Paloma Lois Brandenburg

Bugalugs is here! After months of speculating and wondering whether it will be a boy or a girl, we now know.

Paloma Lois Brandenburg arrived on Sunday 25th of October at 10.35am. She weighed a healthy 7lbs 13oz and measured 21.25 inches. Apparently there was plenty of baby crammed into my little bump! I can now play with the feet that used to be jammed into the bottom of my rib cage.
We think that she's pretty darn cute. Howard keeps looking at her and then looking at me and saying, "She's so cuuuute!", even when she is crying. Semilla is adapting to being a big sister and is getting used to not being the center of attention all of the time.


Howard is really enjoying being a dad - he has been in charge of most of the diaper changes, particularly the late-night ones. Here he is, warming up Paloma in front of the fire after a bath.

And we have had lots of visitors! Aussie Grandma and Grandpa flew in the afternoon before Paloma arrived, so they had a chance to see me pregnant (for one night) and they were at the hospital as quick as they could hail a taxi the next day.


George came to visit too...
... and Auntie Cathy learnt all about the Australian definition of 'nursing' (holding the baby, rather than feeding).

Grandma Claire came from the Northern lands to visit the little baby Paloma.....


and a little plum tree was placed in the ground with the help of the Burdetts. In the foreground is the container that had the placenta which was placed under the plum tree to provide lots of nutrients to the new tree. WELCOME TO THE WORLD LITTLE BABY PALOMA!!

waiting, just waiting....

Well, the due date has passed. The cream has expired. We are still waiting. Bugalugs could arrive at any minute, but I don't think s/he is in any hurry. I'm just sitting at home, waiting. We are coming to accept that Bugalugs is probably going to be a Scorpio rather than a Libra. Oh well.

In the meantime, Bugalugs is still cooking. We never get tired of looking at the belly and seeing how much it has grown, or watch it move around. But we are looking forward to seeing that baby on the outside!!
We have been cooking too. We made the most of this extra time last weekend and whipped up some tomato salsa, ketchup (aka, dead horse) and prickly pear jelly. Oh, and froze a whole pile of carrots (yes, those carrots are supposed to be purple). Now we have a nice little stockpile for the winter and only a few things left in the garden. We still have hundreds of tomatoes (!) and are running out of ideas of what to do with them all...



















We have been preparing in other ways too. When the Shriver family came to visit last weekend, Howard got a chance to practise his book-reading skills with Enzo, and his baby-toting skills with Max. I think that Howard gets just as much of a kick out of it as the boys do...














In the meantime, I washed all of the cloth diapers that we received as gifts from our baby shower. Thanks everybody! I know that I probably won't always feel this way, but don't they look beautiful, hanging on the line in the sun?

bump updates

It has been quite a while since we put any Bugalugs bump photos on here. Howard was away a lot in August and September, so I had no-one to photograph me... This is about all we have, but at least you get to see the bump growing.

At the end of August:

A visit to Taos to see the rest of the Brandenburg family (Howard, me, Grandmommy/Frances Joy, Jim, Cathy and Claire):


Our first wedding anniversary! On the way out the door for a celebratory dinner:


The view from the top last week (note that you can no longer see my feet):


Finally, just because we like Semilla so much, here is another little video. This was taken the evening after she had a sleep-over with Halleck (her Best Friend Forever) and had been bouldering in the foothills with Howard and Aaron:

the mural

Howard has done a spectacular job with the mural! Fortunately, we had painted the walls not too long ago, so all we had to do was the actual mural. Because we both work in rivers, it seemed to make sense that we should have a river... and the tree is somewhat reminiscent of our wedding invitation (by chance!).

This is how the mural looked in the very beginning. I like how it rolls over onto the ceiling. That makes Bugalugs smile too:


Here you can see the river, surging and tumbling behind the crib/cot:


The mural wasn't just Howard's project though. Lots of people got to help out. Here I am with Bugalugs, working on the sedges (notice how Bugalugs helps to hold up the palette while I paint - what a good kid!):


Howard added some magical gold leaf to the autumn leaves (I found Semilla in here a couple of days later, barking at the roof and freaking out a little because of all the orange and gold - she's used to it now and happily sleeps on the rug any time):


Bugalugs' grandmother Claire added a nest of bunnies to the mural (inspired by grandfather Jim!):

And Auntie Cathy added a praying mantis, hiding in the sedges on the bank of the river:

I love that the mural turned into a community art project! There is still room for the other grandmother and auntie to add their little animals.... Maybe Mum will be inspired by the swooping magpie in her yard. Any suggestions for Auntie Kristin?

