Archive | October, 2011

cousins come to town

October 31, 2011 at 8:54 pm

On Saturday morning I told Lena that her second cousins–my dear cuz Katie (or Kt) and her hubby Alton–were coming for a visit. She was a little surprised, since she’d just woken up and no one had mentioned it before.

But then she realized she would get lots of snuggles and attention, and got very excited.

And sure enough she did, beginning as soon as they arrived and lasting till the very final squeeze.

We introduced them to many things we love in San Antonio: breakfasts at MadHatters, walks through King William, ice cream cones on the River Walk, an outing for sushi (where Lena tried tofu for the first time and loved it), splashing in the river, and two intense games of Settlers of Catan.

Thanks for coming, Kt and Alton! We love you guys!

3 :: in family, hospitality, weekend

dinner with 5 veterinarians

October 28, 2011 at 4:59 pm

Elliott is currently over halfway through Captain’s Career Course, a requirement for all U.S. Army soldiers who would like to advance from the rank of Captain to Major one day. In this course of about 200 Captains, there are only 6 veterinarians. The veterinary world is small and so most of these vets already know each other, or went to school together, and have already built memories together over the years in the Army.

So it’s a pretty easy thing to have them over to dinner. They entertain themselves with stories of life pre-vet school and pre-Army, or regale each other with fantastical tales of how they saved the life of Chestie, the U.S. Marine Corps Band’s mascot, a chunky little bulldog who swallowed half a softball.

After the vets arrived, we wanted them to see our beautiful King William neighborhood (sorry I still haven’t shared photos… maybe tomorrow!), so we took a walk…

… and wound up at Blue Star Brewery, which you might remember from this post.

Hipster chick Lena fit right in with the brewery scene.

Later we reconvened at home for a hearty meal of baked chicken a la Chicken Cordon Bleu, mashed potatoes, whole wheat rolls, salad, French and Italian wines, and–for dessert–pumpkin bread. Elliott and I love cooking and entertaining, gathering friends around our table, and sharing a meal together.

After supper we might have turned on the TV. The TV? In your house? you say. But yes, we did, for something huge was happening on TV, namely my beloved Cardinals* vs. the Texas Rangers for game 6 of the World Series. What a nail-biter! My enthusiasm in cheering the Cardinals to victory may have roused my sleeping daughter. But ahhhh! can’t wait for game 7 tonight!

*Yes, I cheer for the Cardinals… and the Boston Red Sox. My grandfather took me to a game every summer in St. Louis, so the Cardinals won my heart early. The Red Sox claimed their own piece of my heart after Elliott and I lived and loved in Boston. Oh yeah, and the Nationals… yeah, they have a piece of my heart too. I love baseball! Just don’t ask me anything about football.

3 :: in family, friends, hospitality, Texas

life lately

October 27, 2011 at 10:59 pm

It’s been a little quieter around here these days as the hubby has worked very hard on a paper every evening. He finished all 17 pages of it last night and turned it in and boy! were we glad. Makes us think twice about both being in grad school in the future. Homework when we’re both home and want to be together is no fun.

But anyway, we’ve managed to have plenty of happy times around here despite the paper writing. Even because of the paper writing! Like walks…

… and playtime. With diapers poking out of slightly-gaping waistbands…

… and baking chocolate chip pumpkin bread! More on that later.

And very cute babies and daddies. I have the cutest hipster baby! And the best-looking man in uniform.

P.S. Elliott is currently reading National Geographic aloud to Lena. They are so cute and happy, lying together in bed looking up at the birdfeeder at the birds while he reads! Sigh. Love my little family.

3 :: in family, husband, Lena, thoughts

budget baby

October 25, 2011 at 5:53 pm

Isn’t this outfit gorgeous? I looked up the company that made it and discovered this little romper is “hand-sewn and exquisitely hand embroidered.” It seemed almost too lovely for a baby to wear.

I guess the person that gave it to me also thought it was too pretty to actually put on a baby. The person who gave it to me second-hand (in a garbage bag full of clothes) had never taken this little romper off of its hanger. It hung there, starched and perfect, with a matching dress for Lena to wear when she’s a little older.

What? you say. A garbage bag full of clothes?

