Critters in the Yard

Our friend Sheri visited tonight to investigate the pounding sounds she has been hearing above her head. Cesar is working on a pantry space for me and I am very excited! More pantry news to follow soon. As we were saying our good-byes she spotted a creature hanging from a raspberry cane beside the house. At first she thought it was a dead leaf, but as she stepped closer... it was not a leaf! An infant bat was hanging from the cane by one foot. I ran inside for my camera and slipped out again very quietly to have a moment alone in which to snap a few shots before alerting little Hugo.


Cesar thought it was dead, but it wasn't. I must admit that he didn't look so hot. On the other hand, neither of us have inspected many bats up close before. More like, we've swung many a broom in their direction as they've found their way into the house! Our bat was covered in tiny bugs. Hugo wanted to touch him in the worst way, the answer was - a big N-O spells no mister mister.

I brought the bat downstairs to show Jared and he found a nice hidey spot for him. I hope our young bat friend hears his momma's call and finds his way to some yummy skeeters tonight. We've got plenty to share.


Cesar and Hugo returned to their mowing and I returned to the laundry pile. Our cousins Ari and Gina arrive tomorrow so we better hurry off and make things spiffy!

Our Bed

Early this morning I was having trouble sleeping. The alarm clock read 5:47 am and I was awake. I clamped my eyes shut tight and brought the covers higher up around my shoulders. I tried my best to block out the singing birds, Cesar's heavy breathing, my racing mind and hungry tummy - which just wouldn't stop dreaming of blueberry pancakes. I almost made it to never never land when I heard an unmistakable sound. It was a thud really. Just as my feet hit the floor I heard a little cry along with my name. Hugo had fallen out of bed. When I entered his room I was surprised to find him already sitting on the edge of his bed. He looked at me with big, sleepy eyeballs. As I hugged him he wrapped his arms and legs around me in his monkey pose. Sucker me carried him back to our bed. If the hour had been even a smidgen of a wee bit earlier and the sun not so noticeable, I would have tucked him back under his own sheets, promise. I was simply awake you see and wanted a snuggle with our beautiful boy. Trouble was, Hugo only wanted to snuggle with Poppa. So there I lay under my covers once more listening to the birds singing their little hearts out, Cesar's heavy breathing (I swear he didn't hear or notice a thing!), with my mind racing, tummy dreaming and Hugo snuggling. Peace and sleep at last... Then Evie the cat began to yowel, purr and rub her fluffy fur all over my face in anticipation that I would get up and let her outside. Goodness! I decided to try my luck at solitaire on my phone but first paused a moment to admire the scene in my bed. Then quickly and silently snapped this shot of Hugo and his Poppa, all sleepily content together. Couldn't resist. Oh, and by the way, I did make those blueberry pancakes which my tummy had been so hungrily dreaming after!

Squirt Gun Fun

We bought some squirt guns today and boy oh boy was Hugo in heaven! I bought a package with two big guns and another with six small squirt guns for when we have visitors. The cousins are returning soon! So, the two squirt guns are for Hugo and I to play with together in the yard. I didn't think about Poppa... and guess what??! He came home early today and wanted to join in on our fun. Oops. Or maybe, he simply wanted my gun because he was tired of being our target? Anyhoo, I handed my gun over to him and then whamo! Hugo was all over me so totally excited that he could finally reach me and squirt me and that was it, he chased me down! I ran around the car and he followed laughing and squirting away. I ran around his wagon and the car again in a figure eight pattern and guess what??! He was still following me and laughing his little head off and yes, still squirting away! I thought for sure he'd wipe out in the gravel but nope, didn't happen. And I must state here and now for the pregnant lady record, that as I ran, I needed to hold my jiggling belly with one arm and I was in flip flops which truly slowed me down to preschooler speed. Where was Cesar you might possibly be wondering? I'm really not sure. Laughing and watching I suppose. Hugo was completely stuck on the fun of dousing his mother that I actually had to run in the house to escape him. As I was closing the door he stuck in his little arm and the nearly empty squirt gun and continued to squirt away in my direction. I had to explain that the inside of our house is like Switzerland. I'm not sure he got it, but I was able to finally shut the door and dry off!

