Fields of Dreams

In my book, a girl's first baseball game is a big deal. Going to a SeaDogs games was another of those moments I dreamed about sharing with LMC as soon as I knew she was coming. Even so, it caught me a bit by surprise that I got a little teary-eyed when we walked out of the concourse into the sun-lit fields of Hadlock Stadium.

Any attempts to actually watch the game are mostly moot at this point, and if you asked LMC what her favorite part of the experience was, and she could speak in sentences, I'm pretty sure she'd say the french fries. But it's harder to find something more summery and American and wonderful than a minor league ballpark on a July day, particularly when your team is up by four runs.

The only thing that could perhaps be more perfectly summery is a field of sun-ripe strawberries. I've already noted LMC's love of berries here before, but it's something else to be in a whole field of them. We made it to the last picking day of the summer at Jordan's Farm in Cape Elizabeth, and while the berries on the ground were no longer numerous, they were still delicious, and fortunately the farm stand was still well stocked, since the berries we picked seemed to mysteriously disappear...

Epic Birthday Weekend

Little Miss Cleaver turned one this weekend, and it's hard to believe it's been a year already. The days can be long (3:30 wake up calls, anyone?) but the weeks and months, and now year (!), just speed by.  It seems not so long ago she was just this tiny squishy thing and now she's walking and babling, and has opinions and is just a tiny little person.

To celebrate her first birthday we made a weekend of it. First on Friday, Mr. Cleaver and LMC met me at work and we went out to lunch at the Olive Cafe, picked out some birthday presents at the local toy store, and LMC tasted her first ice cream - Gelato Fiasco of course!

For her actual birthday on Saturday we kept it fairly low key. She wore a new mom-made birthday dress. There was breakfast and cards. Then we went to LMC's very first swim class, the first half of which involved a wet baby clinging to me like a barnacle, until we got to the picking up and splashing into the pool part and especially the singing part. During the singing she clapped her little hands with joy and looked at me as if to say, you didn't tell me there'd be singing mom, I'd have been more open to this whole thing if I knew there would be singing! The swim class totally wiped her out and resulted in a nearly two-hour mom lap nap.

In the afternoon Memere joined us for a few balloons, a few presents, and a cake. In honor of her birth on Maine Maple weekend, I made a applesauce cake with maple buttercream frosting. I modified the original recipe to use 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour, less sugar in the cake, and no nuts/raisins. I'd probably cut back on the whole wheat flour next time, as it got a bit dense. I also added a bit of water to the frosting to get it to a spreadable consistency, but it was otherwise delicious.  The frosting tasted almost exaclt like maple sugar candy. The cake decorations I made myself out of some scrapbook paper. The birthday crown was a free pattern on Ravelry that took about an hour to make.

Later in the day our neighbors, who watch LMC two days a week and are like second family to her came over for a while.  Then we ate some pizza, gave LMC a bath, and everyone went to bed about a half an hour early and slept in late.

Today was Maine Maple Sunday itself, and we made our usual jaunt up to Sebago for a pancake breakfast and sugar shack visit. All in all it was a sweet time with a sweet little girl and a very good first birthday/first year of parenting celebration.

The Magical Time

There are three moments during my pregnancy that I can pinpoint as being irrationally emotional. (I'd have said four, but this music video still makes me cry every time.)

1. A PBS promo where a little girl sees her reflection in an astronaut's helmet;
2. Seeing a little girl getting really excited over seeing Santa at the Disneyland parade;
3. Watching the Radio City Rockettes in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

In each of these instances I found myself getting unexpectedly teary (or in the case of #2, full-on crying), so it is perhaps no surprise then, that I have been really really looking forward to sharing the holidays with Little Miss Cleaver this year.

Celebrating our first Thanksgiving was a pure joy. We watched the parade together, shared a lovely meal with Memere and her uncle & aunt, and then LMC took a big nap while the grown-ups watched football.  All in all, I think she did the day pretty darn well. And yes, I got a little teary watching the parade again this year, as it was the realization of a moment I could only dream about a year ago.

Sometimes Mr. Cleaver and I talk about what we want home to be like for LMC and there are a few words that come to mind: safe, warm, loving, and a little bit magical. To me, the holidays are the epitome of all those things and I can't wait to share even more of them with her.

First Snow

Looking out at her first snow this morning!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Autumn in Maine

It's no secret that I love Autumn in Maine. Fall has always been my favorite time of year and New England has the best Autumns of them all. And this year I get to share it all with Little Miss Cleaver - which makes it even better.