And here is the final result:


Pretty cool, hey?

Is half-and-half really a dairy product?

The other day, I happened to notice the expiration date on the cream that Howard puts in his morning coffee. It was a nice little reminder that Bugalugs will be with us soon (possibly, he/she will be here before the cream goes off!).

Lately I have been wandering through the supermarket, searching for tasty things that may satisfy my increasing appetite. Oddly, I keep finding myself loitering by the puddings. You know the place - jello, tapioca pudding, weird mixes to make caramel-flavoured puddings, gooey chocolate things in tubs...

Normally, I wouldn't even look twice at these things. Usually, I'm more interested in the wholesome sort of stuff that we normally eat, like the food that comes from our garden, and not interested in things that come in little plastic tubs. In fact, I have spent the afternoon making relish from home-grown tomatoes (I'm trying to have it all in jars before Howard gets home from the San Juan so he doesn't get a nosefull of vinegar when he walks in the door. It's bubbling merrily on the stovetop now).



Obviously, the pudding thing is an anomaly. But a very delicious and tasty anomaly. I blame Bugalugs....

the bump is growing....

It's been the usual hot summer weather down here in the Southwest. I'm developing cankles and the need to nap in the afternoon (especially after a day in the field). Ice cream is my saviour.













Finally, the bump comes in handy. Here I am, looking hot and sweaty, but enjoying some home-made berry ice cream - conveniently balanced on my belly.

[My belly makes an excellent trap for tasty crumbs and spills!]

Howard was out on the San Juan River again last week. Often he brings me home little gifts from his trip - usually an interesting stone, or an unusually-shaped stick, or sometimes something that he has whittled. A couple of days after arriving home, he suddenly remembered that he had a gift for me. I was expecting another little piece of nature to add to the collection. He told me to close my eyes and I felt him lifting up my t-shirt and pressing on my belly. When I opened my eyes, this is what I found:

In case you can't read it, it says "Australia navel".

Bugalugs growing up...

It's been a while since we updated the Bugalugs photos. A lot can happen in a couple of months....

This is a couple of months ago, back in the good ol' days when I could still fit into my normal clothes.












A couple of weeks later, and a new skirt (hooray!). The bump is growing but I still look like I'm just chunky, not pregnant.























Now I'm really starting to look the real deal. Semilla might be starting to wonder what's going on (that's her nose that I'm looking at).
















Oddly, Howard's belly isn't getting any bigger. He has a lot of catching up to do if he wants to get to my size!

Even though his waist is still the same circumference, he's complaining of other pregnancy symptoms - wants to nap all the time, gets really hungry and has an aversion to yoghurt. But I guess that's nothing new....

WHB: I don't want to nap all the time!!


And here is a cute photo of Semilla, just for fun.

Pecos wilderness (Holy Ghost Creek trail)

One weekend, late in June, we headed off to the Pecos Wilderness with our good friends Aaron and Leslie. It was wonderful to see some green forest and to walk in the cool mountain air....







It was Bugalugs' first backpacking adventure - 6.5 miles to camp and five months pregnant! Here I am in some very attractive Grandpa Pants - my usual attire no longer fits.










Semilla had a wonderful time on the trip. She loved adventuring and running backwards and forwards. She never goes too far out of sight - she always runs back to check that the humans are coming along as well.














Here she is at Stewart Lake, admiring the view and wondering if she should swim across and see if Howard is catching any fish. (Howard did indeed catch a trout - Ayesha and Bugalugs got to eat it that night for dinner because we forgot to pack the garbanzo beans that had been on the menu.)
















Here's the happy camping crew, coming down the mountain the next day.

We saw a billion wildflowers that weekend - wild orchids, roses, lots of things that we didn't know how to identify...


Finally, here is a must-watch video. Semilla is part otter and part beaver. And part clown.

She was a very tired puppy the next day....

If you want to see more silly dog videos, leave a comment and we'll stick some more up here!

Bun in the oven

Wowee!!! Bugalugs is on the way - arriving October 18th (or thereabouts). You can see her/his/it's cute little button nose, the left ear and the spine...


...and this is what I now look like. This was taken about two weeks ago (sixteen weeks). I know it's only a little bump, but remember I used to be much more concave. My convexity continues to develop, but we don't have any newer photos tonight.


Howard is really excited about Bugalugs - he can't wait to take him/her/it camping. He rushed out and bought this camping chair, and then the carseat came later... (I bought the teddy bear - cute, hey?)