/obgyn, breast/formula, cloth diapers/disposables, pacifier/no pacifier, working full time/stay at home). It's helpful to remember that just like people vacation in drastically different ways, people approach childbirth & parenting in different ways too. Some people camp by the river, others ski for two days straight, others visit family in the mid-west, still others stay at a luxury resort. Truth be told, I've done all of these and have fond memories from each. There may be some personal preference toward one choice, but who am I to say that any are better? 

Skiing at Whistler (2018)

Plus, one important factor for every vacation is the weather - something completely outside our control. Similarly, a baby's disposition, demeanor, and DNA play a huge role in indicating their unique needs and level of attention and care. It's the reality of the classic phrase, "every baby's different." What a beautiful and frustrating reality!

Raining in Hawaii (2017)

I don't know yet what kind of mother I'll be - how I'll cope, comfort, or cry alongside my child :) I expect there will be laughter, tears, joy, heartache, pain, discomfort, amazement, and exhaustion. A great mixture of conflicting and confusing emotions. For now, I'm picking out registry provisions, enjoying the views of a larger belly, and experiencing the increasing anticipation before we land!

Windy cruise in the Mediterranean (2017)

Looking forward to meeting our little travel companion, 

SJW

Summer Plans | 2018

The joy of summer in Seattle is a real thing. The city bursts with energy with its packed out parks, lakes, and daylight hours. Having booked our major vacations in spring, we're left with a pretty open calendar for July, August, and September, with multiple open weekends in a row! That can be a rarity in general, but especially in the summer where camping trips, weddings, and visitors, can quickly take over. I still value my day trips and planned out weekends, but Mr. Fleece has shown me the art of cherishing days in town where we can take things easy and decide what we want to do the day of. That's definitely more his style :)

With that in mind, I'm looking forward to the following "calendared" things...

* Celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary
* Hosting my sister-in-law
* Hosting my in-laws
* Babymooning in Bellingham for Labor Day weekend

but also made a list of fungible things I'd love to do when we're looking to fill an open afternoon or evening...

* Date in Greenlake neighborhood
* Date in Madison Valley
* Hike Mount Catherine
* Swim in Lake Union
* Take friends sailing
* Puyallup State Fair
* Go fruit picking
* Hammock in a new spot
* Bake something
* Grill with friends
* Enjoy low tide
* See a movie in theaters

Seattle Pops at the Seattle Street Food Fest in SLU!

Here's to an unhurried summer,

-SJW

No Salt No Sharks No Worries

Earlier this summer Mr. Fleece and I ventured east to Minnesota to visit my aunt, uncle, and grandmother - affectionately known as "Framma." When I was young, I couldn't pronounce my "g"s (along with a slew of other letters) and the nickname just stuck.

My parents rented a lake house in Duluth along the shore of Lake Superior as a home base for all of us to gather, hang out, play games, and enjoy homemade dinners. The mid-century-mod house with large lawn, huge deck, and private beach access was dreamy. Mr. Fleece and I had the chance to go paddle-boarding, kayaking, and swimming in the cold waters of Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world! We saw the fury of the lake firsthand, experiencing a quick shift from calm tranquil waters to crazy wind and waves in the matter of minutes - one of the highlights of our stay!

This trip was a great kick-off to summer, complete with lawn games, bananagrams, dominoes, beach-combing, walks through Canal Park, and plenty of lounging.

The boat tour of the 22 Apostle Islands (somewhat similar to the feel of the San Juan Islands) was also really special! Sea caves for the win.

Grateful for time to goof off and explore new places with family,

- SJW

Colorado Vacation | Grand Lake & Rocky Mountain

To round out our trip we met back up with our close friends who recently moved from Seattle to Denver, the same ones who graciously let us borrow their camping gear for the week! We plopped ourselves down in their beautiful family cabin near Grand Lake, just outside of Rocky Mountain National Park for Memorial Day weekend. Having time to simply relax, play, and chat with K, B, O, and M was such a treat - the gorgeous backdrop was an added bonus :)

Day 6-8 | Grand Lake and Rocky Mountain National Park
- Lounging and playing Mastermind, Splendor, and boggle on the deck
- Splurging on a brunch buffet at the Grand Lake Lodge
- Scouting for (and seeing!) moose
- Testing out the four-wheeler and BB gun
- Eating Whole 30 based meals for the weekend :)
- Playing cars and trucks with O
- Walking through Grand Lake and bumping into other family friends who were also vacationing

On Monday we took the long route back to the Denver Airport, through Rocky Mountain National Park. We stopped a few times, but mostly just enjoyed the scenic views and the feeling like we were on top of the world!

 Looking forward to more joint vacations like these!

- SJW

Day 1-3

Day 4

Day 5