This year we crammed both of the Cleaver Family fall favorite field trips into one gloriously busy week: the Fair (Cumberland County) and apple picking (Ricker Hill). Miss Cleaver was wide-eyed at all the new things to look at (but not allowed to put in her mouth) and Mr. Cleaver and I loved watching her take it all in. Steinbeck was just happy to be there.

For years now, Mr. Cleaver and I talked about how some day we would take our future children on these annual adventures with us and what a thrill it is to be actually doing it now. We met in the fall and married in the fall (6 years this Sunday!), and the return of the season each year serves as a reminder of how this little family, my greatest joy, made its start. Small wonder that Autumn's my favorite time of year.

PS: Miss Cleaver just turned 6 months old (how time flies!) and mastered sitting the day we went apple picking.

Or should I say, almost mastered?

PPS: Thanks to those of you who voted for the Pride's Corner Drive-In. Unfortunately they didn't win a new projector, but another Maine Drive-In (in Saco) did!

Miss Cleaver's First Beach Day

This Friday I took the day off of work and we took little Miss Cleaver out for her first beach day. We went to my favorite beach, Ocean Park, where I first dipped my toes into the Atlantic nearly 8 years ago to the day. Miss Cleaver found the toe-dipping experience a bit chilly for her tastes.

Being a trio of pale-skinned red-heads we didn't spend too much time on the beach itself, but all in all it was a perfect day with shaded strolls, ice cream with sprinkles (for me), shuffle-board nap time (for her) and a good time had by all. Just in time too, as my little 5-month-has nearly outgrown that bonnet already!

Blessed Days

Come Friday, Little Miss Cleaver (LMC or Miss C.) will be a month old (well, four weeks). It's hard to believe a) that it's been a month already and b) that's she's only been in our lives a month. The nights are long and the days are short and we couldn't be happier.

I've managed to get in a little sewing, and Miss C. went to her first knit night last week and got tons of cuddles and mom got to use two hands at once. I spend a lot of time just looking at her and thinking how beautiful she is and how amazing it is that she's ours.

I love being a mom to this little wigglebottom.

One Week

So those pictures I posted in my last post with the baby bump? I glad I took them that morning, because less than 24 hours later I was going into labor. Well technically, my water partially broke and I didn't actually go into labor and had to be induced, but by the next evening I was in the hospital working on bringing this into the world.

The afternoon of March 22nd brought 9 pounds and 4 oz of our very own little red-headed girl and we couldn't be more overjoyed, proud, overwhelmed, amazed, everything.

Sometimes I just hold her in my arms and can't believe how beautiful and wonderful it all is and how soft her hair is.

And yes, I've been projectile spit up on and our laundry in the past week has more than doubled and there are a lot of diapers and late night feedings, but it couldn't be more worth it.

Steinbeck has been a very curious but very good big brother and Mr. Cleaver is the absolute best.

I know my life is going to be totally different going forward and I have no idea what to expect, but I'm looking forward to living life with this wee one.

I've debated more about what to call our little girl on this blog than we did on her actual name and I still haven't settle on anything, but it'll come in time I'm sure. Until then, I'm off to cuddle my little one.

Fall is on Its Way

Oh hey there blog. Don't worry, I didn't forget about you. It's just been a long quiet summer. I watched a lot of dvds (The Poseidon Adventure really holds up by the way and my love for the X-Men cartoon survives unabated), but for the past month or so, I didn't really do much of anything I'd call "blog-worthy." But fall is quickly approaching here in Maine and the Cleaver household is getting back into the swing of things.

First stop? Ricker Hill for our annual apple picking adventure.

On our 4th year out, my love for this place is still strong, as the doughnuts are still delicious, the views wonderful, and the apple selection top-notch.  We picked a half-bushel and a peck of MacIntoshes, McIntoshes, Cortlands, and my personal favorites, Jonagolds. I see a pie-making afternoon in my near future.

The weather was sunny and crisp, just like an apple-picking day should be.

Steinbeck was super-helpful.

We came home happy, tired, and full.  Though I might have been a bit more tired than usual, but that's only because gestating a tiny human being is hard work......

Yep - the Cleaver's are expecting!

While I couldn't come up with any cutesy blog announcement photo theme (they are seriously not kidding about that 1st trimester fatigue), both the Mr. and I are super excited. I'm about 12.5 weeks along and am due in late March. So expect many photos of tiny baby sweaters soon. I imagine it's going to be a busy fall!