Love

Happy Sprout
Originally uploaded by littlepinksocks.

Oh, man.

Before I got pregnant, I thought I'd write letters to my unborn child, read stories to my belly, play lots of classical music. There would be this mystical connection between us, baby and me. But then... when I peed on the stick and saw the little blue lines... it was so alien, so weird. I just couldn't do any that stuff. I certainly didn't 'feel pregnant' or 'just know' or anything like that. The puking was a dead give away, though.

I never really felt 'connected' to the unborn Sprout inside me. I even felt guilty about that. Sure, I tried to eat right and I read everything I could to 'get ready,' but the whole thing was just so... abstract.

I had ideas on how things would go. I'd have an unmedicated "natural" childbirth, breastfeed exclusively, co-sleep, etc. etc. One c-section for a surprise breech and bona fide low milk supply due to hypolastic breasts later... all I can say for sure about being a mom is that, like life, there are lots of things you can't plan. I never planned to fall madly in love with her every time I looked at her face, either.

I've got so much to say about her birth, my failure and triumph with breastfeeding, and the transition from not-mom to mom... but every time I sit down to do it I just get overwhelmed and tired. Perhaps another night.

Iris

Iris
Originally uploaded by littlepinksocks.

Blue.

A nice big patch of these in the back yard.

We've been in this house a little under a year now. Once upon a time someone lived here who really loved to garden. The folks who lived here before us didn't. Everything is completely overgrown and a total mess back there. But you can tell there was once a plan. My task is to figure out what to keep and what to chop down. But I need to wait til things bloom so I can figure out what everything is first. (see post on Poppies. Lesson learned!)

Poppy

Poppy
Originally uploaded by littlepinksocks.

Red.

When these showed up in the back yard I thought they were funky weeds. Spiky-fuzzy pod things.

Then they bloomed.

POW!

Too bad I mowed a bunch of them down prior to the fireworks. *sigh* I'm learning.

With all my free time

still life with doodle in motion
Originally uploaded by littlepinksocks.

When people ask me about hobbies, it's really hard for me to think of one. I generally think of 'official activities' like scrapbooking, quilting, fishing, etc. as 'hobbies.' I feel pretty lame calling 'surfing the internet' and 'playing with my dog' or 'baking cookies' bona fide hobbies (maybe more on this later). HOWEVER, this spring I think I might have stumbled upon a hobby that satisfies my rather stringent definition. Gardening.

Well, at least I like the IDEA of gardening as a hobby. All I've managed to do so far is plant some bulbs and plants and watch them come up. I've also purchased a book. Does that make it an official hobby?

Socks of the Pink Variety

Sherman and The Sprout. Am I a lucky woman or what?!

Not really that mysterious.

This is where Little Pink Socks comes from. Also here. It has absolutely nothing to do with my little Sprout even though she does on occasion wear pink socks.

I think everyone needs a little pink sock in life. At least one, anyway. I believe life is full of little pink socks, but sometimes you have to look really hard to recognize one when it comes your way. Little pink socks aren't always little, pink, or socks.

The Shermanator - testing photos

Meet Sherman.

He rocks.

He's a Goldendoodle, but since that doesn't sound very manly, we usually just introduce him as a "Golden Retriever - Poodle mix."

He enjoys pina coladas, walks on the beach, and cheese. Will fetch until he passes out or you are too grossed out by the slimy tennis ball to continue throwing it.

Sherman's a Leo, born July 27. He'll be two this summer. He came to us from Amy Lane at Fox Creek Farm. He's everything I ever hoped for in a dog and more (except maybe for the breath)! Gentle, sweet, mellow, and SO good with the baby (more on the Sprout later). Pictures to follow!

Too bad I can't think of a clever title for my first post.

I've been toying with starting a blog for ages. There are times when I feel like I have a lot to say to no one in particular. I used to love to write. I'm so out of practice and honestly, intimidated by the really great blogs out there, that I've put it off.

But now I've officially started a blog. Cross that one off my to-do list.

Speaking of that to-do list:

Things I want to do before I can't (in no particular order):

• Start a blog
• Train Sherman to be a therapy dog
• Write in my blog more than once
• Learn HTML/CSS
• Figure out what to be when I grow up
• Make a decent cake from scratch
• Learn to drive stick
• That's all I can think of right now. But I've been up since 4:30, so I'm not quite thinking clearly. I'm going to play around a bit and see if I can figure out how to format this text better. Like how to underline or cross out text. There's got to be a button somewhere! And those daisy bullets have GOT to go. Can anyone recommend an easy way for me to teach myself HTML?