Believe it or not, most of Lena’s clothes have come from garbage bags of hand-me-downs. In fact, thus far in Lena’s life, Elliott and I have purchased a grand total of… one… outfit for her. One.

This is not because we necessarily want to. I walked into Baby Gap the other day and caught my breath, amazed at the darling little clothes surrounding me, the potential to take out my credit card and purchase a miniature shearling jacket or a tiny rosette-festooned sweater or my favorite thing of all: a ruffle-bottomed little sleeper.

But we haven’t purchased much at all. We have instead been grateful for many welcome, baby! gifts of clothing from friends and family (thanks, Aunt Eden, in particular, for your hipster contributions for little L!) and gigantic bags of freebies from my Capitol Hill moms’ group. Our beautiful stroller, car seat, and baby carriers were all gifts, as were the spoons we use to feed Lena, the pacifiers we put in her mouth, the washcloths and soap we use in her bath, and the sheets on her crib mattress.

Frankly, finances are tight these days. We’ve had to make a concerted effort to save our pennies and say “no” to our [well, my] longing to purchase clothing that Lena will wear for a grand total of two months. I’ve also learned to say no to a lot of little flourishes (like these darling bows) or have found ways to make what we have stretch to cover new needs as they arise.

And so on this blog you won’t see a baby dressed in all the latest trends, unless those came in a bag of giveaways or were a gift. Lots of mommy bloggers take delight in dressing their babies, and I am definitely one of them. I love dressing up my cute baby girl! But on this blog most of the clothing we wear is well-worn or secondhand, and most of the adventures we take are free or budget-conscious, and most of the meals we eat are cooked at home or are picnics in pretty places. We take neither pride nor shame in this fact, since it’s just who we are right now, and probably who we will be for most of our lives. We value thrift and simplicity. We value the small things as we dream big!

4 :: in home sweet home, Lena, motherhood, thoughts

grandparents come to visit!

October 24, 2011 at 5:59 pm

We were treated with a very brief and very sweet visit from Mom and Dad Garber this Saturday and Sunday. They were in Austin for the launch of the fabulous new home goods store called Treehouse. Mom showed me some photos of Treehouse and it’s phenomenal! The store offers everything that Lowes or Home Depot offer except Treehouse’s products are all environmentally friendly. The theologically-thoughtful founders undertook an incredible amount of product review and collection before the launch of this beautiful store. Elliott and I want to go to Austin to visit it ourselves, even though we have no home to build or improve here!

Lena’s grandparents arrived on Saturday afternoon and eagerly greeted their granddaughter. She took one long hard look at her Grampa and burst into tears. Stranger anxiety has set in full force. However, the following photos reveal that she found them irresistible despite her initial concerns.

Mom and Dad Garber were eager to see our beloved River Walk, so we soon set out that evening. We walked through and out of our beautiful King William neighborhood first:

And then walked down the river towards downtown:

We saw wedding portraits being taken along the river. That gorgeous cypress and the bridge make a beautiful backdrop!

Later than evening Lena got to know her dear Grampa better as he snuggled her after her bath and read her a bedtime story.

Right after we put Lena to bed, our friends Lewis and Bekah arrived for dinner. We ate, talked, and laughed late into the night. Elliott and I are so grateful for their friendship during these months in San Antonio! It’s not often that the Army forces you to live temporarily in the same town as some of your best friends.

The next morning Lena got all gussied up for church and I caught her Grampa taking pictures of her again, so I took some of them! Lena already will pose very nicely for someone with an iPhone, mostly because she is fascinated by it and would really like to get her hands on it.

We dressed her up in a darling little outfit and shoes that Elliott’s friends John and Georgia sent to Lena soon after she was born. I love those chubby thighs…

After church at Redeemer we took another walk along the River Walk, this time heading south along the quieter portions of the river and then looping back through the King William neighborhood. We finished with authentic San Antonio cuisine at Tito’s before Mom and Dad had to head home to Virginia.

Thank you for your visit, Grampa and Marmee! We loved having you here.

This was our first chance to host overnight guests in our apartment in San Antonio, but we’ll have more guests in the upcoming weeks. Anyone else want to come visit while we’re here? We’ll treat you to Sunday morning pancakes, walks along the river, and snuggles with a darling little baby!

2 :: in family, Lena, Texas, weekend

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