15 Weeks Prego

Do you see that big ole', glorious bump of mine? Could ya miss it?! I am only 15 weeks and there it is. Big. I simply can't imagine how big it is going to end up. My mind can hardly concentrate on anything but the two little ones inside myself. I can feel them. They swim around like fan tailed goldfish sloshing and gliding against my interior. This past Monday night one of them was poking and stretching just below my belly button, or what used to be my belly button. I could feel the stretching body part on the outside with my fingers. It was weird and exciting and early! I called my sister Millie. It was nearly 11pm here but only 8 o'clock her time, I had to tell someone. She giggled with me and I promised to take a picture of the bump for her to see.

When I was pregnant with Hugo I referred to him as "the bump" or "the kid", my Grandma Marge thought the kid part was funny. Cesar and I knew we would call him Hugo early on but never called him that until he popped out. With my current developing tummy I've realized that I call them simply "the babies" or once in awhile "the twins". I have name possibilities taped up on the fridge. We pass by and read them, ponder, speak them out loud and then reach for the strawberries. So far, one option has been removed, another added. We like to run them past Hugo and listen as he tries to pronounce them. Hugo simply refers to the babies as his brother and sister. We don't know their sexes yet but I wonder if our little man might have some inside information from above.

15 weeks ago I had a fertility procedure preformed called an IUI. Shortly after returning home I was sitting on the couch and Hugo flung himself across the pillows to jump on me, a favorite pass time of his. I sat our Hugo on my lap and we had a talk about the possibility of a baby inside my tummy so there would be no more jumping on Momma. With the shake of his head he looked me in the eyes and said, "No, no Momma, two babies." He held up two of his fingers for added emphasis. Interesting I thought. I wondered if he might be right, if he might know something that we didn't. Hugo talked about the two babies in my tummy often. My Mom named him our little oracle. At my 5 week appointment Dr Chung told me that there was one sack and a second something that was most likely an expanded blood vessel. I was... disappointed and yet at the same time, very, very happy that all looked well and my Doc was pleased. Once outside the building, I called Cesar and reported that Hugo was wrong, we were having one lovable baby.

A week went by. All was quiet on the Hugo sibling prediction front. I wondered if he too had moved on. We were having one baby. We three, soon to be no more, we would be a family of four.

Then I saw Dr Chung for my week 6 appointment. Immediately apparent on the ultrasound screen were two sacks. I burst out laughing! Hugo was right! We were having twins and I couldn't stop smiling or laughing! My cheeks were positively frozen in place. I dialed up Cesar once outside and I was talking so fast I'm not sure he understood me at first. "Hugo was right!", I cried, "We are having twins!" This has been Cesar's wish all along.

p.s. Our little oracle likes to talk my ear off while I'm in the shower. Privacy please!? He sits upon the closed toilet seat and goes on and on about... you name it. He also likes to stare at my bulging stomach and reports how huuuuuuuge he thinks it is. Lovely. He also told me recently as I was toweling off that my bum was falling. Super duper lovely.

Birthdays, Errands and Such

My 38th birthday was this past Saturday and my darling husband ignored me. The highlight of the day was our trip to the local dump. It actually turned out to be the most exciting dump day ever! We watched as the containers of glass, plastic and cardboard were crushed by a big backhoe. An empty container was also dropped off by a giant truck while a full one was removed, covered and carted off. The big backhoe pushed the new container screeching into place. Hugo was in love. He enjoys helping his Poppa at the dump. He runs along beside Cesar helping to toss the garbage bags and sort out the recycling into their proper containers. My job is to holler out, "Watch out for cars! Please hold hands!" His very favorite job is smashing the glass to smitherines. On our way home Cesar did refer to me as the "birthday girl" and did I want to get cold cuts at the store for our lunch? No, I didn't. He asked what I wanted to do that day. I didn't know. I did know that I had hoped that he would have a plan. That he would remember that birthdays are special to me. He didn't tell Hugo that it was his Momma's birthday until our boy was about to jump into bed for the night. Hugo ran downstairs and popped into the living room with his arms and legs spread eagle and hollered, "Surprise! Happy Birthday Momma! Surprise!" I got a big hug and kiss and then he bounded back up the stairs to his room and bedtime.

