Mary's Sand and Water Table

A few weeks ago, my Dad came up to Western NY to help me get some things done around the house. He brought this with him!

This is the sand-and-water-play table I "commissioned" about a month before when I was in Pittsburgh visiting the family.

My Dad is recently retired and my mom was concerned that he was not going to have much to do during the day, so I came up with a few little projects for him to work on, whether he liked it or not!

Of course, he did like it. Who wouldn't want to make something for this little sweetpea?

It sits just off the back porch near the garage. She loves it! We have been out there every day since it arrived, mostly baking "cakes" and making "snacks". Today there was tea.

Im looking at her hair in this picture and Im thinking, Wow, this was only a few weeks ago and her hair has really filled in since then. Now, it looks more like this:

Anyone can clearly see the dramatic transformation.

While he was here, my Dad also painted my sunporch (purple!) and my kitchen.

Thanks, Dad!

Thanks, Grandar!

Where the heart is.

So, this is going to be my "personal" blog. Not that the Itinerant Laborer is not personal to me, but it occurred to me that people who show up there to read about my take as a birth professional might not so much care whether MaryElise is sleeping in her own bed now (she is not) or how I am handling my feelings of guilt (they come and go, Im not a total self-defeating martyr) about Ian residing with his grandparents for the sake of his education and well-being.
Maybe this will be a sort of sounding board for me to express my fears and hopes as a parent. Maybe it will just be a place for those near-and-dear yet still physically far away to see pictures of the kids and our lives together and apart.
Regardless, here is a new entity known as Natural Born Mama.
Be gentle with me and with yourself. It's the best we can do.
Heather