My Grandmother Marge and I have been playing phone tag since Saturday. She has been wanting to wish me a Happy Birthday. I've left her messages but I don't think she knows how to retrieve them! She asked how my day went and I hesitated in telling her the truth. She can hold a grudge like no other. She remindes me of that line from Pride and Prejudice referring to Mr Darcy that goes something like... once his good favor is lost, it is lost forever. Well, that is my Grandmother to a T. I spoke to her during her martini time and she was in a happy mood. Often she wont remember things that were spoken about during tini time so I told her how my birthday was nonexistent. She lifted my spirits as she said, "Now Ali, when are you going to realize that all men are alike. You can only tell them apart by their faces!" She has a great way of looking at life and she got me laughing. She loved it that my birthday highlight was a trip to the dump! We laughed hard together at poor Cesar. At the end of our conversation she said that she supposed that I should pass along her hellos to Cesar. Then she quipped, "Tell him he better not come to close for awhile or I'll have to give him the business!" I'm not sure what "the business" is, but she had me laughing once more. I love my Grandma. I love my husband too.


These photos were taken a few weeks ago during my quiet blogging days. We were out running errands, we three. Hugo had passed out in his chair and Cesar needed to stop in at the court house so I stayed behind in the car with our boy. I decided to see what I could photograph around me without leaving the car. You be the judge of the results.

We Three

The light seemed just right and the foxglove were doing their thing in their spot near the lilacs late yesterday afternoon. I grabbed my computer chair and camera, then asked Cesar if he would pause a moment from his outside chores to pose with us. He said sure but needed a few more moments before he'd be free. Hugo was flying high in his rocket ship and had no interest in my photo proposal if his Poppa wasn't participating. I grabbed Rodrigo. There are no shots of Mr Rodrigo upon my computer chair, in front of the foxglove with the just right light because he kept jumping to the ground the moment his paws touched the seat of the chair. Bella was up next. She turned out to be a very good poser but I liked this first skitish looking shot of her best. She loves to hear how pretty she looks.

Hugo became bored in his rocket ship when it was no longer flying high and neither his Poppa nor his Momma would give him a push. Suddenly he was much interested in my photo proposal. I secretly think he was jealous watching my photo attentions to Mr Rodrigo and Miss Belle.

Our handsome boy is in need of a hair cut.
I have forgotten my scissors in the YW closet at church.

So here we are, we three on a lovely Sunday afternoon. We haven't had much practice with the timer on my camera and um... it shows. Cesar asked what we would use to balance the camera for the group photo. I said I didn't know, that was his job! He made it work. He always does.

Still having some posing troubles but Hugo looks cute!

This was our last shot before Cesar returned to his yard chores and Hugo lost all interest. It works.

The End.

Playdate Wednesday

The summer playdates are about to begin and two of our favorite families are soon to be moving out west. The kids haven't a clue as to what this means. The adults on the other hand are all a mix of happiness and good-bye blues. Today we had a little party at the park on the Hudson. We lucked out with the weather and enjoyed heavy overcast skies with a nice light and balmy breeze off the river. This is supposed to be our only dry day all week! Tomorrow the kids will be nutso and stir crazy indoors.

Weekend With The Baptista's

Cesar's family came to play for the weekend. We had cousins galore and lots of fun, good food, sleep outs in the camper, a bonfire with smores, and puppet making. We also visited a small animal zoo where we were able to feed the animals carrots, lettuce and popcorn. Everyone was in on the feeding fun, both the tall along with all the short folks. We scratched Tulip the pot belly pig's tummy, she is on a diet at the moment and not allowed any extra food. She wagged her tail as fast as she could to distract us from her do not feed sign! Mary the sheep was a bit greedy with the carrots this visit. My favorite is the bull with his long, twirling blue tongue ready to happily devour whatever is offered his way. Hugo couldn't believe his luck that their were kids in the house for sooo long. He stayed up late, skipped his naps and slept in, a small miracle. About a half hour after our guests departed for home, Hugo passed out cold on the couch. Cesar quickly and silently carried our sleeping boy upstairs for the night. Peace and quiet filled the house as we snacked on leftovers from the fridge and watched Errol Flynn and Olivia de Haviland in the great swashbuckler favorite from my childhood - The Adventures of Robin Hood. I even scored a foot massage!